Advice from a systems-biology model of the corona epidemics

in NPJ Systems Biology and Applications (2020), 6(18),

Development and evaluation of a harmonized whole body physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model for flutamide in rats and its extrapolation to humans.

in Environmental research (2020), 182

By their definition, inadvertent exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) intervenes with the endocrine signalling system, even at low dose. On the one hand, some EDCs are used as important ... [more ▼]

By their definition, inadvertent exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) intervenes with the endocrine signalling system, even at low dose. On the one hand, some EDCs are used as important pharmaceutical drugs that one would not want to dismiss. On the other hand, these pharmaceutical drugs are having off-target effects and increasingly significant exposure to the general population with unwanted health implications. Flutamide, one of the top pharmaceutical products marketed all over the world for the treatment of prostate cancer, is also a pollutant. Its therapeutic action mainly depends on targeting the androgen receptors and inhibiting the androgen action that is essential for growth and survival of prostate tissue. Currently flutamide is of concern with respect to its categorization as an endocrine disruptor. In this work we have developed a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model of flutamide that could serve as a standard tool for its human risk assessment. First we built the model for rat (where many parameters have been measured). The rat PBPK model was extrapolated to human where the re-parameterization involved human-specific physiology, metabolic kinetics derived from in-vitro studies, and the partition coefficient same as the rat model. We have harmonized the model by integrating different sets of in-vitro, in-vivo and physiological data into a PBPK model. Then the model was used to simulate different exposure scenarios and the results were compared against the observed data. Both uncertainty and sensitivity analysis was done. Since this new whole-body PBPK model can predict flutamide concentrations not only in plasma but also in various organs, the model may have clinical applications in efficacy and safety assessment of flutamide. The model can also be used for reverse dosimetry in the context of interpreting the available biomonitoring data to estimate the degree to which the population is currently being exposed, and a tool for the pharmaceutical companies to validate the estimated Permitted Daily Exposure (PDE) for flutamide. [less ▲]

ROS homeostasis in a dynamic model: How to save PD neuron?

Poster (2014, December)

Mechanism-based model of ROS management in health and disease

Poster (2014, September)

Comparison of ODE-based models for reactive oxygen species regulation system

in Proceedings of ICCSA 2014 (2014, June)

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play important role in the functioning of any cell and especially in the lifecycle of mitochondria. Since the action of ROS can be both positive and negative then the ... [more ▼]

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play important role in the functioning of any cell and especially in the lifecycle of mitochondria. Since the action of ROS can be both positive and negative then the remarkable role can be played by ROS regulation system. We constructed three different ODE based kinetic models of different complexity for the ROS management system and shown the difference in the dynamics of these systems under different conditions. Using results of numerical simulation we showed that extraction of some subsystems can make the model more unstable. We also introduced the objective function for comparison of the models with structure of different complexity [less ▲]

ROS-activated signaling network: dynamic modelling and design principles study

Poster (2014, June)

Modeling cellular ROS defense in mitochondrial-related diseases

Poster (2013, July 22)

Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) generation is an unavoidable background process during normal cellular function. The main contributor to ROS production is the electron transport chain, which reduces oxygen ... [more ▼]

Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) generation is an unavoidable background process during normal cellular function. The main contributor to ROS production is the electron transport chain, which reduces oxygen to water. Some incompletely-reduced oxygen species escape and oxidize a variety of organic molecules, leading to molecular dysfunction and initiating a positive feedback loop of ever increasing active radical production. The increased concentration of ROS damages the mitochondria, therefore further elevating the rate of ROS generation. Healthy cells manage ROS enzymatically and by mitophagy of damaged mitochondria. The precise tuning of the latter mechanism is crucial for cell survival and is controlled by a ROS-induced regulatory network. We have built a set of kinetic models of varying complexity, based on the current understanding of the mechanism of cellular ROS defense. Our models allow simulation of various patho-physiological scenarios related to mitochondrial dysfunction and the failure of the system of ROS regulation in human cells. We employ the models we have constructed to simulate the effects of diseases related to mitochondrial dysfunction and excessive ROS generation, such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease and cancer. Experimental evidence is used for model fitting, and we propose model improvements based on incorporation of single-cell experimental measurements. Finally, we discuss the perspective of integrating our kinetic models with genome-scale, constraint-based, tissue-specific models of metabolism, in order to study the effect of ROS misregulation on metabolic phenotype. [less ▲]

Optimization of stress response through the nuclear receptor-mediated cortisol signalling network

in Nature Communications (2013), 4

It is an accepted paradigm that extended stress predisposes an individual to pathophysiology. However, the biological adaptations to minimize this risk are poorly understood. Using a computational model ... [more ▼]

It is an accepted paradigm that extended stress predisposes an individual to pathophysiology. However, the biological adaptations to minimize this risk are poorly understood. Using a computational model based upon realistic kinetic parameters we are able to reproduce the interaction of the stress hormone cortisol with its two nuclear receptors, the high-affinity glucocorticoid receptor and the low-affinity pregnane X-receptor. We demonstrate that regulatory signals between these two nuclear receptors are necessary to optimize the body’s response to stress episodes, attenuating both the magnitude and duration of the biological response. In addition, we predict that the activation of pregnane X-receptor by multiple, low-affinity endobiotic ligands is necessary for the significant pregnane X-receptor-mediated transcriptional response observed following stress episodes. This integration allows responses mediated through both the high and low-affinity nuclear receptors, which we predict is an important strategy to minimize the risk of disease from chronic stress. [less ▲]

On different aspects of network analysis in systems biology

in Systems Biology (2013), 1

Network analysis is an essential component of systems biology approaches toward understanding the molecular and cellular interactions underlying biological systems functionalities and their perturbations ... [more ▼]

Network analysis is an essential component of systems biology approaches toward understanding the molecular and cellular interactions underlying biological systems functionalities and their perturbations in disease. Regulatory and signalling pathways involve DNA, RNA, proteins and metabolites as key elements to coordinate most aspects of cellular functioning. Cellular processes depend on the structure and dynamics of gene regulatory networks and can be studied by employing a network representation of molecular interactions. This chapter describes several types of biological networks, how combination of different analytic approaches can be used to study diseases, and provides a list of selected tools for network visualization and analysis. It also introduces protein-protein interaction networks, gene regulatory networks, signalling networks and metabolic networks to illustrate concepts underlying network representation of cellular processes and molecular interactions. It finally discusses how the level of accuracy in inferring functional relationships influences the choice of methods applied for the analysis of a particular biological network type. © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013. All rights are reserved. [less ▲]

Functional Genomics, Proteomics, Metabolomics and Bioinformatics for Systems Biology

in Prokop, Ales; Csukás, Bela (Eds.) Systems Biology: Integrative Biology and Simulation Tools (2013)

This chapter introduces systems biology, its context, aims, concepts and strategies. It then describes approaches and methods used for collection of high-dimensional structural and functional genomics ... [more ▼]

This chapter introduces systems biology, its context, aims, concepts and strategies. It then describes approaches and methods used for collection of high-dimensional structural and functional genomics data, including epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and lipidomics, and how recent technological advances in these fields have moved the bottleneck from data production to data analysis and bioinformatics. Finally, the most advanced mathematical and computational methods used for clustering, feature selection, prediction analysis, text mining and pathway analysis in functional genomics and systems biology are reviewed and discussed in the context of use cases. [less ▲]