--- title: "rTRM: an R package for the identification of transcription regulatory modules (TRMs)" author: - name: Diego Diez affiliation: Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University email: diego10ruiz@gmail.com package: rTRM output: BiocStyle::html_document vignette: | %\VignetteIndexEntry{Introduction to rTRM} %\VignetteEngine{knitr::rmarkdown} %\VignetteEncoding{UTF-8} bibliography: references.bib --- ```{r setup, echo=FALSE, message=FALSE} library(ggplot2) library(knitr) library(rTRM) library(org.Mm.eg.db) ``` # Introduction Transcription factors (TFs) bind to short motifs in the DNA and regulate the expression of target genes in a cell type and time dependent fashion. TFs do so by cooperating with other TFs in what it is called Transcriptional Regulatory Modules (TRMs). These TRMs contain different TFs and form a combinatorial code that explains TF specificity. We have implemented a method for the identification of TRMs that integrates information about binding locations from a single ChIP-seq experiment, computational estimation of TF binding, gene expression and protein-protein interaction (PPI) data [@diez2014]; see workflow figure). rTRM implements the methods required for the integration of PPI information (step 4 in workflow). To do so, rTRM tries to identify TFs that are bound to a target TF (the one with experimental evidence- i.e. ChIP-seq data) either directly or through a bridge protein. This package has been used to identify cell-type independent and dependent TRMs associated with Stat3 functions [@hutchins2013]. Also, it has been used to identify TRMs in embryonic and hematopoietic stem cells as part of the publication presenting the methodology [@diez2014]. Here we present the basic capabilities of rTRM with a naive example, a case study showing the identification of Sox2 related TRM in ESCs as performed in the paper describing rTRM [@diez2014], and a complete workflow in R using the `r Biocpkg("PWMEnrich")` package for the motif enrichment step. ```{r fig.wide=TRUE, echo=FALSE, fig.cap="Workflow for the identification of TRMs. Steps 1-3 can be performed with standard Bioconductor approaches. rTRM implements a method to perform step 4."} knitr::include_graphics("workflow.pdf") ``` # Minimal example In this minimal example a dummy network is search to identify TRMs focused around a target node, _N6_, with query nodes being _N7_, _N12_ and _N28_. By default _findTRM_ find nodes separated a max distance of 0 (i.e. nodes directly connected). We change this with parameter `max.bridge = 1`. Because node _N28_ is separated by two other nodes from the target node _N6_, it is not included in the predicted TRM. By default `findTRM` returns an object of class igraph, which can be used with `plotTRM`, `plotTRMlegend` and other rTRM functions. However, it is possible to directly obtain a _graphNEL_ object (from the _Bioconductor_ package `r Biocpkg("graph")`), setting `type = graphNEL`. Of course it is possible to also use the `igraph.to.graphNEL` function in the `r Biocpkg("igraph")` package to transform an _igraph_ object into a _graphNEL_ object. ```{r fig.small=TRUE, fig.cap = "Identification of a TRM 1from a test network (left). In the resulting TRM (right) dark blue indicates the target node light blue are query nodes and white nodes are bridge nodes"} # load the rTRM package library(rTRM) # load network example. load(system.file(package = "rTRM", "extra/example.rda")) # plot network plot(g, vertex.size = 20, vertex.label.cex = .8, layout = layout.graphopt) # define target and query nodes: target <- "N6" query <- c("N7", "N12", "N28") # find TRM: s <- findTRM(g, target = target, query = query, method = "nsa", max.bridge = 1) # annotate nodes: V(s)$color <- "white" V(s)[ name %in% query]$color <- "steelblue2" V(s)[ name %in% target]$color <- "steelblue4" # plot: plot(s,vertex.size=20,vertex.label.cex=.8) ``` # Introduction