Berlin 2018 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 15: Postersession III
BP 15.54: Poster
Tuesday, March 13, 2018, 14:00–16:00, Poster B
Exploiting ecology in drug pulse sequences in favour of population reduction — Marianne Bauer1, •Isabella Graf1, Vudtiwat Ngampruetikorn2, Greg Stephens2,3, and Erwin Frey1 — 1Arnold-Sommerfeld-Center for Theoretical Physics and Center for NanoScience, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany — 2Biological Physics Theory Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa, Japan — 3Department of Physics & Astronomy, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
A deterministic population dynamics model involving birth and death for a two-species system, comprising a wild-type and more resistant species competing via logistic growth, is subjected to two distinct stress environments designed to mimic those that would typically be induced by temporal variation in the concentration of a drug as it permeates through the population and is progressively degraded. Different treatment regimes, involving single or periodical doses, are evaluated in terms of the minimal population size (a measure of the extinction probability), and the population composition (a measure of the selection pressure). We show that there exist timescales over which the low-stress regime is as effective as the high-stress regime, due to the competition between the two species. Our results suggest that when the duration of the high-stress environment is restricted, a treatment with one or multiple shorter pulses can produce better outcomes than a single long treatment. If ecological competition is to be exploited for treatments, it is crucial to determine these timescales.