Abstracts Keynote & Plenary

genomical and genetic studies for cardiovascular diseases and other complex diseases; (2)
bioinformatics methods for studying complex diseases; and (3) methodological studies for statistical
genetics and genetic epidemiology. Both lessons and achivements generated from the above studies are
highlighted. Finally, the current research interests and personal prospectives on the future in these
fields are discussed.
OR-023
The spatiotemporal
order of signaling events during Drosophila R8 patterning reveals a robust
pattern of concerted Notch/EGFR signaling for competitive cell fate determination
Zhu, Hao
A fundamental
question in biology is how diverse, complex, robust and accurate developmental
patterning is controlled by limited conserved signaling pathways. To answer this question is important
for deciphering both normal and abnormal signaling. To continuously and simultaneously examine
many signaling events in multiple pathways in experiment during a developmental process is difficult.
With a computational model we investigated both the continuous and discrete aspects of the
Atonal-coordinated Hh, EGFR, Notch and Dpp signaling during Drosophila photoreceptor 8 (R8)
patterning, computing molecular concentrations with differential equations and capturing defined
signaling events in each and every cell. We found that the long-range inductive (proneural) Hh
signaling and the short-range restrictive (antineural) Notch and EGFR signaling form the core system
required for the dynamic patterning of the hexagonal R8 array. Captured signaling events clearly
elucidate molecular concentration changes and cell fate determination processes. The spatiotemporal
order of these events reveals a robust pattern of Notch/EGFR signaling in conducting concerted lateral
inhibition for competitive R8 determination, which is conserved in all correct R8 patterning but
violated in all wrong ones. Moreover, R8 patterning is highly robust against changes in those events
not in the pattern. We hypothesize that such pattern may spatiotemporally determine signaling among
cells via correct interaction among pathways, somewhat similar to the signaling protocols for wireless
and wired communication.
OR-024
Applications
of Chemoinformatics in Systems Biology
Yuhui Wang, Fucheng Zhu, Ying Huang, Liang Feng, Wei Xie, Jianhua YAO*
Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling
Road, 200032,
Shanghai, China, yaojh@mail.sioc.ac.cn
Systems biology is a biology-based inter-disciplinary
study field that focuses on the systematic study of
complex interactions in biological systems. One of its goals is to discover new emergent properties that
may arise from the systemic view used by this discipline in order to understand better the entirety of
processes that happen in a biological system [1].
Chemoinformatics is the application of informatics methods to solve chemical problems [2]. In
principle, its methods and technologies include data-based, logic-based and principle-based. It can be
applied in all domains which relate to chemicals, i.e. Drug Discovery, TCM Modernization, Food
Safety and etc.
Metabolites in a metabolic pathway are focused in systems biology. In order to study interaction
mechanics between a drug compound and a target, it is necessary and important to study
metabolism of drug compounds in body. Actually, a metabolism procedure of a compound can be
presented as several chemical reactions [3‐5] (Fig.1). Herein, studies of analysis of metabolism