RankProdIt: A web-interactive Rank Products analysis tool

• Published in: BMC research notes Vol. 3; no. 1; p. 221
• Main Authors: Laing, Emma, Smith, Colin P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 06-08-2010; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Applications software; DNA microarrays; Gene expression; Genes; Genetic algorithms; Statistical methods; Studies; Technical Note; United Kingdom
• ISSN: 1756-0500; 1756-0500
• DOI: 10.1186/1756-0500-3-221

The first objective of a DNA microarray experiment is typically to generate a list of genes or probes that are found to be differentially expressed or represented (in the case of comparative genomic hybridizations and/or copy number variation) between two conditions or strains. Rank Products analysis comprises a robust algorithm for deriving such lists from microarray experiments that comprise small numbers of replicates, for example, less than the number required for the commonly used t-test. Currently, users wishing to apply Rank Products analysis to their own microarray data sets have been restricted to the use of command line-based software which can limit its usage within the biological community.
Here we have developed a web interface to existing Rank Products analysis tools allowing users to quickly process their data in an intuitive and step-wise manner to obtain the respective Rank Product or Rank Sum, probability of false prediction and p-values in a downloadable file.
The online interactive Rank Products analysis tool RankProdIt, for analysis of any data set containing measurements for multiple replicated conditions, is available at: http://strep-microarray.sbs.surrey.ac.uk/RankProducts.