SPIKE - a database, visualization and analysis tool of cellular signaling pathways

Background: Biological signaling pathways that govern cellular physiology form an intricate web of tightly regulated interlocking processes. Data on these regulatory networks are accumulating at an unprecedented pace. The assimilation, visualization and interpretation of these data have become a major challenge in biological research, and once met, will greatly boost our ability to understand cell functioning on a systems level. Results: To cope with this challenge, we are developing the SPIKE knowledge-base of signaling pathways. SPIKE contains three main software components: 1) A database (DB) of biological signaling pathways. Carefully curated information from the literature and data from large public sources constitute distinct tiers of the DB. 2) A visualization package that allows interactive graphic representations of regulatory interactions stored in the DB and superposition of functional genomic and proteomic data on the maps. 3) An algorithmic inference engine that analyzes ...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2008
• Where: BMCBI
• Authors: Ran Elkon, Rita Vesterman, Nira Amit, Igor Ulitsky, Idan Zohar, Mali Weisz, Gilad Mass, Nir Orlev, Giora Sternberg, Ran Blekhman, Jackie Assa, Yosef Shiloh, Ron Shamir
• Keywords: Biological Signaling Pathways, BMCBI 2008, Cellular Physiology, Spike