Multi-omics Data Integration, Interpretation, and Its Application.

To study complex biological processes holistically, it is imperative to take an integrative approach that combines multi-omics data to highlight the interrelationships of the involved biomolecules and their functions. With the advent of high-throughput techniques and availability of multi-omics data generated from a large set of samples, several promising tools and methods have been developed for data integration and interpretation. In this review, we collected the tools and methods that adopt integrative approach to analyze multiple omics data and summarized their ability to address applications such as disease subtyping, biomarker prediction, and deriving insights into the data. We provide the methodology, use-cases, and limitations of these tools; brief account of multi-omics data repositories and visualization portals; and challenges associated with multi-omics data integration.

Loss of Hepatic Oscillatory Fed microRNAs Abrogates Refed Transition and Causes Liver Dysfunctions.

Inability to mediate fed-fast transitions in the liver is known to cause metabolic dysfunctions and diseases. Intuitively, a failure to inhibit futile translation of state-specific transcripts during fed-fast cycles would abrogate dynamic physiological transitions. Here, we have discovered hepatic fed microRNAs that target fasting-induced genes and are essential for a refed transition. Our findings highlight the role of these fed microRNAs in orchestrating system-level control over liver physiology and whole-body energetics. By targeting SIRT1, PGC1α, and their downstream genes, fed microRNAs regulate metabolic and mitochondrial pathways. MicroRNA expression, processing, and RISC loading oscillate during these cycles and possibly constitute an anticipatory mechanism. Fed-microRNA oscillations are deregulated during aging. Scavenging of hepatic fed microRNAs causes uncontrolled gluconeogenesis and failure in the catabolic-to-anabolic switching upon feeding, which are hallmarks of metabolic diseases. Besides identifying mechanisms that enable efficient physiological toggling, our study highlights fed microRNAs as candidate therapeutic targets.

QuanTP: A Software Resource for Quantitative Proteo-Transcriptomic Comparative Data Analysis and Informatics.

Next-generation sequencing technologies, coupled to advances in mass-spectrometry-based proteomics, have facilitated system-wide quantitative profiling of expressed mRNA transcripts and proteins. Proteo-transcriptomic analysis compares the relative abundance levels of transcripts and their corresponding proteins, illuminating discordant gene product responses to perturbations. These results reveal potential post-transcriptional regulation, providing researchers with important new insights into underlying biological and pathological disease mechanisms. To carry out proteo-transcriptomic analysis, researchers require software that statistically determines transcript-protein abundance correlation levels and provides results visualization and interpretation functionality, ideally within a flexible, user-friendly platform. As a solution, we have developed the QuanTP software within the Galaxy platform. The software offers a suite of tools and functionalities critical for proteo-transcriptomics, including statistical algorithms for assessing the correlation between single transcript-protein pairs as well as across two cohorts, outlier identification and clustering, along with a diverse set of results visualizations. It is compatible with analyses of results from single experiment data or from a two-cohort comparison of aggregated replicate experiments. The tool is available in the Galaxy Tool Shed through a cloud-based instance and a Docker container. In all, QuanTP provides an accessible and effective software resource, which should enable new multiomic discoveries from quantitative proteo-transcriptomic data sets.

FusionHub: A unified web platform for annotation and visualization of gene fusion events in human cancer.

Gene fusion is a chromosomal rearrangement event which plays a significant role in cancer due to the oncogenic potential of the chimeric protein generated through fusions. At present many databases are available in public domain which provides detailed information about known gene fusion events and their functional role. Existing gene fusion detection tools, based on analysis of transcriptomics data usually report a large number of fusion genes as potential candidates, which could be either known or novel or false positives. Manual annotation of these putative genes is indeed time-consuming. We have developed a web platform FusionHub, which acts as integrated search engine interfacing various fusion gene databases and simplifies large scale annotation of fusion genes in a seamless way. In addition, FusionHub provides three ways of visualizing fusion events: circular view, domain architecture view and network view. Design of potential siRNA molecules through ensemble method is another utility integrated in FusionHub that could aid in siRNA-based targeted therapy. FusionHub is freely available at https://fusionhub.persistent.co.in.

