RMOD: a tool for regulatory motif detection in signaling network

PLoS One. 2013 Jul 12;8(7):e68407. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0068407. Print 2013.

Abstract

Regulatory motifs are patterns of activation and inhibition that appear repeatedly in various signaling networks and that show specific regulatory properties. However, the network structures of regulatory motifs are highly diverse and complex, rendering their identification difficult. Here, we present a RMOD, a web-based system for the identification of regulatory motifs and their properties in signaling networks. RMOD finds various network structures of regulatory motifs by compressing the signaling network and detecting the compressed forms of regulatory motifs. To apply it into a large-scale signaling network, it adopts a new subgraph search algorithm using a novel data structure called path-tree, which is a tree structure composed of isomorphic graphs of query regulatory motifs. This algorithm was evaluated using various sizes of signaling networks generated from the integration of various human signaling pathways and it showed that the speed and scalability of this algorithm outperforms those of other algorithms. RMOD includes interactive analysis and auxiliary tools that make it possible to manipulate the whole processes from building signaling network and query regulatory motifs to analyzing regulatory motifs with graphical illustration and summarized descriptions. As a result, RMOD provides an integrated view of the regulatory motifs and mechanism underlying their regulatory motif activities within the signaling network. RMOD is freely accessible online at the following URL: http://pks.kaist.ac.kr/rmod.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Physiological
  • Algorithms
  • Databases as Topic
  • Humans
  • Signal Transduction*
  • Software*
  • Time Factors

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the KAIST Future Systems Healthcare Project from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2012R1A1A2008510). This research was supported by the Bio & Medical Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Korean government (MEST) (2012M3A9C4048759). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.