Introduction

The site contains several works carried out in the Southern Federal University concerning in silico studies various aspects of aging.

V. A. Chistyakov, Y. V. Denisenko (2009) Age-related cellularity loss in silico, Russian Journal of Chemisty. (The Journal of Russian Chemical D. I. Mendeleev Society), 53, 105–110.
 Gradual reduction of the amount of cells constituting postmitotic tissues appears to be one of the most reliable mechanisms realizing the program of ageing. A signal starting the program of cellular death (PCD) in a part of cellular population can be an excess of a threshold level of PCD inductor production as a result of stochastic processes. Speed of ageing is regulated by the proportion of average PCD inductor produc tion, variability of this rate and the size of a threshold level of the PCD induction. The developed model allows to study the progress of these processes and their modulation by antioxidants in silico.

V. A. Chistyakov, Y. V. Denisenko (2010), Simulation of Drosophila aging in silico, Advances in Gerontology, 23, 557–563.
One of the main tasks of modern gerontology is isolation of the group of phenomena essential for aging from epiphenomenona accompanying them. The modern methods of simulation modeling may be the proper tool for correct isolation. The point of their application is reproduction of external aging manifestations in silico, and, in the first place, of standard survival curves with the help of the simplest internal mechanism. Such a mechanism seems to be the prime mover of aging. The aging model of one the most popular objects of experimental biology, a fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster created by us, is based on the assumption that the key mechanism of aging is cellularity loss, the speed of which is determined by the parameters of active oxygen forms generation in motoneurons.

V. A. Chistyakov, Y. V. Denisenko (2012) Cellularity loss and the Dilman’s problem: in silico research, Biochemistry 77, 936 - 951.
We assumed that prolonged trends of hormone concentration increase can be a consequence of deteriorating func" tioning of glands producing inhibitors of synthesis. This deterioration results from cellularity loss of the glands. The experiments in silicocarried out with the model help prove that the phenomenon of loss of sensitivity to hormonal signals with subsequent stop of cycles can be imitated in the elementary modeling system, and the basis of the given phenomenon, as well as in the basis of the majority of gerontological phenomena, can lie in cellularity loss. The experiments in silico show that, in principle, the diversity of hormonal effects that accompany of the phenoptosis of multicellular organisms can be provided by a simple “software mechanism” This mechanism based on the gradual loss of cellularity as a result of continuous run of apoptosis in some cells of the glands due to natural fluctuations in levels of intracellular inducers of apoptosis. The main practical meaning of our work lies in the illustration of the fact that substances inhibiting cellularity loss can theoretically be effective suppressors of hormonal changes characteristic for aging.

V. A. Chistyakov, Y. V. Denisenko (2015) Aging saves populations from extinction under lack of resources: in silico experiments, Biochemistry 80, 754-759.
Acceptance of the concept of programmed aging (phenoptosis) inevitably causes question regarding advantages such a program brings to communities consisting of old (logically weakened) individuals. We believe that the aging phenomenon being widespread can be explained as follows: in certain situations, the presence of aged individuals becomes a prerequisite for not only evolution, but also for the very survival of populations. The problem we are dealing with in the present work is development of a model that would allow illustration of the existence of situations when aged individuals’ presence governs population survival, while an unaging population would die in such circumstances. The logical basis of the model is the following:

  1. natural populations exist under conditions of uneven level of resource renewal;
  2. a population tends to achieve a peak of size when the rate of resource renewal is high. Peak value is not limited to the availability of resources, but to special biological mechanisms;
  3. decrease in the rate of resource renewal to zero can happen very rapidly, for instance in the case of drought;
  4. in the above described cases, the ability of at least part of the population to survive a period of the lack of resources becomes crucial;
  5. rapid extinction of weaker individuals helps save resources for survival of younger and stronger individuals.
The mathematical framework of the model is based on the principle of multiagent modeling. Experiments in silico confirmed the absence of fatal contradiction in our logical constructions. The presence of the aged individuals once the program of aging has been turned at the age of 25–30 years results in 24–26% addition to the lifetime of the population

Downloads

You can download articles in pdf (Acrobat Reader required). Also you can download models. All models are implemented in Java SE ver 7+ (JRE required). You can download it here