Modelling of glucose repression signalling in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae has a sophisticated signalling system that plays a crucial role in cellular adaptation to changing environments. The SNF1 pathway regulates energy homeostasis upon glucose derepression; hence, it plays an important role in various processes, such as metabolism, cell cycle and autophagy. To unravel its behaviour, SNF1 signalling has been extensively studied. However, the pathway components are strongly interconnected and inconstant; therefore, elucidating its dynamic behaviour based on experimental data only is challenging. To tackle this complexity, systems biology approaches have been successfully employed. This review summarizes the progress, advantages and disadvantages of the available mathematical modelling frameworks covering Boolean, dynamic kinetic, single-cell models, which have been used to study processes and phenomena ranging from crosstalks to sources of cell-to-cell variability in the context of SNF1 signalling. Based on the lessons from existing models, we further discuss how to develop a consensus dynamic mechanistic model of the entire SNF1 pathway that can provide novel insights into the dynamics of nutrient signalling. The authors review and discuss modelling approaches that have been used to study the dynamic behaviour of signal transduction pathways with the specific emphasis on the Snf1-regulated glucose signalling and propose potential ways forward that aim at elucidating the dynamics of SNF1 pathway.

Automated summary

This review summarizes the progress of mathematical modelling frameworks used to study the dynamic behavior of the SNF1 signaling pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The authors discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Boolean, dynamic kinetic, and single-cell models and propose the development of a consensus dynamic mechanistic model to gain novel insights into the dynamics of nutrient signalling in the SNF1 pathway.