MAGIC: A tool for predicting transcription factors and cofactors driving gene sets using ENCODE data

PLoS Comput Biol. 2020 Apr 6;16(4):e1007800. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007800. eCollection 2020 Apr.

Abstract

Transcriptomic profiling is an immensely powerful hypothesis generating tool. However, accurately predicting the transcription factors (TFs) and cofactors that drive transcriptomic differences between samples is challenging. A number of algorithms draw on ChIP-seq tracks to define TFs and cofactors behind gene changes. These approaches assign TFs and cofactors to genes via a binary designation of 'target', or 'non-target' followed by Fisher Exact Tests to assess enrichment of TFs and cofactors. ENCODE archives 2314 ChIP-seq tracks of 684 TFs and cofactors assayed across a 117 human cell lines under a multitude of growth and maintenance conditions. The algorithm presented herein, Mining Algorithm for GenetIc Controllers (MAGIC), uses ENCODE ChIP-seq data to look for statistical enrichment of TFs and cofactors in gene bodies and flanking regions in gene lists without an a priori binary classification of genes as targets or non-targets. When compared to other TF mining resources, MAGIC displayed favourable performance in predicting TFs and cofactors that drive gene changes in 4 settings: 1) A cell line expressing or lacking single TF, 2) Breast tumors divided along PAM50 designations 3) Whole brain samples from WT mice or mice lacking a single TF in a particular neuronal subtype 4) Single cell RNAseq analysis of neurons divided by Immediate Early Gene expression levels. In summary, MAGIC is a standalone application that produces meaningful predictions of TFs and cofactors in transcriptomic experiments.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Animals
  • Cell Line
  • Chromatin Immunoprecipitation
  • Computational Biology / methods*
  • Databases, Genetic
  • Gene Expression Profiling / methods*
  • Humans
  • MCF-7 Cells
  • Mice
  • Software*
  • Transcription Factors* / genetics
  • Transcription Factors* / metabolism

Substances

  • Transcription Factors