QSB: Quantitative Systems Approach for Understanding Hepatic Metabolism

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

The overall goal of this project is to integrate quantitative analysis with biology to provide a systems approach to understanding hepatocyte (liver) metabolism in order to gain insights into Type II diabetes. The specific goals of the project are to: (1) characterize a comprehensive set of metabolic alterations in the hepatocytes induced by environmental factors with the aid of metabolic flux analysis, (2) incorporate physiochemical information; namely, kinetic binding data to provide a mechanistic insight into hepatic metabolism beyond that obtained with metabolic flux analysis alone, and (3) develop a phenomenological model using multivariate analysis to identify candidate pathways or factors that contribute most to the diabetic phenotype. The objective is the development of a model capable of identifying the potential for diabetes.