Functional Transcription Factor Target Networks Illuminate Control of Epithelial Remodelling

Cell identity is governed by gene expression, regulated by transcription factor (TF) binding at cis-regulatory modules. Decoding the relationship between TF binding patterns and gene regulation is nontrivial, remaining a fundamental limitation in understanding cell decision-making. We developed the...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Overton, Ian M., Sims, Andrew H., Owen, Jeremy A., Heale, Bret S. E., Ford, Matthew J., Lubbock, Alexander L. R., Pairo-Castineira, Erola, Essafi, Abdelkader
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Format: Article
Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2021
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/131303
_version_ 1811096344025104384
author Overton, Ian M.
Sims, Andrew H.
Owen, Jeremy A.
Heale, Bret S. E.
Ford, Matthew J.
Lubbock, Alexander L. R.
Pairo-Castineira, Erola
Essafi, Abdelkader
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Overton, Ian M.
Sims, Andrew H.
Owen, Jeremy A.
Heale, Bret S. E.
Ford, Matthew J.
Lubbock, Alexander L. R.
Pairo-Castineira, Erola
Essafi, Abdelkader
author_sort Overton, Ian M.
collection MIT
description Cell identity is governed by gene expression, regulated by transcription factor (TF) binding at cis-regulatory modules. Decoding the relationship between TF binding patterns and gene regulation is nontrivial, remaining a fundamental limitation in understanding cell decision-making. We developed the NetNC software to predict functionally active regulation of TF targets; demonstrated on nine datasets for the TFs Snail, Twist, and modENCODE Highly Occupied Target (HOT) regions. Snail and Twist are canonical drivers of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), a cell programme important in development, tumour progression and fibrosis. Predicted &ldquo;neutral&rdquo; (non-functional) TF binding always accounted for the majority (50% to 95%) of candidate target genes from statistically significant peaks and HOT regions had higher functional binding than most of the Snail and Twist datasets examined. Our results illuminated conserved gene networks that control epithelial plasticity in development and disease. We identified new gene functions and network modules including crosstalk with notch signalling and regulation of chromatin organisation, evidencing networks that reshape Waddington&rsquo;s epigenetic landscape during epithelial remodelling. Expression of orthologous functional TF targets discriminated breast cancer molecular subtypes and predicted novel tumour biology, with implications for precision medicine. Predicted invasion role<i>s</i> were validated using a tractable cell model, supporting our approach.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T16:42:20Z
format Article
id mit-1721.1/131303
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
last_indexed 2024-09-23T16:42:20Z
publishDate 2021
publisher Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/1313032023-01-20T21:21:13Z Functional Transcription Factor Target Networks Illuminate Control of Epithelial Remodelling Overton, Ian M. Sims, Andrew H. Owen, Jeremy A. Heale, Bret S. E. Ford, Matthew J. Lubbock, Alexander L. R. Pairo-Castineira, Erola Essafi, Abdelkader Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Cell identity is governed by gene expression, regulated by transcription factor (TF) binding at cis-regulatory modules. Decoding the relationship between TF binding patterns and gene regulation is nontrivial, remaining a fundamental limitation in understanding cell decision-making. We developed the NetNC software to predict functionally active regulation of TF targets; demonstrated on nine datasets for the TFs Snail, Twist, and modENCODE Highly Occupied Target (HOT) regions. Snail and Twist are canonical drivers of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), a cell programme important in development, tumour progression and fibrosis. Predicted &ldquo;neutral&rdquo; (non-functional) TF binding always accounted for the majority (50% to 95%) of candidate target genes from statistically significant peaks and HOT regions had higher functional binding than most of the Snail and Twist datasets examined. Our results illuminated conserved gene networks that control epithelial plasticity in development and disease. We identified new gene functions and network modules including crosstalk with notch signalling and regulation of chromatin organisation, evidencing networks that reshape Waddington&rsquo;s epigenetic landscape during epithelial remodelling. Expression of orthologous functional TF targets discriminated breast cancer molecular subtypes and predicted novel tumour biology, with implications for precision medicine. Predicted invasion role<i>s</i> were validated using a tractable cell model, supporting our approach. 2021-09-20T14:16:06Z 2021-09-20T14:16:06Z 2020-09-30 2020-10-13T13:24:25Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/131303 Cancers 12 (10): 2823 (2020) PUBLISHER_CC http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cancers12102823 Creative Commons Attribution https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
spellingShingle Overton, Ian M.
Sims, Andrew H.
Owen, Jeremy A.
Heale, Bret S. E.
Ford, Matthew J.
Lubbock, Alexander L. R.
Pairo-Castineira, Erola
Essafi, Abdelkader
Functional Transcription Factor Target Networks Illuminate Control of Epithelial Remodelling
title Functional Transcription Factor Target Networks Illuminate Control of Epithelial Remodelling
title_full Functional Transcription Factor Target Networks Illuminate Control of Epithelial Remodelling
title_fullStr Functional Transcription Factor Target Networks Illuminate Control of Epithelial Remodelling
title_full_unstemmed Functional Transcription Factor Target Networks Illuminate Control of Epithelial Remodelling
title_short Functional Transcription Factor Target Networks Illuminate Control of Epithelial Remodelling
title_sort functional transcription factor target networks illuminate control of epithelial remodelling
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/131303
work_keys_str_mv AT overtonianm functionaltranscriptionfactortargetnetworksilluminatecontrolofepithelialremodelling
AT simsandrewh functionaltranscriptionfactortargetnetworksilluminatecontrolofepithelialremodelling
AT owenjeremya functionaltranscriptionfactortargetnetworksilluminatecontrolofepithelialremodelling
AT healebretse functionaltranscriptionfactortargetnetworksilluminatecontrolofepithelialremodelling
AT fordmatthewj functionaltranscriptionfactortargetnetworksilluminatecontrolofepithelialremodelling
AT lubbockalexanderlr functionaltranscriptionfactortargetnetworksilluminatecontrolofepithelialremodelling
AT pairocastineiraerola functionaltranscriptionfactortargetnetworksilluminatecontrolofepithelialremodelling
AT essafiabdelkader functionaltranscriptionfactortargetnetworksilluminatecontrolofepithelialremodelling