Machine learning-based investigation of the cancer protein secretory pathway.

Deregulation of the protein secretory pathway (PSP) is linked to many hallmarks of cancer, such as promoting tissue invasion and modulating cell-cell signaling. The collection of secreted proteins processed by the PSP, known as the secretome, is often studied due to its potential as a reservoir of t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rasool Saghaleyni, Azam Sheikh Muhammad, Pramod Bangalore, Jens Nielsen, Jonathan L Robinson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021-04-01
Series:PLoS Computational Biology
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008898
_version_ 1818588138362109952
author Rasool Saghaleyni
Azam Sheikh Muhammad
Pramod Bangalore
Jens Nielsen
Jonathan L Robinson
author_facet Rasool Saghaleyni
Azam Sheikh Muhammad
Pramod Bangalore
Jens Nielsen
Jonathan L Robinson
author_sort Rasool Saghaleyni
collection DOAJ
description Deregulation of the protein secretory pathway (PSP) is linked to many hallmarks of cancer, such as promoting tissue invasion and modulating cell-cell signaling. The collection of secreted proteins processed by the PSP, known as the secretome, is often studied due to its potential as a reservoir of tumor biomarkers. However, there has been less focus on the protein components of the secretory machinery itself. We therefore investigated the expression changes in secretory pathway components across many different cancer types. Specifically, we implemented a dual approach involving differential expression analysis and machine learning to identify PSP genes whose expression was associated with key tumor characteristics: mutation of p53, cancer status, and tumor stage. Eight different machine learning algorithms were included in the analysis to enable comparison between methods and to focus on signals that were robust to algorithm type. The machine learning approach was validated by identifying PSP genes known to be regulated by p53, and even outperformed the differential expression analysis approach. Among the different analysis methods and cancer types, the kinesin family members KIF20A and KIF23 were consistently among the top genes associated with malignant transformation or tumor stage. However, unlike most cancer types which exhibited elevated KIF20A expression that remained relatively constant across tumor stages, renal carcinomas displayed a more gradual increase that continued with increasing disease severity. Collectively, our study demonstrates the complementary nature of a combined differential expression and machine learning approach for analyzing gene expression data, and highlights key PSP components relevant to features of tumor pathophysiology that may constitute potential therapeutic targets.
first_indexed 2024-12-16T09:19:59Z
format Article
id doaj.art-bb7281432f284142ad475ee895eb4178
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1553-734X
1553-7358
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-16T09:19:59Z
publishDate 2021-04-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS Computational Biology
spelling doaj.art-bb7281432f284142ad475ee895eb41782022-12-21T22:36:47ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Computational Biology1553-734X1553-73582021-04-01174e100889810.1371/journal.pcbi.1008898Machine learning-based investigation of the cancer protein secretory pathway.Rasool SaghaleyniAzam Sheikh MuhammadPramod BangaloreJens NielsenJonathan L RobinsonDeregulation of the protein secretory pathway (PSP) is linked to many hallmarks of cancer, such as promoting tissue invasion and modulating cell-cell signaling. The collection of secreted proteins processed by the PSP, known as the secretome, is often studied due to its potential as a reservoir of tumor biomarkers. However, there has been less focus on the protein components of the secretory machinery itself. We therefore investigated the expression changes in secretory pathway components across many different cancer types. Specifically, we implemented a dual approach involving differential expression analysis and machine learning to identify PSP genes whose expression was associated with key tumor characteristics: mutation of p53, cancer status, and tumor stage. Eight different machine learning algorithms were included in the analysis to enable comparison between methods and to focus on signals that were robust to algorithm type. The machine learning approach was validated by identifying PSP genes known to be regulated by p53, and even outperformed the differential expression analysis approach. Among the different analysis methods and cancer types, the kinesin family members KIF20A and KIF23 were consistently among the top genes associated with malignant transformation or tumor stage. However, unlike most cancer types which exhibited elevated KIF20A expression that remained relatively constant across tumor stages, renal carcinomas displayed a more gradual increase that continued with increasing disease severity. Collectively, our study demonstrates the complementary nature of a combined differential expression and machine learning approach for analyzing gene expression data, and highlights key PSP components relevant to features of tumor pathophysiology that may constitute potential therapeutic targets.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008898
spellingShingle Rasool Saghaleyni
Azam Sheikh Muhammad
Pramod Bangalore
Jens Nielsen
Jonathan L Robinson
Machine learning-based investigation of the cancer protein secretory pathway.
PLoS Computational Biology
title Machine learning-based investigation of the cancer protein secretory pathway.
title_full Machine learning-based investigation of the cancer protein secretory pathway.
title_fullStr Machine learning-based investigation of the cancer protein secretory pathway.
title_full_unstemmed Machine learning-based investigation of the cancer protein secretory pathway.
title_short Machine learning-based investigation of the cancer protein secretory pathway.
title_sort machine learning based investigation of the cancer protein secretory pathway
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008898
work_keys_str_mv AT rasoolsaghaleyni machinelearningbasedinvestigationofthecancerproteinsecretorypathway
AT azamsheikhmuhammad machinelearningbasedinvestigationofthecancerproteinsecretorypathway
AT pramodbangalore machinelearningbasedinvestigationofthecancerproteinsecretorypathway
AT jensnielsen machinelearningbasedinvestigationofthecancerproteinsecretorypathway
AT jonathanlrobinson machinelearningbasedinvestigationofthecancerproteinsecretorypathway