CMS: A Web-Based System for Visualization and Analysis of Genome-Wide Methylation Data of Human Cancers

Background

DNA methylation of promoter CpG islands is associated with gene suppression, and its unique genome-wide profiles have been linked to tumor progression. Coupled with high-throughput sequencing technologies, it can now efficiently determine genome-wide methylation profiles in cancer cells. Also, experimental and computational technologies make it possible to find the functional relationship between cancer-specific methylation patterns and their clinicopathological parameters.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Cancer methylome system (CMS) is a web-based database application designed for the visualization, comparison and statistical analysis of human cancer-specific DNA methylation. Methylation intensities were obtained from MBDCap-sequencing, pre-processed and stored in the database. 191 patient samples (169 tumor and 22 normal specimen) and 41 breast cancer cell-lines are deposited in the database, comprising about 6.6 billion uniquely mapped sequence reads. This provides comprehensive and genome-wide epigenetic portraits of human breast cancer and endometrial cancer to date. Two views are proposed for users to better understand methylation structure at the genomic level or systemic methylation alteration at the gene level. In addition, a variety of annotation tracks are provided to cover genomic information. CMS includes important analytic functions for interpretation of methylation data, such as the detection of differentially methylated regions, statistical calculation of global methylation intensities, multiple gene sets of biologically significant categories, interactivity with UCSC via custom-track data. We also present examples of discoveries utilizing the framework.

Conclusions/Significance

CMS provides visualization and analytic functions for cancer methylome datasets. A comprehensive collection of datasets, a variety of embedded analytic functions and extensive applications with biological and translational significance make this system powerful and unique in cancer methylation research. CMS is freely accessible at: http://cbbiweb.uthscsa.edu/KMethylomes/.     

Mitochondrial DNA Genomes Organization and Phylogenetic Relationships Analysis of Eight Anemonefishes (Pomacentridae: Amphiprioninae)

Anemonefishes (Pomacentridae Amphiprioninae) are a group of 30 valid coral reef fish species with their phylogenetic relationships still under debate. The eight available mitogenomes of anemonefishes were used to reconstruct the molecular phylogenetic tree; six were obtained from this study (Amphiprion clarkii, A. frenatus, A. percula, A. perideraion, A. polymnus and Premnas biaculeatus) and two from GenBank (A. bicinctus and A. ocellaris). The seven Amphiprion species represent all four subgenera and P. biaculeatus is the only species from Premnas. The eight mitogenomes of anemonefishes encoded 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes and two main non-coding regions, with the gene arrangement and translation direction basically identical to other typical vertebrate mitogenomes. Among the 13 protein-coding genes, A. ocellaris (AP006017) and A. percula (KJ174497) had the same length in ND5 with 1,866 bp, which were three nucleotides less than the other six anemonefishes. Both structures of ND5, however, could translate to amino acid successfully. Only four mitogenomes had the tandem repeats in D-loop; the tandem repeats were located in downstream after Conserved Sequence Block rather than the upstream and repeated in a simply way. The phylogenetic utility was tested with Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood methods using all 13 protein-coding genes. The results strongly supported that the subfamily Amphiprioninae was monophyletic and P. biaculeatus should be assigned to the genus Amphiprion. Premnas biaculeatus with the percula complex were revealed to be the ancient anemonefish species. The tree forms of ND1, COIII, ND4, Cytb, Cytb+12S rRNA, Cytb+COI and Cytb+COI+12S rRNA were similar to that 13 protein-coding genes, therefore, we suggested that the suitable single mitochondrial gene for phylogenetic analysis of anemonefishes maybe Cytb. Additional mitogenomes of anemonefishes with a combination of nuclear markers will be useful to substantiate these conclusions in future studies.     

