In this thesis we study modeling and simulation approaches for multiscale biochemical systems. The thesis addresses both modeling methods and simulation strategies. In the first part, we propose modeling methods to study the behavior of the insulin secretion pathway. We first expand the single cell model proposed by Bertram et. al. to model multiple cells. Synchronization among multiple cells is observed. Then an unhealthy cell model is proposed to study the insulin secretion failure caused by weakening of mitochondria function. By studying the interaction between the healthy and unhealthy cells, we find that the insulin secretion can be reinstated by increasing the glucokinase level. This new discovery sheds light on antidiabetic medication. In order to study the stochastic dynamics of the insulin secretion pathway, we first apply the hybrid method to model the discrete events in the insulin secretion pathway. Based on the hybrid model, a probability based measurement is proposed and applied to test the new antidiabetic remedy. In the second part, we focus on different simulation schemes for multiscale biochemical systems. We first propose a partitioning strategy for the hybrid method which leads to an efficient way of building stochastic cell cycle models. Then different implementation methods for the hybrid method are studied. A root finding method based on inverse interpolation is introduced to implement the hybrid method with three different ODE solvers. A detailed discussion of the performance of these three ODE solvers is presented. Last, we propose a new strategy to automatically detect stiffness and identify species that cause stiffness for the Tau-Leaping method, as well as two stiffness reduction methods. The efficiency is demonstrated by applying this new strategy on a stiff decaying dimerization model and a heat shock protein regulation model. / Ph. D.

Colletotrichum graminicola is a hemibiotrophic pathogen of maize that causes anthracnose leaf and stalk rot diseases. The pathogen penetrates the host and initially establishes an intracellular biotrophic infection, in which the hyphae are separated from the living host cell by a membrane that is elaborated by the host, apparently in response to pathogen signals. A nonpathogenic mutant (MT) of C. graminicola was generated that germinates and penetrates the host normally, but is incapable of establishing a normal biotrophic infection. The mutated gene is Cpr1, conserved in eukaryotes and predicted to encode a component of the signal peptidase complex. How can we explain why the MT is normal in culture and during early stages of pathogenicity, but is deficient specifically in the ability to establish biotrophy? To address this, first I characterized the insertion in the 3’ UTR of the MT strain in detail, something that had not been done before. The wild-type (WT) transcript did not differ from predictions, but the MT produced several aberrant transcript species, including truncated and non-spliced transcripts, and the normal one. Aberrant splicing of MT cpr1 was observed both in RNAseq transcriptome data and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), under different growth conditions and in planta. I also conducted a bioinformatic analysis of other conserved components of the secretory pathway in the MT and WT in planta. One explanation for nonpathogenicity of the MT is that it cannot cope with an increase in secretory activity during infection, and fails to produce necessary pathogenicity factors. With the transcriptome data, I was able to identify effector proteins that were expressed in the WT but not in the MT. Another possible explanation for the MT phenotype is that the MT can’t adapt to stress imposed by the plant. I developed a growth assay to characterize the effect of chemical stressors in vitro. The MT was more sensitive to most stressors, when compared to the WT. The transcriptome data indicates that the genes involved in different stress pathways are expressed in planta in both WT and MT, although very few genes are differentially expressed across the different growth stages.

The type III secretion system (T3SS) is a highly conserved secretion system among Gram negative bacteria that translocates anti-host proteins directly into the infected cells to overcome the host immune system and establish a bacterial infection. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is one of three pathogenic Yersinia spp. that use a plasmid encoded T3SS to establish an infection. This complex multi-component Ysc-Yop system is tightly regulated in time and space. The T3SS is induced upon target cell contact and by growth in the absence of calcium. There are two kinds of substrates for the secretion apparatus, the translocator proteins that make up the pore in the eukaryotic target cell membrane, and the translocated effector proteins, that presumably pass through this pore en route to the eukaryotic cell interior. The essential YopD translocator protein is involved in several important steps during effector translocation, such as pore formation, effector translocation. Moreover, in complex with its cognate chaperone LcrH, it maintains regulatory control of yop gene expression. To understand the molecular mechanism of YopD function, we made sequential in-frame deletions throughout the entire protein and identified discrete functional domains that made it possible to separate the role of YopD in translocation from its role in pore formation and regulation, really supporting translocation to be a multi-step process. Further site-directed mutagenesis of the YopD C-terminus, a region important for these functions, revealed no function for amino acids in the coiled-coil domain, while hydrophobic residues within the alpha-helical amphipathic domain are functionally significant for regulation, pore formation and translocation of effectors. Unique to the T3SSs are the chaperones which are required for efficient type III protein secretion. The translocator-class chaperone LcrH binds two translocator proteins, YopB and YopD, which is necessary for their pre-secretory stabilization and their efficient secretion. We have shown that LcrH interacts with each translocator at a unique binding-site established by the folding of its three tandem tetratricopeptide repeats (TPRs). Beside the regulatory LcrH-YopD complex, LcrH complexes with YscY, a component of the Ysc-Yop T3SS, that is also essential for regulatory control. Interestingly the roles for LcrH do not end here, because it also appears to function in fine tuning the amount of effector translocation into target cells upon cell contact. Moreover, LcrH’s role in pre-secretory stability appears to be an in vitro phenomenon, since upon bacteria-host cell contact we found accumulated levels of YopB and YopD inside the bacteria in absence of a LcrH chaperone. This suggests the true function of LcrH is seen during target cell contact. In addition, these stable YopB and YopD are secreted in a Ysc-Yop independent manner in absence of a functional LcrH. We propose a role for LcrH in conferring substrate secretion pathway specificity, guiding its substrate to the cognate Ysc-Yop T3SS to secure subsequent effector translocation. Together, this work has sought to better understand the key functions of LcrH and YopD in Yersinia pathogenicity. Using an approach based heavily on recombinant DNA technology and tissue culture infections, the complex molecular cross-talk between chaperone and its substrate, and the effect this has on the Yersinia lifestyle, are now being discovered.