Computational deconvolution: extracting cell type-specific information from heterogeneous samples.
TL;DR: The present state of available deconvolution techniques, their advantages and limitations, are reviewed, with a focus on blood expression data and immunological studies in general.
About: This article is published in Current Opinion in Immunology.The article was published on 2013-10-01 and is currently open access. It has received 244 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Deconvolution.
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TL;DR: CIBERSORT outperformed other methods with respect to noise, unknown mixture content and closely related cell types when applied to enumeration of hematopoietic subsets in RNA mixtures from fresh, frozen and fixed tissues, including solid tumors.
Abstract: We introduce CIBERSORT, a method for characterizing cell composition of complex tissues from their gene expression profiles When applied to enumeration of hematopoietic subsets in RNA mixtures from fresh, frozen and fixed tissues, including solid tumors, CIBERSORT outperformed other methods with respect to noise, unknown mixture content and closely related cell types CIBERSORT should enable large-scale analysis of RNA mixtures for cellular biomarkers and therapeutic targets (http://cibersortstanfordedu/)
6,967 citations
TL;DR: This work presents xCell, a novel gene signature-based method, and uses it to infer 64 immune and stromal cell types and shows that xCell outperforms other methods.
Abstract: Tissues are complex milieus consisting of numerous cell types. Several recent methods have attempted to enumerate cell subsets from transcriptomes. However, the available methods have used limited sources for training and give only a partial portrayal of the full cellular landscape. Here we present xCell, a novel gene signature-based method, and use it to infer 64 immune and stromal cell types. We harmonized 1822 pure human cell type transcriptomes from various sources and employed a curve fitting approach for linear comparison of cell types and introduced a novel spillover compensation technique for separating them. Using extensive in silico analyses and comparison to cytometry immunophenotyping, we show that xCell outperforms other methods. xCell is available at http://xCell.ucsf.edu/ .
2,040 citations
TL;DR: The utility of CIBERSORTx is evaluated in multiple tumor types, including melanoma, where single-cell reference profiles were used to dissect bulk clinical specimens, revealing cell-type-specific phenotypic states linked to distinct driver mutations and response to immune checkpoint blockade.
Abstract: Single-cell RNA-sequencing has emerged as a powerful technique for characterizing cellular heterogeneity, but it is currently impractical on large sample cohorts and cannot be applied to fixed specimens collected as part of routine clinical care. We previously developed an approach for digital cytometry, called CIBERSORT, that enables estimation of cell type abundances from bulk tissue transcriptomes. We now introduce CIBERSORTx, a machine learning method that extends this framework to infer cell-type-specific gene expression profiles without physical cell isolation. By minimizing platform-specific variation, CIBERSORTx also allows the use of single-cell RNA-sequencing data for large-scale tissue dissection. We evaluated the utility of CIBERSORTx in multiple tumor types, including melanoma, where single-cell reference profiles were used to dissect bulk clinical specimens, revealing cell-type-specific phenotypic states linked to distinct driver mutations and response to immune checkpoint blockade. We anticipate that digital cytometry will augment single-cell profiling efforts, enabling cost-effective, high-throughput tissue characterization without the need for antibodies, disaggregation or viable cells. CIBERSORTx, a suite of computational tools, enables inference of cell type abundance and cell-type-specific gene expression profiles from bulk RNA profiles.
1,812 citations
Cites background or methods or result from "Computational deconvolution: extrac..."
...These include (1) the ability to customize signature matrices for nearly any tissue type without the need for complicated antibody panels or cell sorting schemes, and (2) the ability to study poorly understood or unknown transcriptional states at scale....
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...highly consistent with those of normal GC and activated B cells and (2) ~9-fold more significant, on average, than in bulk DLBCL tumors (Supplementary Fig....
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...We then compared our results with two alternative methods: (1) a common strategy for assigning bulk tissue expression patterns to individual cell types based on correlations with cell abundance38, and (2) a previously described technique for imputing cell type-specific DEGs when phenotypic classes and cell type frequencies are known25....
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...Given these input files, CIBERSORTx allows (2) imputation of the fractional representations of each cell type present in the mixture, similar to its predecessor....
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TL;DR: The Microenvironment Cell Populations-counter method is introduced, which allows the robust quantification of the absolute abundance of eight immune and two stromal cell populations in heterogeneous tissues from transcriptomic data and demonstrates that MCP-counter overcomes several limitations or weaknesses of previously proposed computational approaches.
