1. |
|
|
2. |
- Pathan, M., et al.
(author)
-
A novel community driven software for functional enrichment analysis of extracellular vesicles data
- 2017
-
In: Journal of Extracellular Vesicles. - : Wiley. - 2001-3078. ; 6:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Bioinformatics tools are imperative for the in depth analysis of heterogeneous high-throughput data. Most of the software tools are developed by specific laboratories or groups or companies wherein they are designed to perform the required analysis for the group. However, such software tools may fail to capture "what the community needs in a tool". Here, we describe a novel community-driven approach to build a comprehensive functional enrichment analysis tool. Using the existing FunRich tool as a template, we invited researchers to request additional features and/or changes. Remarkably, with the enthusiastic participation of the community, we were able to implement 90% of the requested features. FunRich enables plugin for extracellular vesicles wherein users can download and analyse data from Vesiclepedia database. By involving researchers early through community needs software development, we believe that comprehensive analysis tools can be developed in various scientific disciplines.
|
|
3. |
|
|
4. |
- Cheung, K. H., et al.
(author)
-
Extending gene ontology in the context of extracellular RNA and vesicle communication
- 2016
-
In: Journal of Biomedical Semantics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1480. ; 7
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: To address the lack of standard terminology to describe extracellular RNA (exRNA) data/metadata, we have launched an inter-community effort to extend the Gene Ontology (GO) with subcellular structure concepts relevant to the exRNA domain. By extending GO in this manner, the exRNA data/metadata will be more easily annotated and queried because it will be based on a shared set of terms and relationships relevant to extracellular research. Methods: By following a consensus-building process, we have worked with several academic societies/consortia, including ERCC, ISEV, and ASEMV, to identify and approve a set of exRNA and extracellular vesicle-related terms and relationships that have been incorporated into GO. In addition, we have initiated an ongoing process of extractions of gene product annotations associated with these terms from Vesiclepedia and ExoCarta, conversion of the extracted annotations to Gene Association File (GAF) format for batch submission to GO, and curation of the submitted annotations by the GO Consortium. As a use case, we have incorporated some of the GO terms into annotations of samples from the exRNA Atlas and implemented a faceted search interface based on such annotations. Results: We have added 7 new terms and modified 9 existing terms (along with their synonyms and relationships) to GO. Additionally, 18,695 unique coding gene products (mRNAs and proteins) and 963 unique non-coding gene products (ncRNAs) which are associated with the terms: "extracellular vesicle", "extracellular exosome", "apoptotic body", and "microvesicle" were extracted from ExoCarta and Vesiclepedia. These annotations are currently being processed for submission to GO. Conclusions: As an inter-community effort, we have made a substantial update to GO in the exRNA context. We have also demonstrated the utility of some of the new GO terms for sample annotation and metadata search.
|
|
5. |
|
|
6. |
- Chi, LH, et al.
(author)
-
MicroRNA-21 is immunosuppressive and pro-metastatic via separate mechanisms
- 2022
-
In: Oncogenesis. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2157-9024. ; 11:1, s. 38-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- MiR-21 was identified as a gene whose expression correlated with the extent of metastasis of murine mammary tumours. Since miR-21 is recognised as being associated with poor prognosis in cancer, we investigated its contribution to mammary tumour growth and metastasis in tumours with capacity for spontaneous metastasis. Unexpectedly, we found that suppression of miR-21 activity in highly metastatic tumours resulted in regression of primary tumour growth in immunocompetent mice but did not impede growth in immunocompromised mice. Analysis of the immune infiltrate of the primary tumours at the time when the tumours started to regress revealed an influx of both CD4+ and CD8+ activated T cells and a reduction in PD-L1+ infiltrating monocytes, providing an explanation for the observed tumour regression. Loss of anti-tumour immune suppression caused by decreased miR-21 activity was confirmed by transcriptomic analysis of primary tumours. This analysis also revealed reduced expression of genes associated with cell cycle progression upon loss of miR-21 activity. A second activity of miR-21 was the promotion of metastasis as shown by the loss of metastatic capacity of miR-21 knockdown tumours established in immunocompromised mice, despite no impact on primary tumour growth. A proteomic analysis of tumour cells with altered miR-21 activity revealed deregulation of proteins known to be associated with tumour progression. The development of therapies targeting miR-21, possibly via targeted delivery to tumour cells, could be an effective therapy to combat primary tumour growth and suppress the development of metastatic disease.
|
|
7. |
|
|
8. |
- Kim, Dae-Kyum, et al.
(author)
-
EVpedia: A Community Web Portal for Extracellular Vesicles Research
- 2015
-
In: Bioinformatics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1367-4803 .- 1367-4811. ; 31:6, s. 933-939
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Motivation: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are spherical bilayered proteolipids, harboring various bioactive molecules. Due to the complexity of the vesicular nomenclatures and components, online searches for EV-related publications and vesicular components are currently challenging. Results: We present an improved version of EVpedia, a public database for EVs research. This community web portal contains a database of publications and vesicular components, identification of orthologous vesicular components, bioinformatic tools and a personalized function. EVpedia includes 6879 publications, 172 080 vesicular components from 263 high-throughput datasets, and has been accessed more than 65 000 times from more than 750 cities. In addition, about 350 members from 73 international research groups have participated in developing EVpedia. This free web-based database might serve as a useful resource to stimulate the emerging field of EV research.
|
|