GeNeCK: A web server for gene network construction and visualization

Abstract

Background: Reverse engineering approaches to infer gene regulatory networks using computational methods are of great importance to annotate gene functionality and identify hub genes. Although various statistical algorithms have been proposed, development of computational tools to integrate results from different methods and user-friendly online tools is still lagging. Results: We developed a web server that efficiently constructs gene networks from expression data. It allows the user to use ten different network construction methods (such as partial correlation-, likelihood-, Bayesian- and mutual information-based methods) and integrates the resulting networks from multiple methods. Hub gene information, if available, can be incorporated to enhance performance. Conclusions: GeNeCK is an efficient and easy-to-use web application for gene regulatory network construction. It can be accessed at http://lce.biohpc.swmed.edu/geneck.