Because it is one of the first systematic analyses of protein-protein interactions conducted in a really genome-wide scale. Our paper not only provided unsurpassed numbers of putative interactions but also illustrated the power and limitation of such approaches.

Yes. It indeed serves as a wealth of clues to novel discoveries for yeast cell biologists. Furthermore, the protein networks inferred by this work and the other one by Uetz et al is of particular interest to those individuals who work in the fields of bioinformatics, systems biology, and even in physics as well.

Genome projects have revealed a number of novel genes, but the vast majority of such genes lack any clue as to their specific functions and hence we cannot guess what they are doing. An emerging field of functional genomics is currently trying a variety of systematic approaches to tackle these enigmas. Comprehensive analysis of protein-protein interactions has been discussed as a promising approach toward this goal for several years.

Proteins rarely work by themselves. They almost always co-operate by physically interacting with each other to execute their specific functions. Thus, the identification of working partners for a particular protein often helps us learn the protein's role and better understand how they work together to accomplish their task for life. Using a method of so-called "two-hybrid", we examined interaction partners for each of the 6000 proteins of the baker’s yeast. The results have substantially contributed to improving our understanding of this simple but very important organism, which not only provides us with bread and wine but also has been serving as the best model for the cells of our own body.

Takashi Ito, M.D. Ph.D.
Division of Genome Biology,
Department of Molecular Oncology,
Cancer Research Institute,
Kanazawa University
13-1 Takaramachi, Kanazawa 920-0934, Japan