Systems biology articles within Nature Communications

Featured

• Article | 28 February 2012

  Network physiology reveals relations between network topology and physiological function

  Humans are a network of complex physiological systems, but quantifying these diverse systems is a challenge. This study presents a method to show that each physiological state is characterized by a specific network structure, demonstrating a connection between network topology and function.

  • Amir Bashan
  • , Ronny P. Bartsch
  •  & Plamen Ch. Ivanov

• Article
  21 February 2012 | Open Access

  Stochastic signalling rewires the interaction map of a multiple feedback network during yeast evolution

  GALgenes enhance their own transcription via the transcription factor Gal4p, and the number of Galp4 sites in a promoter is expected to strengthen the feedback. In this study, Hsuet al. show that instead the feedback loops are activated by genes that have frequent bursts of expression and fast RNA decay kinetics.

  • Chieh Hsu
  • , Simone Scherrer
  •  & Attila Becskei

• Article
  03 January 2012 | Open Access

  Existence of long-lasting experience-dependent plasticity in endocrine cell networks

  Experience-dependent plasticity and functional adaptation are thought to be restricted to the central nervous and immune systems. This study shows that long-lasting experience-dependent plasticity is a key feature of endocrine cell networks, allowing improved tissue function and hormone output following repeat demand.

  • David J. Hodson
  • , Marie Schaeffer
  •  & Patrice Mollard

• Article
  04 October 2011 | Open Access

  Designing attractive models via automated identification of chaotic and oscillatory dynamical regimes

  Modelling of chaos and oscillations is usually done indirectly and quantitatively by fitting models to a finite number of data-points. Here, a qualitative framework is developed where the characteristics of the underlying dynamical system are directly specified, revealing new properties of such systems.

  • Daniel Silk
  • , Paul D.W. Kirk
  •  & Michael P.H. Stumpf

• Article
  23 August 2011 | Open Access

  Freely orbiting magnetic tweezers to directly monitor changes in the twist of nucleic acids

  Rotational motion and torsional strain affects DNA replication, transcription and repair. Lipfertet al. have developed a new technique that uses freely orbiting magnetic tweezers to measure equilibrium fluctuations and determine the twist of tethered nucleic acid molecules.

  • Jan Lipfert
  • , Matthew Wiggin
  •  & Nynke H. Dekker

• Article | 09 August 2011

  Delay-induced anomalous fluctuations in intracellular regulation

  Direct negative feedback decreases fluctuations in homoeostatic control, but intracellular regulatory systems are indirect. Here, an analytical expression is derived to show that indirect feedback in transcription and translation leads to more fluctuations for intermediate delays but not for long delays.

  • Andreas Grönlund
  • , Per Lötstedt
  •  & Johan Elf

• Article | 21 December 2010

  Integrated multilaboratory systems biology reveals differences in protein metabolism between two reference yeast strains

  The integration of microarray and metabolite data is important for understanding the physiology of model organisms. This study demonstrates how the integration of these kinds of data can provide novel insights into the growth and protein metabolism of two different yeast strains.

  • André B. Canelas
  • , Nicola Harrison
  •  & Jens Nielsen

• Article
  02 November 2010 | Open Access

  Global distribution of the sickle cell gene and geographical confirmation of the malaria hypothesis

  Sixty years ago it was suggested that the sickle cell disease mutation survives because the heterozygous genotype confers resistance to malaria, resulting in correlation of the two geographical distributions. The authors use a new global assembly of sickle allele frequencies to support this hypothesis at the global scale.

  • Frédéric B. Piel
  • , Anand P. Patil
  •  & Simon I. Hay