Complete Mitochondrial DNA Sequence of Conger myriaster (Teleostei: Anguilliformes): Novel Gene Order for Vertebrate Mitochondrial Genomes and the Phylogenetic Implications for Anguilliform Families

The complete nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial genome was determined for a conger eel, Conger myriaster (Elopomorpha: Anguilliformes), using a PCR-based approach that employs a long PCR technique and many fish-versatile primers. Although the genome [18,705 base pairs (bp)] contained the same set of 37 mitochondrial genes [two ribosomal RNA (rRNA), 22 transfer RNA (tRNA), and 13 protein-coding genes] as found in other vertebrates, the gene order differed from that recorded for any other vertebrates. In typical vertebrates, the ND6, tRNA^Glu, and tRNA^Pro genes are located between the ND5 gene and the control region, whereas the former three genes, in C. myriaster, have been translocated to a position between the control region and the tRNA^Phe gene that are contiguously located at the 5′ end of the 12S rRNA gene in typical vertebrates. This gene order is similar to the recently reported gene order in four lineages of birds in that the latter lack the ND6, tRNA^Glu, and tRNA^Pro genes between the ND5 gene and the control region; however, the relative position of the tRNA^Pro to the ND6–tRNA^Glu genes in C. myriaster was different from that in the four birds, which presumably resulted from different patterns of tandem duplication of gene regions followed by gene deletions in two distantly related groups of organisms. Sequencing of the ND5–cyt b region in 11 other anguilliform species, representing 11 families, plus one outgroup species, revealed that the same gene order as C. myriaster was shared by another 4 families, belonging to the suborder Congroidei. Although the novel gene orders of four lineages of birds were indicated to have multiple independent origins, phylogenetic analyses using nucleotide sequences from the mitochondrial 12S rRNA and cyt b genes suggested that the novel gene orders of the five anguilliform families had originated in a single ancestral species. Received: 13 July 2000 / Accepted: 30 November 2000     

A Phylogenetic Analysis of Heterorhabditis (Nemata: Rhabditidae) Based on Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 DNA Sequence Data

Internal transcribed spacer 1 sequences were used to infer phylogenetic relationships among 8 of the 9 described species and one putative species of the entomopathogenic nematode genus Heterorhabditis. Sequences were aligned and optimized based on pairwise genetic distance and parsimony criteria and subjected to a variety of sequence alignment parameters. Phylogenetic trees were constructed with maximum parsimony, cladistic, distance, and maximum likelihood algorithms. Our results gave strong support for four pairs of sister species, while relationships between these pairs also were resolved but less well supported. The ITS1 region of the nuclear ribosomal repeat was a reliable source of homologous characters for resolving relationships between closely related taxa but provided more tenuous resolution among more divergent lineages. A high degree of sequence identity and lack of autapomorphic characters suggest that sister species pairs within three distinct lineages may be mutually conspecific. Application of these molecular data and current morphological knowledge to the delimitation of species is hindered by an incomplete understanding of their variability in natural populations.     

猪圆环病毒2型福建株的全基因组克隆与序列分析

根据GenBank上公布的猪圆环病毒2型全基因序列设计一对扩增PCV-2全基因的引物,建立扩增PCV-2全序列的PCR方法,并应用此方法从福建省不同地区采集的疑似断奶仔猪多系统衰竭综合征(PMWS)的仔猪肺组织病料中扩增出PCV-2全基因组(1 767 bp),将此基因片段克隆入pMD 18-T载体,筛选获得重组质粒pMD-PCV-2,并对其进行序列测定,然后对全基因组进行同源性和遗传进化分析。结果表明,福建省不同地区采集的猪肺组织扩增出的PCV-2全序列与GenBank上公布的的全基因组同源性介于94.9%-99.8%之间,ORF1的同源性介于97.2%-99.9%,ORF2的同源性也很高,介于97.7%-99.8%之间。其中福州株、福清株和漳州株与中国农大报道的12株、郑州株5株、杭州4株、武汉株3株、上海株2株、扬州2株、南京1株和兰州1株共30株在一个进化分支上,同源性也高达99.3%。本研究有助于监测PCV-2的疫源和进化关系,为进一步深入研究福建省生猪猪圆环病毒来源奠定一定基础。     

