Please cite this article as: Mani Mehraei , Rza Bashirov , Identifying targets for gene therapy of β-globin disorders using quantitative modeling approach, Information Sciences (2017Sciences ( ), doi: 10.1016Sciences ( /j.ins.2017 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
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AbstractSickle cell disease and β-thalassemia are well-known genetic disorders which are caused by mutations in β-globin gene. Reactivation of fetal hemoglobin in adulthood through induction of γ-globin gene expression has proven be sufficient to ameliorate sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia. In the last few decades, substantial efforts have been made to identify potential target candidates for β-globin diseases. In the present work, we propose an innovative approach for identifying novel molecular targets of β-globin diseases. Our approach is based on quantitative modeling of fetal-to-adult hemoglobin switching network with hybrid functional Petri nets. We verify the coherence of deterministic quantitative model created in this research to be sure it is consistent with qPCR data available for known siRNA-and shRNA-based strategies. Comparison of simulation results for the proposed strategy with the ones obtained for already existing RNAi-mediated treatments shows that our strategy is optimal, as it leads to the highest level of γ-globin induction. Consequently, it has potential beneficial therapeutic effect on β-globin diseases. This study also provides an innovative strategy for the target-based treatment of many other diseases.