Integrated networks have become a new interest in genome-scale network research due to their ability to comprehensively reflect and analyze the molecular processes in cells. Currently, none of the integrated networks have been reported for higher organisms. Eriocheir sinensis is a typical aquatic animal that grows through ecdysis. Ecdysone has been identified to be a crucial regulator of ecdysis, but the influence factors and regulatory mechanisms of ecdysone synthesis in E. sinensis are still unclear. In this work, the genome-scale metabolic network and protein-protein interaction network of E. sinensis were integrated to reconstruct a metabolic-protein interaction integrated network (MPIN). The MPIN was used to analyze the influence factors of ecdysone synthesis through flux variation analysis. In total, 236 integrated reactions (IRs) were found to influence the ecdysone synthesis of which 16 IRs had a significant impact. These IRs constitute three ecdysone synthesis routes. It is found that there might be alternative pathways to obtain cholesterol for ecdysone synthesis in E. sinensis instead of absorbing it directly from the feeds. The MPIN reconstructed in this work is the first integrated network for higher organisms. The analysis based on the MPIN supplies important information for the mechanism analysis of ecdysone synthesis in E. sinensis.
Keywords: Eriocheir sinensis; ecdysis; integrated network; metabolic network; protein–protein interaction network.