SBGN Bricks Ontology as a tool to describe recurring concepts in molecular networks

A comprehensible representation of a molecular network is key to communicating and understanding scientific results in systems biology. The Systems Biology Graphical Notation (SBGN) has emerged as the main standard to represent such networks graphically. It has been implemented by different software tools, and is now largely used to communicate maps in scientific publications. However, learning the standard, and using it to build large maps, can be tedious. Moreover, SBGN maps are not grounded on a formal semantic layer and therefore do not enable formal analysis. Here, we introduce a new set of patterns representing recurring concepts encountered in molecular networks, called SBGN bricks. The bricks are structured in a new ontology, the Bricks Ontology (BKO), to define clear semantics for each of the biological concepts they represent. We show the usefulness of the bricks and BKO for both the template-based construction and the semantic annotation of molecular networks. The SBGN bricks and BKO can be freely explored and downloaded at sbgnbricks.org.

Automated summary

SBGN has become the main standard for representing molecular networks graphically in scientific publications, but the process of learning and using it for building large maps can be tedious. To address this, SBGN bricks and the Bricks Ontology (BKO) have been introduced to enhance efficiency in template-based construction and semantic annotation of molecular networks. These resources can be freely accessed and downloaded at sbgnbricks.org.