AUTHOR=Smart Benjamin , de Cesare Irene , Renson Ludovic , Marucci Lucia 

TITLE=Model predictive control of cancer cellular dynamics: a new strategy for therapy design

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Control Engineering

VOLUME=3

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/control-engineering/articles/10.3389/fcteg.2022.935018

DOI=10.3389/fcteg.2022.935018

ISSN=2673-6268

ABSTRACT=<p>Recent advancements in cybergenetics have led to the development of new computational and experimental platforms that enable us to robustly steer cellular dynamics by applying external feedback control. Such technologies have never been applied to regulate intracellular dynamics of cancer cells. Here, we show <italic>in silico</italic> that adaptive model predictive control (MPC) can effectively be used to steer the simulated signalling dynamics of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) cells to resemble those of wild type cells. Our optimisation-based control algorithm enables tailoring the cost function to force the controller to alternate different drugs and/or reduce drug exposure, minimising both drug-induced toxicity and resistance to treatment. Our results pave the way for new cybergenetics experiments in cancer cells, and, longer term, can support the design of improved drug combination therapies in biomedical applications.</p>