Methods for Gene Co-expression Network Visualization and Analysis

Abstract

Gene network analysis is an important tool for studying the changes in steady states that characterize cell functional properties, the genome-environment interplay, and the health-disease transitions. Moreover, gene co-expression and protein–protein interaction (PPI) data can be integrated with clinical, histopathological, and imaging information – a current practice in systems biology – leading, for instance, to the identification of unique and common drivers for disease conditions. In this chapter the fundamentals for gene co-expression network construction, visualization, and analysis are revised, emphasizing its scale-free nature, the measures that express its most relevant topological features, and methods for network validation.