scholarly journals ComHub: Community predictions of hubs in gene regulatory networks

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Åkesson ◽  
Zelmina Lubovac-Pilav ◽  
Rasmus Magnusson ◽  
Mika Gustafsson
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Gene Regulatory Networks ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Network Inference ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Gene Regulatory ◽  
Inference Methods

AbstractSummaryHub transcription factors, regulating many target genes in gene regulatory networks (GRNs), play important roles as disease regulators and potential drug targets. However, while numerous methods have been developed to predict individual regulator-gene interactions from gene expression data, few methods focus on inferring these hubs. We have developed ComHub, a tool to predict hubs in GRNs. ComHub makes a community prediction of hubs by averaging over predictions by a compendium of network inference methods. Benchmarking ComHub to the DREAM5 challenge data and an independent data set of human gene expression, proved a robust performance of ComHub over all data sets. Lastly, we implemented ComHub to work with both predefined networks and to do standard network inference, which we believe will make it generally applicable.AvailabilityCode is available at https://gitlab.com/Gustafsson-lab/[email protected], [email protected]

scholarly journals ComHub: Community predictions of hubs in gene regulatory networks

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Åkesson ◽  
Zelmina Lubovac-Pilav ◽  
Rasmus Magnusson ◽  
Mika Gustafsson
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Gene Regulatory Networks ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Network Inference ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Gene Regulatory ◽  
Inference Methods ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
Potential Drug Targets

Abstract Background Hub transcription factors, regulating many target genes in gene regulatory networks (GRNs), play important roles as disease regulators and potential drug targets. However, while numerous methods have been developed to predict individual regulator-gene interactions from gene expression data, few methods focus on inferring these hubs. Results We have developed ComHub, a tool to predict hubs in GRNs. ComHub makes a community prediction of hubs by averaging over predictions by a compendium of network inference methods. Benchmarking ComHub against the DREAM5 challenge data and two independent gene expression datasets showed a robust performance of ComHub over all datasets. Conclusions In contrast to other evaluated methods, ComHub consistently scored among the top performing methods on data from different sources. Lastly, we implemented ComHub to work with both predefined networks and to perform stand-alone network inference, which will make the method generally applicable.

Data-driven Gene Regulatory Networks Inference Based on Classification Algorithms

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (04) ◽  
pp. 2150022
Author(s):  
Sergio Peignier ◽  
Pauline Schmitt ◽  
Federica Calevro
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Gene Regulatory Networks ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Classification Algorithms ◽  
New Family ◽  
Gene Regulatory ◽  
High Throughput Gene Expression ◽  
Inference Methods

Inferring Gene Regulatory Networks from high-throughput gene expression data is a challenging problem, addressed by the systems biology community. Most approaches that aim at unraveling the gene regulation mechanisms in a data-driven way, analyze gene expression datasets to score potential regulatory links between transcription factors and target genes. So far, three major families of approaches have been proposed to score regulatory links. These methods rely respectively on correlation measures, mutual information metrics, and regression algorithms. In this paper we present a new family of data-driven inference methods. This new family, inspired by the regression-based paradigm, relies on the use of classification algorithms. This paper assesses and advocates for the use of this paradigm as a new promising approach to infer gene regulatory networks. Indeed, the development and assessment of five new inference methods based on well-known classification algorithms shows that the classification-based inference family exhibits good results when compared to well-established paradigms.

scholarly journals Identifying genetic modulators of the connectivity between transcription factors and their transcriptional targets

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (13) ◽  
pp. E1835-E1843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mina Fazlollahi ◽  
Ivor Muroff ◽  
Eunjee Lee ◽  
Helen C. Causton ◽  
Harmen J. Bussemaker
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Transcription Factors ◽  
Gene Regulatory Networks ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Regulation Of Gene Expression ◽  
Nonsynonymous Mutation ◽  
Gene Regulatory ◽  
Genetic Modulators

Regulation of gene expression by transcription factors (TFs) is highly dependent on genetic background and interactions with cofactors. Identifying specific context factors is a major challenge that requires new approaches. Here we show that exploiting natural variation is a potent strategy for probing functional interactions within gene regulatory networks. We developed an algorithm to identify genetic polymorphisms that modulate the regulatory connectivity between specific transcription factors and their target genes in vivo. As a proof of principle, we mapped connectivity quantitative trait loci (cQTLs) using parallel genotype and gene expression data for segregants from a cross between two strains of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We identified a nonsynonymous mutation in the DIG2 gene as a cQTL for the transcription factor Ste12p and confirmed this prediction empirically. We also identified three polymorphisms in TAF13 as putative modulators of regulation by Gcn4p. Our method has potential for revealing how genetic differences among individuals influence gene regulatory networks in any organism for which gene expression and genotype data are available along with information on binding preferences for transcription factors.

