Search results for "COMPUTATION"

A Deep Learning Model for Epigenomic Studies

2016

Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene expression that does not involve changes to the underlying DNA sequence, i.e. a change in phenotype not involved by a change in genotype. At least three main factor seems responsible for epigenetic change including DNA methylation, histone modification and non-coding RNA, each one sharing having the same property to affect the dynamic of the chromatin structure by acting on Nucleosomes posi- tion. A nucleosome is a DNA-histone complex, where around 150 base pairs of double-stranded DNA is wrapped. The role of nucleosomes is to pack the DNA into the nucleus of the Eukaryote cells, to form the Chromatin. Nucleosome positioning plays an imp…

Recurrent Deep Neural Networks for Nucleosome Classification

2020

Nucleosomes are the fundamental repeating unit of chromatin. A nucleosome is an 8 histone proteins complex, in which approximately 147–150 pairs of DNA bases bind. Several biological studies have clearly stated that the regulation of cell type-specific gene activities are influenced by nucleosome positioning. Bioinformatic studies have improved those results showing proof of sequence specificity in nucleosomes’ DNA fragment. In this work, we present a recurrent neural network that uses nucleosome sequence features representation for their classification. In particular, we implement an architecture which stacks convolutional and long short-term memory layers, with the main purpose to avoid t…

Temperature-dependent small RNA expression in Drosophila melanogaster

2018

Temperature has a major impact on gene expression in ectotherms. But until recently, it was not clear in which way, if any, small non-coding RNAs such as miRNAs or piRNAs contribute to thermosensitive gene regulation. We have recently shown that temperature-responsive miRNAs in Drosophila drive adaptation to different ambient temperatures on the transcriptome level. Moreover, we demonstrated that higher temperatures lead to a more efficient piRNA-dependent transposon silencing, possibly due to heat-induced unfolding of RNA secondary structures. In this commentary, we will dwell upon particular interesting aspects connected to our findings, hoping that our point of view may encourage other s…

Function and Evolution of Nematode RNAi Pathways

2019

Selfish genetic elements, like transposable elements or viruses, are a threat to genomic stability. A variety of processes, including small RNA-based RNA interference (RNAi)-like pathways, has evolved to counteract these elements. Amongst these, endogenous small interfering RNA and Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathways were implicated in silencing selfish genetic elements in a variety of organisms. Nematodes have several incredibly specialized, rapidly evolving endogenous RNAi-like pathways serving such purposes. Here, we review recent research regarding the RNAi-like pathways of Caenorhabditis elegans as well as those of other nematodes, to provide an evolutionary perspective. We argue tha…

2019

With the rise of Next-Generation-Sequencing (NGS) methods, Micro-RNAs (miRNAs) have achieved an important position in the research landscape and have been found to present valuable diagnostic tools in various diseases such as multiple sclerosis or lung cancer. There is also emerging evidence that miRNAs play an important role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) or Parkinson's disease (PD). Apparently, these diseases come along with changes in miRNA expression patterns which led to attempts from researchers to use these small RNA species from several body fluids for a better diagnosis and in order to observe disease progression. Additionally, it…

A Genome-Wide Association Study of Attention Function in a Population-Based Sample of Children

2016

BACKGROUND: Attention function filters and selects behaviorally relevant information. This capacity is impaired in some psychiatric disorders and has been proposed as an endophenotype for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder; however, its genetic basis remains largely unknown. This study aimed to identify single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) associated with attention function. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The discovery sample included 1655 children (7-12 years) and the replication sample included 546 children (5-8 years). Five attention outcomes were assessed using the computerized Attentional Network Test (ANT): alerting, orienting, executive attention, Hit Reaction time (HRT) and the stand…

SNVSniffer: an integrated caller for germline and somatic single-nucleotide and indel mutations

2016

Various approaches to calling single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) or insertion-or-deletion (indel) mutations have been developed based on next-generation sequencing (NGS). However, most of them are dedicated to a particular type of mutation, e.g. germline SNVs in normal cells, somatic SNVs in cancer/tumor cells, or indels only. In the literature, efficient and integrated callers for both germline and somatic SNVs/indels have not yet been extensively investigated. We present SNVSniffer, an efficient and integrated caller identifying both germline and somatic SNVs/indels from NGS data. In this algorithm, we propose the use of Bayesian probabilistic models to identify SNVs and investigate a mult…

MassARRAY determination of somatic oncogenic mutations in solid tumors: Moving forward to personalized medicine.

2016

This article will review the impact of the recently developed MassARRAY technology on our understanding of cancer biology and treatment. Analysis of somatic mutations is a useful tool in selecting personalized therapy, and for predicting the outcome of many solid tumors. Here, we review the literature on the application of MassARRAY technology (Sequenom Hamburg, Germany) to determine the mutation profile of solid tumors from patients. We summarize the use of commercially available panels of mutations - such as OncoCarta™ or other combinations - and their concordance with results obtained by using other technologies, such as next generation sequencing.

A Shotgun Proteomics Approach Reveals a New Toxic Role for Alzheimer's Disease Aβ Peptide: Spliceosome Impairment.

2017

Proteomic changes have been described in many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the early events in the onset of the pathology are yet to be fully elucidated. A cell model system in which LAN5 neuroblastoma cells were incubated for a short time with a recombinant form of Aβ42 was utilized. Proteins extracted from these cells were subjected to shotgun proteomics analysis by LTQ-Orbitrap-MS followed by label-free quantitation. By bioinformatics tools we found that the most significant of those found to be up-regulated were related to cytoskeletal dynamics (Rho related) and membrane-related processes. The most significant of the down-regulated proteins we…

Combining multiple hypothesis testing with machine learning increases the statistical power of genome-wide association studies

2016

Mieth, Bettina et al.