Structural characteristics in network control of molecular multiplex networks

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the structure of molecular multiplex networks, specifically transcriptional regulatory and protein-protein interaction networks, influences their controllability and energy requirements, revealing key gene roles and coupling effects.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the control mechanisms of molecular multiplex networks, highlighting the impact of gene roles and network coupling on control energy and driver node selection.

Findings

Driver nodes tend to avoid essential or pathogen-related genes.

Imposing inputs on these genes reduces control energy.

Disassortative coupling lowers the number of driver nodes and energy needed.

Abstract

Numerous real-world systems can be naturally modeled as multilayer networks, enabling an efficient way to characterize those complex systems. Much evidence in the context of system biology indicated that the collections between different molecular networks can dramatically impact the global network functions. Here, we focus on the molecular multiplex networks coupled by the transcriptional regulatory network (TRN) and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, exploring the controllability and energy requiring in these types of molecular multiplex networks. We find that the driver nodes tend to avoid essential or pathogen-related genes. Yet, imposing the external inputs to these essential or pathogen-related genes can remarkably reduce the energy cost, implying their crucial role in network control. Moreover, we find that lower minimal driver nodes as well as energy requiring are associated with disassortative coupling between TRN and PPI networks. Our findings in several species provide comprehensive understanding of genes' roles in biology and network control.