to the rTRM package rTRM relies on a series of optimizations. For example in the publication we used PWMs for vertebrate species compiled from different sources. This assumes the binding specificities of TFs will be conserved on all these species. Recent comparison between mouse and human PWMs suggests that this is the case for most TFs @jolma2013. rTRM also relies on protein-protein interaction data, and so provides utilities to download data from the BioGRID database (see below). As some of these functionalities are further integrated with existing _Bioconductor_ functionality they may be defunct in the future. ## Database Information about TFs, including Position Specific Weight (PWMs) matrices, mapping to Entrez Gene identifiers, orthologs in mouse and human and other annotations are stored as a SQLite database. rTRM provides a basic API for accessing the data. Below there are some examples. To obtain PWMs: ```{r} pwm <- getMatrices() head(pwm, 1) ``` To get annotations: ```{r} ann <- getAnnotations() head(ann) ``` To get map of TFs to genes: ```{r} map <- getMaps() head(map) ``` To get map of TFs to ortholog genes: ```{r} o <- getOrthologs(organism = "mouse") head(o) ``` It is possible to map motif ids to entrezgene ids in the target organism (only between human and mouse). This is useful when all the information about existing PWMs is desired, as some TF binding affinities have only been studied in one organism. ```{r} getOrthologFromMatrix("MA0009.1", organism="human") getOrthologFromMatrix("MA0009.1", organism="mouse") ``` ## Interactome data rTRM requires information about protein-protein interactions (PPIs) for its predictions and includes interactome (PPI network) data from the BioGRID database @stark2011. Currently mouse and human interactomes are supported. The networks are provided as an _igraph_ object. To access the data use: ```{r} # check statistics about the network. biogrid_mm() # load mouse PPI network: data(biogrid_mm) ``` The amount of available PPI data increases rapidly so it is desirable to have a way to access the newest data conveniently. rTRM includes support for direct download and processing of PPI data from the BioGRID database. The PPI network is stored as an _igraph_ object that can be readily used with rTRM or stored for later use. Below there is an example of the BioGRID database update procedure. ```{r eval=FALSE} # obtain dataset. db <- getBiogridData() # retrieves latest release. # db = getBiogridData("3.2.96") # to get a specific release. # check release: db$release db$data # process PPI data for different organisms (currently supported human and mouse): biogrid_hs <- processBiogrid(db, org = "human") biogrid_mm <- processBiogrid(db, org = "mouse") ``` PPI data from other databases could be used as long as it is formatted as an _igraph_ object with the _name_ attribute containing entrezgene identifiers and the _label_ attribute containing the symbol. ## Using PSICQUIC package to obtain protein-protein interactions One possibility available from _Bioconductor_ is to use the package `r Biocpkg("PSICQUIC")` to obtain PPI data. `r Biocpkg("PSICQUIC")` provides access to different databases of PPIs, including BioGRID and STRINGS, and databases of cellular networks like KEGG or Reactome. For example, to obtain the human BioGRID data (NOTE: named BioGrid in PSICQUIC): ```{r eval=FALSE} library(PSICQUIC) psicquic <- PSICQUIC() providers(psicquic) # obtain BioGrid human PPIs (as data.frame): tbl <- interactions(psicquic, species="9606",provider="BioGrid") # the target and source node information needs to be polished (i.e. must be Entrez gene id only) biogrid_hs <- data.frame(source=tbl$A,target=tbl$B) biogrid_hs$source <- sub(".*locuslink:(.*)\\|BIOGRID:.*","\\1", biogrid_hs$source) biogrid_hs$target <- sub(".*locuslink:(.*)\\|BIOGRID:.