International Conference on Systems Biology of Human Disease (SBHD)

Disorders of the liver show up through changes in blood tests. These blood tests indicate markers for events taking place in the liver. Usually studies of liver tissue cannot be performed: as liver samples would need to be obtained through a liver biopsy, and this procedure is not without risk, therefore these samples are usually unavailable. Complex metabolism models based on existing and new scientific data can simulate changes in the liver caused by disease. They often reveal unknown relationships ...

Dr. Nachiket Vartak (TU University, Dortmund) investigates the role of a particular protein - the GTPase Rab18 - in initiating NAFLD. He tries to influence Rab18 pharmacologically so that NAFLD is not initiated. Vartak also analyzes how bile acids leave the liver. He hopes to find ways to improve the flow of bile in a liver with dysfunctional bile flow.

One of the tasks of the healthy liver is to store fat. Yet, at some stage, too much fat makes the liver sick. One critical time point occurs when a healthy fatty liver becomes inflamed and progresses to steatohepatitis, or NASH. LiSyM-Pillar I will identify what events lead to this transition. Does it occur in all parts of the liver? Which molecules indicate that it is taking place? Can the degeneration be stopped or undone - and if so, how?

Dr. Madlen Matz-Soja (University of Leipzig) investigates the importance of a control mechanism - the hedgehog signaling pathway - for fatty liver disease. She has shown that the signaling pathway directs how liver cells in NAFLD accumulate fat. Hedgehog also affects sex hormones in the liver. Therefore, Matz-Soya hopes to clarify why women and men suffer from cirrhosis and liver cancer with varying degrees of frequency.

Major infrastructure backbone of the whole LiSyM network. It comprises the core management tasks of the program directorate and the scientific project management, as well as the central data management. The data management concept relies on FAIRDOM (http://fair-dom.org) and uses the LiSyM SEEK platform as a major hub for exchanging data, models, SOPs and other information, as well as yellow pages for the projects with its corresponding members, institutions, events, presentations and publications. ...