Genome-wide survey and phylogenetic analysis of histone acetyltransferases and histone deacetylases of Plasmodium falciparum.

Malaria parasites can readily sense and adapt to environmental changes, thus making the control and eradication of this disease difficult. Molecular studies have unraveled a very tightly coordinated transcriptional machinery governed by complex regulatory mechanisms including chromatin modification and spatiotemporal compartmentalization. Histone modifying enzymes play key roles in the regulation of chromatin modification and gene expression, which are associated with cell cycle progression, antigenic variation and immune evasion. Here, we present a comprehensive review of the key regulators of the Plasmodium falciparum histone acetylome; histone acetyltransferases (HATs); and histone deacetylases (HDACs). We describe the genome-wide occurrence of HATs and HDACs in the P. falciparum genome and identify novel, as well as previously unclassified HATs. We re-confirm the presence of five known HDACs and identify, a novel putative HDAC. Interestingly, we identify several HATs and HDACs with unique and noncanonical domain combinations indicating their involvement in other associated functions. Moreover, the phylogenetic analyses of HATs and HDACs suggest that many of them are close to the prokaryotic systems and thus potential candidates for drug development. Our review deciphers the phylogeny of HATs and HDACs of the malaria parasite, investigates their role in drug-resistance generation, and highlights their potential as therapeutic targets.

CGDV: a webtool for circular visualization of genomics and transcriptomics data.

BACKGROUND: Interpretation of large-scale data is very challenging and currently there is scarcity of web tools which support automated visualization of a variety of high throughput genomics and transcriptomics data and for a wide variety of model organisms along with user defined karyotypes. Circular plot provides holistic visualization of high throughput large scale data but it is very complex and challenging to generate as most of the available tools need informatics expertise to install and run them. RESULT: We have developed CGDV (Circos for Genomics and Transcriptomics Data Visualization), a webtool based on Circos, for seamless and automated visualization of a variety of large scale genomics and transcriptomics data. CGDV takes output of analyzed genomics or transcriptomics data of different formats, such as vcf, bed, xls, tab limited matrix text file, CNVnator raw output and Gene fusion raw output, to plot circular view of the sample data. CGDV take cares of generating intermediate files required for circos. CGDV is freely available at https://cgdv-upload.persistent.co.in/cgdv/ . CONCLUSION: The circular plot for each data type is tailored to gain best biological insights into the data. The inter-relationship between data points, homologous sequences, genes involved in fusion events, differential expression pattern, sequencing depth, types and size of variations and enrichment of DNA binding proteins can be seen using CGDV. CGDV thus helps biologists and bioinformaticians to visualize a variety of genomics and transcriptomics data seamlessly.

Genome-wide identification of novel intergenic enhancer-like elements: implications in the regulation of transcription in Plasmodium falciparum.

BACKGROUND: The molecular mechanisms of transcriptional regulation are poorly understood in Plasmodium falciparum. In addition, most of the genes in Plasmodium falciparum are transcriptionally poised and only a handful of cis-regulatory elements are known to operate in transcriptional regulation. Here, we employed an epigenetic signature based approach to identify significance of previously uncharacterised intergenic regions enriched with histone modification marks leading to discovery of enhancer-like elements. RESULTS: We found that enhancer-like elements are significantly enriched with H3K4me1, generate unique non-coding bi-directional RNAs and majority of them can function as cis-regulators. Furthermore, functional enhancer reporter assay demonstrates that the enhancer-like elements regulate transcription of target genes in Plasmodium falciparum. Our study also suggests that the Plasmodium genome segregates functionally related genes into discrete housekeeping and pathogenicity/virulence clusters, presumably for robust transcriptional control of virulence/pathogenicity genes. CONCLUSIONS: This report contributes to the understanding of parasite regulatory genomics by identification of enhancer-like elements, defining their epigenetic and transcriptional features and provides a resource of functional cis-regulatory elements that may give insights into the virulence/pathogenicity of Plasmodium falciparum.

