WIGED : web-based data integration system for analysis of gene expression in disease

Abstract

Gene expression patterns are useful for understanding the causes of diseases. Accordingly, the current paper presents a Web-based data Integration system for the analysis of Gene Expression in Diseases, called WIGED. WIGED provides an integrated search service over several databases. Specifically, it provides concurrent access to the SMD, SAGE Genie, and OMIM databases and integrates the results from all these databases. WIGED consists of three components: Data Accessor, ResultParser, and Visualizer. The Data Accessor launches multiple threads to send queries to several databases concurrently. The ResultParser then analyzes and integrates the query results from each database in HTML format. This process is fast as it is implemented using simple regular expressions rather than full-fledged HTML parsers. Finally, the Visualizer displays the integrated results. As a result, the combined results from these various databases can provide comprehensive gene expression patterns in a number of organs and tissues with reviewed descriptive information. Even though the results from this bioinformatic tool still require expert review, the whole decision-making process is certainly accelerated and a better opportunity provided to comprehend biological patterns in diseases.