2011
A Systems Biology Model Studying the Role of Cholesterol in Alzheimer's Disease Progression
C. Kyrtsos and J.S. Baras
To appear in the proceedings of the 10th IEEE International Workshop on Biomedical Engineering (10thBioEng), pp. no. 1-7, Kos Island, Greece, October 5-7, 2011.
Abstract
A simplified network describing the interactions between the cholesterol and beta amyloid (Aβ) synthesis pathways was generated using information available from literature and the KEGG database. A system of non-linear differential equations was developed and modeled using several different initial conditions. Rate constants were approximated using ratio-metric data from the literature, or by fitting parameters to obtain a stable simulation within given biological constraints. Simulations demonstrated the importance of negative feedback control by cholesterol in the regulation of beta amyloid levels. Additionally, the effect of reduced LRP-1 levels and oscillatory cholesterol generation was studied.
