FluxExplorer： A general platform for modeling and analyses of metabolic networks based on stoichiometry

An increasing number of genomic and biochemical data make it possible to reconstruct biochemical net-works, especially metabolic networks, of an organelle or even a whole cell. Some methods for metabolism modeling and analyses in this field have been deve…

FluxExplorer: A general platform for modeling and analyses of metabolic networks based on stoichiometry

Stoichiometry-based analyses of meta- bolic networks have aroused significant interest of systems biology researchers in recent years. It is necessary to develop a more convenient modeling platform on which users can reconstruct their network models using completely graphical operations, and explore them with powerful analyzing modules to get a better understanding of the properties of metabolic systems. Herein, an in silico platform, FluxExplorer, for metabolic modeling and analyses based on stoichiometry has been developed as a publicly available tool for systems biology research. This platform integrates various analytic approaches, in- cluding flux balance analysis, minimization of meta- bolic adjustment, extreme pathways analysis, shadow prices analysis, and singular value decom- position, providing a thorough characterization of the metabolic system. Using a graphic modeling process, metabolic networks can be reconstructed and modi- fied intuitively and conveniently. The inconsistencies of a model with respect to the FBA principles can be proved automatically. In addition, this platform sup- ports systems biology markup language (SBML). FluxExplorer has been applied to rebuild a metabolic network in mammalian mitochondria, producing meaningful results. Generally, it is a powerful and very convenient tool for metabolic network modeling and analysis.