Computational Systems Biochemistry Group

Atherosclerosis is the primary cause of heart disease and stroke and the main cause of death in western states. Studying this disease being of enormous clinical relevance. Atherosclerosis is a progressive disease characterized by the accumulation of lipids and fibrous elements in large arteries. The early lesions of atherosclerosis exhibit sub-endothelial accumulations of cholesteryl ester-engorged macrophages, so-called foam-cells (Lusis, Nature 2000) . An effective inhibition of the foam-cell formation could be a potential prospect for an anti-atherogenic therapy.

The project advertised here starts exactly at this point. We develop a model that aims at analyzing the processes leading to accumulation of cholesteryl esters and changes in fatty acid composition in macrophages caused by the uptake of modified lipoproteins. Thereby, the possible protective role of the cellular lipoxygenase should be examined. In this project we cooperate with the experimental group of Prof. Hartmut Kühn of our institute.

The project perfectly complements the modeling activities in our group for the metabolism of lipoproteins in blood plasma. This may bring, in a systemic way, individual sub-systems together.

Researchers

Oliver Frey
Dr. Katrin Hübner
Prof. Hermann-Georg Holzhütter

References

Lusis AJ. (2000) Atherosclerosis. Nature, 407(6801):233-241 [PubMed]

		Modeling the Foam-cell Formation
Home Research VirtualLiver People Publications Software Positions Events Contact		Atherosclerosis is the primary cause of heart disease and stroke and the main cause of death in western states. Studying this disease being of enormous clinical relevance. Atherosclerosis is a progressive disease characterized by the accumulation of lipids and fibrous elements in large arteries. The early lesions of atherosclerosis exhibit sub-endothelial accumulations of cholesteryl ester-engorged macrophages, so-called foam-cells (Lusis, Nature 2000) . An effective inhibition of the foam-cell formation could be a potential prospect for an anti-atherogenic therapy. The project advertised here starts exactly at this point. We develop a model that aims at analyzing the processes leading to accumulation of cholesteryl esters and changes in fatty acid composition in macrophages caused by the uptake of modified lipoproteins. Thereby, the possible protective role of the cellular lipoxygenase should be examined. In this project we cooperate with the experimental group of Prof. Hartmut Kühn of our institute. The project perfectly complements the modeling activities in our group for the metabolism of lipoproteins in blood plasma. This may bring, in a systemic way, individual sub-systems together. Researchers Oliver Frey Dr. Katrin Hübner Prof. Hermann-Georg Holzhütter References Lusis AJ. (2000) Atherosclerosis. Nature, 407(6801):233-241 [PubMed]