The use of systems biology in treatment of liver disease

Abstract:

To develop novel strategies for prevention and treatment as well as to gain detailed insights about the underlying molecular mechanisms of liver associated diseases fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, type 2 diabetes and hepatocellular carcinoma, it is vital to study the biological functions of liver and how liver interacts with other human tissues as well as with the gut microbiota. Biological networks including metabolic, transcriptional regulatory, protein-protein interaction, signalling and co-expression networks can provide a scaffold for studying biological pathways operating in the liver in connection with disease development in a systematic manner. In my presentation, I will present our recent work where biological networks have been employed to identify the reprogramming in liver physiology in response to complex diseases including NASH/NAFLD and liver cancer. I will further discuss how this mechanistic modelling approach can contribute to identification of new mechanisms which may lead to design of targeted and effective treatment strategies.