title: Exploring molecular networks using MONET ontology.
abstract: The description of the complex molecular network responsible for cell behavior requires new tools to integrate large quantities of experimental data in the design of biological information systems. These tools could be used in the characterization of these networks and in the formulation of relevant biological hypotheses. The building of an ontology is a crucial step because it integrates in a coherent framework the concepts necessary to accomplish such a task. We present MONET (molecular network), an extensible ontology and an architecture designed to facilitate the integration of data originating from different public databases in a single- and well-documented relational database, that is compatible with MONET formal definition. We also present an example of an application that can easily be implemented using these tools.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Bioinformática e Biologia Computacional, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Unisinos, 93022-000 São Leopoldo, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: João Paulo Müller da
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Ney
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lemke
authors.forename: José Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Mombach
authors.forename: José Guilherme Camargo de
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: Marialva
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sinigaglia
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vieira
mesh_terms: D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods*; D003195:Computer Communication Networks; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D008967:Molecular Biology; D018511:Systems Integration