TY - JOUR T1 - Using Network Component Analysis to Dissect Regulatory Networks Mediated by Transcription Factors in Yeast A1 - Ye, Chun A1 - Galbraith, Simon J. A1 - Liao, James C. A1 - Eskin, Eleazar Y1 - 2009/03/20 N2 - Author Summary One of the fundamental challenges in biology in the post-genomics era is understanding the complex regulatory mechanisms that govern how genes are turned on and off. In a single organism where the functions of individual genes in a population do not differ much, many of the differences between individuals including physical phenotypes, susceptibility to disease, and response to drugs can be attributed to how genes are regulated. Previous studies have largely focused on identifying regulator and target genes whose expressions are linked to genetic variations in a population. We present work that focuses on considering a specific set of regulators called transcription factors whose targets can be verified from experiments and whose interactions with those targets have been well studied and modeled. In this setting, we can begin to understand how genetic variations perturb the concentrations and promoter affinities of active transcription factors to induce differential expression of the targets. Understanding the effects of these perturbations is important to understanding the fundamental biology of gene regulation and can help us to design and assess therapeutics and treatments for complex diseases. JF - PLOS Computational Biology JA - PLOS Computational Biology VL - 5 IS - 3 UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000311 SP - e1000311 EP - PB - Public Library of Science M3 - doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000311 ER -