Systems Approaches to Study Infectious Diseases

Abstract

Exposure to infectious agents can either lead to active disease or containment or killing of the pathogen. Outcome of an infectious disease is determined by the complex interplay between the host and the pathogen. Therefore, understanding the crosstalk between the host and the pathogen during infection is crucial to identify molecules that are important for the spread or suppression of the disease and for identification of drug targets. Both the host and the pathogen have several mechanisms for countering each other thereby adding layers of complexity to the host-pathogen interplay. Reconstructing mathematical models of complex processes such as cell regulations, signal transductions and host-pathogen interactions provide a detailed understanding of the various interactions and crosstalks occuring in a biological system and thus form a platform to study the system as a whole. Various experimental methods in functional genomics and proteomics as well as computational approaches have been developed over the years that help in building and modeling the biological systems. These approaches have proved quite helpful in identifying drug targets, generating hypotheses rationalizing and finally predicting the cause and final outcome of diseases.