Transcriptional transitions in Alphonso mango (Mangifera indica L.) during fruit development and ripening explain its distinct aroma and shelf life characteristics.

Alphonso is known as the "King of mangos" due to its unique flavor, attractive color, low fiber pulp and long shelf life. We analyzed the transcriptome of Alphonso mango through Illumina sequencing from seven stages of fruit development and ripening as well as flower. Total transcriptome data from these stages ranged between 65 and 143 Mb. Importantly, 20,755 unique transcripts were annotated and 4,611 were assigned enzyme commission numbers, which encoded 142 biological pathways. These included ethylene and flavor related secondary metabolite biosynthesis pathways, as well as those involved in metabolism of starch, sucrose, amino acids and fatty acids. Differential regulation (p-value ≤ 0.05) of thousands of transcripts was evident in various stages of fruit development and ripening. Novel transcripts for biosynthesis of mono-terpenes, sesqui-terpenes, di-terpenes, lactones and furanones involved in flavor formation were identified. Large number of transcripts encoding cell wall modifying enzymes was found to be steady in their expression, while few were differentially regulated through these stages. Novel 79 transcripts of inhibitors of cell wall modifying enzymes were simultaneously detected throughout Alphonso fruit development and ripening, suggesting controlled activity of these enzymes involved in fruit softening.

Camello, a novel family of Histone Acetyltransferases that acetylate histone H4 and is essential for zebrafish development.

In this study, we have investigated genome-wide occurrence of Histone Acetyltransferases (HATs) in genomes of Mus musculus and Danio rerio on the basis of presence of HAT domain. Our study identified a group of proteins that lacks characteristic features of known HAT families, relatively smaller in size and has no other associated domains. Most of the proteins in this unclassified group are Camello proteins, which are not yet known and classified as functional HATs. Our in vitro and in vivo analysis revealed that Camello family proteins are active HATs and exhibit specificity towards histone H4. Interestingly, Camello proteins are among the first identified HATs showing perinuclear localization. Moreover, Camello proteins are evolutionarily conserved in all chordates and are observed for the first time in cnidarians in phylogeny. Furthermore, knockdown of Camello protein (CMLO3) in zebrafish embryos exhibited defects in axis elongation and head formation. Thus, our study identified a novel family of active HATs that is specific for histone H4 acetylation, exhibits perinuclear localization and is essential for zebrafish development.

How to stop: the mysterious links among RNA polymerase II occupancy 3' of genes, mRNA 3' processing and termination.

Eukaryotic genes are transcribed by RNA polymerase II (RNAP II) through cycles of initiation, elongation and termination. Termination remains the least understood stage of transcription. Here we discuss the role of RNAP II occupancy downstream of the 3'ends of genes and its links with termination and mRNA 3' processing.

RNA polymerase II pausing downstream of core histone genes is different from genes producing polyadenylated transcripts.

Recent genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled high throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) analyses performed in various eukaryotic organisms, analysed RNA Polymerase II (Pol II) pausing around the transcription start sites of genes. In this study we have further investigated genome-wide binding of Pol II downstream of the 3' end of the annotated genes (EAGs) by ChIP-seq in human cells. At almost all expressed genes we observed Pol II occupancy downstream of the EAGs suggesting that Pol II pausing 3' from the transcription units is a rather common phenomenon. Downstream of EAGs Pol II transcripts can also be detected by global run-on and sequencing, suggesting the presence of functionally active Pol II. Based on Pol II occupancy downstream of EAGs we could distinguish distinct clusters of Pol II pause patterns. On core histone genes, coding for non-polyadenylated transcripts, Pol II occupancy is quickly dropping after the EAG. In contrast, on genes, whose transcripts undergo polyA tail addition [poly(A)(+)], Pol II occupancy downstream of the EAGs can be detected up to 4-6 kb. Inhibition of polyadenylation significantly increased Pol II occupancy downstream of EAGs at poly(A)(+) genes, but not at the EAGs of core histone genes. The differential genome-wide Pol II occupancy profiles 3' of the EAGs have also been confirmed in mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells, indicating that Pol II pauses genome-wide downstream of the EAGs in mammalian cells. Moreover, in mES cells the sharp drop of Pol II signal at the EAG of core histone genes seems to be independent of the phosphorylation status of the C-terminal domain of the large subunit of Pol II. Thus, our study uncovers a potential link between different mRNA 3' end processing mechanisms and consequent Pol II transcription termination processes.

