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Chen N, Yu J, Liu Z, Meng L, Li X, Wong KC. Discovering DNA shape motifs with multiple DNA shape features: generalization, methods, and validation. Nucleic Acids Res 2024; 52:4137-4150. [PMID: 38572749 PMCID: PMC11077088 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkae210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Revised: 03/06/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024] Open
Abstract
DNA motifs are crucial patterns in gene regulation. DNA-binding proteins (DBPs), including transcription factors, can bind to specific DNA motifs to regulate gene expression and other cellular activities. Past studies suggest that DNA shape features could be subtly involved in DNA-DBP interactions. Therefore, the shape motif annotations based on intrinsic DNA topology can deepen the understanding of DNA-DBP binding. Nevertheless, high-throughput tools for DNA shape motif discovery that incorporate multiple features altogether remain insufficient. To address it, we propose a series of methods to discover non-redundant DNA shape motifs with the generalization to multiple motifs in multiple shape features. Specifically, an existing Gibbs sampling method is generalized to multiple DNA motif discovery with multiple shape features. Meanwhile, an expectation-maximization (EM) method and a hybrid method coupling EM with Gibbs sampling are proposed and developed with promising performance, convergence capability, and efficiency. The discovered DNA shape motif instances reveal insights into low-signal ChIP-seq peak summits, complementing the existing sequence motif discovery works. Additionally, our modelling captures the potential interplays across multiple DNA shape features. We provide a valuable platform of tools for DNA shape motif discovery. An R package is built for open accessibility and long-lasting impact: https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.10558980.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nanjun Chen
- Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Jixiang Yu
- Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Zhe Liu
- Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Lingkuan Meng
- Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Xiangtao Li
- School of Artificial Intelligence, Jilin University, Changchun City, Jilin Province, China
| | - Ka-Chun Wong
- Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR
- Hong Kong Institute of Data Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR
- Shenzhen Research Institute, City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China
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Liu Z, Wong HM, Chen X, Lin J, Zhang S, Yan S, Wang F, Li X, Wong KC. MotifHub: Detection of trans-acting DNA motif group with probabilistic modeling algorithm. Comput Biol Med 2024; 168:107753. [PMID: 38039889 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.107753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Trans-acting factors are of special importance in transcription regulation, which is a group of proteins that can directly or indirectly recognize or bind to the 8-12 bp core sequence of cis-acting elements and regulate the transcription efficiency of target genes. The progressive development in high-throughput chromatin capture technology (e.g., Hi-C) enables the identification of chromatin-interacting sequence groups where trans-acting DNA motif groups can be discovered. The problem difficulty lies in the combinatorial nature of DNA sequence pattern matching and its underlying sequence pattern search space. METHOD Here, we propose to develop MotifHub for trans-acting DNA motif group discovery on grouped sequences. Specifically, the main approach is to develop probabilistic modeling for accommodating the stochastic nature of DNA motif patterns. RESULTS Based on the modeling, we develop global sampling techniques based on EM and Gibbs sampling to address the global optimization challenge for model fitting with latent variables. The results reflect that our proposed approaches demonstrate promising performance with linear time complexities. CONCLUSION MotifHub is a novel algorithm considering the identification of both DNA co-binding motif groups and trans-acting TFs. Our study paves the way for identifying hub TFs of stem cell development (OCT4 and SOX2) and determining potential therapeutic targets of prostate cancer (FOXA1 and MYC). To ensure scientific reproducibility and long-term impact, its matrix-algebra-optimized source code is released at http://bioinfo.cs.cityu.edu.hk/MotifHub.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhe Liu
- Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Hiu-Man Wong
- Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Xingjian Chen
- Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jiecong Lin
- Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Shixiong Zhang
- Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Shankai Yan
- Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Fuzhou Wang
- Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Xiangtao Li
- School of Artificial Intelligence, Jilin University, Jilin, China
| | - Ka-Chun Wong
- Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
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Osman A, Lindén M, Österlund T, Vannas C, Andersson L, Escobar M, Ståhlberg A, Åman P. Identification of genomic binding sites and direct target genes for the transcription factor DDIT3/CHOP. Exp Cell Res 2023; 422:113418. [PMID: 36402425 DOI: 10.1016/j.yexcr.2022.113418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Revised: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
DDIT3 is a tightly regulated basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor and key regulator in cellular stress responses. It is involved in a variety of pathological conditions and may cause cell cycle block and apoptosis. It is also implicated in differentiation of some specialized cell types and as an oncogene in several types of cancer. DDIT3 was originally believed to act as a dominant-negative inhibitor by forming heterodimers with other bZIP transcription factors, preventing their DNA binding and transactivating functions. DDIT3 has, however, been reported to bind DNA and regulate target genes. Here, we employed ChIP sequencing combined with microarray-based expression analysis to identify direct binding motifs and target genes of DDIT3. The results reveal DDIT3 binding to motifs similar to other bZIP transcription factors, known to form heterodimers with DDIT3. Binding to a class III satellite DNA repeat sequence was also detected. DDIT3 acted as a DNA-binding transcription factor and bound mainly to the promotor region of regulated genes. ChIP sequencing analysis of histone H3K27 methylation and acetylation showed a strong overlap between H3K27-acetylated marks and DDIT3 binding. These results support a role for DDIT3 as a transcriptional regulator of H3K27ac-marked genes in transcriptionally active chromatin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayman Osman
