ABSTRACT
Provided by Computer Simulations ...................................38 1.6 Conclusion ......................................................................................................39 References................................................................................................................39
Life relies on myriads of interactions between the molecular components of living systems. Proteins are a remarkable example in view of their diversity (the very name of proteins stems from Proteus, a Greek god known for his capacity to change shape). Several decades ago, the author of a well-known treatise on proteins [45] wrote that “... the biological function of proteins almost invariably depends on their direct physical interaction with other molecules.” More recently, systematic use of powerful techniques such as yeast double hybrid or mass spectrometry was the basis for a large-scale attempt to build exhaustive databases of protein interactions, the socalled interactome [16]. Over 250,000 interactions between about 22,000 proteins were recorded in the Unified Interactome Database in the year 2008 [30].
