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Mazandu GK, Hooper C, Opap K, Makinde F, Nembaware V, Thomford NE, Chimusa ER, Wonkam A, Mulder NJ. IHP-PING-generating integrated human protein-protein interaction networks on-the-fly. Brief Bioinform 2020; 22:5943797. [PMID: 33129201 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbaa277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Revised: 09/12/2020] [Accepted: 09/21/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Advances in high-throughput sequencing technologies have resulted in an exponential growth of publicly accessible biological datasets. In the 'big data' driven 'post-genomic' context, much work is being done to explore human protein-protein interactions (PPIs) for a systems level based analysis to uncover useful signals and gain more insights to advance current knowledge and answer specific biological and health questions. These PPIs are experimentally or computationally predicted, stored in different online databases and some of PPI resources are updated regularly. As with many biological datasets, such regular updates continuously render older PPI datasets potentially outdated. Moreover, while many of these interactions are shared between these online resources, each resource includes its own identified PPIs and none of these databases exhaustively contains all existing human PPI maps. In this context, it is essential to enable the integration of or combining interaction datasets from different resources, to generate a PPI map with increased coverage and confidence. To allow researchers to produce an integrated human PPI datasets in real-time, we introduce the integrated human protein-protein interaction network generator (IHP-PING) tool. IHP-PING is a flexible python package which generates a human PPI network from freely available online resources. This tool extracts and integrates heterogeneous PPI datasets to generate a unified PPI network, which is stored locally for further applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaston K Mazandu
- Computational Biology Division, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, IDM, CIDRI-Africa WT Centre, University of Cape Town, Health Sciences Campus. Anzio Rd, Observatory, 7925, South Africa.,African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, 5-7 Melrose Road, Muizenberg, 7945, Cape Town, South Africa.,Division of Human Genetics, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Health Sciences Campus, Anzio Rd, Observatory, 7925, South Africa
| | - Christopher Hooper
- Computational Biology Division, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, IDM, CIDRI-Africa WT Centre, University of Cape Town, Health Sciences Campus. Anzio Rd, Observatory, 7925, South Africa
| | - Kenneth Opap
- Computational Biology Division, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, IDM, CIDRI-Africa WT Centre, University of Cape Town, Health Sciences Campus. Anzio Rd, Observatory, 7925, South Africa
| | - Funmilayo Makinde
- Computational Biology Division, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, IDM, CIDRI-Africa WT Centre, University of Cape Town, Health Sciences Campus. Anzio Rd, Observatory, 7925, South Africa.,African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, 5-7 Melrose Road, Muizenberg, 7945, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Victoria Nembaware
- Division of Human Genetics, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Health Sciences Campus, Anzio Rd, Observatory, 7925, South Africa
| | - Nicholas E Thomford
- Division of Human Genetics, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Health Sciences Campus, Anzio Rd, Observatory, 7925, South Africa.,School of Medical Sciences, University of Cape Coast, PMB, Cape Coast, Ghana
| | - Emile R Chimusa
- Division of Human Genetics, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Health Sciences Campus, Anzio Rd, Observatory, 7925, South Africa
| | - Ambroise Wonkam
- Division of Human Genetics, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Health Sciences Campus, Anzio Rd, Observatory, 7925, South Africa
| | - Nicola J Mulder
- Computational Biology Division, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, IDM, CIDRI-Africa WT Centre, University of Cape Town, Health Sciences Campus. Anzio Rd, Observatory, 7925, South Africa
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Nkya S, Mwita L, Mgaya J, Kumburu H, van Zwetselaar M, Menzel S, Mazandu GK, Sangeda R, Chimusa E, Makani J. Identifying genetic variants and pathways associated with extreme levels of fetal hemoglobin in sickle cell disease in Tanzania. BMC MEDICAL GENETICS 2020; 21:125. [PMID: 32503527 PMCID: PMC7275552 DOI: 10.1186/s12881-020-01059-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2019] [Accepted: 05/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a blood disorder caused by a point mutation on the beta globin gene resulting in the synthesis of abnormal hemoglobin. Fetal hemoglobin (HbF) reduces disease severity, but the levels vary from one individual to another. Most research has focused on common genetic variants which differ across populations and hence do not fully account for HbF variation. METHODS We investigated rare and common genetic variants that influence HbF levels in 14 SCD patients to elucidate variants and pathways in SCD patients with extreme HbF levels (≥7.7% for high HbF) and (≤2.5% for low HbF) in Tanzania. We performed targeted next generation sequencing (Illumina_Miseq) covering exonic and other significant fetal hemoglobin-associated loci, including BCL11A, MYB, HOXA9, HBB, HBG1, HBG2, CHD4, KLF1, MBD3, ZBTB7A and PGLYRP1. RESULTS Results revealed a range of genetic variants, including bi-allelic and multi-allelic SNPs, frameshift insertions and deletions, some of which have functional importance. Notably, there were significantly more deletions in individuals with high HbF levels (11% vs 0.9%). We identified frameshift deletions in individuals with high HbF levels and frameshift insertions in individuals with low HbF. CHD4 and MBD3 genes, interacting in the same sub-network, were identified to have a significant number of pathogenic or non-synonymous mutations in individuals with low HbF levels, suggesting an important role of epigenetic pathways in the regulation of HbF synthesis. CONCLUSIONS This study provides new insights in selecting essential variants and identifying potential biological pathways associated with extreme HbF levels in SCD interrogating multiple genomic variants associated with HbF in SCD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siana Nkya