Lessons from genome-wide studies: an integrated definition of the coactivator function of histone acetyl transferases.

Histone acetylation is one of the key regulatory mechanisms controlling transcriptional activity in eukaryotic cells. In higher eukaryotes, a number of nuclear histone acetyltransferase (HAT) enzymes have been identified, most of which are part of a large multisubunit complex. This diversity, combined with the large number of potentially acetylable lysines on histones, suggested the existence of a specific regulatory mechanism based on the substrate specificity of HATs. Over the past decade, intensive characterisations of the HAT complexes have been carried out. However, the precise mode of action of HATs, and particularly the functional differences amongst these complexes, remains elusive. Here we review current insights into the functional role of HATs, focusing on the specificity of their action. Studies based on biochemical as well as genetic approaches suggested that HATs exert a high degree of specificity in their acetylation spectra and in the cellular processes they regulate. However, a different view emerged recently from genomic approaches that provided genome-wide maps of HAT recruitments. The careful analysis of genomic data suggests that all HAT complexes would be simultaneously recruited to a similar set of loci in the genome, arguing for a low specificity in their function. In this review, we discuss the significance of these apparent contradictions and suggest a new model that integrates biochemical, genetic and genome-wide data to better describe the functional specificity of HAT complexes.

Classification of protein kinases on the basis of both kinase and non-kinase regions.

BACKGROUND: Protein phosphorylation is a generic way to regulate signal transduction pathways in all kingdoms of life. In many organisms, it is achieved by the large family of Ser/Thr/Tyr protein kinases which are traditionally classified into groups and subfamilies on the basis of the amino acid sequence of their catalytic domains. Many protein kinases are multi-domain in nature but the diversity of the accessory domains and their organization are usually not taken into account while classifying kinases into groups or subfamilies. METHODOLOGY: Here, we present an approach which considers amino acid sequences of complete gene products, in order to suggest refinements in sets of pre-classified sequences. The strategy is based on alignment-free similarity scores and iterative Area Under the Curve (AUC) computation. Similarity scores are computed by detecting common patterns between two sequences and scoring them using a substitution matrix, with a consistent normalization scheme. This allows us to handle full-length sequences, and implicitly takes into account domain diversity and domain shuffling. We quantitatively validate our approach on a subset of 212 human protein kinases. We then employ it on the complete repertoire of human protein kinases and suggest few qualitative refinements in the subfamily assignment stored in the KinG database, which is based on catalytic domains only. Based on our new measure, we delineate 37 cases of potential hybrid kinases: sequences for which classical classification based entirely on catalytic domains is inconsistent with the full-length similarity scores computed here, which implicitly consider multi-domain nature and regions outside the catalytic kinase domain. We also provide some examples of hybrid kinases of the protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica. CONCLUSIONS: The implicit consideration of multi-domain architectures is a valuable inclusion to complement other classification schemes. The proposed algorithm may also be employed to classify other families of enzymes with multi-domain architecture.

A framework for classification of prokaryotic protein kinases.

