Institute of Network Biology

The goal of the INET research is to understand the principles and specifics of protein interaction network function, and how perturbations by microbes and evolutionary processes result in altered phenotypes.
The underlying question is: how are biological networks modulated to exhibit desirable novel phenotypes?
The vision of our research is that understanding molecular networks and their dynamics by natural perturbations will facilitate their targeted modulation for applications in medicine and bio economy.
In our integrated research, we use high-throughput protein-interaction mapping, modeling, bioinformatic data integration, and hypothesis-driven cell biology, genetics, and biochemistry.

The goal of the Institute of Network Biology (INET) research is to understand the principles and specifics of protein interaction network function, and how perturbations by microbes and evolutionary processes result in altered phenotypes.
The underlying question is: how are biological networks modulated to exhibit desirable novel phenotypes?
The vision of our research is that understanding molecular networks and their dynamics by natural perturbations will facilitate their targeted modulation for applications in medicine and bio economy.
In our integrated research, we use high-throughput protein-interaction mapping, modeling, bioinformatic data integration, and hypothesis-driven cell biology, genetics, and biochemistry.

The knowledge generated by our research will facilitate disease prevention, supports pandemic preparedness and leverages mechanistic insights towards drug discovery.

How govern molecular interaction networks cellular function and human health? We ask fundamental questions about the network organization of human genetics, and we study how microbes and viruses contribute to post-infectious and other complex diseases.

Interactomics (1) farbig grafik for interactomics

Pan-Corona Network without further details

Multi-assay high-throughput interactome mapping - systems analysis, virus- & microbe-host interactions

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Deep learning for network state prediction, genetic disease architecture (Speos), and multi-omics network dynamics

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6 well plate - cellcuture with medium
Laborant at work

Targeted functional follow-up, mechanistic studies

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11.6.2026

Pascal speaks at HAICON 2026 - The interaction layer: why the virtual cell needs biochemistry

Pascal@HUPO-PSI Spring Meeting 2026, 5-8 May in Rome

5-8 May 2026 Rome, Italy

Enriched clusters of shared functional annotations in Y2H-union-25, over-time, with the addition of each dataset.
Lambourne, L., Yadav, A., Wang, Y. et al. Experimental assessment of AI-based interactome mapping. Nat Commun 17, 4894 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70942-x

Lambourne L, Yadav A, Wang Y, Desbuleux A, Kim DK, Laval F, Spirohn-Fitzgerald K, Cafarelli T, Pons C, Kovács IA, Jailkhani N, Schlabach S, De Ridder D, Luck K, Botchkarev VV Jr, Debnath O, Bian W, Shen Y, Yang Z, Mee MW, Helmy M, Jacob Y, Lemmens I,…

PPI networks derived from BMDM RNA-seq (LPS versus FD + LPS, PBS baseline). Modules were clustered by KEGG/Reactome terms; antigen presentation node shows altered interaction strength.
from

Dragunas G, Klotz M, Chen S, Ertüz Z, Tan X, Korkmaz ÜR, Shankhwar S, Rankl B, Dhakad D, Omony J, Mayr CH, Chen Y, Agami A, Lin CW, Müller C, Lunding L, Wegmann M, Berner J, Popovic J, Schraml BU, Adler H, Falter-Braun P, Schiller H, Watz H, Conlon TM, Jeridi A, Kapellos TS, von Mutius E, Yildirim AÖ. A beneficial environment promotes immune resilience through epigenetic regulation. Sci Adv. 2026 Feb 27;12(9):eady7317. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ady7317. Epub 2026 Feb 27. PMID: 41758935; PMCID: PMC12947861.

Fig. 3. ATAC-seq and RNA-seq integration in BMDMs identifies that MHCII gene chromatin closing is associated with reduced gene expression.
(A) PPI networks derived from BMDM RNA-seq (LPS versus FD + LPS, PBS baseline). Modules were clustered by KEGG/Reactome terms; antigen presentation node shows altered interaction strength.

Dragunas, G., Klotz, M., Chen, S., Ertüz, Z., Tan, X., Korkmaz, Ü. R., Shankhwar, S., Rankl, B., Dhakad, D., Omony, J., Mayr, C. H., Chen, Y., Agami, A., Lin, C. W., Müller, C., Lunding, L., Wegmann, M., Berner, J., Popovic, J., Schraml, B. U.,…

left: Disease groups for which genetic predisposition proteins are enriched in network neighbourhoods of effectors of the indicated strains. Trait node size corresponds to number of significantly targeted traits in that group as indicated in the legend.
rgiht: Human microbiome meta-interactome (HuMMI) map

Young V, Dohai B, Halder H, Fernandez-Macgregor J, van Heusden NS, Hitch TCA, Weller B, Hyden P, Saha D, Pieren DKJ, Rittchen S, Lambourne L, Maseko SB, Lin CW, Tun YM, Bibus J, Pletschacher L, Boujeant M, Choteau SA, Bergogne L, Perrin J, Ober F,…

Healthy gut bacteria concept with natural probiotics for immune support.

