Mus musculus

SMART-NAFLD : A Systems Medicine Approach to Early Detection and Prevention of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

The massive increase in obesity is leading to an alarming rise in non-alcoholic liver disease (NAFLD). This development will lead to a dramatic increase in liver diseases such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A particular challenge is that NAFLD-associated HCCs, for reasons still unknown, not only occur in association with advanced liver fibrosis/cirrhosis, ...

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?

In one in five people with NAFLD, the functioning liver cells, the hepatocytes, are replaced by connective tissue. Eventually this fibrosis becomes irreversible. In this state the liver is like a ‘scar that never heals’. Through it, the liver loses many of its vital functions. LiSyM-Pillar II wants to know more about which factors promote fibrosis and the conditions under which fibrosis becomes irreversible How can fibrosis be diagnosed as early as possible? Researchers in the pillar are also ...

In chronic diseases, at some point the liver can suddenly stop functioning. This is called acute-on-chronic liver failure, or ACLF. This is the leading cause of death in liver patients and is often provoked by the use of transcription or freely available drugs or alcohol abuse. For this condition we need an effective treatment quickly. LiSyM-Pillar III researches the factors that contribute significantly to ACLF. What exactly happens then? Are there any early signs that would enable ACLF to be ...

DEEP-HCC - Detailed Analysis of the Spatial Organization of the Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

not yet calibrated, not yet reduced

Model for the interaction of Wnt and Hh as published in Kolbe et al.: Mutual Zonated Interactions of Wnt and Hh Signaling Are Orchestrating the Metabolism of the Adult Liver in Mice and Human, Cell Reports, 29,4553,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.11.104

For the spatio-temporal dynamics of bile transport, bile canalicular dilation, mechanical stimulation and transduction of YAP signaling during liver regeneration see the open access publication and its appendix: Meyer et al. (2020) Bile canaliculi remodeling activates YAP via the actin cytoskeleton during liver regeneration. Molecular Systems Biology 16:e8985. https://doi.org/10.15252/msb.20198985

The model format is MorpheusML that can readily be loaded and run in the free and open source software ...