title: siMacro: A Fast and Easy Data Processing Tool for Cell-Based Genomewide siRNA Screens.
abstract: Growing numbers of studies employ cell line-based systematic short interfering RNA (siRNA) screens to study gene functions and to identify drug targets. As multiple sources of variations that are unique to siRNA screens exist, there is a growing demand for a computational tool that generates normalized values and standardized scores. However, only a few tools have been available so far with limited usability. Here, we present siMacro, a fast and easy-to-use Microsoft Office Excel-based tool with a graphic user interface, designed to process single-condition or two-condition synthetic screen datasets. siMacro normalizes position and batch effects, censors outlier samples, and calculates Z-scores and robust Z-scores, with a spreadsheet output of >120,000 samples in under 1 minute.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, USA.
authors.forename: Nitin Kumar
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Bo Yeun
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Mathukumalli
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vidyasagar
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Hyun Seok
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: RNA interference; high-throughput screening assays