Extending boolean regulatory network models with answer set programming

Because of their simplicity, boolean networks are a popular formalism to model gene regulatory networks. However, they have their limitations, including their inability to formally and unambiguously define network behaviour, and their lack of the possibility to model meta interactions, i.e., interactions that target other interactions. In this paper we develop an answer set programming (ASP) framework that supports threshold boolean network semantics and extends it with the capability to model meta interactions. The framework is easy to use but sufficiently flexible to express intricate interactions that go beyond threshold network semantics as we illustrate with an example of a Mammalian cell cycle network. Moreover, readily available answer set solvers can be used to find the steady states of the network.