scholarly journals Gene regulatory network reconstruction using single-cell RNA sequencing of barcoded genotypes in diverse environments

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher A Jackson ◽  
Dayanne M Castro ◽  
Giuseppe-Antonio Saldi ◽  
Richard Bonneau ◽  
David Gresham
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
Rna Sequencing ◽  
Gene Regulatory Network ◽  
Gene Regulatory Networks ◽  
Regulatory Network ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Single Cell Rna Sequencing ◽  
Gene Regulatory

Understanding how gene expression programs are controlled requires identifying regulatory relationships between transcription factors and target genes. Gene regulatory networks are typically constructed from gene expression data acquired following genetic perturbation or environmental stimulus. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) captures the gene expression state of thousands of individual cells in a single experiment, offering advantages in combinatorial experimental design, large numbers of independent measurements, and accessing the interaction between the cell cycle and environmental responses that is hidden by population-level analysis of gene expression. To leverage these advantages, we developed a method for scRNAseq in budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). We pooled diverse transcriptionally barcoded gene deletion mutants in 11 different environmental conditions and determined their expression state by sequencing 38,285 individual cells. We benchmarked a framework for learning gene regulatory networks from scRNAseq data that incorporates multitask learning and constructed a global gene regulatory network comprising 12,228 interactions.

scholarly journals Network Inference from Gene Expression Data with Distance Correlation and Network Topology Centrality

Algorithms ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Kuan Liu ◽  
Haiyuan Liu ◽  
Dongyan Sun ◽  
Lei Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Gene Expression Data ◽  
Gene Regulatory Networks ◽  
Network Topology ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Network Inference ◽  
Expression Data ◽  
Distance Correlation ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Gene Regulatory

The reconstruction of gene regulatory networks based on gene expression data can effectively uncover regulatory relationships between genes and provide a deeper understanding of biological control processes. Non-linear dependence is a common problem in the regulatory mechanisms of gene regulatory networks. Various methods based on information theory have been developed to infer networks. However, the methods have introduced many redundant regulatory relationships in the network inference process. A recent measurement method called distance correlation has, in many cases, shown strong and computationally efficient non-linear correlations. In this paper, we propose a novel regulatory network inference method called the distance-correlation and network topology centrality network (DCNTC) method. The method is based on and extends the Local Density Measurement of Network Node Centrality (LDCNET) algorithm, which has the same choice of network centrality ranking as the LDCNET algorithm, but uses a simpler and more efficient distance correlation measure of association between genes. In this work, we integrate distance correlation and network topological centrality into the reasoning about the structure of gene regulatory networks. We will select optimal thresholds based on the characteristics of the distribution of each gene pair in relation to distance correlation. Experiments were carried out on four network datasets and their performance was compared.

scholarly journals Evolution of Mendelian dominance in gene regulatory networks associated with phenotypic robustness

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenji Okubo ◽  
Kunihiko Kaneko
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Gene Regulatory Networks ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Gene Expression Pattern ◽  
Mendelian Inheritance ◽  
Gene Expression Dynamics ◽  
Phenotypic Robustness ◽  
Robustness To Noise ◽  
Gene Regulatory

AbstractMendelian inheritance is a fundamental law of genetics. Considering two alleles in a diploid, a phenotype of a heterotype is dominated by a particular homotype according to the law of dominance. This picture is usually based on simple genotype-phenotype mapping in which one gene regulates one phenotype. However, in reality, some interactions between genes can result in deviation from Mendelian dominance.Here, by using the numerical evolution of diploid gene regulatory networks (GRNs), we discuss whether Mendelian dominance evolves beyond the classical case of one-to-one genotype-phenotype mapping. We examine whether complex genotype-phenotype mapping can achieve Mendelian dominance through the evolution of the GRN with interacting genes. Specifically, we extend the GRN model to a diploid case, in which two GRN matrices are added to give gene expression dynamics, and simulate evolution with meiosis and recombination. Our results reveal that Mendelian dominance evolves even under complex genotype-phenotype mapping. This dominance is achieved via a group of genotypes that differ from each other but have a common phenotype given by the expression of target genes. Calculating the degree of dominance shows that it increases through the evolution, correlating closely with the decrease in phenotypic fluctuations and the increase in robustness to initial noise. This evolution of Mendelian dominance is associated with phenotypic robustness against meiosis-induced genome mixing, whereas sexual recombination arising from the mixing of chromosomes from the parents further enhances dominance and robustness. Owing to this dominance, the robustness to genetic differences increases, while the optimal fitness is sustained up to a large difference between the two genomes. In summary, Mendelian dominance is achieved by groups of genotypes that are associated with the increase in phenotypic robustness to noise.Author summaryMendelian dominance is one of the most fundamental laws in genetics. When two conflicting characters occur in a single diploid, the dominant character is always chosen. Assuming that one gene makes one character, this law is simple to grasp. However, in reality, phenotypes are generated via interactions between several genes, which may alter Mendel’s dominance law. The evolution of robustness to noise and mutations has been investigated extensively using complex expression dynamics with gene regulatory networks. Here, we applied gene-expression dynamics with complex interactions to the case of a diploid and simulated the evolution of the gene regulatory network to generate the optimal phenotype given by a certain gene expression pattern. Interestingly, after evolution, Mendelian dominance is achieved via a group of genes. This group-based Mendelian dominance is shaped by phenotype insensitivity to genome mixing by meiosis and evolves concurrently with the robustness to noise. By focusing on the influence of phenotypic robustness, which has received considerable attention recently, our result provides a novel perspective as to why Mendel’s law of dominance is commonly observed.

