ChiBE: interactive visualization and manipulation of BioPAX pathway models

Abstract

Summary: Representing models of cellular processes or pathways in a graphically rich form facilitates interpretation of biological observations and generation of new hypotheses. Solving biological problems using large pathway datasets requires software that can combine data mapping, querying and visualization as well as providing access to diverse data resources on the Internet. ChiBE is an open source software application that features user-friendly multi-view display, navigation and manipulation of pathway models in BioPAX format. Pathway views are rendered in a feature-rich format, and may be laid out and edited with state-of-the-art visualization methods, including compound or nested structures for visualizing cellular compartments and molecular complexes. Users can easily query and visualize pathways through an integrated Pathway Commons query tool and analyze molecular profiles in pathway context.

Availability: http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/%7Ebcbi/chibe.html.

Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Fig. 1.

ChiBE views are organized in canvasses, each displaying one or more BioPAX pathways.