Project Details
Projekt
Computational modelling of liver metabolism and function
Applicant
Dr. Matthias König
Subject Area
General and Visceral Surgery
Term
since 2020
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 436883643
The overarching goal of the QuaLiPerF research unit is to improve the mechanistic understanding of the interplay between hepatic perfusion and metabolic function in healthy and steatotic livers and their responses under surgical intervention. This is achieved by a systems medicine approach, in which experimentalists and modelers closely work. This project - computational modelling of liver metabolism and function - investigates factors important for the metabolic functional capacity of the liver. To this end we will contribute to the overall work program computational models of carbohydrate/lipid metabolism (CH/L) and metabolism of hepatic test compounds (TC) on the cellular and whole-body scale. The objectives of the project are to elucidate the effects of lipid accumulation, changes in perfusion, hepatectomy, and regeneration on hepatic metabolism and function. In detail, we will study the effects on hepatic metabolism and function of: (i) lipid accumulation in NAFLD; (ii) changes in global perfusion to sections of the liver in portal vein ligation (PVL); (iii) changes due to hepatectomy (removal of liver volume in model either with/without changes in perfusion and/or metabolism); (iv) regeneration of liver volume (with/without accompanying changes in perfusion and/or metabolism). Due to the central role of hepatic metabolism in the evaluation of liver function the project will establish methods and workflows to provide reproducible and interoperable models based on standard exchange formats. This will facilitate the coupling of the models to the other modelling projects, uncertainty analysis and parameter estimation, and integration of experimental and clinical data with the models.
DFG Programme
Research Units
