Welcoming contributors for a SBML model of ALS disease

2 points

8 years ago

Two people died of ALS [0] in my family in just 10 years. This hints at a familiar form. Among the dozen of relatives under this threat, are my wife and my two daughters.

I made a toy model [1] of ALS in SBML [2] (an XML dialect for models in system biology). While this model is obviously useless for any medical purpose, its purpose is to start the ball rolling.

It shows the "vicious circle" of ALS, where an initial insult initiates a cascade of cellular destruction by the immune response that will wreck down the nervous system.

What I would welcome is contributors to the model, as well as people that would lead this effort toward a realistic model of ALS. I am too old to bear this load, I just ask to participate in the game.

All proposed code snippets must rely on articles published in a reliable journal, for example Nature.

This model, when it will have matured, in turn could help to test the efficacy of off-label drugs in the ALS context.

In order to test drugs efficacy, some parameters would alter the behavior of species (for example may be an ad hoc parameter could be used to test COX-2 inhibitors in the context of ALS).

Thanks for having read this. My email is jeanpierre dot lerouzic at padiracinnovation dot org.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyotrophic_lateral_sclerosis

[1] https://github.com/Hjertesvikt/ALS_model

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SBML