Bacteria in the human gut can directly deliver proteins into human cells, actively shaping immune responses. Led by researchers at Helmholtz Munich, with participation from Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU), Aix Marseille University, Inserm, and…

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a non-curable degenerative disease of the motor nervous system. The cause of the disease is largely unknown: In addition to genetic factors, viruses are also suspected to be involved in the development of the…

Prof. Dr. Pascal Falter-Braun

Director of the Institute for Network Biology, INET

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Bushra Dohai

Doctoral researcher

Dr. Claudia Falter

Senior Scientist, INET

Hridi Halder

Doctoral researcher

Henrietta Holze

Doctoral researcher

Hatice Karabudak

Lab Assitant

Alina Khan

Doctoral researcher

Dr. Chung-Wen Lin

Senior-Postdoc

Benedikt Mairhörmann

Doctoral researcher

Simin Rothballer

Technician (Dipl. Biol.)

Timothy Tjalma

Doctoral researcher

Yemin Tun

Research Student

Dr. Benjamin Weller

Senior Scientist

Lambourne, L. ; Yadav, A. ; Wang, Y. ; Desbuleux, A. ; Kim, D.K. ; Laval, F. ; Spirohn-Fitzgerald, K. ; Cafarelli, T. ; Pons, C. ; Kovács, I.A. ; Jailkhani, N. ; Schlabach, S. ; De Ridder, D. ; Luck, K. ; Botchkarev, V.V. ; Debnath, O. ; Bian, W. ; Shen, Y. ; Yang, Z. ; Mee, M.W. ; Helmy, M. ; Jacob, Y. ; Lemmens, I. ; Rolland, T. ; McClain, G.G. ; Coté, A.G. ; Gebbia, M. ; Kishore, N. ; Knapp, J.J. ; Mellor, J.C. ; Memisoglu, G. ; Reimand, J. ; Tavernier, J. ; Cusick, M.E. ; Zhong, Q. ; Aloy, P. ; Hao, T. ; Charloteaux, B. ; Roth, F.P. ; De Las Rivas, J. ; Falter-Braun, P. ; Hill, D.E. ; Calderwood, M.A. ; Twizere, J.C. ; Vidal, M.

Experimental assessment of AI-based interactome mapping.

Weller, B. ; Lin, C.-W. ; Rothballer, S.T. ; Calderwood, M.A. ; Falter-Braun, P. ; Falter, C.

NeuroViOme: A viral orfeome collection for studies of neurodegenerative disease.

Dragunas, G. ; Klotz, M. ; Chen, S. ; Ertüz, Z. ; Tan, X. ; Korkmaz, R.Ü. ; Shankhwar, S. ; Rankl, B. ; Dhakad, D. ; Omony, J. ; Mayr, C.H. ; Chen, Y. ; Agami, A. ; Lin, C.-W. ; Müller, C. ; Lunding, L. ; Wegmann, M. ; Berner, J. ; Popovic, J. ; Schraml, B.U. ; Adler, H. ; Falter-Braun, P. ; Schiller, H.B. ; Watz, H. ; Conlon, T.M. ; Jeridi, A. ; Kapellos, T. ; von Mutius, E. ; Yildirim, A.Ö.

A beneficial environment promotes immune resilience through epigenetic regulation.

Young, V. ; Dohai, B.S.M. ; Halder, H. ; Fernandez-Macgregor, J. ; van Heusden, N.S. ; Hitch, T.C.A. ; Weller, B. ; Hyden, P. ; Saha, D. ; Pieren, D.K.J. ; Rittchen, S. ; Lambourne, L. ; Maseko, S.B. ; Lin, C.-W. ; Tun, Y.M. ; Bibus, J. ; Pletschacher, L. ; Boujeant, M. ; Choteau, S.A. ; Bergogne, L. ; Perrin, J. ; Ober, F. ; Schwehn, P. ; Rothballer, S.T. ; Altmann, M. ; Altmann, S. ; Strobel, A. ; Rothballer, M. ; Tofaute, M.J. ; Kotlarz, D.M. ; Heinig, M. ; Clavel, T. ; Calderwood, M.A. ; Vidal, M. ; Twizere, J.C. ; Vincentelli, R. ; Krappmann, D. ; Boes, M. ; Falter, C. ; Rattei, T. ; Brun, C. ; Zanzoni, A. ; Falter-Braun, P.

Effector-host interactome map links type III secretion systems in healthy gut microbiomes to immune modulation.

Padovani, F. ; Stegmaier, T. ; Mairhörmann, B. ; Schmoller, K.M.

Analysis of multidimensional microscopy data using cell-ACDC.

Ratajczak, F. ; Heinig, M. ; Falter-Braun, P.

Exploring the omnigenic architecture of selected complex traits.

Dugied, G. ; Laurent, E.M. ; Attia, M. ; Gimeno, J.P. ; Bachiri, K. ; Samavarchi-Tehrani, P. ; Donati, F. ; Rahou, Y. ; Munier, S. ; Amara, F. ; Dos Santos, M. ; Soler, N. ; Volant, S. ; Pietrosemoli, N. ; Gingras, A.C. ; Pavlopoulos, G.A. ; van der Werf, S. ; Falter-Braun, P. ; Aloy, P. ; Jacob, Y. ; Komarova, A. ; Sofianatos, Y. ; Coyaud, E. ; Demeret, C.

Multimodal SARS-CoV-2 interactome sketches the virus-host spatial organization.

Zhou, J. ; Ridderbeek, K. ; Zou, P. ; Naden, A.B. ; Gaussmann, S. ; Song, F. ; Falter-Braun, P. ; Kay, E.R. ; Sattler, M. ; Cui, J.

Modular nanoparticle platform for solution-phase optical sensing of protein-protein interactions.