Figure 7

Bow-tie structure under TNFα stress for multiple pathways in the inflammatory system. A specific architecture of TNFα-induced endothelial inflammatory system is extracted from the PPAN in which the core elements of the bow-tie structure are identified via the CTRV ranking algorithm. Upon ligand binding, various types of receptors on the cell membrane trigger different signaling pathways and activate the downstream corresponding transcription factors such as NFκB. NFκB then regulates the expression of genes involved in inflammatory responses. These kinds of gene expression will induce some particular biological mechanisms helping the host to defense the invading microorganisms. In addition, the translation of cytokines and some negatively regulatory proteins will play roles of feedback control to coordinate the balance in immunity.