Systems Biology

Apoptotic Pathways with Relevant Therapeutic Targets for Human Pathology

Due to a tremendous progress in systems biology in recent years, biology has established itself as one of the most exciting scientific fields of our time. The principal challenge facing systems biology is complexity in terms of investigating the interrelationships of all of the components in a functioning system in order to elucidate how the system works. In this light, with more than 30 000 genes in the human genome the study of all relationships simultaneously becomes an incredibly difficult task. Bearing in mind that biological phenomena cannot be predicted with the level of numerical accuracy as in classical physics, it is believed that general principles governing cellular functions, such as signal transmission, may be discovered by transition from molecular to modular cell biology. To achieve the goal, applications of the state-of-the-art systems biology methods, derived from engineering and computer science, may be quite relevant.

Various pathologies, including cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, sepsis, osteoporosis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel diseases are associated with genetically programmed cell death (PCD), a phenomenon that plays an important role in normal development, morphogenesis, tissue remodeling, and immune regulation. Two PCD pathways, apoptosis and necrosis, have been identified in early seventies. The unique features of an apoptotically dying cell tend to be unchanged for different cell types and genotypes, and none of them has been observed in cells dying by necrosis. Noteworthy is that apoptosis and necrosis can be observed in the same cell. Dr. Mitrasinovic is interested in the modeling of principal mechanisms, mediated by reactive oxygen species production, underlying apoptosis in pathological conditions. His objective is to understand the functional role of each player participating in very complex signaling scenarios. This may have some more profound implications for both: understanding fundamental background of the ability of cells to interpret the same signal action in distinct fashions (e.g. survival vs. death signal transduction) and identifying potential targets that are responsible for controlling such outcomes. Acquired knowledge on possible therapeutic targets could lead toward designing of novel drugs with specific functions.