  Models of the dynamics of cellular interaction networks have become
increasingly larger in recent years. Formal verification based on model
checking provides a powerful technology to keep up with this increase in scale
and complexity. The application of model-checking approaches is hampered,
however, by the difficulty for non-expert users to formulate appropriate
questions in temporal logic. In order to deal with this problem, we propose the
use of patterns, that is, high-level query templates that capture recurring
biological questions and that can be automatically translated into temporal
logic. The applicability of the developed set of patterns has been investigated
by the analysis of an extended model of the network of global regulators
controlling the carbon starvation response in Escherichia coli.
