Perturbation of cell-selfregulation through oncoproteins

Abstract

A brief review is given of the mechanisms of human oncogeneactivation caused by carcinogens. The oncogene products perturb the selfregulation of the cell. To treat this perturbation a system of kinetic partial differential equations describing the key chemical reactions of a cell is written down. It is suggested that this formidable mathematical problem can be handled numerically by dividing the cell into different compartments and applying an iterative procedure. One expects in this way to abstract from the solutions the most important regulation parameters and with the help of them account for homeostasis. Finally, on the basis of the understanding of the cell selfregulation, its perturbation through protein inactivation or/and overproduction as well as through other physical or chemical changes can be treated theoretically.