Article,
Global approaches to protein–protein interactions
Current Opinion in Cell Biology, 15 (2): 199--205 (April 2003)
DOI: 10.1016/s0955-0674(03)00005-x
Abstract
The availability of complete, annotated genome sequences for a variety of eukaryotic organisms has paved the way for a paradigm shift in biomedical research from the 'one gene–one hypothesis' approach to more global, systematic strategies that analyse genes or proteins on a genome- and proteome-wide scale. One daunting task in the post-genome era is to determine how the complement of expressed cellular proteins — the proteome — is organised into functional, higher-order networks, by mapping all constitutive and dynamic protein–protein interactions. Traditionally, reductionist approaches have typically focused on a few, selected gene products and their interactions in a particular physiological context. In contrast, more holistic strategies aim at understanding complex biological systems, for example global protein–protein interaction networks on a cellular or organismal level. Several large-scale proteomics technologies have been developed to generate comprehensive, cellular protein–protein interaction maps.
