Cancer develops, progresses and responds to therapies through restricted perturbation of the protein-protein interaction network.

ABSTRACT: The products of genes mutated or differentially expressed in cancer tend to occupy central positions within the network of protein-protein interactions, or the interactome network. Integration of different types of gene and protein relationships has considerably increased the understanding of the mechanisms of carcinogenesis, while also enhancing the applicability of expression signatures. In this scenario, however, it remains unknown how cancer develops, progresses and responds to therapies in a potentially controlled manner at the systems level. Here, by applying the concepts of load transfer and cascading failures in power grids, we examine the impact and transmission of cancer-related gene expression changes in the interactome network. Relative to random perturbations, this study revea

SUBMITTER: Serra-Musach J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4699251 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature