Newswise — In order to better predict how targets for new drugs can be discovered and better predict the side effects of drugs, Dr. Ravi Iyengar, graduate student Avi Maayan, and research colleagues at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and IBM's Watson Research Center, have developed a computer network model of a molecular community in brain cells of mammals that is capable of processing information. The study, published in the August 12 issue of Science, analyzes how molecular communities are organized and how connections within these communities enable groups of molecules and proteins to process and interpret information they receive.
"Building and analyzing such networks in computers," says Dr. Iyengar, Professor and Chair, Pharmacology and Biological Chemistry at Mount Sinai, "is the first major step in creating a virtual cell that can be used to identify drug targets and predict side effects of drugs."
"Like a social community or a sports team, a molecular community works together to achieve a common goal," says Dr. Iyengar. "Unlike humans who have six degrees of separation, molecules in a cell have only four degrees of separation. This closeness makes it essential to understand how these molecules function as a community to maintain a healthy state."
The study built a model to see how molecules within a brain cell interact with one another and communicate in order to respond to external stimuli. "With this knowledge," says Dr. Iyengar, "we can now begin to look at how specific drugs can deliver their benefits to damaged or diseased cells and what side effects may arise."
"Each of our cells is like a complex machine with thousands of interconnected parts. This research is helping us understand how all of those parts communicate and interact. With this knowledge, we'll be better able to fix communication problems within the cell, as in the case of diabetes and many other diseases," said Richard Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., a geneticist at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, which supported the work.
The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The Mount Sinai Hospital is one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. Founded in 1852, Mount Sinai today is a 1,171-bed tertiary-care teaching facility that is internationally acclaimed for excellence in clinical care. Last year, nearly 48,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients, more than 72,000 received care in the emergency department, and the outpatient department recorded nearly 470,000 visits. Mount Sinai School of Medicine is internationally recognized as a leader in groundbreaking clinical and basic-science research, as well as innovative approaches to medical education. Mount Sinai ranks 9th among the nation's 125 medical schools in the percentage of graduates who go on to faculty positions in medical schools across the country. Mount Sinai also is in the top 25 in receipt of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants with a total of more than $154 million during Fiscal Year 2003. Information about Mount Sinai can be found online at: www.mountsinai.org and www.mssm.edu
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