Date of Graduation
5-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Chemical Engineering
Advisor/Mentor
Richardson, William
Abstract
Cardiac fibrosis, a large contributor to heart failure, is the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix in response to stress or injury. There are no approved treatments for cardiac fibrosis, and targeting specific species involved creates complex problems for drug development, so a computational model of the cardiac fibroblast signaling network can be used to observe the interactions involved in the progression of cardiac fibrosis. In this paper, a new protein called galectin-3 is integrated into this existing model, and connections are established to expand the coverage of the network. The additions are described, simulated using Netflux biological system simulation software, and assessed to determine the overall contribution galectin-3 has in the development of cardiac fibrosis. This addition will allow for new interactions to be studied, and galectin-3 will be a new target for potential therapies.
Keywords
cardiac fibrosis, galectin-3, extracellular matrix, collagen, Netflux, simulation
Citation
Pieratt, A. (2024). Integrating Galectin-3 Into a Computational Model of Cardiac Fibrosis Progression. Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/cheguht/205