Visual Exploration and Analytics of Disease Maps with the MINERVA Platform

Disease maps are knowledge repositories that support the discovery process of molecular mechanisms of human diseases by elucidating complex cross-talks of multiple relevant pathways. At the core of disease maps are diagrams that are constructed following the standards of systems biology. These diagrams can be used for exploration and visual analytics but requires a proper set of tools. The MINERVA Platform is a web server developed for the visual analysis of molecular interaction diagrams, especially disease maps. We discuss different aspects of discovery processes in disease maps, including their reproducibility. We illustrate them with examples using the MINERVA Platform. Extensive exploration is enabled through interactive browsing, the visualization of protein structures and multi-omics datasets, and integration with databases of drug, chemical or miRNA targets. The platform offers a contextualized view of omics datasets, including genetic variants, improving their interpretation. Reproducible and customizable analytics is attainable via dedicated API and plugins, allowing the establishment of entire visualization workflows. In summary, the MINERVA Platform supports exploration and visual analysis of complex disease maps by offering dedicated, built-in functionalities, but also by flexible data interfaces.