Title: Grafta: A 3D environment for biomolecular networks

Authors: Peyman Najmabadi, Hans He Lee, Tony Aung, Aung Thuya, Julio Ng, James J. La Clair, Michael D. Burkart

Addresses: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92037-0358, USA. ' Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92037-0358, USA. ' Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92037-0358, USA. ' Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92037-0358, USA. ' Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92037-0358, USA. ' Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92037-0358, USA. ' Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92037-0358, USA

Abstract: The importance of a comprehensive environment for the depiction of biomolecular networks in the domain of system biology has been emphasised after the completion of genomic, proteomic and metabolomic initatives. Grafta is a software application developed for the three dimensional illustration of biomolecular interactions such as protein interaction networks. Grafta allows its user to move in a 3D environment through a complex assembly of biomolecules represented by 3D objects such as spheres. Their interactions are displayed by an array of 3D tubes. One novelty in Grafta is its anthropomorphic navigation of the viewpoint with respect to the displayed biomolecular network.

Keywords: systems biology; molecular networks; graphical display; proteomics; genomics; metabolomic; 3D graphic environments; biomolecular networks; bioinformatics; protein interaction networks; biomolecules; 3D tubes; anthropomorphic navigation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBRA.2009.028683

International Journal of Bioinformatics Research and Applications, 2009 Vol.5 No.5, pp.564 - 569

Published online: 22 Sep 2009 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article