*","\\1", biogrid_hs$target) # create graph. library(igraph) biogrid_hs <- graph.data.frame(biogrid_hs,directed=FALSE) biogrid_hs <- simplify(biogrid_hs) # annotate with symbols. library(org.Hs.eg.db) V(biogrid_hs)$label <- select(org.Hs.eg.db,keys=V(biogrid_hs)$name,columns=c("SYMBOL"))$SYMBOL ``` # Case study: TRM associated with Sox2 in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) Sox2 is a TF involved in the determination and maintainance of pluripotency in embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Sox2 forms a transcriptional regulatory module with Nanog and Pou5f1 (Oct4), and together determine ESCs phenotype. Other TFs important to this process are Erssb and Klf4. In this case study we want to identify TRMs associated with Sox2. ChIP-seq data for Sox2 was obtained from @chen2008 and motif enrichment analysis performed with HOMER @heinz2010, followed by matching against our library of PWMs using TOMTOM @gupta2007. The starting dataset is the TOMTOM output file with the motifs enriched in the Sox2 binding regions. ```{r} # read motif enrichment results. motif_file <- system.file("extra/sox2_motif_list.rda", package = "rTRM") load(motif_file) length(motif_list) head(motif_list) ``` First, we read the motifs and convert them into gene identifiers (i.e. Entrez Gene identifier). To do this we use the function `getOrthologFromMatrix`, which takes a list of motif identifiers and the target organism as parameters. The function returns a list with the Entrez Gene ids. ```{r} # get the corresponding gene. tfs_list <- getOrthologFromMatrix(motif_list, organism = "mouse") tfs_list <- unique(unlist(tfs_list, use.names = FALSE)) length(tfs_list) head(tfs_list) ``` Next, we need a list of genes expressed in ESC. For this, the dataset was obtained from GEO (GSE27708; @ho2011) and processed using the custom CDFs from the BrainArray project @dai2005 and the `rma` function from the package `r Biocpkg("affy")` @gautier2004. Genes not expressed were filtered by removing all genes with log2 expression < 5 in all samples. ```{r} # load expression data. eg_esc_file <- system.file("extra/ESC-expressed.txt", package = "rTRM") eg_esc <- scan(eg_esc_file, what = "") length(eg_esc) head(eg_esc) tfs_list_esc <- tfs_list[tfs_list %in% eg_esc] length(tfs_list_esc) head(tfs_list_esc) ``` Next, we load the PPI network and filter out potential degree outliers and proteins not expressed in the paired expression data. ```{r} # load and process PPI data. biogrid_mm() data(biogrid_mm) ppi <- biogrid_mm vcount(ppi) ecount(ppi) # remove outliers. f <- c("Ubc", "Sumo1", "Sumo2", "Sumo3") f <- select(org.Mm.eg.db, keys = f, columns = "ENTREZID", keytype = "SYMBOL")$ENTREZID f ppi <- removeVertices(ppi, f) vcount(ppi) ecount(ppi) # filter by expression. ppi_esc <- induced.subgraph(ppi, V(ppi)[ name %in% eg_esc ]) vcount(ppi_esc) ecount(ppi_esc) # ensure a single component. ppi_esc <- getLargestComp(ppi_esc) vcount(ppi_esc) ecount(ppi_esc) ``` To identify TRMs we define a target TF (the one the ChIP-seq data comes from) and some query TFs (the ones with enriched binding sites in the neighborhood of the target TF). ```{r} # define target. target <- select(org.Mm.eg.db,keys="Sox2",columns="ENTREZID",keytype="SYMBOL")$ENTREZID target # find TRM. s <- findTRM(ppi_esc, target, tfs_list_esc, method = "nsa", max.bridge = 1) vcount(s) ecount(s) ``` Finally, we layout the network using a customized concentric layout and plot the network and the legend. ```{r fig.small=TRUE, fig.cap = "Sox2 specific TRM in ESCs."