Finding regulatory modules through large-scale gene-expression data analysis.
BACKGROUND
The use of gene microchips has enabled a rapid accumulation of gene-expression data. One of the major challenges of analyzing this data is the diversity, in both size and signal strength, of the various modules in the gene regulatory networks of organisms.


RESULTS
Based on the iterative signature algorithm [Bergmann,S., Ihmels,J. and Barkai,N. (2002) Phys. Rev. E 67, 031902], we present an algorithm-the progressive iterative signature algorithm (PISA)-that, by sequentially eliminating modules, allows unsupervised identification of both large and small regulatory modules. We applied PISA to a large set of yeast gene-expression data, and, using the Gene Ontology database as a reference, found that the algorithm is much better able to identify regulatory modules than methods based on high-throughput transcription-factor binding experiments or on comparative genomics.
Kloster
M
M
Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
Tang
C
C
Wingreen
N S
NS
D000465:Algorithms; D003198:Computer Simulation; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D008957:Models, Genetic; D015233:Models, Statistical; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*
D014157:Transcription Factors