bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2019.12.30.891200; this version posted December 30, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. Insights into Functional Connectivity in Mammalian Signal Transduction Pathways by Pairwise Comparison of Protein Interaction Partners of Critical Signaling Hubs Chilakamarti V. Ramana * Department of Medicine, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH 03766, USA *Correspondence should be addressed: Chilakamarti V .Ramana, Telephone. (603)-738-2507, E-mail:
[email protected] ORCID ID: /0000-0002-5153-8252 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2019.12.30.891200; this version posted December 30, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. Abstract Growth factors and cytokines activate signal transduction pathways and regulate gene expression in eukaryotes. Intracellular domains of activated receptors recruit several protein kinases as well as transcription factors that serve as platforms or hubs for the assembly of multi-protein complexes. The signaling hubs involved in a related biologic function often share common interaction proteins and target genes. This functional connectivity suggests that a pairwise comparison of protein interaction partners of signaling hubs and network analysis of common partners and their expression analysis might lead to the identification of critical nodes in cellular signaling.