基因组尺度代谢网络研究进展

Progress in genome-scale metabolic network: a review

基因组尺度代谢网络从基因组序列出发,结合基因、蛋白质、代谢数据库和实验数据,从系统的角度定量研究生命体的代谢过程,了解各个组分之间的相互作用关系。这类网络模型对于生命活动理论研究和优良工程菌的构建都具有重要的理论和实践意义。以下结合作者的实际研究经验,对基因组尺度代谢网络从重构到模拟直至应用进行了较为详细的介绍,并讨论了一些目前存在的难题和未来的研究方向。

Dozens of genome-scale metabolic networks have been reconstructed by integrating information from various databases on genes, proteins, metabolites and validated by experiment data from the literature. The reconstructed networks can be used to quantitatively investigate the interactions between components of a biological system at a system level. Such theoretical study could help us understand the organization principle of the large scale network and thus provide guidance to strain optimization through metabolic engineering technology. In this review, we evaluate the methods for the reconstruction, analysis and application of genome-scale metabolic networks. The difficulties and perspectives on this emerging research field are also discussed.