- Sahlgrenska Center for Cancer Research, Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Malin Lindén
- Sahlgrenska Center for Cancer Research, Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Tobias Österlund
- Sahlgrenska Center for Cancer Research, Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Wallenberg Centre for Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Region Västra Götaland, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Department of Clinical Genetics and Genomics, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Christoffer Vannas
- Sahlgrenska Center for Cancer Research, Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Lisa Andersson
- Sahlgrenska Center for Cancer Research, Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Mandy Escobar
- Sahlgrenska Center for Cancer Research, Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Anders Ståhlberg
- Sahlgrenska Center for Cancer Research, Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Wallenberg Centre for Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Region Västra Götaland, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Department of Clinical Genetics and Genomics, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Pierre Åman
- Sahlgrenska Center for Cancer Research, Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
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Lin J, Huang L, Chen X, Zhang S, Wong KC. DeepMotifSyn: a deep learning approach to synthesize heterodimeric DNA motifs. Brief Bioinform 2021; 23:6370301. [PMID: 34524404 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbab334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Revised: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 07/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The cooperativity of transcription factors (TFs) is a widespread phenomenon in the gene regulation system. However, the interaction patterns between TF binding motifs remain elusive. The recent high-throughput assays, CAP-SELEX, have identified over 600 composite DNA sites (i.e. heterodimeric motifs) bound by cooperative TF pairs. However, there are over 25 000 inferentially effective heterodimeric TFs in the human cells. It is not practically feasible to validate all heterodimeric motifs due to cost and labor. We introduce DeepMotifSyn, a deep learning-based tool for synthesizing heterodimeric motifs from monomeric motif pairs. Specifically, DeepMotifSyn is composed of heterodimeric motif generator and evaluator. The generator is a U-Net-based neural network that can synthesize heterodimeric motifs from aligned motif pairs. The evaluator is a machine learning-based model that can score the generated heterodimeric motif candidates based on the motif sequence features. Systematic evaluations on CAP-SELEX data illustrate that DeepMotifSyn significantly outperforms the current state-of-the-art predictors. In addition, DeepMotifSyn can synthesize multiple heterodimeric motifs with different orientation and spacing settings. Such a feature can address the shortcomings of previous models. We believe DeepMotifSyn is a more practical and reliable model than current predictors on heterodimeric motif synthesis. Contact: kc.w@cityu.edu.hk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiecong Lin
- Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Lei Huang
- Hong Kong Institute for Data Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Xingjian Chen
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, China
| | - Shixiong Zhang
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, China
| | - Ka-Chun Wong
- Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
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Zhang Y, Wang Z, Zeng Y, Zhou J, Zou Q. High-resolution transcription factor binding sites prediction improved performance and interpretability by deep learning method. Brief Bioinform 2021; 22:6322761. [PMID: 34272562 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbab273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Revised: 06/19/2021] [Accepted: 06/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Transcription factors (TFs) are essential proteins in regulating the spatiotemporal expression of genes. It is crucial to infer the potential transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) with high resolution to promote biology and realize precision medicine. Recently, deep learning-based models have shown exemplary performance in the prediction of TFBSs at the base-pair level. However, the previous models fail to integrate nucleotide position information and semantic information without noisy responses. Thus, there is still room for improvement. Moreover, both the inner mechanism and prediction results of these models are challenging to interpret. To this end, the Deep Attentive Encoder-Decoder Neural Network (D-AEDNet) is developed to identify the location of TFs-DNA binding sites in DNA sequences. In particular, our model adopts Skip Architecture to leverage the nucleotide position information in the encoder and removes noisy responses in the information fusion process by Attention Gate. Simultaneously, the Transcription Factor Motif Discovery based on Sliding Window (TF-MoDSW), an approach to discover TFs-DNA binding motifs by utilizing the output of neural networks, is proposed to understand the biological meaning of the predicted result. On ChIP-exo datasets, experimental results show that D-AEDNet has better performance than competing methods. Besides, we authenticate that Attention Gate can improve the interpretability of our model by ways of visualization analysis. Furthermore, we confirm that ability of D-AEDNet to learn TFs-DNA binding motifs outperform the state-of-the-art methods and availability of TF-MoDSW to discover biological sequence motifs in TFs-DNA interaction by conducting experiment on ChIP-seq datasets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongqing Zhang
- School of Computer Science, Chengdu University of Information Technology, 610225, Chengdu, China
| | - Zixuan Wang
- School of Computer Science, Chengdu University of Information Technology, 610225, Chengdu, China
| | - Yuanqi Zeng
- School of Computer Science, Chengdu University of Information Technology, 610225, Chengdu, China
| | - Jiliu Zhou
- School of Computer Science, Chengdu University of Information Technology, 610225, Chengdu, China
| | - Quan Zou
- Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 610054, Chengdu, China
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