Modelling the yeast interactome

Abstract

The topology behind biological interaction networks has been studied for over a decade. Yet, there is no definite agreement on the theoretical models which best describe protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. Such models are critical to quantifying the significance of any empirical observation regarding those networks. Here, we perform a comprehensive analysis of yeast PPI networks in order to gain insights into their topology and its dependency on interaction-screening technology. We find that: (1) interaction-detection technology has little effect on the topology of PPI networks; (2) topology of these interaction networks differs in organisms with different cellular complexity (human and yeast); (3) clear topological difference is present between PPI networks, their functional sub-modules, and their inter-functional "linkers"; (4) high confidence PPI networks have more "geometrical" topology compared to predicted, incomplete, or noisy PPI networks; and (5) inter-functional "linker" proteins serve as mediators in signal transduction, transport, regulation and organisational cellular processes.