@inbook{62a89ef71a2d46c08f7eff94cf0e2a44,
title = "Biological Robustness and the Role of MicroRNAs. A Network Perspective",
abstract = "Over the past decade, microRNA molecules have emerged as critical regulators in the expression and function of animal genomes. This review discusses the relationship between microRNA-mediated regulation and the robustness of biochemical networks that contain microRNAs. Most biochemical networks are robust; they are relatively insensitive to the precise values of reaction constants and concentrations of molecules acting within the network. MicroRNAs involved in network robustness may appear to be nonessential under favourable uniform conditions used in conventional laboratory experiments. However, the function of these molecules can be revealed under environmental and genetic perturbations. Recent advances have revealed unexpected features of microRNA organization in networks that help explain their promotion of robustness.",
keywords = "Gene regulation, MicroRNA, Networks, Robustness, Systems biology",
author = "Nicol{\'a}s Pel{\'a}ez and Carthew, {Richard W.}",
note = "Funding Information: We thank Justin Cassidy, Adam Pah, and Patrick McMullen for helpful discussions. This work was funded by the NIH (GM077581), the Chicago Center for Systems Biology (CCSB), the Chicago Biomedical Consortium (CBC) with support from The Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust, and the Malkin Scholars Program from the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.",
year = "2012",
doi = "10.1016/B978-0-12-387038-4.00009-4",
language = "English (US)",
series = "Current Topics in Developmental Biology",
publisher = "Academic Press Inc",
pages = "237--255",
booktitle = "Current Topics in Developmental Biology",
}