Publications by Biophoenix' Principals

Systems Biology: The future of integrated drug discovery.
Publisher:PJB Publications Ltd
Year of publication:2004
Type of publication:Management report
Publisher's reference (if any):BS1255
Author(s):Sreten Bogdanovic and Beata Langlands
Approximate page count:130
Price when published:£495
Remarks:
  1. Page numbers, where given, refer to the draft manuscript (which may differ from the published version).
  2. The copyright in this report is owned by the publisher, to whom any requests for copies should be addressed.
  3. The price shown is for a single copy of the print version. Multiple copies and electronic copies usually have different prices.
                                 SYSTEMS BIOLOGY:
                     THE FUTURE FOR INTEGRATED DRUG DISCOVERY
                                         
                                 TABLE OF CONTENTS
         
         EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
         
         CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
         
           1.1 Introduction to systems biology
         
           1.2 Hypothesis-generation and discovery science
         
           1.3 The human genome project and systems biology
         
           1.4 Approaches to systems biology
              1.4.1 Bottom-up approach
              1.4.2 Top-down approach
         
           1.5 Enabling technologies in systems biology
              1.5.1 Technologies for global measurements
              1.5.2 Computational tools for analysis
         
           1.6 Systems biology and drug R&D
         
           1.7 Systems biology and predictive diagnostics
         
         CHAPTER 2 SYSTEMS BIOLOGY MODELS
         
           2.1  Introduction
         
           2.2  Mathematical models
              2.2.1  Types of mathematical model
                     ... Deterministic models
                     ... Stochastic models
                     ... Monte Carlo simulations and parameter estimation
              2.2.2  Structuring models
              2.2.3  Modelling biological systems
              2.2.4  Modelling diseases
              2.2.5  A common language for using and sharing models
              2.2.6  FDA stance on modelling
         
           2.3  Integration of Systems Biology with "Omics" Technologies
              2.3.1  Omics Overview
              2.3.2  Genomics and First generation models
              2.3.3  Proteomics and Second generation models
              2.3.4  Metabolomics and third-generation models
              2.3.5  Genome-scale models and integrated databases
              2.3.6  Integration via other Markup Languages
                     ... Genomics
                     ... Proteomics
                     ... Other markup languages
         
           2.4  Overview of Modelling Software
              2.4.1  Introduction
              2.4.2  BALSA
              2.4.3  BASIS
              2.4.4  BioCHARON/CHARON
              2.4.5  biocyc2SBML
              2.4.6  Bio Sketch Pad
              2.4.7  BioSpreadsheet
              2.4.8  BioUML
              2.4.9  BSTLab
              2.4.10  CADLive
              2.4.11  CellDesigner
              2.4.12  Cellerator
              2.4.13  Cellware
              2.4.14  Cytoscape
              2.4.15  dBSolve
              2.4.16  Dizzy
              2.4.17  E-Cell System
              2.4.18  Gepasi
              2.4.19  Jarnac
              2.4.20  JDesigner
              2.4.21  JigCell
              2.4.22  JSIM (Java-Based Integrative Model
                      Simulation and Analysis Environment)
              2.4.23  JWS
              2.4.24  Karyote
              2.4.25  libSBML
              2.4.26  MathSBML
              2.4.27  MOMA
              2.4.28  Monod
              2.4.29  NetBuilder
              2.4.30  PathArt
              2.4.31  pathScout
              2.4.32  ProcessDB
              2.4.33  ProMoT/DIVA
              2.4.34  Systems Biology Workbench (SBW)
              2.4.35  SCIPath (Systems Complexity Interface
                      for Pathways)
              2.4.36  SigPath
              2.4.37  SigTran
              2.4.38  Simpathica
              2.4.39  StochSim
              2.4.40  STOCKS
              2.4.41  Trelis
              2.4.42  V-Cell
              2.4.43  VLX Suite

           2.5 Academic initiatives in systems biology
              2.5.1 Introduction
              2.5.2 Stanford University
              2.5.3 Institute of Systems Biology
              2.5.4 California QB3 Institute
              2.5.5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
              2.5.6 Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
              2.5.7 Harvard University Medical School
              2.5.8 German Systems Biology Initiative
              2.5.9 University of Michigan Life Science Institute
              2.5.10  US DOE Genomes to Life
              2.5.11  NIH  Roadmap for Medical Research
         
         CHAPTER 3 EXPEDITING DRUG DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT
         
           3.1 Introduction
         
           3.2 Emphasising the experimental side
              3.2.1 Companies and technologies
              3.2.1 Therapeutic areas
         
           3.3 Emphasising the computational side
              3.3.1 Companies and technologies
              3.3.2 Therapeutic areas
         
