Title: Local and Global Network Structure of Protein-Protein Interaction Networks
Abstract:
No protein is an island unto itself, because its function is intimately tied to its set of interaction partners. Since proteins come from genes, and closely-related species exhibit high genetic similarity, we expect that orthologous proteins between species share similar interaction partners. These observations underlie the assumption that the protein-protein interaction networks of many species share similar network connection topology. Conversely, since there are known examples of functional similarity in the absence of sequence similarity, and since a protein’s function is effectively defined by the network topology in which it is embedded, analysis of network topology holds the promise of discovering novel functional relationships that cannot be inferred by sequence analysis. Our lab uses several sophisticated graph theory techniques both to test these statements, and to glean new biological insights into protein function.