Clustering approaches for visual knowledge exploration in molecular interaction networks.

in BMC bioinformatics (2018), 19(1), 308

BACKGROUND: Biomedical knowledge grows in complexity, and becomes encoded in network-based repositories, which include focused, expert-drawn diagrams, networks of evidence-based associations and ... [more ▼]

BACKGROUND: Biomedical knowledge grows in complexity, and becomes encoded in network-based repositories, which include focused, expert-drawn diagrams, networks of evidence-based associations and established ontologies. Combining these structured information sources is an important computational challenge, as large graphs are difficult to analyze visually. RESULTS: We investigate knowledge discovery in manually curated and annotated molecular interaction diagrams. To evaluate similarity of content we use: i) Euclidean distance in expert-drawn diagrams, ii) shortest path distance using the underlying network and iii) ontology-based distance. We employ clustering with these metrics used separately and in pairwise combinations. We propose a novel bi-level optimization approach together with an evolutionary algorithm for informative combination of distance metrics. We compare the enrichment of the obtained clusters between the solutions and with expert knowledge. We calculate the number of Gene and Disease Ontology terms discovered by different solutions as a measure of cluster quality. Our results show that combining distance metrics can improve clustering accuracy, based on the comparison with expert-provided clusters. Also, the performance of specific combinations of distance functions depends on the clustering depth (number of clusters). By employing bi-level optimization approach we evaluated relative importance of distance functions and we found that indeed the order by which they are combined affects clustering performance. Next, with the enrichment analysis of clustering results we found that both hierarchical and bi-level clustering schemes discovered more Gene and Disease Ontology terms than expert-provided clusters for the same knowledge repository. Moreover, bi-level clustering found more enriched terms than the best hierarchical clustering solution for three distinct distance metric combinations in three different instances of disease maps. CONCLUSIONS: In this work we examined the impact of different distance functions on clustering of a visual biomedical knowledge repository. We found that combining distance functions may be beneficial for clustering, and improve exploration of such repositories. We proposed bi-level optimization to evaluate the importance of order by which the distance functions are combined. Both combination and order of these functions affected clustering quality and knowledge recognition in the considered benchmarks. We propose that multiple dimensions can be utilized simultaneously for visual knowledge exploration. [less ▲]

ICoVeR - an interactive visualization tool for verification and refinement of metagenomic bins.

in BMC bioinformatics (2017), 18(1), 233

BACKGROUND: Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing allow for much deeper exploitation of natural and engineered microbial communities, and to unravel so-called "microbial dark matter" (microbes ... [more ▼]

BACKGROUND: Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing allow for much deeper exploitation of natural and engineered microbial communities, and to unravel so-called "microbial dark matter" (microbes that until now have evaded cultivation). Metagenomic analyses result in a large number of genomic fragments (contigs) that need to be grouped (binned) in order to reconstruct draft microbial genomes. While several contig binning algorithms have been developed in the past 2 years, they often lack consensus. Furthermore, these software tools typically lack a provision for the visualization of data and bin characteristics. RESULTS: We present ICoVeR, the Interactive Contig-bin Verification and Refinement tool, which allows the visualization of genome bins. More specifically, ICoVeR allows curation of bin assignments based on multiple binning algorithms. Its visualization window is composed of two connected and interactive main views, including a parallel coordinates view and a dimensionality reduction plot. To demonstrate ICoVeR's utility, we used it to refine disparate genome bins automatically generated using MetaBAT, CONCOCT and MyCC for an anaerobic digestion metagenomic (AD microbiome) dataset. Out of 31 refined genome bins, 23 were characterized with higher completeness and lower contamination in comparison to their respective, automatically generated, genome bins. Additionally, to benchmark ICoVeR against a previously validated dataset, we used Sharon's dataset representing an infant gut metagenome. CONCLUSIONS: ICoVeR is an open source software package that allows curation of disparate genome bins generated with automatic binning algorithms. It is freely available under the GPLv3 license at https://git.list.lu/eScience/ICoVeR . The data management and analytical functions of ICoVeR are implemented in R, therefore the software can be easily installed on any system for which R is available. Installation and usage guide together with the example files ready to be visualized are also provided via the project wiki. ICoVeR running instance preloaded with AD microbiome and Sharon's datasets can be accessed via the website. [less ▲]

