VennMaster: Area-proportional Euler diagrams for functional GO analysis of microarrays

Background: Microarray experiments generate vast amounts of data. The functional context of differentially expressed genes can be assessed by querying the Gene Ontology (GO) database via GoMiner. Directed acyclic graph representations, which are used to depict GO categories enriched with differentially expressed genes, are difficult to interpret and, depending on the particular analysis, may not be well suited for formulating new hypotheses. Additional graphical methods are therefore needed to augment the GO graphical representation. Results: We present an alternative visualization approach, area-proportional Euler diagrams, showing set relationships with semi-quantitative size information in a single diagram to support biological hypothesis formulation. The cardinalities of sets and intersection sets are represented by area-proportional Euler diagrams and their corresponding graphical (circular or polygonal) intersection areas. Optimally proportional representations are obtained usin...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2008
• Where: BMCBI
• Authors: Hans A. Kestler, André Müller, Johann M. Kraus, Malte Buchholz, Thomas M. Gress, Hongfang Liu, David W. Kane, Barry Zeeberg, John N. Weinstein
• Keywords: Area-proportional Euler, Area-proportional Euler Diagrams, BMCBI 2008, Expressed Genes