           3.4 Creating "virtual patients"
              3.4.1 Companies and technologies
              3.4.2 Therapeutic areas
         
         CHAPTER 4 COMPANY PROFILES
         
           4.1 Beckman Coulter Inc
           4.2 Beyond Genomics
           4.3 Bioseek
           4.4 Cyprotex
           4.5 Eli Lilly (Systems Biology, Singapore)
           4.6 Entelos Inc
           4.7 GeneGo Inc
           4.8 IBM (including IBM Life Sciences)
           4.9 Linden Technologies Inc
           4.10 Predix Pharmaceuticals Inc

         APPENDIX 1  SBML REPRESENTATION OF WNT/CATENIN SIGNALLING MODEL

         APPENDIX 2  AN EXAMPLE OF A RUN PROTOCOL IN THE MICROARRAY GENE
                     EXPRESSION MARKUP LANGUAGE (MAGE-ML)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report shows that far from being just a fashionable buzz term, systems biology is fundamentally changing the practice of biology and has began transforming the way drugs are discovered and developed.

The report reviews the "4 Ms" of systems biology (measurement, mining, modeling, and manipulation of data) and the ways in which its practitioners are seeking to deliver the "3 Ps" of medicine (predictive, preventive and personalised drugs).

Systems biology has both experimental and computational sides and ideally involves an iterative process in which both sides constantly inform one another. In industry as well as academia, discovery science - the experimental side of systems biology - has already generated vast amounts of data. The past decade has seen the ascendance of high-throughput methods for measuring the global expression of different biological components - genomics, pharmacogenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, glycomics, metabolomics. Systems biology has provided the means to integrate and make sense of the "omics" data, by using it to analyse and simulate pathways, cells, tissues, organs and disease mechanisms.

Chapter 2 reviews the types of systems biology model that are currently in use and the software tools used to create and manipulate them. Because of their predictive power, working models of healthy and diseased systems should greatly expedite the processes of drug target identification, drug development, disease therapy, and diagnostics by focusing attention on particular molecules and pathways, and eliminating unnecessary tests and other procedures.

Despite the ongoing data explosion in biology, complete information is seldom available on any system, which means that most models are stochastic rather than deterministic. The parameters required by most biological models are not computed directly, but are estimated by means of repeated simulations called Monte Carlo methods.

The current practice is to build a systems biology model in steps "top down" based on human intuition, knowledge, and assumptions. There is no guaranteee that this yields accurate models, but it can yield complex ones that are expensive to develop. Alternative data-driven approaches include constrained models (where only a limited range of parameter values are allowed), the application of pattern recognition-type technologies to differential displays of microarray data, and other attempts to "reverse-engineer" models from the observed data (attempts which mostly need a great deal of computing power).

Database integration is one of the essential prerequisites of successful model building. More definite knowledge about a particular pathway means that it will be easier to model, and that the model will be more accurate to start with. An increasing number of model building tools include integrated databases of genomic, proteomic, and/or other information, or provide close links to such data. It is also important that models can be shared with other investigators. A uniform systems biology markup language (SBML) has therefore been developed to facilitate data interchange. Other compatible markup languages are being developed in areas such as genomics (e.g. MAGE-ML) and proteomics (e.g. PEML, MIML) which will expedite the acquisition of data by systems biology modellers.

The US FDA has long been ahead of the industry in use of models: it employs a growing number of pharmacometric experts who are very familiar with this technology. Modelling and simulation are actually encouraged in some of its recently published guidances (e.g. population pharmacokinetics, exposure-response guidances) and the Agency has already agreed to reduced clinical trial requirements when provided with satisfactory simulation data.

Systems biology directly addresses the challenges and bottlenecks in pharmaceutical drug discovery and development today. One of the most significant challenges are high compound attrition rates; drugs prove ineffective or toxic and fail due to poor understanding of the biological system they attempt to affect. Systems biology approaches provide a means for identifying pathways that are critical to disease, and discovering both on- and off-target effects of compounds.

It is not surprising therefore that while academic, government and non-profit institutions are making ambitious plans for long-term project work in systems biology requiring an unprecedented new level of collaboration between scientists from diverse disciplines, companies have already began applying their existing technological skills relevant to systems biology to pharmaceutical development. They are playing to their strengths and emphasising either the experimental ot the computational side. Chapter 3 reveals how drug discovery and development is being expedited by companies applying proprietary technologies in systems biology to the discovery and validation of biomarkers and drug targets in a range of complex diseases (metabolic diseases, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, CNS disorders, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases), and to drug toxicity prediction.

Currently few companies have collaborations involving the sharing of enabling experimental and computational technologies in systems biology. Future progress in systems biology will require integration of diverse technologies and it is therefore imperative that all companies developing drugs and diagnostics start formulating their strategies in this area now.



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