  A major part of membrane function is conducted by proteins, both integral and
peripheral. Peripheral membrane proteins temporarily adhere to biological
membranes, either to the lipid bilayer or to integral membrane proteins with
non-covalent interactions. The aim of this study was to construct and analyze
the interactions of the human plasma membrane peripheral proteins (peripherome
hereinafter). For this purpose, we collected a dataset of peripheral proteins
of the human plasma membrane. We also collected a dataset of experimentally
verified interactions for these proteins. The interaction network created from
this dataset has been visualized using Cytoscape. We grouped the proteins based
on their subcellular location and clustered them using the MCL algorithm in
order to detect functional modules. Moreover, functional and graph theory based
analyses have been performed to assess biological features of the network.
Interaction data with drug molecules show that ~10% of peripheral membrane
proteins are targets for approved drugs, suggesting their potential
implications in disease. In conclusion, we reveal novel features and properties
regarding the protein-protein interaction network created by peripheral
proteins of the human plasma membrane.
