Mr. Exequiel Jun Villejo1, Dr. Bryan Hernandez1, Dr. Noel Fortun2
1University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines
2De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
ABSTRACT
Reaction network-based approaches provide powerful ways to understand biochemical systems by connecting network structure with dynamical behavior. These methods enhance our analysis by allowing us to obtain insights that are not easily accessible through numerical simulations alone. In this workshop, we aim to present computational tools for studying biochemical reaction networks with the goal of inferring important dynamical properties without relying heavily on parameter values. We specifically examine two biologically significant phenomena: multistationarity, which provides the mathematical mechanism for cellular decision-making and switching behaviors; and absolute concentration robustness, the capacity of a system to maintain specific species concentrations despite fluctuations in overall component supply. We will demonstrate efficient steady-state parametrization techniques to detect these properties. Furthermore, we will showcase the utility of the open-source software CRNToolbox and the MATLAB implementations that we developed for this analysis. Through real-world examples, we illustrate how these tools provide a rigorous and insightful framework for understanding the long-term dynamics of biochemical systems.