Systems Biology & Integrative Networks Core

Scripps Research Institute, The, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The Scripps NeuroAIDS Preclinical Studies (SNAPS) is a multidisciplinary center supporting biomedical[unreadable] research relevant to neuroAIDS.[unreadable] In HIV infection, the HIV-1 -associated cognitive/motor disorder, also known as the AIDS dementia complex[unreadable] or neuroAIDS, occurs in approximately one-third of patients. Symptoms range from a "minor" disorder,[unreadable] affecting 25% of individuals, to dementia, affecting 15 to 20% of those with AIDS. Although recent[unreadable] therapeutic advances have reduced mortality from HIV, most of these agents do not show significant[unreadable] penetration of the blood-brain barrier (BBS). The central nervous system (CNS) may remain a reservoir as[unreadable] well as suffer continued damage over the treatment-prolonged course of infection.[unreadable] The etiology of the HIV-induced CNS alterations is unknown. One of our working hypotheses are that viral[unreadable] infection of the brain, occurring via a "Trojan horse" mechanism of infected macrophages trafficking to the[unreadable] brain initiates a sequence of events leading to neuronal dysfunction. However we believe that neurons, at[unreadable] least early, are not irreversibly damaged by a virus-induced pathological cascade. Thus HIV-induced CNS[unreadable] damage may be amenable to timely therapy to prevent the chronic consequence of CNS dysfunction.[unreadable] Using a multisystem approaches, the SNAPS center research aims to investigate the host and viral factors[unreadable] leading to CNS dysfunction, and investigate ways to prevent or ameliorate these untoward effects. The[unreadable] SNAPS center brings together scientists with different expertise from proteomic, genomic and physiology.[unreadable] The Systems Biology and Integrative Network Core (SBINC) aims to develop a suite of bioinformatics tools[unreadable] for extracting pathway models from molecular interaction networks using a system of complex queries.[unreadable] Because the database query is a well-established means of extracting information from large bioinformatics[unreadable] databases, it may serve as a key concept for bringing complex network operations, such as pathway[unreadable] construction and simulation, to the SNAPS center at large. Thus helping the SNAPS scientists to better[unreadable] query their large highthroughput dataset and to utilize a integrative system approach to better characterize[unreadable] this complex neuropathology.