Expression profile viewer (ExProView): a software tool for transcriptome analysis

Area of Science:

• Bioinformatics
• Computational Biology
• Genomics

Background:

• Gene expression profiling is crucial for understanding cellular functions.
• Analyzing large datasets from expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE) presents computational challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce Expression Profile Viewer (ExProView), a software tool designed for the analysis and visualization of gene expression profiles.
• To provide a user-friendly interface for exploring complex transcriptomic data.

Main Methods:

• Development of ExProView software for processing EST and SAGE data.
• Implementation of a "virtual chip" display for visualizing classified transcript data.
• Integration of multiple gene/protein classification systems (cellular role, subcellular compartment, chromosome localization) for data projection.

Main Results:

• ExProView successfully visualizes gene expression data in a flexible two-dimensional "virtual chip" format.
• The software allows interactive exploration, providing access to detailed gene information and WWW links.
• Public EST and SAGE data from the Cancer Genome Anatomy Project were effectively analyzed and visualized using ExProView.

Conclusions:

• ExProView offers a powerful visualization tool for global mRNA expression analysis.
• The software facilitates the exploration of functional expression patterns and individual gene details.
• ExProView enhances the understanding of complex gene expression datasets through interactive visualization.