Melanie II--a third-generation software package for analysis of two-dimensional electrophoresis images: I. Features and user interface.
Although two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) computer analysis software packages have existed ever since 2-DE technology was developed, it is only now that the hardware and software technology allows large-scale studies to be performed on low-cost personal computers or workstations, and that setting up a 2-DE computer analysis system in a small laboratory is no longer considered a luxury. After a first attempt in the seventies and early eighties to develop 2-DE analysis software systems on hardware that had poor or even no graphical capabilities, followed in the late eighties by a wave of innovative software developments that were possible thanks to new graphical interface standards such as XWindows, a third generation of 2-DE analysis software packages has now come to maturity. It can be run on a variety of low-cost, general-purpose personal computers, thus making the purchase of a 2-DE analysis system easily attainable for even the smallest laboratory that is involved in proteome research. Melanie II 2-D PAGE, developed at the University Hospital of Geneva, is such a third-generation software system for 2-DE analysis. Based on unique image processing algorithms, this user-friendly object-oriented software package runs on multiple platforms, including Unix, MS-Windows 95 and NT, and Power Macintosh. It provides efficient spot detection and quantitation, state-of-the-art image comparison, statistical data analysis facilities, and is Internet-ready. Linked to proteome databases such as those available on the World Wide Web, it represents a valuable tool for the "Virtual Lab" of the post-genome area.
Appel
R D
RD
Medical Informatics Division, Geneva University Hospital, Switzerland. ron.appel@dim.hcuge.ch
Palagi
P M
PM
Walther
D
D
Vargas
J R
JR
Sanchez
J C
JC
Ravier
F
F
Pasquali
C
C
Hochstrasser
D F
DF
D000465:Algorithms; D003195:Computer Communication Networks; D003196:Computer Graphics; D016208:Databases, Factual; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D012984:Software; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014584:User-Computer Interface