Biological and computational tools for systems biology : application to Fas signaling pathways in T cells

Abstract

With the development of new experimental technologies, biologists have begun to take a more global view into cell function, approaching its study in a more systematic manner than previously possible. This thesis develops three new tools to perform systems biology studies of cell death in T cells: A modeling program, JDesigner; high throughput T cell apoptosis assays; and an RNAi sequence prediction program. These tools are then applied to a biological and mathematical analysis of Fas signaling pathways in T cells.