Incorporation of myofilament activation mechanics into a lumped model of the human heart

Modelling the lymphatic system: challenges and opportunities

The lymphatic system is a vital part of the circulatory and immune systems, and plays an important role in homeostasis by controlling extracellular fluid volume and in combating infection. Nevertheless, there is a notable disparity in terms of research effort expended in relation to the treatment of lymphatic diseases in contrast to the cardiovascular system. While similarities to the cardiovascular system exist, there are considerable differences in their anatomy and physiology. This review outlines some of the challenges and opportunities for those engaged in modelling biological systems. The study of the lymphatic system is still in its infancy, the vast majority of the models presented in the literature to date having been developed since 2003. The number of distinct models and their variants are few in number, and only one effort has been made thus far to study the entire lymphatic network; elements of the lymphatic system such as the nodes, which act as pumps and reservoirs, have not been addressed by mathematical models. Clearly, more work will be necessary in combination with experimental verification in order to progress and update the knowledge on the function of the lymphatic system. As our knowledge and understanding of its function increase, new and more effective treatments of lymphatic diseases are bound to emerge.

An overview of cardiac systems biology

The cardiac system has been a major target for intensive studies in the multi-scale modeling field for many years. Reproduction of the action potential and the ionic currents of single cardiomyocytes, as well as the construction of a whole organ model is well established. Still, there are major hurdles to overcome in creating a realistic and predictive functional cardiac model due to the lack of a profound understanding of the complex molecular interactions and their outcomes controlling both normal and pathological cardiophysiology. The recent advent of systems biology offers the conceptual and practical frameworks to tackle such biological complexities. This review provides an overview of major themes in the developing field of cardiac systems biology, summarizing some of the high-throughput experiments and strategies used to integrate the datasets, and various types of computational approaches used for developing useful quantitative models capable of predicting complex biological behavior.