PathIN: an integrated tool for the visualization of pathway interaction networks

Abstract

PathIN is a web-service that provides an easy and flexible way for rapidly creating pathway-based networks at several functional biological levels: genes, compounds and reactions. The tool is supported by a database repository of reference pathway networks across a large set of species, developed through the freely available information included in the KEGG, Reactome and Wiki Pathways database repositories. PathIN provides networks by means of five diverse methodologies: (a) direct connections between pathways of interest, (b) direct connections as well as the first neighbours of the given pathways, (c) direct connections, the first neighbours and the connections in between them, and (d) two additional methodologies for creating complementary pathway-to-pathway networks that involve additional (missing) pathways that interfere in-between pathways of interest. PathIN is expected to be used as a simple yet informative reference tool for understanding networks of molecular mechanisms related to specific diseases.

Keywords

• Pathway Networks
• Database repositories
• Pathway analysis
• Graph theory