Extended Protein-protein Interaction Networks: Analysis and Visualization

Online biological databases gain importance in research in biology. These databases usually offer an online search, but the results are just prepared in a textual way. Visualization gives a better view on the data for an easier overall impression of the meaning. When researching in the area of proteins and protein-protein interactions, a computer-based analysis facilitates the process of evaluating the data. However, most existing solutions put their focus on one or at most two proteins including their interaction partners. The InSilico Proteomics System project at the FH O¿ R&D Center Hagenberg, Austria, aims on integrating public as well as experimentally obtained protein-protein interaction data in one database. PRIMOS (PRotein Interaction and MOlecule Search engine) provides a Web interface for retrieving data from this database. As a result of this work, the Web interface was expanded with a visualization and a computer-based analysis of the data. This work is targeting biologists with technical knowledge who are investigating proteins and protein-protein interactions and software developers in the biological area - e. g. for bioinformatic tools.