title: A Consensus Network of Gene Regulatory Factors in the Human Frontal Lobe.
abstract: Cognitive abilities, such as memory, learning, language, problem solving, and planning, involve the frontal lobe and other brain areas. Not much is known yet about the molecular basis of cognitive abilities, but it seems clear that cognitive abilities are determined by the interplay of many genes. One approach for analyzing the genetic networks involved in cognitive functions is to study the coexpression networks of genes with known importance for proper cognitive functions, such as genes that have been associated with cognitive disorders like intellectual disability (ID) or autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Because many of these genes are gene regulatory factors (GRFs) we aimed to provide insights into the gene regulatory networks active in the human frontal lobe. Using genome wide human frontal lobe expression data from 10 independent data sets, we first derived 10 individual coexpression networks for all GRFs including their potential target genes. We observed a high level of variability among these 10 independently derived networks, pointing out that relying on results from a single study can only provide limited biological insights. To instead focus on the most confident information from these 10 networks we developed a method for integrating such independently derived networks into a consensus network. This consensus network revealed robust GRF interactions that are conserved across the frontal lobes of different healthy human individuals. Within this network, we detected a strong central module that is enriched for 166 GRFs known to be involved in brain development and/or cognitive disorders. Interestingly, several hubs of the consensus network encode for GRFs that have not yet been associated with brain functions. Their central role in the network suggests them as excellent new candidates for playing an essential role in the regulatory network of the human frontal lobe, which should be investigated in future studies.
authors.affiliation: Bioinformatics Group, Department of Computer Science, and Interdisciplinary Center for Bioinformatics, University LeipzigLeipzig, Germany; Paul-Flechsig Institute for Brain Research, University of LeipzigLeipzig, Germany; Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical CenterDallas, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berto
authors.affiliation: Bioinformatics Group, Department of Computer Science, and Interdisciplinary Center for Bioinformatics, University Leipzig Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perdomo-Sabogal
authors.affiliation: Bioinformatics Group, Department of Computer Science, and Interdisciplinary Center for Bioinformatics, University Leipzig Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gerighausen
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, University of Southern DenmarkOdense, Denmark; Institute for Theoretical Chemistry, University of ViennaVienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Bioinformatics Group, Department of Computer Science, and Interdisciplinary Center for Bioinformatics, University LeipzigLeipzig, Germany; Paul-Flechsig Institute for Brain Research, University of LeipzigLeipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nowick
keywords: coexpression network; cognitive abilities; cognitive disorders; consensus network; prefrontal cortex (PFC); transcription factor; weighted topological overlap network