title: Systems biology approaches in aging research.
abstract: Aging is a systemic process which progressively manifests itself at multiple levels of structural and functional organization from molecular reactions and cell-cell interactions in tissues to the physiology of an entire organ. There is ever increasing data on biomedical relevant network interactions for the aging process at different scales of time and space. To connect the aging process at different structural, temporal and spatial scales, extensive systems biological approaches need to be deployed. Systems biological approaches can not only systematically handle the large-scale datasets (like high-throughput data) and the complexity of interactions (feedback loops, cross talk), but also can delve into nonlinear behaviors exhibited by several biological processes which are beyond intuitive reasoning. Several public-funded agencies have identified the synergistic role of systems biology in aging research. Using one of the notable public-funded programs (GERONTOSYS), we discuss how systems biological approaches are helping the scientists to find new frontiers in aging research. We elaborate on some systems biological approaches deployed in one of the projects of the consortium (ROSage). The systems biology field in aging research is at its infancy. It is open to adapt existing systems biological methodologies from other research fields and devise new aging-specific systems biological methodologies.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Systems Tumor Immunology, Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Erlangen and Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Anuradha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chauhan
authors.forename: Ulf W
authors.initials: UW
authors.lastname: Liebal
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vera
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baltrusch
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Junghanß
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tiedge
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fuellen
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Wolkenhauer
authors.forename: Rüdiger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Köhling
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D035843:Biomedical Research; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D049490:Systems Biology