학술논문

PEtab—Interoperable specification of parameter estimation problems in systems biology.
Document Type
Article
Source
PLoS Computational Biology. 1/26/2021, Vol. 17 Issue 1, p1-10. 10p. 3 Diagrams, 2 Charts.
Subject
*PARAMETER estimation
*SYSTEMS biology
*SOFTWARE development tools
*TECHNICAL specifications
*PYTHON programming language
Language
ISSN
1553-734X
Abstract
Reproducibility and reusability of the results of data-based modeling studies are essential. Yet, there has been—so far—no broadly supported format for the specification of parameter estimation problems in systems biology. Here, we introduce PEtab, a format which facilitates the specification of parameter estimation problems using Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) models and a set of tab-separated value files describing the observation model and experimental data as well as parameters to be estimated. We already implemented PEtab support into eight well-established model simulation and parameter estimation toolboxes with hundreds of users in total. We provide a Python library for validation and modification of a PEtab problem and currently 20 example parameter estimation problems based on recent studies. Author summary: Parameter estimation is a common and crucial task in modeling, as many models depend on unknown parameters which need to be inferred from data. There exist various tools for tasks like model development, model simulation, optimization, or uncertainty analysis, each with different capabilities and strengths. In order to be able to easily combine tools in an interoperable manner, but also to make results accessible and reusable for other researchers, it is valuable to define parameter estimation problems in a standardized form. Here, we introduce PEtab, a parameter estimation problem definition format which integrates with established systems biology standards for model and data specification. As the novel format is already supported by eight software tools with hundreds of users in total, we expect it to be of great use and impact in the community, both for modeling and algorithm development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]