Complex systems are successfully reduced to interacting elements via thenetwork concept. Transport plays a key role in the survival of networks. Forexample the specialized signaling cascades of cellular networks filter noiseand efficiently adapt the network structure to new stimuli. However, ourgeneral understanding of transport mechanisms and signaling pathways in complexsystems is yet limited. Here we summarize the key network structures involvedin transport, list the solutions available to overloaded systems for relaxingtheir load and outline a possible method for the computational determination ofsignaling pathways. We highlight that in addition to hubs, bridges and thenetwork skeleton, the overlapping modular structure is also essential innetwork transport. Moreover, by locating network elements in the space ofoverlapping network modules and evaluating their distance in this "modulespace", it may be possible to approximate signaling pathways computationally,which, in turn could serve the identification of signaling pathways of complexsystems. Our model may be applicable in a wide range of fields includingtraffic control or drug design.
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