Title
Optimal design of gene knockout experiments for gene regulatory network inference.
Abstract
Motivation: We addressed the problem of inferring gene regulatory network (GRN) from gene expression data of knockout (KO) experiments. This inference is known to be underdetermined and the GRN is not identifiable from data. Past studies have shown that suboptimal design of experiments (DOE) contributes significantly to the identifiability issue of biological networks, including GRNs. However, optimizing DOE has received much less attention than developing methods for GRN inference. Results: We developed REDuction of UnCertain Edges (REDUCE) algorithm for finding the optimal gene KO experiment for inferring directed graphs (digraphs) of GRNs. REDUCE employed ensemble inference to define uncertain gene interactions that could not be verified by prior data. The optimal experiment corresponds to the maximum number of uncertain interactions that could be verified by the resulting data. For this purpose, we introduced the concept of edge separatoid which gave a list of nodes (genes) that upon their removal would allow the verification of a particular gene interaction. Finally, we proposed a procedure that iterates over performing KO experiments, ensemble update and optimal DOE. The case studies including the inference of Escherichia coli GRN and DREAM 4 100-gene GRNs, demonstrated the efficacy of the iterative GRN inference. In comparison to systematic KOs, REDUCE could provide much higher information return per gene KO experiment and consequently more accurate GRN estimates. Conclusions: REDUCE represents an enabling tool for tackling the underdetermined GRN inference. Along with advances in gene deletion and automation technology, the iterative procedure brings an efficient and fully automated GRN inference closer to reality.
Year
DOI
Venue
2016
10.1093/bioinformatics/btv672
BIOINFORMATICS
Field
DocType
Volume
Gene Knockout Techniques,Data mining,Underdetermined system,Identifiability,Inference,Computer science,Biological network,Directed graph,Bioinformatics,Gene regulatory network,Design of experiments
Journal
32
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
6
1367-4803
4
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.42
8
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
S. M. Minhaz Ud-Dean171.12
Rudiyanto Gunawan215315.50