猪圆环病毒2型分离毒株全基因组的克隆及序列分析

根据GenBank中猪圆环病毒2型（PCV－2）基因序列,设计两对特异性引物,用PCR方法从接种疑似PMWS仔猪病料的细胞中分段扩增2个分离毒株全基因组。将扩增片段克隆入pGEM-T easy载体,筛选获得含有相应片段的阳性重组质粒。对质粒中的插入片段进行测序拼接,获得2株均为1768bp的全基因组序列。应用DNA star序列分析软件,对所测PCV－2序列与GenBank中的国内外PCV毒株进行同源性比较,并绘制系统发生树,结果发现：所测两毒株之间的核苷酸序列同源性极高,可达99．8％,亲缘关系密切;与PCV－2参考毒株的同源性介于95．3％－99．7％之间,其中与美国的一株PCV－2同源性最高,分别为99．5％和99．7％,亲缘关系很近;与国内两分离株同源性分别为96．4％和98．8％－98．9％;与PCV－1参考毒株同源性仅为77．1％－77．5％。     

Genetic Variation and Evolution of the Alpine Bamboos (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) using DNA Sequence Data

Thamnocalamus , Fargesia and Yushania, of the alpine bamboos and one species of Ampelocalamus as an out-group were studied. The results indicated that Thamnocalamus spathiflorus var. crassinodus and the Fargesia spathacea clade form the basal groups but bootstrap support was weak. Among the rest of the species, including species previously placed in Fargesia (plus Borinda) and Yushania, the F. yunnanensis subclade and the F. communis subclade were recognized but internal support for such groups was again low. The result indicated that, Fargesia and Yushania as delimited by morphological characters, are not monophyletic in the ITS phylogeny and require further resolution. We revealed relatively high levels of genetic variability in the alpine bamboos and showed that the ITS region could be used to improve generic delimitation of the woody bamboos in general. Received 18 September 2000/ Accepted in revised form 9 May 2001     

Analysis of Lipid Experiments (ALEX): A Software Framework for Analysis of High-Resolution Shotgun Lipidomics Data

Global lipidomics analysis across large sample sizes produces high-content datasets that require dedicated software tools supporting lipid identification and quantification, efficient data management and lipidome visualization. Here we present a novel software-based platform for streamlined data processing, management and visualization of shotgun lipidomics data acquired using high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry. The platform features the ALEX framework designed for automated identification and export of lipid species intensity directly from proprietary mass spectral data files, and an auxiliary workflow using database exploration tools for integration of sample information, computation of lipid abundance and lipidome visualization. A key feature of the platform is the organization of lipidomics data in ”database table format” which provides the user with an unsurpassed flexibility for rapid lipidome navigation using selected features within the dataset. To demonstrate the efficacy of the platform, we present a comparative neurolipidomics study of cerebellum, hippocampus and somatosensory barrel cortex (S1BF) from wild-type and knockout mice devoid of the putative lipid phosphate phosphatase PRG-1 (plasticity related gene-1). The presented framework is generic, extendable to processing and integration of other lipidomic data structures, can be interfaced with post-processing protocols supporting statistical testing and multivariate analysis, and can serve as an avenue for disseminating lipidomics data within the scientific community. The ALEX software is available at www.msLipidomics.info.     

根据DNA的序列资料探讨翅子树族的系统位置

采用DNA分子测序技术对梧桐科5个族30个代表种的rbcL基因及核糖体DNA的内转录间隔区ITS序列(包括ITS1、ITS2和5．8srRNA基因)进行了序列分析。使用PAUP4．0b10软件对序列进行统计和分支分析。用启发式搜索方法寻找最简约树。从严格一致性树来看,梧桐科的全部代表类群主要被分为4支,一支仅为Sterculieae所构成;一支包括Helictereae的全部代表种;一支由Byttnerieae代表种所构成;最后一支由Dombeyeae和单属族翅子树族Pterospermeae所构成。rbcL和ITS系统树的不同仅表现在族内个别代表类群的位置和族的分支方式上。分析结果表明,与Helictereae相比,翅子树属,Pterospermum与Dombeyeae有更近的亲缘关系。然而,在外部形态、内部解剖和胚胎学方面,二者之间又存在诸多差异．故支持将Pterospermum另立为Ptcrospermeae的观点。     