BACKGROUND: Overwhelming majority of the Serine/Threonine protein kinases identified by gleaning archaeal and eubacterial genomes could not be classified into any of the well known Hanks and Hunter subfamilies of protein kinases. This is owing to the development of Hanks and Hunter classification scheme based on eukaryotic protein kinases which are highly divergent from their prokaryotic homologues. A large dataset of prokaryotic Serine/Threonine protein kinases recognized from genomes of prokaryotes have been used to develop a classification framework for prokaryotic Ser/Thr protein kinases. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have used traditional sequence alignment and phylogenetic approaches and clustered the prokaryotic kinases which represent 72 subfamilies with at least 4 members in each. Such a clustering enables classification of prokaryotic Ser/Thr kinases and it can be used as a framework to classify newly identified prokaryotic Ser/Thr kinases. After series of searches in a comprehensive sequence database we recognized that 38 subfamilies of prokaryotic protein kinases are associated to a specific taxonomic level. For example 4, 6 and 3 subfamilies have been identified that are currently specific to phylum proteobacteria, cyanobacteria and actinobacteria respectively. Similarly subfamilies which are specific to an order, sub-order, class, family and genus have also been identified. In addition to these, we also identify organism-diverse subfamilies. Members of these clusters are from organisms of different taxonomic levels, such as archaea, bacteria, eukaryotes and viruses. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Interestingly, occurrence of several taxonomic level specific subfamilies of prokaryotic kinases contrasts with classification of eukaryotic protein kinases in which most of the popular subfamilies of eukaryotic protein kinases occur diversely in several eukaryotes. Many prokaryotic Ser/Thr kinases exhibit a wide variety of modular organization which indicates a degree of complexity and protein-protein interactions in the signaling pathways in these microbes.

Evolution of domain combinations in protein kinases and its implications for functional diversity.

Protein kinases phosphorylating Ser/Thr/Tyr residues in several cellular proteins exert tight control over their biological functions. They constitute the largest protein family in most eukaryotic species. Protein kinases classified based on sequence similarity in their catalytic domains, cluster into subfamilies, which share gross functional properties. Many protein kinases are associated or tethered covalently to domains that serve as adapter or regulatory modules, aiding substrate recruitment, specificity, and also serve as scaffolds. Hence the modular organisation of the protein kinases serves as guidelines to their functional and molecular properties. Analysis of genomic repertoires of protein kinases in eukaryotes have revealed wide spectrum of domain organisation across various subfamilies of kinases. Occurrence of organism-specific novel domain combinations suggests functional diversity achieved by protein kinases in order to regulate variety of biological processes. In addition, domain architecture of protein kinases revealed existence of hybrid protein kinase subfamilies and their emerging roles in the signaling of eukaryotic organisms. In this review we discuss the repertoire of non-kinase domains tethered to multi-domain kinases in the metazoans. Similarities and differences in the domain architectures of protein kinases in these organisms indicate conserved and unique features that are critical to functional specialization.

Functional diversity of human protein kinase splice variants marks significant expansion of human kinome.

BACKGROUND: Protein kinases are involved in diverse spectrum of cellular processes. Availability of draft version of the human genomic data in the year 2001 enabled recognition of repertoire of protein kinases. However, over the years the human genomic data is being refined and the current release of human genomic data has helped us to recognize a larger repertoire of over 900 human protein kinases represented mainly by splice variants. RESULTS: Many of these identified protein kinases are alternatively spliced products. Interestingly, some of the human kinase splice variants appear to be significantly diverged in terms of their functional properties as represented by incorporation or absence of one or more domains. Many sets of protein kinase splice variants have substantially different domain organization and in a few sets of splice variants kinase domains belong to different subfamilies of kinases suggesting potential participation in different signal transduction pathways. CONCLUSIONS: Addition or deletion of a domain between splice variants of multi-domain kinases appears to be a means of generating differences in the functional features of otherwise similar kinases. It is intriguing that marked sequence diversity within the catalytic regions of some of the splice variant kinases result in kinases belonging to different subfamilies. These human kinase splice variants with different functions might contribute to diversity of eukaryotic cellular signaling.

Evolutionary divergence of Plasmodium falciparum: sequences, protein-protein interactions, pathways and processes.

