Sensitivity-dependent model of protein–protein interaction networks

Abstract

The scale free structure p(k) ∼ k−γ of protein–protein interaction networks can be reproduced by a static physical model in simulation. We inspect the model theoretically, and find the key reason for the model generating apparent scale free degree distributions. This explanation provides a generic mechanism of ‘scale free’ networks. Moreover, we predict the dependence of γ on experimental protein concentrations or other sensitivity factors in detecting interactions, and find experimental evidence to support the prediction.