A mathematical framework to study organising principles in graphical representations of biochemical processes

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Chaudhuri, Adittya, Köhl, Ralf, Wolkenhauer, Olaf
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Chaudhuri, Adittya
Köhl, Ralf
Wolkenhauer, Olaf
author_facet Chaudhuri, Adittya
Köhl, Ralf
Wolkenhauer, Olaf
contents The complexity of molecular and cellular processes forces experimental studies to focus on subsystems. To study the functioning of biological systems across levels of structural and functional organisation, we require tools to compose and organise networks with different levels of detail and abstraction. Systems Biology Graphical Notation (SBGN) is a standardised notational system that visualises biochemical processes as networks. Despite their widespread adoption, SBGN languages remain purely visual and lack an underlying mathematical framework, limiting their compositional analysis, abstraction, and integration with formal modelling approaches. SBGN comprises three complementary visual languages-Process Description (SBGN-PD), Activity Flow (SBGN-AF), and Entity Relationship (SBGN-ER)-each operating at a different level of abstraction. In this manuscript, we introduce a category-theoretic formalism for SBGN-PD, a visual language to describe biochemical processes as biochemical reaction networks. Using the theory of structured cospans, we construct a symmetric monoidal double category whose horizontal 1-morphisms correspond to SBGN-PD diagrams. We also analyse how a designated subnetwork influences the surrounding network and how external entities, in turn, affect the internal reactions of the subnetwork. Our work addresses a key gap between biological visualisation and mathematical structure. It provides precise organising principles for SBGN-PD, including compositionality, enabling the construction of large biochemical reaction networks from smaller ones, and zooming out, allowing the abstraction of detailed biochemical mechanisms while preserving their functional interfaces. Throughout the paper, the proposed framework is illustrated using standard SBGN-PD examples, demonstrating its applicability to large-scale biochemical reaction networks.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_18024
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A mathematical framework to study organising principles in graphical representations of biochemical processes
Chaudhuri, Adittya
Köhl, Ralf
Wolkenhauer, Olaf
Molecular Networks
Category Theory
Quantitative Methods
18B10, 92-10
The complexity of molecular and cellular processes forces experimental studies to focus on subsystems. To study the functioning of biological systems across levels of structural and functional organisation, we require tools to compose and organise networks with different levels of detail and abstraction. Systems Biology Graphical Notation (SBGN) is a standardised notational system that visualises biochemical processes as networks. Despite their widespread adoption, SBGN languages remain purely visual and lack an underlying mathematical framework, limiting their compositional analysis, abstraction, and integration with formal modelling approaches. SBGN comprises three complementary visual languages-Process Description (SBGN-PD), Activity Flow (SBGN-AF), and Entity Relationship (SBGN-ER)-each operating at a different level of abstraction. In this manuscript, we introduce a category-theoretic formalism for SBGN-PD, a visual language to describe biochemical processes as biochemical reaction networks. Using the theory of structured cospans, we construct a symmetric monoidal double category whose horizontal 1-morphisms correspond to SBGN-PD diagrams. We also analyse how a designated subnetwork influences the surrounding network and how external entities, in turn, affect the internal reactions of the subnetwork. Our work addresses a key gap between biological visualisation and mathematical structure. It provides precise organising principles for SBGN-PD, including compositionality, enabling the construction of large biochemical reaction networks from smaller ones, and zooming out, allowing the abstraction of detailed biochemical mechanisms while preserving their functional interfaces. Throughout the paper, the proposed framework is illustrated using standard SBGN-PD examples, demonstrating its applicability to large-scale biochemical reaction networks.
title A mathematical framework to study organising principles in graphical representations of biochemical processes
topic Molecular Networks
Category Theory
Quantitative Methods
18B10, 92-10
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.18024