Commentary


Nature Chemical Biology 4, 643 - 647 (2008)
doi:10.1038/nchembio1108-643

Reverse engineering intracellular biochemical networks

Eli Zamir1 & Philippe I H Bastiaens1

  1. Eli Zamir & Philippe I H Bastiaens are in the Department of Systemic Cell Biology, Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Dortmund 44227, Germany.
    e-mail: philippe.bastiaens@mpi-dortmund.mpg.de


Although much is known about the molecular components of cellular signaling pathways, very little is known about how these multicomponent biochemical machineries process complex extracellular signals to generate a consolidated cellular response. A newly developed theoretical approach for reverse engineering network structure—analyzing how perturbations propagate in a network—can be combined with chemical perturbations and quantitative detection approaches to reveal the causal connections within protein networks in cells. This information indicates the dynamic capabilities of a network and thereby its potential function.

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