An integrated network visualization framework towards metabolic engineering applications

in BMC Bioinformatics (2014), 15

Background Over the last years, several methods for the phenotype simulation of microorganisms, underspecified genetic and environmental conditions have been proposed, in the context of Metabolic ... [more ▼]

Background Over the last years, several methods for the phenotype simulation of microorganisms, underspecified genetic and environmental conditions have been proposed, in the context of Metabolic Engineering (ME). These methods provided insight on the functioning of microbial metabolism and played a key role in the design of genetic modifications that can lead to strains of industrial interest. On the other hand, in the context of Systems Biology research, biological network visualization has reinforced its role as a core tool in understanding biological processes. However, it has been scarcely used to foster ME related methods, in spite of the acknowledged potential. Results In this work, an open-source software that aims to fill the gap between ME and metabolic network visualization is proposed, in the form of a plugin to the OptFlux ME platform. The framework is based on an abstract layer, where the network is represented as a bipartite graph containing minimal information about the underlying entities and their desired relative placement. The framework provides input/output support for networks specified in standard formats, such as XGMML, SBGN or SBML, providing a connection to genome-scale metabolic models. An user-interface makes it possible to edit, manipulate and query nodes in the network, providing tools to visualize diverse effects, including visual filters and aspect changing (e.g. colors, shapes and sizes). These tools are particularly interesting for ME, since they allow overlaying phenotype simulation results or elementary flux modes over the networks. Conclusions The framework and its source code are freely available, together with documentation and other resources, being illustrated with well documented case studies. [less ▲]

Robust flux balance analysis of multi- scale biochemical reaction networks

in BMC Bioinformatics (2013), 1(14), 240

Background:Biological processes such as metabolism, signaling, and macromolecular synthesis can be modeled as large networks of biochemical reactions. Large and comprehensive networks, like integrated ... [more ▼]

Background:Biological processes such as metabolism, signaling, and macromolecular synthesis can be modeled as large networks of biochemical reactions. Large and comprehensive networks, like integrated networks that represent metabolism and macromolecular synthesis, are inherently multiscale because reaction rates can vary over many orders of magnitude. They require special methods for accurate analysis because naive use of standard optimization systems can produce inaccurate or erroneously infeasible results. Results: We describe techniques enabling off-the-shelf optimization software to compute accurate solutions to the poorly scaled optimization problems arising from flux balance analysis of multiscale biochemical reaction networks. We implement lifting techniques for flux balance analysis within the openCOBRA toolbox and demonstrate our techniques using the first integrated reconstruction of metabolism and macromolecular synthesis for E. coli. Conclusion:Our techniques enable accurate flux balance analysis of multiscale networks using off-the-shelf optimization software. Although we describe lifting techniques in the context of flux balance analysis, our methods can be used to handle a variety of optimization problems arising from analysis of multiscale network reconstructions. [less ▲]

Arena3D: visualizing time-driven phenotypic differences in biological systems

in BMC Bioinformatics (2012), (13), 45

Elucidating the genotype-phenotype connection is one of the big challenges of modern molecular biology. To fully understand this connection, it is necessary to consider the underlying networks and the ... [more ▼]

Elucidating the genotype-phenotype connection is one of the big challenges of modern molecular biology. To fully understand this connection, it is necessary to consider the underlying networks and the time factor. In this context of data deluge and heterogeneous information, visualization plays an essential role in interpreting complex and dynamic topologies. Thus, software that is able to bring the network, phenotypic and temporal information together is needed. Arena3D has been previously introduced as a tool that facilitates link discovery between processes. It uses a layered display to separate different levels of information while emphasizing the connections between them. We present novel developments of the tool for the visualization and analysis of dynamic genotype-phenotype landscapes. [less ▲]

Exploring biological interaction networks with tailored weighted quasi-bicliques.

