Integrating Networks and Proteomics: Moving Forward

Networks can resolve many analytical problems in proteomics, including incomplete coverage and inconsistency. Despite high expectations, network-related research in proteomics has experienced only modest growth. In practice, most current research examines non-quantitative usages, for example determining physical interactions among proteins or contextualizing a differential protein list, rather than addressing practical quantitative usages, for example predicting missing proteins or making sample-class predictions. Moreover, many applications are irreproducible and are not widely adopted owing to a lack of common standards, particularly evaluation criteria and gold-standard datasets. A concerted drive towards quantitative applications and convergence towards common standards is essential for ‘network-based proteomics’ to realize its development potential and make meaningful contributions to clinical applications.