title: A systems biology approach to understanding atherosclerosis.
abstract: Atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory disease of the vascular system, presents significant challenges to developing effective molecular diagnostics and novel therapies. A systems biology approach integrating data from large-scale measurements (e.g. transcriptomics, proteomics and genomics) is successfully contributing to deciphering regulatory networks underlying the response of many different cellular systems to perturbations. Such a network analysis strategy using pathway information and data from multiple measurement platforms, tissues and species is a promising approach to elucidate the mechanistic underpinnings of complex diseases. Here, we present our views on the contributions that a systems approach can bring to the study of atherosclerosis, propose ways to tackle the complexity of the disease in a systems manner and review recent systems-level studies of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ramsey
authors.forename: Elizabeth S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Gold
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aderem
mesh_terms: D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D040901:Proteomics; D049490:Systems Biology / Q000379:methods*