SBI – Department of Systems Biology and Bioinformatics Faculty of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering University of Rostock Ulmenstrasse 69 | 18057 Rostock Germany +49 381 498-7571 olaf.wolkenhauer@uni-rostock.de
Mathematical modeling of transport process at the blood brain barrier
Aβ aggregation inside the brain is one major aspect of Alzheimer's disease. The appearance of Aβ plaques is highly correlated with the decline of brain activity. It is therefore necessary to understand the mechanisms regulating Aβ production, Aβ degradation and removal from the brain. The aim of the project is to develop an integrated model to understand the dynamics of Aβ aggregation and its transport through the blood brain barrier.
It is already known that transport proteins at the Blood Brain Barrier regulate the efflux of Aβ from the brain tissue. ATP Binding Cassette (ABC) transporters represent a group of transport proteins with major importance for AD. We investigate their kinetic properties using techniques from dynamical systems theory.
Questions to be answered:
Does the suppression of specific transporters at the blood brain barrier alter the
characteristic aggregation behaviour of Aβ inside the brain?
What mechanisms regulate the expression of these transporters?
Is it possible to predict the time profile of Aβ aggregation using only knowledge about he availability of specific transport proteins?
How can this knowledge be used to improve existent medical treatments?
Aβ aggregation and its transport through the blood brain barrier