Building a modular and multi-cellular virtual twin of the synovial joint in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39719524.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41746-024-01396-y and PMC identifier 11668869.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis is a complex disease marked by joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and chronic synovitis, arising from the dysregulated interaction between synoviocytes and immune cells. Its unclear etiology makes finding a cure challenging. The concept of digital twins, used in engineering, can be applied to healthcare to improve diagnosis and treatment for complex diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. In this work, we pave the path towards a digital twin of the arthritic joint by building a large, modular biochemical reaction map of intra- and intercellular interactions. This network, featuring over 1000 biomolecules, is then converted to one of the largest executable Boolean models for biological systems to date. Validated through existing knowledge and gene expression data, our model is used to explore current treatments and identify new therapeutic targets for rheumatoid arthritis.