Affiliations: Laboratoire I3S, UMR 6070 UNSA-CNRS,
Algorithmes-Euclide-B, 2000, route des Lucioles B.P. 121, F-06903 Sophia
Antipolis CEDEX, France. bernot@unice.fr | IBISC FRE 3190, Université d'Evry-CNRS,
Genopole 523 place des Terrasses, F-91000 Evry, France.
fariza.tahi@ibisc.univ-evry.fr
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Laboratoire I3S, UMR 6070 UNSA-CNRS,
Algorithmes-Euclide-B, 2000, route des Lucioles B.P. 121, F-06903 Sophia
Antipolis CEDEX, France
Abstract: The main contribution of this work is a mathematical theorem which
establishes a necessary and sufficient condition to preserve the behaviour of a
genetic regulatory network when it is embedded into a larger network. We adopt
the modelling approach of René Thomas, which provides a discrete
representation of biological regulatory networks. This framework is entirely
formalized using labelled graphs with semantics defined in terms of state
graphs with transitions. Our theorem offers the possibility to automatically
verify whether a subnetwork has autonomous behaviour. It will allow biologists
to better identify relevant sets of genes which should be studied together.
