Reference needed for interpretation of correlation matrix heatmap.

Question

[english.server]

Hi everyone!

What is the interpretation of correlation matrix heatmap done for microarray samples when one is considering different conditions(like treatment vs control)? Any references textbook or article (for a biologist) is welcomed.

Answer 1

[Jean-Karim Heriche]

Biological interpretation depends on the biological context. A correlation matrix simply indicates all pairwise correlation coefficients between the items under consideration like genes or samples. Informally, a correlation coefficient measures the degree of linear covariation of two variables, i.e. it gives an indication on how the two variables vary together. To interpret it in concrete terms, you also need to know what was used to compute it e.g. was it time series or different conditions or different samples ... ? You should give more context to your question to attract pertinent answers.

[english.server]

Thank you. i edited my question.