Sequence to Medical Phenotypes: A Framework for Interpretation of Human Whole Genome DNA Sequence Data

High throughput sequencing has facilitated a precipitous drop in the cost of genomic sequencing, prompting predictions of a revolution in medicine via genetic personalization of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. There are significant barriers to realizing this goal that are related to the difficult task of interpreting personal genetic variation. A comprehensive, widely accessible application for interpretation of whole genome sequence data is needed. Here, we present a series of methods for identification of genetic variants and genotypes with clinical associations, phasing genetic data and using Mendelian inheritance for quality control, and providing predictive genetic information about risk for rare disease phenotypes and response to pharmacological therapy in single individuals and father-mother-child trios. We demonstrate application of these methods for disease and drug response prognostication in whole genome sequence data from twelve unrelated adults, and for disease gene discovery in one father-mother-child trio with apparently simplex congenital ventricular arrhythmia. In doing so we identify clinically actionable inherited disease risk and drug response genotypes in pre-symptomatic individuals. We also nominate a new candidate gene in congenital arrhythmia, ATP2B4, and provide experimental evidence of a regulatory role for variants discovered using this framework.     

ImShot: An Open-Source Software for Probabilistic Identification of Proteins In Situ and Visualization of Proteomics Data

Imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) has developed into a powerful tool allowing label-free detection of numerous biomolecules in situ. In contrast to shotgun proteomics, proteins/peptides can be detected directly from biological tissues and correlated to its morphology leading to a gain of crucial clinical information. However, direct identification of the detected molecules is currently challenging for MALDI–IMS, thereby compelling researchers to use complementary techniques and resource intensive experimental setups. Despite these strategies, sufficient information could not be extracted because of lack of an optimum data combination strategy/software. Here, we introduce a new open-source software ImShot that aims at identifying peptides obtained in MALDI–IMS. This is achieved by combining information from IMS and shotgun proteomics (LC–MS) measurements of serial sections of the same tissue. The software takes advantage of a two-group comparison to determine the search space of IMS masses after deisotoping the corresponding spectra. Ambiguity in annotations of IMS peptides is eliminated by introduction of a novel scoring system that identifies the most likely parent protein of a detected peptide in the corresponding IMS dataset. Thanks to its modular structure, the software can also handle LC–MS data separately and display interactive enrichment plots and enriched Gene Ontology terms or cellular pathways. The software has been built as a desktop application with a conveniently designed graphic user interface to provide users with a seamless experience in data analysis. ImShot can run on all the three major desktop operating systems and is freely available under Massachusetts Institute of Technology license.     

PIIKA 2: An Expanded,Web-Based Platform for Analysis of Kinome Microarray Data

Kinome microarrays are comprised of peptides that act as phosphorylation targets for protein kinases. This platform is growing in popularity due to its ability to measure phosphorylation-mediated cellular signaling in a high-throughput manner. While software for analyzing data from DNA microarrays has also been used for kinome arrays, differences between the two technologies and associated biologies previously led us to develop Platform for Intelligent, Integrated Kinome Analysis (PIIKA), a software tool customized for the analysis of data from kinome arrays. Here, we report the development of PIIKA 2, a significantly improved version with new features and improvements in the areas of clustering, statistical analysis, and data visualization. Among other additions to the original PIIKA, PIIKA 2 now allows the user to: evaluate statistically how well groups of samples cluster together; identify sets of peptides that have consistent phosphorylation patterns among groups of samples; perform hierarchical clustering analysis with bootstrapping; view false negative probabilities and positive and negative predictive values for t-tests between pairs of samples; easily assess experimental reproducibility; and visualize the data using volcano plots, scatterplots, and interactive three-dimensional principal component analyses. Also new in PIIKA 2 is a web-based interface, which allows users unfamiliar with command-line tools to easily provide input and download the results. Collectively, the additions and improvements described here enhance both the breadth and depth of analyses available, simplify the user interface, and make the software an even more valuable tool for the analysis of kinome microarray data. Both the web-based and stand-alone versions of PIIKA 2 can be accessed via http://saphire.usask.ca.     