} # generate layout (order by cluster, then label) cl <- getConcentricList(s, target, tfs_list_esc) l <- layout.concentric(s, cl, order = "label") # plot TRM. plotTRM(s, layout = l, vertex.cex = 15, label.cex = .8) plotTRMlegend(s, title = "ESC Sox2 TRM", cex = .8) ``` # A complete workflow in R In this section we will identify Sox2 TRMs using a workflow performed completely in R. For this the MotifDb package will be used to obtain the information about PWMs, and PWMEnrich package for identifying enriched motifs. PWMEnrich requires the computation of background models and the enrichment analysis _per se_, which are computational intensive. Therefore these steps were not run during the compilation of this vignette. The first step is to retrieve a set of PWMs. Here we will use the `r Biocpkg("MotifDb")` package available in _Bioconductor_. We will use only mouse PWMs (i.e. PWMs for the target organism). It could be possible to use matrices from other species but then the user has to obtain the orthologs in the target organism (e.g. using `getOrthologsFromBiomart` in rTRM or using the `r Biocpkg("Biomart")` package directly). ```{r} library(rTRM) library(BSgenome.Mmusculus.UCSC.mm8.masked) # Sox2 peaks found against mm8 library(PWMEnrich) registerCoresPWMEnrich(1) # register number of cores for parallelization in PWMEnrich library(MotifDb) # select mouse PWMs: sel.mm <- values(MotifDb)$organism %in% c("Mmusculus") pwm.mm <- MotifDb[sel.mm] ``` The matrices need to be passed as counts, that is the PFM need to be converted to counts. The easiest way is to multiply by 100 and round the results. We also need to convert it to integer. ```{r} # generate logn background model of PWMs: p <- as.list(pwm.mm) p <- lapply(p, function(x) round(x * 100)) p <- lapply(p, function(x) t(apply(x, 1, as.integer))) ``` With the PFMs we compute the background model using the makeBackground() function from the PWMEnrich package, which returns the corresponding PWMs. This requires a list with the PFMs as counts, the organisms to obtain the sequences to compute the background and the type of background model (here "logn" model is used). ```{r eval=FALSE} pwm_logn <- makeBackground(p, Mmusculus, type = "logn") ``` ```{r echo=FALSE} load(system.file("extra/pwm_mm_logn.rda", package = "rTRM")) ``` Next we read the peak information from the Sox2 Chip-seq data. This is the original coordinates obtained from @chen2008, which were obtained for Mus musculus (mm8) genome. The function getSequencesFromGenome() is an utility wrapper to getSeq() that facilitates appending a label to the sequences' ids. PWMEnrich requires sequences the same size or longer to the motifs so we check what is the largest motif and filter the sequences accordingly. ```{r} sox2_bed <- read.table(system.file("extra/ESC_Sox2_peaks.txt", package = "rTRM")) colnames(sox2_bed) <- c("chr", "start", "end") sox2_seq <- getSequencesFromGenome(sox2_bed, Mmusculus, append.id="Sox2") # PWMEnrich throws an error if the sequences are shorter than the motifs so we filter those sequences. min.width <- max(sapply(p, ncol)) sox2_seq_filter <- sox2_seq[width(sox2_seq) >= min.width] ``` Next, enrichment is computed with the sequences and the PWMs with the background model as parameters. ```{r eval=FALSE} # find enrichment: sox2_enr <- motifEnrichment(sox2_seq_filter, pwms=pwm_logn, group.only=TRUE) ``` ```{r echo=FALSE} load(system.file("extra/sox2_enr.rda", package = "rTRM")) ``` Next, retrieve the enriched motifs by choosing an appropriate cutoff. Here a raw.score of > 5 is used. Then, using the annotations in the MotifDb dataset, we can obtain the Entrezgene ids associated with the enriched TF motifs. ```{r fig.small=TRUE, fig.cap="Density of log2(raw.score) for group. The selected cutoff is indicated with a red line."