title: Biomarker-guided translation of brain imaging into disease pathway models.
abstract: The advent of state-of-the-art brain imaging technologies in recent years and the ability of such technologies to provide high-resolution information at both structural and functional levels has spawned large efforts to introduce novel non-invasive imaging biomarkers for early prediction and diagnosis of brain disorders; however, their utility in both clinic and drug development at their best resolution remains limited to visualizing and monitoring disease progression. Given the fact that efficient translation of valuable information embedded in brain scans into clinical application is of paramount scientific and public health importance, a strategy is needed to bridge the current gap between imaging and molecular biology, particularly in neurodegenerative diseases. As an attempt to address this issue, we present a novel computational method to link readouts of imaging biomarkers to their underlying molecular pathways with the aim of guiding clinical diagnosis, prognosis and even target identification in drug discovery for Alzheimer's disease.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Bioinformatics, Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing (SCAI), Schloss Birlinghoven, Sankt Augustin 53754, Germany [2] Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn-Aachen International Center for IT, Dahlmannstr. 2, Bonn 53113, Germany.
authors.forename: Erfan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Younesi
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hofmann-Apitius
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers