Before revision: Earlier, we developed a network information flow framework and implemented it as a web application, called ITM Probe. Given a context consisting of one or more user-selected nodes, ITM Probe retrieves other network nodes most related to that context. Although ITM Probe has several desirable features such as requiring neither restriction to subnetwork of interest nor additional and possibly noisy information, it still has a few limitations. For example, users can only query pre-compiled protein interaction networks. Also, manipulating the layout of significant subnetworks is non-trivial. Most importantly, it is difficult to integrate the results of ITM Probe within workflowsinvolving other analysis methods. To resolve these difficulties. we developed CytoITMprobe, a  Cytoscape plugin.
After revision: To provide the Cytoscape users the possibility of integrating ITM Probe into their workflows, we developed CytoITMprobe, a Cytoscape plugin.