组织型纤溶酶原激活剂（t－PA）cDNA序列的测定

已经从ｍｅｌａｎｏｍａ细胞系中成功地获得了人组织型纤溶酶原激活剂（ｔ－ＰＡ）ｃＤＮＡ,在此基础上用双脱氧终止法测定了ｔ－ＰＡｃＤＮＡ编码区全序列及３′非编码区部分序列,并发现与Ｐｅｎｎｉｃａ等发表的ｔ－ＰＡｃＤＮＡ序列相比,有两处差异,其一是第１７２５位核苷酸残基为Ｃ而非Ａ,并使此处序列与Ｐｅｎｎｉｃａ序列相比新产生一个ＳｔｙＩ切点,但由于差异发生在密码子第三位,没有引起编码的氨基酸变化;其二是第１７７７位核苷酸残基（终止密码子后第４位核苷酸残基）为Ｔ而非Ｇ,使与终止密码子相隔３个核苷酸残基处产生了一个新的ＴＧＡ,与Ｐｅｎｎｉｃａ序列相比此处的ＢｓｔＮＩ切点也消失了。     

GITAR: An Open Source Tool for Analysis and Visualization of Hi-C Data

Interactions between chromatin segments play a large role in functional genomic assays and developments in genomic interaction detection methods have shown interacting topological domains within the genome. Among these methods, Hi-C plays a key role. Here, we present the Genome Interaction Tools and Resources (GITAR), a software to perform a comprehensive Hi-C data analysis, including data preprocessing, normalization, and visualization, as well as analysis of topologically-associated domains (TADs). GITAR is composed of two main modules: (1) HiCtool, a Python library to process and visualize Hi-C data, including TAD analysis; and (2) processed data library, a large collection of human and mouse datasets processed using HiCtool. HiCtool leads the user step-by-step through a pipeline, which goes from the raw Hi-C data to the computation, visualization, and optimized storage of intra-chromosomal contact matrices and TAD coordinates. A large collection of standardized processed data allows the users to compare different datasets in a consistent way, while saving time to obtain data for visualization or additional analyses. More importantly, GITAR enables users without any programming or bioinformatic expertise to work with Hi-C data. GITAR is publicly available at http://genomegitar.org as an open-source software.     

Intraspecies Analysis: Comparison of ITS Sequence Data and Gene Intron Sequence Data with Breeding Data for a Worldwide Collection of Gonium pectorale

The morphologically uniform species Gonium pectorale is a colonial green flagellate of worldwide distribution. The affinities of 25 isolates from 18 sites on five continents were assessed by both DNA sequence comparisons and sexual compatibility. Complete sequences were obtained (i) for the internal transcribed spacer ITS-1 and ITS-2 regions of ribosomal DNA and (ii) for each of three single-copy spliceosomal introns, two in a small G protein and one in the actin gene. ITS sequences appeared to homogenize sufficiently rapidly to behave as a single copy gene. Intron sequence differences between isolates in this species reached nucleotide substitution saturation, while ITS sequences did not. Parsimony and evolutionary distance analysis of the two types of DNA data gave essentially the same tree conformation. By all these criteria, the group of G. pectorale isolates fell into two main clades, A and B. Clade A, with isolates from four continents, was comprised of four subclades of quite closely related isolates, plus one strain of ambiguous affinity. Clade B was comprised of two subclades represented by South African and South American isolates, respectively; thus, only subclades of clade B showed geographical localization. With respect to mating, all isolates except one homothallic strain and one apparently sterile strain fell into either one or the other of two mating types. Pairings in all possible combinations revealed that isolates from the same site formed abundant zygotes, which germinated to produce new, sexually active organisms. Zygotes were also formed in many pairings of other combinations, including crosses of clade A with clade B organisms, but none of the latter produced viable germlings. The ability to mate and produce viable progeny that were themselves capable of sexual reproduction was restricted to members of subclades established on the basis of DNA sequence similarities. Thus, the grades of difference in both nuclear intron sequences and rDNA ITS sequences paralleled those observed in the sexual analysis. Received: 9 March 1998 / Accepted: 1 June 1998