Thematic review series: The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Toward a biological network for atherosclerosis.

The goal of systems biology is to define all of the elements present in a given system and to create an interac- tion network between these components so that the behav- ior of the system, as a whole and in parts, can be explained under specified conditions. The elements constituting the network that influences the development of atherosclerosis could be genes, pathways, transcript levels, proteins, or physiologic traits. In this review, we discuss how the inte- gration of genetics and technologies such as transcriptomics and proteomics, combined with mathematical modeling, may lead to an understanding of such networks. —Ghazal- pour, A., S. Doss, X. Yang, J. Aten, E. M. Toomey, A. Van Nas, S. Wang, T. A. Drake, and A. J. Lusis. Toward a biologi- cal network for atherosclerosis. J. Lipid Res. 2004. 45: 1793- 1805.