The laboratory is engaged in a number of research projects to understand
the joint interaction network formed by the interface between human and
pathogenic host (either microbial or viral). We applied our PathBLAST
comparison tool to study the protein interaction network of Plasmodium
falciparum, the pathogenic protozoan that causes malaria. Surprisingly,
we found that very few regions of the Plasmodium protein network were
homologous to the available protein networks of yeast, fly, worm, or
bacteria [Suthram et al. Nature 438(7064):108-12 2005]. This finding does
not appear to be caused by noise or lack of coverage in the Plasmodium
network.
We have also engaged in collaborations with a number of groups (Howard
Fox, Sumit Chanda, Juergen Hass, Peter Uetz) to study protein networks
enabling different HIV and herpes-like viruses. These efforts have
involved use of our Active Modules approach [Ideker et
al.Bioinformatics18: S233. 2002] to identify network regions that are
required for HIV infection [Konig et al. Nature 463:813-817 2010; Konig
et al. Cell 135(1):49-60 2008; Gersten et al. Journal of Neuroscience
29(40):12467-76 2009] and comparison of herpes virus interaction
networks across five herpes-like viral species [Fossum et al. PLoS
Pathogens 5(9):e1000570 2009] . This research is funded by a grant from
the National Institute of Mental Health.