Systems biology of DNA repair processes and programmed cell death

Chiars

Olga Lavrik
Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine of SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia

Inna Lavrik
Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

Dmitry Zharkov
Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine of SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia

Sections

The section on DNA Repair and Epigenetic Regulation of Genome Stability would be an extremely important. Defects in DNA repair systems in humans cause serious hereditary diseases, cancer development and aging. Studies of mechanisms of DNA repair are at the forefront of the world science, since this field of molecular biology is directly related to search of the ways of survival of living organisms, and of the optimal strategies of treatment of the gravest human diseases. This section will provide information on the most recent developments in the field of study of DNA repair systems. It will bring together a diverse group of researchers with broad backgrounds and interests stimulating new research and collaborations. In addition, it will provide opportunities for junior scientists and graduate students meet the leading researchers in the field of DNA repair and epigenetic regulation; these interactions are expected to benefit young Russian researchers significantly.

The programmed cell death is essential property of all multicellular organisms. Its deregulation leads to a number of diseases, including cancer and neurodegeneration. The most common cell death pathways comprise apoptosis, necroptosis and autophagy. In the section the computational models of the cell death networks and their biological implications will be addressed. The central attention will be given to the models of extrinsic apoptotic pathways as exemplified models of apoptosis. The non-linear dynamics of the cell death networks, positive feedback loops and bistability as well as stoichiometric switches in apoptosis will be discussed. Furthermore, the current approaches of systems medicine will be presented involving the generation of new therapies connected to diseases with deregulation of cell death. Here special attention will be given to the target identification and development of small molecules specifically interacting with the key regulators of cell death networks.