A unified model for studying DNA damage-induced p53–Mdm2 interaction

Exploring the nonlinear dynamics of the negative feedback loop composed of p53 and Mdm2 proteins, we propose a signal–response model to study the dynamical mechanism of the different oscillatory behaviors for the activities of p53 and Mdm2 proteins both in individual and populations of cells. It will be shown that the sustained and damped oscillatory dynamics could be described in a unified way when the dynamics of the damage-derived signal is properly introduced.