Cell Signaling Dynamics Analysis in Leukemia with Switching Boolean Networks

A major challenge in systems biology is to make and analyze models of signaling networks. Here, we suggest the use of switching Boolean networks using threshold Boolean networks; we made a model of the acute myeloid leukemia (AML) signaling network and analyzed this network to find the component that makes the signaling network abnormal by being deregulated. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal white blood cells, which accumulate in the patient’s bone marrow and perturb the production of normal blood cells. We constructed a model of the AML signaling network by combining the signaling pathways involved in either myeloid differentiation or cell proliferation. We then analyzed this signaling network using switching Boolean networks. Some of the components found in by this simulation had been previously experimentally validated by other researchers; however, we also discovered some new components through our technique.