Dataset Information

Integrated inference and evaluation of host-fungi interaction networks.

ABSTRACT: Fungal microorganisms frequently lead to life-threatening infections. Within this group of pathogens, the commensal Candida albicans and the filamentous fungus Aspergillus fumigatus are by far the most important causes of invasive mycoses in Europe. A key capability for host invasion and immune response evasion are specific molecular interactions between the fungal pathogen and its human host. Experimentally validated knowledge about these crucial interactions is rare in literature and even specialized host-pathogen databases mainly focus on bacterial and viral interactions whereas information on fungi is still sparse. To establish large-scale host-fungi interaction networks on a systems biology scale, we develop an extended inference approach based on protein orthology and data on gene functions. Using human and yeast intraspecies networks as template, we derive a large network of pathogen-host interactions (PHI). Rigorous filtering and refinement steps based on cellular localization and pathogenicity information of predicted interactors yield a primary scaffold of fungi-human and fungi-mouse interaction networks. Specific enrichment of known pathogenicity-relevant genes indicates the biological relevance of the predicted PHI. A detailed inspection of functionally relevant subnetworks reveals novel host-fungal interaction candidates such as the Candida virulence factor PLB1 and the anti-fungal host protein APP. Our results demonstrate the applicability of interolog-based prediction methods for host-fungi interactions and underline the importance of filtering and refinement steps to attain biologically more relevant interactions. This integrated network framework can serve as a basis for future analyses of high-throughput host-fungi transcriptome and proteome data.

SUBMITTER: Remmele CW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4523839 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Integrated inference and evaluation of host-fungi interaction networks.

Remmele Christian W CW Luther Christian H CH Balkenhol Johannes J Dandekar Thomas T Müller Tobias T Dittrich Marcus T MT

Frontiers in microbiology 20150804

Fungal microorganisms frequently lead to life-threatening infections. Within this group of pathogens, the commensal Candida albicans and the filamentous fungus Aspergillus fumigatus are by far the most important causes of invasive mycoses in Europe. A key capability for host invasion and immune response evasion are specific molecular interactions between the fungal pathogen and its human host. Experimentally validated knowledge about these crucial interactions is rare in literature and even spec ...[more]

PMID: 26300851

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Project description:Cell-cell communication is mediated by many soluble mediators, including over 40 cytokines. Cytokines, e.g. TNF, IL1β, IL5, IL6, IL12 and IL23, represent important therapeutic targets in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs), such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), psoriasis, asthma, rheumatoid and juvenile arthritis. The identification of cytokines that are causative drivers of, and not just associated with, inflammation is fundamental for selecting therapeutic targets that should be studied in clinical trials. As in vitro models of cytokine interactions provide a simplified framework to study complex in vivo interactions, and can easily be perturbed experimentally, they are key for identifying such targets. We present a method to extract a minimal, weighted cytokine interaction network, given in vitro data on the effects of the blockage of single cytokine receptors on the secretion rate of other cytokines. Existing biological network inference methods typically consider the correlation structure of the underlying dataset, but this can make them poorly suited for highly connected, non-linear cytokine interaction data. Our method uses ordinary differential equation systems to represent cytokine interactions, and efficiently computes the configuration with the lowest Akaike information criterion value for all possible network configurations. It enables us to study indirect cytokine interactions and quantify inhibition effects. The extracted network can also be used to predict the combined effects of inhibiting various cytokines simultaneously. The model equations can easily be adjusted to incorporate more complicated dynamics and accommodate temporal data. We validate our method using synthetic datasets and apply our method to an experimental dataset on the regulation of IL23, a cytokine with therapeutic relevance in psoriasis and IBD. We validate several model predictions against experimental data that were not used for model fitting. In summary, we present a novel method specifically designed to efficiently infer cytokine interaction networks from cytokine perturbation data in the context of IMIDs.

Dataset Information

Integrated inference and evaluation of host-fungi interaction networks.

Publications

Integrated inference and evaluation of host-fungi interaction networks.

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