BioNetLink : an architecture for working with network data

Abstract

The visualization of biological data gained increasing importance in the last years. Thereis a large number of methods and software tools available that visualize biological dataincluding the combination of measured experimental data and biological networks. Withgrowing size of networks their handling and exploration becomes a challenging task forthe user. In addition, scientists also have an interest in not just investigating a single kindof network, but on the combination of different types of networks, such as metabolic, generegulatory and protein interaction networks. Therefore, fast access, abstract and dynamicviews, and intuitive exploratory methods should be provided to search and extract infor-mation from the networks.This paper will introduce a conceptual framework for handling and combining multiplenetwork sources that enables abstract viewing and exploration of large data sets includingadditional experimental data. It will introduce a three-tier structure that links networkdata to multiple network views, discuss a proof of concept implementation, and shows aspecific visualization method for combining metabolic and gene regulatory networks in anexample.