Theory 60/Networks & Connectivity/Systems biology
Hub Proteins Are Essential
The claim
The probability that a protein is essential is set by the ratio of its interaction degree to the redundancy of its partners, not by degree alone.
01Mechanism
A hub can be bypassed if its partners are redundant; essentiality depends on whether losing it disconnects a function.
02Prediction
Essentiality should track the ratio.
03Refutation
Essentiality tracking degree would remove redundancy.