in BMC Bioinformatics (2012), 13 Suppl 10

BACKGROUND: Biological networks provide fundamental insights into the functional characterization of genes and their products, the characterization of DNA-protein interactions, the identification of ... [more ▼]

BACKGROUND: Biological networks provide fundamental insights into the functional characterization of genes and their products, the characterization of DNA-protein interactions, the identification of regulatory mechanisms, and other biological tasks. Due to the experimental and biological complexity, their computational exploitation faces many algorithmic challenges. RESULTS: We introduce novel weighted quasi-biclique problems to identify functional modules in biological networks when represented by bipartite graphs. In difference to previous quasi-biclique problems, we include biological interaction levels by using edge-weighted quasi-bicliques. While we prove that our problems are NP-hard, we also describe IP formulations to compute exact solutions for moderately sized networks. CONCLUSIONS: We verify the effectiveness of our IP solutions using both simulation and empirical data. The simulation shows high quasi-biclique recall rates, and the empirical data corroborate the abilities of our weighted quasi-bicliques in extracting features and recovering missing interactions from biological networks. [less ▲]

LAITOR - Literature Assistant for Identification of Terms co-Occurrences and Relationships.

in BMC Bioinformatics (2010), 11

BACKGROUND: Biological knowledge is represented in scientific literature that often describes the function of genes/proteins (bioentities) in terms of their interactions (biointeractions). Such ... [more ▼]

BACKGROUND: Biological knowledge is represented in scientific literature that often describes the function of genes/proteins (bioentities) in terms of their interactions (biointeractions). Such bioentities are often related to biological concepts of interest that are specific of a determined research field. Therefore, the study of the current literature about a selected topic deposited in public databases, facilitates the generation of novel hypotheses associating a set of bioentities to a common context. RESULTS: We created a text mining system (LAITOR: Literature Assistant for Identification of Terms co-Occurrences and Relationships) that analyses co-occurrences of bioentities, biointeractions, and other biological terms in MEDLINE abstracts. The method accounts for the position of the co-occurring terms within sentences or abstracts. The system detected abstracts mentioning protein-protein interactions in a standard test (BioCreative II IAS test data) with a precision of 0.82-0.89 and a recall of 0.48-0.70. We illustrate the application of LAITOR to the detection of plant response genes in a dataset of 1000 abstracts relevant to the topic. CONCLUSIONS: Text mining tools combining the extraction of interacting bioentities and biological concepts with network displays can be helpful in developing reasonable hypotheses in different scientific backgrounds. [less ▲]

Extending pathways and processes using molecular interaction networks to analyse cancer genome data

in BMC Bioinformatics (2010), 11(1), 597-597

Elucidation of functional consequences of signalling pathway interactions

in BMC Bioinformatics (2009), 10(1), 370

GIBA: a clustering tool for detecting protein complexes

in BMC Bioinformatics (2009), 10

Background: During the last years, high throughput experimental methods have been developed which generate large datasets of protein - protein interactions (PPIs). However, due to the experimental ... [more ▼]

Background: During the last years, high throughput experimental methods have been developed which generate large datasets of protein - protein interactions (PPIs). However, due to the experimental methodologies these datasets contain errors mainly in terms of false positive data sets and reducing therefore the quality of any derived information. Typically these datasets can be modeled as graphs, where vertices represent proteins and edges the pairwise PPIs, making it easy to apply automated clustering methods to detect protein complexes or other biological significant functional groupings. Methods: In this paper, a clustering tool, called GIBA (named by the first characters of its developers' nicknames), is presented. GIBA implements a two step procedure to a given dataset of protein-protein interaction data. First, a clustering algorithm is applied to the interaction data, which is then followed by a filtering step to generate the final candidate list of predicted complexes. Results: The efficiency of GIBA is demonstrated through the analysis of 6 different yeast protein interaction datasets in comparison to four other available algorithms. We compared the results of the different methods by applying five different performance measurement metrices. Moreover, the parameters of the methods that constitute the filter have been checked on how they affect the final results. Conclusion: GIBA is an effective and easy to use tool for the detection of protein complexes out of experimentally measured protein - protein interaction networks. The results show that GIBA has superior prediction accuracy than previously published methods. [less ▲]