} res <- groupReport(sox2_enr) plot(density(res$raw.score),main="",log="x",xlab="log(raw.score)") abline(v=log2(5),col="red") mtext(text="log2(5)",at=log2(5),side=3,cex=.8,col="red") res.gene <- unique(values(MotifDb[res$id[res$raw.score > 5]])$geneId) res.gene <- unique(na.omit(res.gene)) ``` Then proceed with the same steps as in the Use Case example shown in the previous section. The resulting TRM is similar (~85% of edges shared) to the one in the Use Case, which used HOMER for motif enrichment. Differences may be to different approaches to determine the background. HOMER uses random sets of sequences with similar composition to the ChIP-seq peaks provided to generate the background. For PWMEnrich we generated a background using promoter sequences, defined as 2000 bp upstream of the transcription start site (TSS) of all genes in the genome. Generally, using different strategies for enrichment will tend to produce slightly different TRMs. ```{r fig.small=TRUE, fig.cap="Sox2 TRM identified using PWMEnrich for the motif enrichment."} data(biogrid_mm) ppi <- biogrid_mm vcount(ppi) ecount(ppi) f <- c("Ubc", "Sumo1", "Sumo2", "Sumo3") f <- select(org.Mm.eg.db,keys=f,columns="ENTREZID",keytype="SYMBOL")$ENTREZID ppi <- removeVertices(ppi, f) vcount(ppi) ecount(ppi) # filter by expression. eg_esc <- scan(system.file("extra/ESC-expressed.txt", package = "rTRM"), what = "") ppi_esc <- induced.subgraph(ppi, V(ppi)[ name %in% eg_esc ]) vcount(ppi_esc) ecount(ppi_esc) # ensure a single component. ppi_esc <- getLargestComp(ppi_esc) vcount(ppi_esc) ecount(ppi_esc) sox2.gene <- select(org.Mm.eg.db,keys="Sox2",columns="ENTREZID",keytype="SYMBOL")$ENTREZID sox2_trm <- findTRM(ppi_esc, target=sox2.gene, query = res.gene) cl <- getConcentricList(sox2_trm, t=sox2.gene,e=res.gene) l <- layout.concentric(sox2_trm, concentric=cl, order="label") plotTRM(sox2_trm, layout = l, vertex.cex = 15, label.cex = .8) plotTRMlegend(sox2_trm, title = "ESC Sox2 TRM", cex = .8) ``` We next compare the similarity between the TRM identified using motifs enriched as identified with HOMER and those identified with PWMEnrich. As shown in the heatmap, both methods return similar results. ```{r fig.small=TRUE, fig.cap="Similarity between the TRMs predicted using motif enrichment information from PWMEnrich and HOMER."} m <- getSimilarityMatrix(list(PWMEnrich = sox2_trm, HOMER = s)) m d <- as.data.frame.table(m) g <- ggplot(d, aes(x = Var1, y = Var2, fill = Freq)) + geom_tile() + scale_fill_gradient2( limit = c(0, 100), low = "white", mid = "darkblue", high = "orange", guide = guide_legend("similarity", reverse = TRUE), midpoint = 50 ) + labs(x = NULL, y = NULL) + theme(aspect.ratio = 1, axis.text.x = element_text( angle = 90, vjust = .5, hjust = 1 )) ``` # Ploting parameters The most important parameter determining the appearance of your network will be the layout. When networks contain many nodes and edges are difficult to interpret. rTRM implements two igraph layouts that try improve the visualization and interpretation of the identified TRMs. The layout _layout.concentric_ is a circular layout with multiple concentric layers that places the target TFs in the center, the enriched (or query) TFs in the outer circle and the bridge TFs in the middle circle. Another layut is _layout.arc_ that tries to mimic the layout presented in the rTRM description (Fig. 1). In this case all nodes are plotted in a liner layout, with the targets in the center, and the enriched (query) nodes at each side. Those enriched nodes connected directly to any of the target nodes are placed in the left side. Those connected through a bridge node are placed in the right side, with the bridge node placed in between. The following figure compares the concentric layout obtained in the previous section with a layout using the _layout.arc_ function. ```{r fig.small=TRUE, fig.width=2.5,fig.height=2.5,fig.cap="Sox2 TRM obtained with PWMEnrich workflow and layout.concentric is shown in the left. Same TRM with layout.arc is shown in the right."} plotTRM(sox2_trm, layout = l, vertex.cex = 15, label.cex = .7) l=layout.arc(sox2_trm,target=sox2.gene,query=res.gene) plotTRM(sox2_trm, layout=l,vertex.cex=15,label.cex=.7) ``` # Citation If you use `r Biocpkg("rTRM")` in your research please include the following reference: ```{r} citation(package = "rTRM") ``` # Session Information ```{r} sessionInfo() ``` # References