Distinct Biological Network Properties between the Targets of Natural Products and Disease Genes

Abstract

We show that natural products target proteins with a high number of protein−protein functional interactions (high biological network connectivity) and that these protein targets have higher network connectivity than disease genes. This feature may facilitate disruption of essential biological pathways, resulting in competitor death. This result also suggests that additional sources of small molecules will be required to discover drugs targeting the root causes of human disease in the future.