Model Structure Validation of Cell Signaling Pathways Using Colored Petri nets*

In this paper we propose a novel colored timed Petri net modelling approach for model structure validation of cell signaling pathways. The aim is to distinguish between models of different structures based on typically qualitative, roughly detailed measurement data. In this approach, tokens are present all the time at all of the places, and their color corresponds to the actual quantized activation state of the signaling component. The activation states are updated according to the progression of the signal through the signaling network. We demonstrate the results on a signaling network, which describes the interaction of fast (G protein coupled) and slow (β-arrestin coupled) transmission.