cisPath: an R/Bioconductor package for cloud users for visualization and management of functional protein interaction...

Area of Science:

• Bioinformatics
• Computational Biology
• Systems Biology

Background:

• Cloud computing adoption is increasing for application hosting and data access.
• Users require accessible tools for managing and visualizing complex biological data.
• Functional protein interaction networks are crucial for understanding cellular processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce cisPath, an R/Bioconductor package for cloud-based management and visualization of protein interaction networks.
• To enable users to integrate diverse protein-protein interaction data sources.
• To facilitate sharing and collaborative analysis of biological networks.

Main Methods:

• Development of an R/Bioconductor package, cisPath.
• Deployment on cloud servers for web-based access.
• Integration of data from public databases and private sources.
• Generation of interactive, web-based network visualizations.

Main Results:

• cisPath allows construction of personalized protein interaction networks by integrating public and private data.
• Network visualizations are accessible via web browser, enabling interactive viewing and editing without local downloads.
• Results can be shared publicly or privately through web servers or cloud storage.

Conclusions:

• cisPath is a versatile package installable on various platforms, including local desktops.
• Its web-based output is particularly beneficial for cloud users, offering easy access and manipulation.
• The package's user-friendly interface appeals to R beginners and those new to cloud services.