Team:Montpellier/Models
MODELS
Due to the pandemic situation of this iGEM edition, we were not able to do as many lab experiments as we would have liked to do, hence we decided to focus on drylab and built a strong model. We divided our project in three main parts:
- Phage construction
- Population dynamics in the tumor microbiome submitted to phage infection
- Effect of the transformed bacteria on the cancer cell
We focused on the second point and tried to answer those three questions: what is the phage population dynamics ? What amount of protein of interest is produced? How does the infection and the protein production impact the bacterial population dynamics? This also allowed us to compare the different phages that could be used or to decide if we employ phagemids.
We were inspired by the Kuang/Beretta model and the numerous other phage population modelisations that followed.
In the differents models we used, we chose a bacterial population with a logistic growth (there is a maximum bacterial population N*) and a metabolic cost for the infected bacteria: their growth rate was divided by its increase in protein synthesis.
The first type of infection that we wanted to simulate was chronic infection like phage M13: the phage infect bacteria, they reproduce in them and can exit continuously without killing their host.
| Parameters | Meaning | Value (if fixed) | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Number of infected bacteria | / | cells |
| B | Number of infected bacteria | / | cells |
| p | Number of proteins of interest produced | / | proteins |
| φ | Number of free phages | / | phages |
| φi | Average number of phages in a cell | 413 [1] | phages |
| N* | Load capacity | / | cells |
| kin | Phage infection rate | 5.4e-9 [1] | bacteria-1.phage-1.h-1 |
| kout | Cell exit rate of phage | 413 [1] | phage.h-1 |
| δ | Bacteria death rate | 0 (neglicted) | cell.h-1 |
| λmax | Maximal bacteria growth rate | 0.77 [2] | bacteria.h-1 |
| λi | Infected bacteria growth rate | / | bacteria.h-1 |
| λs | Susceptible bacteria growth rate | / | bacteria.h-1 |
| δφ | Phage decay rate | 0.074 [1] | phage.h-1 |
| jφ | Phage production rate per phage | 413 [1] | phage.h-1 |
| jp | Protein production | 413 [1] | protein.h-1 |
| A | Impact of the number of phages in cell (and protein production) on cell growth | / |
The second infection strategy that we simulate is the strictly lytic strategy: phage infect bacteria, reproduce in them but instead of exiting continuously like previously there is a burst size. When there are enough phages in a bacteria they produce lysine and kill their host going out of it.
| Parameters | Meaning | Value (if fixed) | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Number of infected bacteria | / | cells |
| B | Number of infected bacteria | / | cells |
| p | Number of proteins of interest produced | / | proteins |
| φ | Number of free phages | / | phages |
| φi | Average number of phages in a cell | 115 [1] | phages |
| N* | Load capacity | / | cells |
| kin | Phage infection rate | 2.7e-8 [1] | bacteria-1.phage-1.h-1 |
| kout | Cell exit rate of phage | 115 [1] | phage.h-1 |
| δ | Bacteria death rate | 0 (neglicted) | cell.h-1 |
| τ | Latency time before cell death after phage infection | 0.7 [1] | h-1 |
| λmax | Maximal bacteria growth rate | 0.77 [2] | bacteria.h-1 |
| λi | Infected bacteria growth rate | / | bacteria.h-1 |
| λs | Susceptible bacteria growth rate | / | bacteria.h-1 |
| δφ | Phage decay rate | 0.072 [1] | phage.h-1 |
| jφ | Phage production rate per phage | 115 [1] | phage.h-1 |
| jp | Protein production | 115 [1] | protein.h-1 |
| A | Impact of the number of phages in cell (and protein production) on cell growth | / |
[1] Marianne De Paepe et al. Viruses’ Life History: Towards a Mechanistic Basis of a Trade-Off between Survival and Reproduction among Phages. PLoS Biol (July 2006) [2] Konrad Krysiak-Baltyn et al. Computational Modelling of Large Scale Phage Production Using a Two-Stage Batch Process. Pharmaceuticals. (April 2018) [3] Corinne Rieul et al. Effect of bacteriophage M13 infection on phosphorylation of dnaK protein and others Escherichia coli proteins. European journal of biochemistry (June 1987)