- Department of Biological Sciences, Dar es Salaam University College of Education, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. .,Sickle Cell Program, Department of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
| | - Liberata Mwita
- Sickle Cell Program, Department of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Josephine Mgaya
- Sickle Cell Program, Department of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Happiness Kumburu
- Department of Biotechnology Laboratory, Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
| | - Marco van Zwetselaar
- Department of Biotechnology Laboratory, Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
| | - Stephan Menzel
- Department of Molecular Hematology, King's College of London, London, UK
| | - Gaston Kuzamunu Mazandu
- Department of Pathology, Division of Human Genetics, University of Cape Town, IDM, Cape Town, South Africa. .,Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, Computational Biology Division, University of Cape Town, Observatory, 7925, South Africa. .,African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Muizenberg, Cape Town, 7945, South Africa.
| | - Raphael Sangeda
- Sickle Cell Program, Department of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.,Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Emile Chimusa
- Department of Pathology, Division of Human Genetics, University of Cape Town, IDM, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Julie Makani
- Sickle Cell Program, Department of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
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Chimusa ER, Dalvie S, Dandara C, Wonkam A, Mazandu GK. Post genome-wide association analysis: dissecting computational pathway/network-based approaches. Brief Bioinform 2020; 20:690-700. [PMID: 29701762 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bby035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2018] [Revised: 04/04/2018] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Over thousands of genetic associations to diseases have been identified by genome-wide association studies (GWASs), which conceptually is a single-marker-based approach. There are potentially many uses of these identified variants, including a better understanding of the pathogenesis of diseases, new leads for studying underlying risk prediction and clinical prediction of treatment. However, because of inadequate power, GWAS might miss disease genes and/or pathways with weak genetic or strong epistatic effects. Driven by the need to extract useful information from GWAS summary statistics, post-GWAS approaches (PGAs) were introduced. Here, we dissect and discuss advances made in pathway/network-based PGAs, with a particular focus on protein-protein interaction networks that leverage GWAS summary statistics by combining effects of multiple loci, subnetworks or pathways to detect genetic signals associated with complex diseases. We conclude with a discussion of research areas where further work on summary statistic-based methods is needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emile R Chimusa
- Division of Human Genetics, Department of Pathology, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Level 3, Wernher and Beit North, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7700, Anzio road, Observatory Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Shareefa Dalvie
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Observatory, 7925, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Collet Dandara
- Division of Human Genetics, Department of Pathology, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7700, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Ambroise Wonkam
- Division of Human Genetics, Department of Pathology, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7700, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Gaston K Mazandu
- Division of Human Genetics, Department of Pathology, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7700, Cape Town, South Africa; African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, 7945 Muizenberg, Cape Town, South Africa and Computational Biology Division, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Medical School, Anzio Road, Observatory, 7925, Cape Town, South Africa
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Chavarro-Portillo B, Soto CY, Guerrero MI. Mycobacterium leprae's evolution and environmental adaptation. Acta Trop 2019; 197:105041. [PMID: 31152726 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2019.105041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2018] [Revised: 05/28/2019] [Accepted: 05/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Leprosy is an ancient disease caused by the acid-fast bacillus Mycobacterium leprae, also known as Hansen's bacillus. M. leprae is an obligate intracellular microorganism with a marked Schwann cell tropism and is the only human pathogen capable of invading the superficial peripheral nerves. The transmission mechanism of M. leprae is not fully understood; however, the nasal mucosa is accepted as main route of M. leprae entry to the human host. The complete sequencing and the comparative genome analysis show that M. leprae underwent a genome reductive evolution process, as result of lifestyle change and adaptation to different environments; some of lost genes are homologous to those of host cells. Thus, M. leprae reduced its genome size to 3.3 Mbp, contributing to obtain the lowest GC content (approximately 58%) among mycobacteria. The M. leprae genome contains 1614 open reading frames coding for functional proteins, and 1310 pseudogenes corresponding to 41% of the genome, approximately. Comparative analyses to different microorganisms showed that M. leprae possesses the highest content of pseudogenes among pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria and archaea. The pathogen adaptation into host cells, as the Schwann cells, brought about the reduction of the genome and induced multiple gene inactivation. The present review highlights the characteristics of genome's reductive evolution that M. leprae experiences in the genetic aspects compared with other pathogens. The possible mechanisms of pseudogenes formation are discussed.
