15.02.2022
Loft et al. present a protocol integrating chromatin accessibility and transcriptomic data through IMAGE to identify causal transcription factors driving adipocyte gene programs. They demonstrate how predicted regulators and their target networks can be used to generate testable hypotheses about transcriptional control in white and brown adipocytes.
Transcription factor (TF) networks orchestrate the regulation of gene programs in mammalian cells, including white and brown adipocytes. In this protocol, we outline how genomics and transcriptomics data can be integrated to infer causal TFs of a given cellular response or cell type using “Integrated analysis of Motif Activity and Gene Expression changes of transcription factors” (IMAGE). Here, we show how key regulatory TFs controlling white and brown adipocyte gene programs can be predicted from chromatin accessibility and RNA-seq data. Furthermore, we demonstrate how information about target sites and target genes of the predicted key regulators can be integrated to propose testable hypotheses regarding the role and mechanisms of TFs.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2087-8_11
