| The aim of this symposium is to bring
together researchers from different fields of computational and
experimental biology, to discuss the use of biomolecular interaction
networks to study cell function in both physiological and pathological
contexts. These interaction maps, also known as interactomes, model
protein-protein, protein-DNA and protein-small molecule interaction
networks either within an organism or within specific cellular
contexts. The function of proteins, nucleic acids, and other
biomolecules can only be defined through their interactions in vivo.
Such biochemical interactions – including those involved in signal
transduction, transcriptional and translational regulation, as well as
in the assembly of large molecular complexes – are astonishing in their
magnitude and diversity. For instance, it has been shown that most
proteins interact with multiple partners, forming intricate interaction
networks. Similarly, individual transcription factor can bind to tens
of thousands of genomic sites and regulate the expression of thousands
of genes, both in isolation and in combinatorial fashion.
Regulatory interactions play a key role in determining cellular
differentiation, in maintaining cellular and organism homeostasis, and
in triggering abnormal differentiation events leading to human disease
including cancer. Not surprisingly, even slight genetic and epigenetic
perturbations of these regulatory pathways can trigger macroscopic
changes in normal cell physiology and lead to disease. Due to the
abundance of experimental data, researchers are starting to uncover
some general rules and principles underlying molecular interaction
networks: their topological properties, the relationships between their
components, evolutionary conservation and divergence, and their role in
maintaining specific cellular functions and processes. Despite
significant advances, however, knowledge about the distinct functional
roles of many proteins is still elusive. Thus, interaction networks
have emerged as exceedingly useful tools in predicting context-specific
molecular function based on knowledge of upstream regulators, cognate
binding partners, and downstream regulated targets. Furthermore,
molecular interaction networks are starting to provide a unique
integrative context to study additional disease-related genetic and
epigenetic data, including single nucleotide mutations and
polymorphisms, gene copy number alterations and complex, polygenic
diseases. |
from €84.82*
