The Computational Versatility of Proteomic Signaling Networks

Almost all proteomic signaling networks in prokaryotes and eukaryotes are based on the simple phosphorylation / dephosporylation cycle; from this simple unit it is possible to construct a huge variety of control and computational circuits, both analog and digital. With the characterization of many signaling networks, researchers are turning to address the question of how a particular physiological response can be understood in terms of the proteins that make up the network; this is one of the central questions in “Systems Biology”. In this article I wish to summarize the great versatility of the basic protein cycle as a means to construct complex functional behaviors including the central role that feedback plays in determining the properties of protein based networks.