Network motifs: simple building blocks of complex networks.

@article{Milo2002NetworkMS,
  title={Network motifs: simple building blocks of complex networks.},
  author={Ron Milo and Shai S. Shen-Orr and Shalev Itzkovitz and Nadav Kashtan and Dmitri B. Chklovskii and Uri Alon},
  journal={Science},
  year={2002},
  volume={298 5594},
  pages={
          824-7
        }
}
Complex networks are studied across many fields of science. [] Key Result We found such motifs in networks from biochemistry, neurobiology, ecology, and engineering. The motifs shared by ecological food webs were distinct from the motifs shared by the genetic networks of Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae or from those found in the World Wide Web.
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6,546 Citations

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Using mathematical modeling, a systematic approach is presented to define "motif generalizations": families of motifs of different sizes that share a common architectural theme in transcription, neuronal, and electronic networks.

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Organisation of feed-forward loop motifs reveals architectural principles in natural and engineered networks

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On motifs and functional modules in complex networks

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It is argued that the over-representation of motifs arises not because motifs are fundamental network fragments, but as a result of predesigned basic functional modules consisting of motif-clusters, and cross-module connections involving buses in the circuits and global regulators in the transcriptional regulatory network.

An Algorithm to Construct Network Motifs for Bioinformatics Study

This paper proposes a systematic method which can generate all the allowed network motifs without bipartite, isolated and isomorphic motifs and illustrated its approach by applying it to generate the complete sets of both 3-node-motifs and 4- node-Motifs.

Organization of feed-forward loop motifs reveals architectural principles in natural and engineered networks

Methods to decipher the rules controlling how small structures cluster and connect in complex networks are developed and shown how this information can be used to effectively predict functionally important nodes in the metabolic network of Escherichia coli.

In Search of the Biological Significance of Modular Structures in Protein Networks

Using computer simulation, it is demonstrated that a higher-than-expected modularity can arise during network growth through a simple model of gene duplication, without natural selection for modularity.

Recurrent Structural Motifs Reflect Characteristics of Distinct Networks

The method from Milo et al. 2002 is modified and improved to detect significantly enriched motifs in both directed and undirected networks and reveals the nature of distinct types of networks.

Formal Analysis of Network Motifs

This work demonstrates the scalability and biological relevance of the formal reasoning approach enabling the synthesis of biological networks capable of reproducing some experimentally observed behavior by revealing the requirement for certain motifs in the network governing stem cell pluripotency.
...

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