Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences-Max Planck Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China ; Center of Molecular Systems Biology, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Curr Genomics. 2012 Nov;13(7):558-65. doi: 10.2174/138920212803251418.
Aging can be defined as a process of progressive decline in the physiological capacity of an organism, manifested by accumulated alteration and destabilization at the whole system level. Systems biology approaches offer a promising new perspective to examine the old problem of aging. We begin this review by introducing the concepts of systems biology, and then illustrate the application of systems biology approaches to aging research, from gene expression profiling to network analysis. We then introduce the network that can be constructed using known lifespan and aging regulators, and conclude with a look forward to the future of systems biology in aging research. In summary, systems biology is not only a young field that may help us understand aging at a higher level, but also an important platform that can link different levels of knowledge on aging, moving us closer to a more comprehensive control of systematic decline during aging.
衰老是指生物体生理机能逐渐衰退的过程，表现为整个系统水平上的累积改变和不稳定性。系统生物学方法为研究衰老这一古老问题提供了一个有前途的新视角。我们从介绍系统生物学的概念开始，然后说明系统生物学方法在衰老研究中的应用，从基因表达谱分析到网络分析。接着介绍了使用已知寿命和衰老调节剂构建的网络，并对系统生物学在衰老研究中的未来进行展望。总之，系统生物学不仅是一个可能帮助我们在更高水平上理解衰老的年轻领域，也是一个可以连接衰老不同层次知识的重要平台，使我们更接近在衰老过程中对系统衰退进行更全面的控制。