In this article we review the organism-wide biological data available for Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum), a malarial parasite, in relation to the data available for other organisms. We provide comparisons at different levels such as amino acid sequences of proteins encoded in the genomes, protein-protein interaction features, metabolic and signaling pathways and processes. Our comparative analyses highlights that P. falciparum is highly diverged compared to most other eukaryotes at all these levels. Despite the extensive variation some of the physical associations between proteins, such as RNA polymerase complex and CDK-cyclin complex are expected to be conserved given their fundamental importance and ubiquitous nature. We also discuss examples of protein-protein interactions across human and P. falciparum potentially happening during pathogenesis.

Comparative kinomics of human and chimpanzee reveal unique kinship and functional diversity generated by new domain combinations.

BACKGROUND: Phosphorylation by protein kinases is a common event in many cellular processes. Further, many kinases perform specialized roles and are regulated by non-kinase domains tethered to kinase domain. Perturbation in the regulation of kinases leads to malignancy. We have identified and analysed putative protein kinases encoded in the genome of chimpanzee which is a close evolutionary relative of human. RESULT: The shared core biology between chimpanzee and human is characterized by many orthologous protein kinases which are involved in conserved pathways. Domain architectures specific to chimp/human kinases have been observed. Chimp kinases with unique domain architectures are characterized by deletion of one or more non-kinase domains in the human kinases. Interestingly, counterparts of some of the multi-domain human kinases in chimp are characterized by identical domain architectures but with kinase-like non-kinase domain. Remarkably, out of 587 chimpanzee kinases no human orthologue with greater than 95% sequence identity could be identified for 160 kinases. Variations in chimpanzee kinases compared to human kinases are brought about also by differences in functions of domains tethered to the catalytic kinase domain. For example, the heterodimer forming PB1 domain related to the fold of ubiquitin/Ras-binding domain is seen uniquely tethered to PKC-like chimpanzee kinase. CONCLUSION: Though the chimpanzee and human are evolutionary very close, there are chimpanzee kinases with no close counterpart in the human suggesting differences in their functions. This analysis provides a direction for experimental analysis of human and chimpanzee protein kinases in order to enhance our understanding on their specific biological roles.

Characterization of the Entamoeba histolytica ornithine decarboxylase-like enzyme.

BACKGROUND: The polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and spermine are organic cations that are required for cell growth and differentiation. Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the first and rate-limiting enzyme in the polyamine biosynthetic pathway, is a highly regulated enzyme. METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS: To use this enzyme as a potential drug target, the gene encoding putative ornithine decarboxylase (ODC)-like sequence was cloned from Entamoeba histolytica, a protozoan parasite causing amoebiasis. DNA sequence analysis revealed an open reading frame (ORF) of approximately 1,242 bp encoding a putative protein of 413 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 46 kDa and a predicted isoelectric point of 5.61. The E. histolytica putative ODC-like sequence has 33% sequence identity with human ODC and 36% identity with the Datura stramonium ODC. The ORF is a single-copy gene located on a 1.9-Mb chromosome. The recombinant putative ODC protein (48 kDa) from E. histolytica was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli. Antiserum against recombinant putative ODC protein detected a band of anticipated size approximately 46 kDa in E. histolytica whole-cell lysate. Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), an enzyme-activated irreversible inhibitor of ODC, had no effect on the recombinant putative ODC from E. histolytica. Comparative modeling of the three-dimensional structure of E. histolytica putative ODC shows that the putative binding site for DFMO is disrupted by the substitution of three amino acids-aspartate-332, aspartate-361, and tyrosine-323-by histidine-296, phenylalanine-305, and asparagine-334, through which this inhibitor interacts with the protein. Amino acid changes in the pocket of the E. histolytica enzyme resulted in low substrate specificity for ornithine. It is possible that the enzyme has evolved a novel substrate specificity. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge this is the first report on the molecular characterization of putative ODC-like sequence from E. histolytica. Computer modeling revealed that three of the critical residues required for binding of DFMO to the ODC enzyme are substituted in E. histolytica, resulting in the likely loss of interactions between the enzyme and DFMO.