Systems Biology Approach of Understanding Insulin Resistance: Linkage between Type 2 Diabetes and Alzheimer's Disease

Insulin resistance (IR) is a physiological condition in which cells in the body become resistant to insulin. It is a known risk factor associated to type 2 diabetes (T2D). Recently, the idea that IR plays an important role in the progression of Alzheimers disease (AD) has been gaining a lot of attention. Comparing the components of the insulin signalling pathway in relation to T2D and AD, there seems to be a lot of commonality. However, on what role IR plays in linking T2D and AD remains unknown. Through systems biology approach, we extended an existing mathematical model (i.e. ODE based) to study and understand the role IR plays in linking T2D and AD. The simulations, together with the experimental data collected from the literature, show that the common components in T2D and AD express the same dynamical behaviors. This result provides the bases for further modelling of the insulin signaling pathway in determining the link between T2D and AD.