First half Flashcards
Systems biology
- the systematic study of the interactions within biological systems
- with the goal to understand the entire processes within a biological system
Emergent properties
- properties of an entire system that are not necessarily evident from examining each of the individual components
Bioinformatics
- predicting the outcomes or responses in a living system using complex mathematical modelling
Genomics
- the study of an organisms complete set of data
Proteomics
- study of the set of all proteins produced within a biological unit
- this is typically an organ, an organ system or an entire organism
Metabolomics
- the study of metabolites within a given unit
- cells, tissues, organs, organisms
Reduction
- using isolated models (cells, organs, tissue)
- exquisite control over experimental conditions
Integration
- integrated whole-body/organism approach
- less control over variables
- viewed as LESS mechanistic but MORE real world
Example: Stimulation of fat oxidation in muscle by leptin
- lab data shows that leptin is good at burning fat
- this is done in the absence of many other hormones and factors
- in the entire body it is shown that the body can become leptin resistant and therefore is not a great fat burner
Example: limits of maximal oxygen uptake
- whole body exercise - the more traditional integrated model
- cardiac output - the main limiter within this model
- single leg extensions - the reduction model, used to study effects in the absence of systematic changes
- muscle mitochondrial content - the main limiter within this model
Clinical Example: regulation of blood glucose in type 2 diabetes
- current diagnosis is using a reductionist approach
- does not fully factor in time, location or context
Nutritional Example: taking antioxidants
- arguments made for both
- yes; reactive oxygen species (ROS) can induce oxidative damage, promotes aging and diseases. antioxidants protect the cell from these damaging effects
- no; a certain amount of ROS are protective to the cells, they are a natural; signal involved in adaptation
- not enough context to decide If they are beneficial or harmful
Genetic homology
- 98%+ similarity with chimpanzees
- 65% similarity with fruit flies
- incredible variation among individuals within the human species even though there is 9.9% similarity
Control and Communication Network (CCN) components
- the CCN is made up of multiple components that interact and coordinate our functions
- the central nervous system; brain and spinal cord
- the peripheral nervous system; somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system
- the endocrine system; endocrine tissue/glands and hormones
- the support and defence system; the immune system and beyond, support, movement, maintenance, repair, adaptation, defences
CCN properties
- controls and coordinates the function of all physiological systems and organs
- the system is always on
- distributed throughout the entire body
- the network has redundancy; each component has multiple functions
- flows within the network via chemical-based, cell-cell communication
- the mind is not separate from the body and the 4 components are not separable
CCN focus
- focal point of health in adult humans
- the integrator of inputs to health, disease and aging due to genetics, environment and lifestyle
- integrator of outputs to the 7 dimensions of health
Aging and diseases within the CCN
- aging and diseases represent compromised function/structure of CCN
- many disease processes result from a diminished/abnormal function of the CCN (diabetes,cancer,depression, etc)
- there is a reduced function of the CCN with aging (impaired memory, Alzheimers, diminished touch sensitivity, etc)
systems biology approach to healthcare
- systems biology integrated approach to health, disease and aging should enhance medical and healthcare practices
- basis of P4 medicine; personalized, predictive, preventative, participatory
- still challenges as a large amount of emphasis has been placed on genetics however susceptibility is determined by how genetics interact with lifestyle and enviornment
Experimental models
- in silico; simulations with mathematics models (bioinformatics)
- in vitro; using Petrie dishes and test tubes
- ex vivo; isolated tissue/muscles
- animal models
- human participants
In Vitro and Ex vivo examples
- isolated perfusion
- culturing cells
- isolated and incubated muscles
- transformed cells
- growing skin
Nematodes and Fruit fly animal models
- used to study genetics
- Nematodes; 40% homology, easy to study and cheap, short life cycle, can be frozen and thawed, self-fertilized, transparent
- Nematodes examples; embryonic metabolism, fluorescent tagging to follow digestion
- Fruit Fly; 65% homology, very sensitive to environmental conditions,
- Fruit fly examples; neuropharmacology research
Rat animal models
- very social and intelligent
- study lifestyle effects on metabolism
- researchers tend to take a more severe approach than they would with humans
Mice animal models
- ease of applying recombinant DNA tech (knockout gene, over or under expression)
- test the importance of a single protein
- study lifestyle effects on metabolism
- cannot assume the effects of one rodent model onto another; rat data will not be the same as mouse data
Swine animal models
- best non-primate model for human infant development and metabolism
- study organ transplant
Primates animal models
- closest model you can get to a human
- ethic and cost concerns
- study human pathologies, transplants, toxicology
Non-clinical human trials
- no medical treatment is given
- cannot predict or prove cause and effect; can only predict associations and correlations
- most commonly epidemiological studies