scholarly journals Reverse Engineering Sparse Gene Regulatory Networks Using Cubature Kalman Filter and Compressed Sensing

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amina Noor ◽  
Erchin Serpedin ◽  
Mohamed Nounou ◽  
Hazem Nounou
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Kalman Filter ◽  
Compressed Sensing ◽  
Gene Regulatory Networks ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
Parameter Estimates ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Cubature Kalman Filter ◽  
Gene Regulatory

This paper proposes a novel algorithm for inferring gene regulatory networks which makes use of cubature Kalman filter (CKF) and Kalman filter (KF) techniques in conjunction with compressed sensing methods. The gene network is described using a state-space model. A nonlinear model for the evolution of gene expression is considered, while the gene expression data is assumed to follow a linear Gaussian model. The hidden states are estimated using CKF. The system parameters are modeled as a Gauss-Markov process and are estimated using compressed sensing-based KF. These parameters provide insight into the regulatory relations among the genes. The Cramér-Rao lower bound of the parameter estimates is calculated for the system model and used as a benchmark to assess the estimation accuracy. The proposed algorithm is evaluated rigorously using synthetic data in different scenarios which include different number of genes and varying number of sample points. In addition, the algorithm is tested on the DREAM4 in silico data sets as well as the in vivo data sets from IRMA network. The proposed algorithm shows superior performance in terms of accuracy, robustness, and scalability.

scholarly journals Systematic discovery and perturbation of regulatory genes in human T cells reveals the architecture of immune networks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob W Freimer ◽  
Oren Shaked ◽  
Sahin Naqvi ◽  
Nasa Sinnott-Armstrong ◽  
Arwa Kathiria ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
T Cells ◽  
Gene Regulatory Networks ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Regulatory Genes ◽  
Disease Genes ◽  
Human T Cells ◽  
Gene Regulatory ◽  
Upstream Regulators

Complex gene regulatory networks ensure that important genes are expressed at precise levels. When gene expression is sufficiently perturbed it can lead to disease. To understand how gene expression disruptions percolate through a network, we must first map connections between regulatory genes and their downstream targets. However, we lack comprehensive knowledge of the upstream regulators of most genes. Here we developed an approach for systematic discovery of upstream regulators of critical immune factors - IL2RA, IL-2, and CTLA4 - in primary human T cells. Then, we mapped the network of these regulators' target genes and enhancers using CRISPR perturbations, RNA-Seq, and ATAC-Seq. These regulators form densely interconnected networks with extensive feedback loops. Furthermore, this network is highly enriched for immune-associated disease variants and genes. These results provide insight into how immune-associated disease genes are regulated in T cells and broader principles about the structure of human gene regulatory networks.

Overview of Gene Regulatory Network Inference Based on Differential Equation Models

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 1054-1059
Author(s):  
Bin Yang ◽  
Yuehui Chen
Keyword(s):  
Differential Equation ◽  
Gene Regulatory Networks ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Network Inference ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Gene Regulatory Network Inference ◽  
Ode Models ◽  
Differential Equation Models ◽  
Linear Ode ◽  
Gene Regulatory

: Reconstruction of gene regulatory networks (GRN) plays an important role in understanding the complexity, functionality and pathways of biological systems, which could support the design of new drugs for diseases. Because differential equation models are flexible androbust, these models have been utilized to identify biochemical reactions and gene regulatory networks. This paper investigates the differential equation models for reverse engineering gene regulatory networks. We introduce three kinds of differential equation models, including ordinary differential equation (ODE), time-delayed differential equation (TDDE) and stochastic differential equation (SDE). ODE models include linear ODE, nonlinear ODE and S-system model. We also discuss the evolutionary algorithms, which are utilized to search the optimal structures and parameters of differential equation models. This investigation could provide a comprehensive understanding of differential equation models, and lead to the discovery of novel differential equation models.

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