Functional cartography of complex metabolic networks

Details Functional cartography of complex metabolic networks Functional cartography of complex metabolic networks

2005-02-23

arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0502035v1

Nature 433, 895-900 (2005)

Biology

Quantitative Biology

Molecular Networks

17 pages, 4 figures. Go to http://amaral.northwestern.edu for the PDF file of the reprint

Scientific paper

10.1038/nature03288

High-throughput techniques are leading to an explosive growth in the size of biological databases and creating the opportunity to revolutionize our understanding of life and disease. Interpretation of these data remains, however, a major scientific challenge. Here, we propose a methodology that enables us to extract and display information contained in complex networks. Specifically, we demonstrate that one can (i) find functional modules in complex networks, and (ii) classify nodes into universal roles according to their pattern of intra- and inter-module connections. The method thus yields a ``cartographic representation'' of complex networks. Metabolic networks are among the most challenging biological networks and, arguably, the ones with more potential for immediate applicability. We use our method to analyze the metabolic networks of twelve organisms from three different super-kingdoms. We find that, typically, 80% of the nodes are only connected to other nodes within their respective modules, and that nodes with different roles are affected by different evolutionary constraints and pressures. Remarkably, we find that low-degree metabolites that connect different modules are more conserved than hubs whose links are mostly within a single module.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Functional cartography of complex metabolic networks does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Functional cartography of complex metabolic networks, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Functional cartography of complex metabolic networks will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-235847