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Abstract
The classic Darwinian theory and the Synthetic evolutionary theory and their linear models, while invaluable to study the origins and evolution of species, are not primarily designed to model the evolution of organisations, typically that of ecosystems, nor that of processes. How could evolutionary theory better explain the evolution of biological complexity and diversity? Inclusive network-based analyses of dynamic systems could retrace interactions between (related or unrelated) components. This theoretical shift from a Tree of Life to a Dynamic Interaction Network of Life, which is supported by diverse molecular, cellular, microbiological, organismal, ecological and evolutionary studies, would further unify evolutionary biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Bapteste
- Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris 06, Institut de Biologie Paris-Seine (IBPS), F-75005 Paris, France
- CNRS, UMR7138, Institut de Biologie Paris-Seine, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - Philippe Huneman
- Institut d’Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques (CNRS / Paris I Sorbonne), F-75006 Paris, France
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Coppola M, van den Eeden SJF, Robbins N, Wilson L, Franken KLMC, Adams LB, Gillis TP, Ottenhoff THM, Geluk A. Vaccines for Leprosy and Tuberculosis: Opportunities for Shared Research, Development, and Application. Front Immunol 2018. [PMID: 29535713 PMCID: PMC5834475 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.00308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) and leprosy still represent significant public health challenges, especially in low- and lower middle-income countries. Both poverty-related mycobacterial diseases require better tools to improve disease control. For leprosy, there has been an increased emphasis on developing tools for improved detection of infection and early diagnosis of disease. For TB, there has been a similar emphasis on such diagnostic tests, while increased research efforts have also focused on the development of new vaccines. Bacille Calmette–Guérin (BCG), the only available TB vaccine, provides insufficient and inconsistent protection to pulmonary TB in adults. The impact of BCG on leprosy, however, is significant, and the introduction of new TB vaccines that might replace BCG could, therefore, have serious impact also on leprosy. Given the similarities in antigenic makeup between the pathogens Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and M. leprae, it is well possible, however, that new TB vaccines could cross-protect against leprosy. New TB subunit vaccines currently evaluated in human phase I and II studies indeed often contain antigens with homologs in M. leprae. In this review, we discuss pre-clinical studies and clinical trials of subunit or whole mycobacterial vaccines for TB and leprosy and reflect on the development of vaccines that could provide protection against both diseases. Furthermore, we provide the first preclinical evidence of such cross-protection by Mtb antigen 85B (Ag85B)-early secretory antigenic target (ESAT6) fusion recombinant proteins in in vivo mouse models of Mtb and M. leprae infection. We propose that preclinical integration and harmonization of TB and leprosy research should be considered and included in global strategies with respect to cross-protective vaccine research and development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariateresa Coppola
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | | | - Naoko Robbins
- The National Hansen's Disease Programs, Baton Rouge, LA, United States
| | - Louis Wilson
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Kees L M C Franken
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Linda B Adams
- The National Hansen's Disease Programs, Baton Rouge, LA, United States
| | - Tom P Gillis
- The National Hansen's Disease Programs, Baton Rouge, LA, United States
| | - Tom H M Ottenhoff
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Annemieke Geluk
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
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Gene-Family Extension Measures and Correlations. Life (Basel) 2016; 6:life6030030. [PMID: 27527218 PMCID: PMC5041006 DOI: 10.3390/life6030030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2016] [Revised: 07/18/2016] [Accepted: 07/18/2016] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The existence of multiple copies of genes is a well-known phenomenon. A gene family is a set of sufficiently similar genes, formed by gene duplication. In earlier works conducted on a limited number of completely sequenced and annotated genomes it was found that size of gene family and size of genome are positively correlated. Additionally, it was found that several atypical microbes deviated from the observed general trend. In this study, we reexamined these associations on a larger dataset consisting of 1484 prokaryotic genomes and using several ranking approaches. We applied ranking methods in such a way that genomes with lower numbers of gene copies would have lower rank. Until now only simple ranking methods were used; we applied the Kemeny optimal aggregation approach as well. Regression and correlation analysis were utilized in order to accurately quantify and characterize the relationships between measures of paralog indices and genome size. In addition, boxplot analysis was employed as a method for outlier detection. We found that, in general, all paralog indexes positively correlate with an increase of genome size. As expected, different groups of atypical prokaryotic genomes were found for different types of paralog quantities. Mycoplasmataceae and Halobacteria appeared to be among the most interesting candidates for further research of evolution through gene duplication.
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