Prototype semantic infrastructure for automated small molecule classification and annotation in lipidomics

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The development of high-throughput experimentation has led to astronomical growth in biologically relevant lipids and lipid derivatives identified, screened, and deposited in numerous online databases. Unfortunately, efforts to annot...

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Main Authors: Dumontier Michel, Low Hong, Kouznetsov Alexandre, Riazanov Alexandre, Chepelev Leonid L, Baker Christopher JO
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2011-07-01
Series:BMC Bioinformatics
Online Access:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2105/12/303
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author Dumontier Michel
Low Hong
Kouznetsov Alexandre
Riazanov Alexandre
Chepelev Leonid L
Baker Christopher JO
author_facet Dumontier Michel
Low Hong
Kouznetsov Alexandre
Riazanov Alexandre
Chepelev Leonid L
Baker Christopher JO
author_sort Dumontier Michel
collection DOAJ
description <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The development of high-throughput experimentation has led to astronomical growth in biologically relevant lipids and lipid derivatives identified, screened, and deposited in numerous online databases. Unfortunately, efforts to annotate, classify, and analyze these chemical entities have largely remained in the hands of human curators using manual or semi-automated protocols, leaving many novel entities unclassified. Since chemical function is often closely linked to structure, accurate structure-based classification and annotation of chemical entities is imperative to understanding their functionality.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>As part of an exploratory study, we have investigated the utility of semantic web technologies in automated chemical classification and annotation of lipids. Our prototype framework consists of two components: an ontology and a set of federated web services that operate upon it. The formal lipid ontology we use here extends a part of the LiPrO ontology and draws on the lipid hierarchy in the LIPID MAPS database, as well as literature-derived knowledge. The federated semantic web services that operate upon this ontology are deployed within the Semantic Annotation, Discovery, and Integration (SADI) framework. Structure-based lipid classification is enacted by two core services. Firstly, a structural annotation service detects and enumerates relevant functional groups for a specified chemical structure. A second service reasons over lipid ontology class descriptions using the attributes obtained from the annotation service and identifies the appropriate lipid classification. We extend the utility of these core services by combining them with additional SADI services that retrieve associations between lipids and proteins and identify publications related to specified lipid types. We analyze the performance of SADI-enabled eicosanoid classification relative to the LIPID MAPS classification and reflect on the contribution of our integrative methodology in the context of high-throughput lipidomics.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our prototype framework is capable of accurate automated classification of lipids and facile integration of lipid class information with additional data obtained with SADI web services. The potential of programming-free integration of external web services through the SADI framework offers an opportunity for development of powerful novel applications in lipidomics. We conclude that semantic web technologies can provide an accurate and versatile means of classification and annotation of lipids.</p>
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spelling doaj.art-6ee2b5c6b69041b98cfdfb70a2a03d8e2022-12-22T02:45:51ZengBMCBMC Bioinformatics1471-21052011-07-0112130310.1186/1471-2105-12-303Prototype semantic infrastructure for automated small molecule classification and annotation in lipidomicsDumontier MichelLow HongKouznetsov AlexandreRiazanov AlexandreChepelev Leonid LBaker Christopher JO<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The development of high-throughput experimentation has led to astronomical growth in biologically relevant lipids and lipid derivatives identified, screened, and deposited in numerous online databases. Unfortunately, efforts to annotate, classify, and analyze these chemical entities have largely remained in the hands of human curators using manual or semi-automated protocols, leaving many novel entities unclassified. Since chemical function is often closely linked to structure, accurate structure-based classification and annotation of chemical entities is imperative to understanding their functionality.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>As part of an exploratory study, we have investigated the utility of semantic web technologies in automated chemical classification and annotation of lipids. Our prototype framework consists of two components: an ontology and a set of federated web services that operate upon it. The formal lipid ontology we use here extends a part of the LiPrO ontology and draws on the lipid hierarchy in the LIPID MAPS database, as well as literature-derived knowledge. The federated semantic web services that operate upon this ontology are deployed within the Semantic Annotation, Discovery, and Integration (SADI) framework. Structure-based lipid classification is enacted by two core services. Firstly, a structural annotation service detects and enumerates relevant functional groups for a specified chemical structure. A second service reasons over lipid ontology class descriptions using the attributes obtained from the annotation service and identifies the appropriate lipid classification. We extend the utility of these core services by combining them with additional SADI services that retrieve associations between lipids and proteins and identify publications related to specified lipid types. We analyze the performance of SADI-enabled eicosanoid classification relative to the LIPID MAPS classification and reflect on the contribution of our integrative methodology in the context of high-throughput lipidomics.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our prototype framework is capable of accurate automated classification of lipids and facile integration of lipid class information with additional data obtained with SADI web services. The potential of programming-free integration of external web services through the SADI framework offers an opportunity for development of powerful novel applications in lipidomics. We conclude that semantic web technologies can provide an accurate and versatile means of classification and annotation of lipids.</p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2105/12/303
spellingShingle Dumontier Michel
Low Hong
Kouznetsov Alexandre
Riazanov Alexandre
Chepelev Leonid L
Baker Christopher JO
Prototype semantic infrastructure for automated small molecule classification and annotation in lipidomics
BMC Bioinformatics
title Prototype semantic infrastructure for automated small molecule classification and annotation in lipidomics
title_full Prototype semantic infrastructure for automated small molecule classification and annotation in lipidomics
title_fullStr Prototype semantic infrastructure for automated small molecule classification and annotation in lipidomics
title_full_unstemmed Prototype semantic infrastructure for automated small molecule classification and annotation in lipidomics
title_short Prototype semantic infrastructure for automated small molecule classification and annotation in lipidomics
title_sort prototype semantic infrastructure for automated small molecule classification and annotation in lipidomics
url http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2105/12/303
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