Design considerations in building in silico equivalents of common experimental influenza virus assays

Authored by Benjamin P. Holder, Laura E. Liao, Philippe Simon, Guy Boivin, Catherine A. A. Beauchemin

Date Published: 2011-06

DOI: 10.3109/08916934.2011.523267

Sponsors: National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Canadian Institutes for Health Research

Platforms: MASyV

Model Documentation: Other Narrative Mathematical description

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

Experimentation in vitro is a vital part of the process by which the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of a particular influenza virus strain are determined. We detail the considerations which must be made in designing appropriate theoretical/mathematical models of these experiments and show how modeling can increase the information output of such experiments. Starting from a traditional system of ordinary differential equations, common to infectious disease modeling, we broaden the approach by using an agent-based model, applicable to more general experimental geometries and assumptions about the biological properties of viruses, cell and their interaction. Within this framework, we explore the limits of the assumptions made by more traditional models and the conditions under which these assumptions begin to break down, requiring the use of more sophisticated models. We apply the agent-based model to experimental plaque growth of two influenza strains, one resistant to the antiviral oseltamivir, and extract the values of key infection parameters specific to each strain.

Tags

Agent-based models mathematical modeling Influenza in vitro methods viral plaque