Abstract
Heat maps are a commonly used visualization tool for metabolomic data where the relative abundance of ions detected in each sample is represented with color intensity. A limitation of applying heat maps to global metabolomic data, however, is the large number of ions that have to be displayed and the lack of information provided about important metabolomic parameters such as m/z and retention time. Here we address these challenges by introducing the interactive cluster heat map in the data-processing software XCMS Online. XCMS Online (xcmsonline.scripps.edu) is a cloud-based informatic platform designed to process, statistically evaluate, and visualize mass-spectrometry based metabolomic data. An interactive heat map is provided for all data processed by XCMS Online. The heat map is clickable, allowing users to zoom and explore specific metabolite metadata (EICs, Box-and-whisker plots, mass spectra) that are linked to the METLIN metabolite database. The utility of the XCMS interactive heat map is demonstrated on metabolomic data set generated from different anatomical regions of the mouse brain.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported, in part, by the University of Nebraska Foundation which includes individual donations from Dr. Carol Swarts and Frances and Louie Blumkin and National Institutes of Health Grants P01 MH64570, RO1 MH104147, P01 DA028555, R01 NS36126, P01 NS31492, 2R01 NS034239, P01 NS43985, P30 MH062261 and R01 AG043540.
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The authors declare no conflict of interests.
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NOD scid IL2 receptor gamma chain knockout, NOD.Cg-Prkdc scid Il2rg tm1Wjl/SzJ, (NSG) mice (The Jackson Laboratories, Bar Harbor, Maine, USA; stock number 005557) were obtained from an established breeding colony and housed under pathogen-free conditions in accordance with ethical guidelines for care of laboratory animals at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
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Julijana Ivanisevic and H. Paul Benton have contributed equally to this work.
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Ivanisevic, J., Benton, H.P., Rinehart, D. et al. An interactive cluster heat map to visualize and explore multidimensional metabolomic data. Metabolomics 11, 1029–1034 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-014-0759-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-014-0759-2