BetaSys: Systems Biology of Regulated Exocytosis in Pancreatic ß-Cells: Systems Biology

Preface.- Systems biology of β-cells - revisited.- Established facts and open questions of the focused systems analysis of regulated exocytosis in β-cells – a background for a focused systems analysis approach.- Mitochondria and metabolic signals in β-cells.- β-cell ontogenesis and the insulin production apparatus.- The role of the cytoskeleton in transport and release of the insulin-containing granules by pancreatic β-cells.- The mathematical microscope making the inaccessible accessible.- Magnetic resonance imaging of pancreatic β-cells.- Mapping the β-cell in 3D at the nanoscale using novel cellular electron tomography and computational approaches.- In vivo applications of inorganic nanoparticles.- Cell cultivation and sensor-based assays for dynamic measurements of cell vitality: basic concepts.- Bioimpedance spectroscopy.- DNA variations, impaired insulin secretion and type-2 diabetes.- Genetically programmed defects in β-cell function.- Proteomic analysis of the pancreatic islet β-cell secretory granule: current understanding and future opportunities.- Physiological and pathophysiological role of islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP, amylin) - a role in the pathogenesis of type-2 diabetes.- Present state of islet transplantation for type-1 diabetes patients.- Predictive protein networks and identification of drugable targets in the β-cell.- Nanotoxicity.- From silicon cell to silicon human.- Probing cellular dynamics with mesoscopic simulations.- What drives calcium oscillations in β-cells? new tasks for cyclic analysis.- Whole-body and cellular models of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion.- Geometric and electromagnetic aspects of fusion pore making.- Index.

From the reviews:
“This second volume is Springer’s Systems Biology series focuses on the organisation of pancreatic insulin-producing beta cells, with a particular focus on the technological approaches deemed necessary to further our understanding of beta cell physiology and the pathogenesis of diabetes. … I warmly recommend should be on the shelves of all research laboratories involved in modern beta cell research.” (P. Meda, Diabetologia, Vol. 54, 2011)

The insulin secreting β-cell is one of the most specialized cell types with diverse and multi-functional components (genes, gene products, organelles and metabolites) and a multitude of regulatory strategies in response to internal and environmental signals. This book looks at the technological advances that make simultaneous detection of thousands of biological variables possible; at a substantial variety of mathematical models and numerical simulations that aim to explain major aspects of the β-cell function; and at the challenge to formulate a comprehensive and robust model of the main networks of the underlying biochemical and physical processes for diagnostic and therapeutic use.

This book uses the example of regulated exocytosis in pancreatic ß-cells, and it’s relevance to diabetes, to illustrate the major concepts of systems biology, its methods and applications In using a focused approach here by picking one outlook, the topic of Systems Biology is more accessible Systems Biology is a fast moving field, but the work presented here emphasizes the principal aspects of the field, making this a tool for on-going research Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras