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Bioinformatics Advance Access published online on June 12, 2008
Bioinformatics, doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/btn306
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© The Author (2008). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Modeling immune system control of atherogenesis

Francesco Pappalardo 1,2,*, Salvatore Musumeci 3 and Santo Motta 2

1Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Catania, Italy.
2Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Catania, Italy.
3Department of Pharmacology, Gynecology and Obstetrics, Pediatrics, University of Sassari and Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry, National Research Council (CNR), Li Punti (SS), Italy.

*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Dr. Francesco Pappalardo, E-mail: francesco{at}dmi.unict.it


  Abstract

Motivation: Atherosclerosis is a disease that is present in almost all humans, typically beginning in early adolescence. It is a human disease broadly investigated, that is amenable to quantitative analysis. Oxidized low-density lipoproteins and their autoantibodies are involved in the development of atherosclerosis in animal models, but their role in humans is still not clear. Computer models may represent a virtual environment to perform experiments not possible in human volunteers that can provide a useful instrument for monitoring both the evolution of atherosclerotic lesions and to quantify the efficacy of treatments, including vaccines, oriented to reduce the low density lipoproteins and their oxidized fraction.

Results: We report the application of an Agent Based Model to model both the immune response to atherogenesis and the atheromatous plaque progression in a generic artery wall. The level of oxidized low density lipoproteins, the immune humoral response with production of autoantibodies, the macrophages activity and the formation of foam cells are in good agreement with available clinical data, including the formation of atheromatous plaques in patients affected by hypercholesterolemia.

Availability: The model is available at http://www.immunogrid.eu/atherogenesis/

Contact: francesco{at}dmi.unict.it

Associate Editor: Prof. Thomas Lengauer

Received on February 25, 2008; revised on May 8, 2008; accepted on June 10, 2008

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