biological process
Definition
A biological process is a series of molecular events or chemical reactions that occur in living organisms to achieve a specific biological outcome. These processes represent the coordinated activities of multiple genes, proteins, and other molecules working together to perform essential cellular functions such as metabolism, signal transduction, cell division, or immune response. Biological processes are hierarchically organized in ontologies like Gene Ontology (GO), ranging from broad categories (e.g., cellular metabolism) to specific functions (e.g., glucose phosphorylation). Understanding biological processes is fundamental to mechanism of action studies, as drugs typically exert their effects by modulating specific processes within disease-relevant pathways.
Visualize biological process in Nodes Bio
Researchers can visualize biological processes as network nodes connected to their constituent genes, proteins, and pathways. By mapping drug targets to affected biological processes, users can identify mechanism of action patterns and predict off-target effects. Network clustering reveals which processes are co-regulated or functionally related, while pathway enrichment analysis highlights overrepresented processes in experimental datasets, enabling hypothesis generation about therapeutic mechanisms.
Visualization Ideas:
- Gene-to-biological process bipartite networks showing which genes participate in which processes
- Hierarchical process ontology networks displaying parent-child relationships between broad and specific biological functions
- Drug-process impact networks illustrating how therapeutic compounds modulate multiple interconnected biological processes
Example Use Case
A pharmaceutical team investigating a novel kinase inhibitor for cancer treatment uses network analysis to map the drug's primary targets to their associated biological processes. They discover the compound affects not only cell proliferation processes but also unexpectedly modulates immune response pathways. By visualizing the network of interconnected processes, they identify that the drug's efficacy may involve both direct anti-tumor effects and immune system activation, leading them to design combination therapy studies and biomarker strategies for patient stratification.