title: Robustness of the p53 network and biological hackers.
abstract: The p53 protein interaction network is crucial in regulating the metazoan cell cycle and apoptosis. Here, the robustness of the p53 network is studied by analyzing its degeneration under two modes of attack. Linear Programming is used to calculate average path lengths among proteins and the network diameter as measures of functionality. The p53 network is found to be robust to random loss of nodes, but vulnerable to a targeted attack against its hubs, as a result of its architecture. The significance of the results is considered with respect to mutational knockouts of proteins and the directed attacks mounted by tumour inducing viruses.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences and Experimental Biology (CoMPLEX), University College London (UCL), London NW1 2HE, UK.
authors.forename: Lewis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dartnell
authors.forename: Evangelos
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Simeonidis
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hubank
authors.forename: Sophia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsoka
authors.forename: I David L
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Bogle
authors.forename: Lazaros G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Papageorgiou
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D008954:Models, Biological; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D009858:Oncogenic Viruses / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53