Molecular Interaction Maps, also known as MIMs, is a graphic notation to depict
cellular and
molecular
A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioch ...
interactions. It was created by Kurt W. Kohn in 1999.
[Kohn KW. Molecular interaction map of the mammalian cell cycle control and DNA repair systems]
Mol Biol Cell (1999)
/ref> The MIM convention is capable of unambiguous representation of networks containing multi-protein complexes, protein modifications, and enzymes that are substrates of other enzymes. This graphical representation makes it possible to view all of the many interactions in which a given molecule
A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bio ...
may be involved, and it can portray competing interactions, which are common in bioregulatory networks. In order to facilitate linkage to databases, each molecular species is represented only once in a diagram. The MIM notation forms the basis of, and further development of the MIM notation is coordinated with, the Systems Biology Graphical Notation
The Systems Biology Graphical Notation (SBGN) is a standard graphical representation intended to foster the efficient storage, exchange and reuse of information about signaling pathways, metabolic networks, and gene regulatory networks amongst co ...
(SBGN) consortium, an international effort to standardize diagrams depicting biochemical and cellular processes studied in systems biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditar ...
. An update to the notation was published in 2006.[Kohn KW, Aladjem MI, Weinstein JN, Pommier Y. Molecular interaction maps of bioregulatory networks: a general rubric for systems biology]
Mol Biol Cell (2006)
Interpretation Modes
* Explicit: States exist only from interactions shown explicitly
* Heuristic: Entities are treated as pools of states where states not explicitly shown may be possible
* Combinatorial: Similar to heuristic, but all states are assumed to occur. The combinatorial interpretation of the MIM notation was described in a 2006 publication.[Kohn KW, Aladjem MI, Kim S, Weinstein JN, Pommier Y. Depicting combinatorial complexity with the molecular interaction map notation]
{{doi, 10.1038/msb4100088
Associated Metadata
MIM diagrams are typically accompanied by a set of citations and comments related to scientific publications describing the interactions within the diagram. Additionally, the diagrams are accompanied by a listing associating elements on the diagram to commonly used identifiers such as genes name as described by HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee
The HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) is a committee of the Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) that sets the standards for human gene nomenclature. The HGNC approves a ''unique'' and ''meaningful'' name for every known human gene, based on a ...
.
External links
Molecular Interaction Maps Homepage
References
DNA
Maps