Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 12, 2026

Navigating the Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomic Data Using Free Computational Tools
07:01

Navigating the Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomic Data Using Free Computational Tools

Published on: August 19, 2025

The network organization of cancer-associated protein complexes in human tissues

Jing Zhao1, Sang Hoon Lee, Mikael Huss

  • 1Department of Mathematics, Logistical Engineering University, Chongqing, China. zhaojanne@gmail.com

Scientific Reports
|April 10, 2013
PubMed

Insights

This study shifts focus from disease genes to disease-related protein complexes. Analyzing cancer data, it identifies tissue-specific complexes, offering a new proteomics approach for disease understanding.

Area of Science:

  • Systems biology
  • Proteomics
  • Cancer research

Background:

  • Traditional disease gene studies overlook protein complex functions.
  • Biological functions are often executed by interacting protein complexes, not individual proteins.
  • Understanding disease requires a shift from gene-centric to complex-centric perspectives.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose and validate a novel method for identifying disease-related protein complexes.
  • To analyze differential abundance of protein complexes in human solid tissue cancers.
  • To investigate the relevance of tissue- and cancer-selective complexes in oncogenesis.

Main Methods:

  • Applied an optimization algorithm to genome-wide differential expression data.
  • Calculated differential abundance levels for protein complexes.
  • Extracted tissue- and cancer-selective complexes based on abundance data.

Main Results:

  • Identified specific protein complexes associated with different human solid tissue cancers.
  • Demonstrated a clustering tendency in cancer-complex relationships.
  • Provided a more realistic proteomics approach for disease-related studies.

Conclusions:

  • Protein complexes are crucial functional units in disease.
  • The developed method effectively identifies disease-relevant complexes.
  • This complex-centric approach enhances our understanding of cancer proteomics.

More Related Videos

Glycomics-Guided Glycoproteomics Facilitates Comprehensive Profiling of the Glycoproteome in Complex Tumor Microenvironments10:59

Glycomics-Guided Glycoproteomics Facilitates Comprehensive Profiling of the Glycoproteome in Complex Tumor Microenvironments

Published on: February 7, 2025

Related Concept Videos

Protein Networks02:26

Protein Networks

An organism can have thousands of different proteins, and these proteins must cooperate to ensure the health of an organism. Proteins bind to other proteins and form complexes to carry out their functions. Many proteins interact with multiple other proteins creating a complex network of protein interactions.
These interactions can be represented through maps depicting protein-protein interaction networks, represented as nodes and edges. Nodes are circles that are representative of a protein,...
Protein Networks02:26

Protein Networks

An organism can have thousands of different proteins, and these proteins must cooperate to ensure the health of an organism. Proteins bind to other proteins and form complexes to carry out their functions. Many proteins interact with multiple other proteins creating a complex network of protein interactions.
These interactions can be represented through maps depicting protein-protein interaction networks, represented as nodes and edges. Nodes are circles that are representative of a protein,...
Assembly of Signaling Complexes01:30

Assembly of Signaling Complexes

Multiprotein signaling complexes are formed in a dynamic process involving protein-protein interactions at the cytoplasmic domain of transmembrane receptors or enzymatic and non-enzymatic proteins associated with the receptor. These complexes ensure the activation and propagation of intracellular signals that regulate cell functions.
Interaction domains in cell signaling
Interaction domains recognize exposed features of their binding partners containing post-translationally modified sequences,...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression03:03

mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression

The mammalian target of rapamycin or mTOR protein was discovered in 1994 due to its direct interaction with rapamycin. The protein gets its name from a yeast homolog called TOR. The mTOR protein complex in mammalian cells plays a major role in balancing anabolic processes such as the synthesis of proteins, lipids, and nucleotides and catabolic processes, such as autophagy in response to environmental cues, such as availability of nutrients and growth factors.
The mTOR pathway or the...
Cadherins in Tissue Organization01:19

Cadherins in Tissue Organization

The cadherins are a superfamily of cell adhesion molecules comprising over 180 variants, with specific tissues expressing a particular combination of cadherin types. Cadherins generally exhibit homophilic binding; i.e., cadherins on one cell bind to cadherins of the same or closely related type on another cell. Thus, cells of the same type have a specific affinity to bind to each other and sort themselves into clusters to form tissues.
Cell Sorting During Development
Cell sorting plays an...
Protein Complex Assembly02:41

Protein Complex Assembly

Proteins can form homomeric complexes with another unit of the same protein or heteromeric complexes with different types.  Most protein complexes self-assemble spontaneously via ordered pathways, while some proteins need assembly factors that guide their proper assembly. Despite the crowded intracellular environment, proteins usually interact with their correct partners and form functional complexes.
Many viruses self-assemble into a fully functional unit using the infected host cell to...