Cluster Gauss–Newton and CellNOpt Parameter Estimation in a Small Protein Signaling Network of Vorinostat and Bortezomib Pharmacodynamics

. Ordinary differential equation (ODE)–based models of signal transduction pathways often contain parameters that are unidentifiable or unmeasurable by experimental data, and calibrating such models to data remains challenging. Here, two efficient parameter estimation methods, cluster Gauss–Newton (CGN) and CellNOpt (CNO), were applied to fit a signaling network model of U266 multiple myeloma cells to the activity dynamics of key proteins in response to vorinostat and/or bortezomib. A logic-based network model was constructed and transformed to 17 ODEs with 79 parameters estimated within broad ranges of biologically plausible values. The top 10% best-fit parameters by both methods had high uncertainties with CV > 50% for the majority of parameters. The root mean square and prediction errors were comparable without statistically significant differences between the two methods. Despite uncertain parameter estimation, protein dynamics after the sequential combination of bortezomib and vorinostat was predicted with reasonable accuracy and precision. Global sensitivity analyses of partial rank correlation coefficients and Sobol sensitivity demonstrated that apoptosis induction was most sensitive to parameters governing the activity of the proteasome–JNK–caspase-8 axis. Simulations revealed that the greatest magnitude of pharmacodynamic drug interactions between bortezomib and vorinostat occurred at caspase-9, AKT, and Bcl-2. Two sequential combinations were explored in silico, and the outcome matched qualitatively with an empirical evaluation of the pharmacodynamic interaction based on cell viability. Overall, the CGN and CNO algorithms performed similarly for this ODE-based network model calibration, and the calibrated model provided meaningful insights into cellular signaling mechanisms in response to pharmacological perturbations.