Abstract: We introduce the Microenvironment Cell Populations-counter (MCP-counter) method, which allows the robust quantification of the absolute abundance of eight immune and two stromal cell populations in heterogeneous tissues from transcriptomic data. We present in vitro mRNA mixture and ex vivo immunohistochemical data that quantitatively support the validity of our method's estimates. Additionally, we demonstrate that MCP-counter overcomes several limitations or weaknesses of previously proposed computational approaches. MCP-counter is applied to draw a global picture of immune infiltrates across human healthy tissues and non-hematopoietic human tumors and recapitulates microenvironment-based patient stratifications associated with overall survival in lung adenocarcinoma and colorectal and breast cancer.
1,663 citations
Cites background from "Computational deconvolution: extrac..."
...The deconvolution of these signals can yield estimates of cell population proportions in a sample [8]....
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...MCP-counter is based on the methodological framework [8] of transcriptomic markers (TM), defined as gene expression features expressed in one and only one cell population and whose expression shows little variation within the population of interest (step 1)....
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TL;DR: A droplet-based, single-cell RNA-seq method is implemented to determine the transcriptomes of over 12,000 individual pancreatic cells from four human donors and two mouse strains and provides a resource for the discovery of novel cell type-specific transcription factors, signaling receptors, and medically relevant genes.
Abstract: Although the function of the mammalian pancreas hinges on complex interactions of distinct cell types, gene expression profiles have primarily been described with bulk mixtures. Here we implemented a droplet-based, single-cell RNA-seq method to determine the transcriptomes of over 12,000 individual pancreatic cells from four human donors and two mouse strains. Cells could be divided into 15 clusters that matched previously characterized cell types: all endocrine cell types, including rare epsilon-cells; exocrine cell types; vascular cells; Schwann cells; quiescent and activated stellate cells; and four types of immune cells. We detected subpopulations of ductal cells with distinct expression profiles and validated their existence with immuno-histochemistry stains. Moreover, among human beta- cells, we detected heterogeneity in the regulation of genes relating to functional maturation and levels of ER stress. Finally, we deconvolved bulk gene expression samples using the single-cell data to detect disease-associated differential expression. Our dataset provides a resource for the discovery of novel cell type-specific transcription factors, signaling receptors, and medically relevant genes.
1,046 citations
References
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TL;DR: The hierarchical model of Lonnstedt and Speed (2002) is developed into a practical approach for general microarray experiments with arbitrary numbers of treatments and RNA samples and the moderated t-statistic is shown to follow a t-distribution with augmented degrees of freedom.
Abstract: The problem of identifying differentially expressed genes in designed microarray experiments is considered. Lonnstedt and Speed (2002) derived an expression for the posterior odds of differential expression in a replicated two-color experiment using a simple hierarchical parametric model. The purpose of this paper is to develop the hierarchical model of Lonnstedt and Speed (2002) into a practical approach for general microarray experiments with arbitrary numbers of treatments and RNA samples. The model is reset in the context of general linear models with arbitrary coefficients and contrasts of interest. The approach applies equally well to both single channel and two color microarray experiments. Consistent, closed form estimators are derived for the hyperparameters in the model. The estimators proposed have robust behavior even for small numbers of arrays and allow for incomplete data arising from spot filtering or spot quality weights. The posterior odds statistic is reformulated in terms of a moderated t-statistic in which posterior residual standard deviations are used in place of ordinary standard deviations. The empirical Bayes approach is equivalent to shrinkage of the estimated sample variances towards a pooled estimate, resulting in far more stable inference when the number of arrays is small. The use of moderated t-statistics has the advantage over the posterior odds that the number of hyperparameters which need to estimated is reduced; in particular, knowledge of the non-null prior for the fold changes are not required. The moderated t-statistic is shown to follow a t-distribution with augmented degrees of freedom. The moderated t inferential approach extends to accommodate tests of composite null hypotheses through the use of moderated F-statistics. The performance of the methods is demonstrated in a simulation study. Results are presented for two publicly available data sets.
11,864 citations
"Computational deconvolution: extrac..." refers methods in this paper
...Estimating a condition effect accounting for sample heterogeneity may be performed either at low-resolution, by (c) sample heterogeneity correction [25 ,26,27 ,28 ,29], or at high-resolution, by (d) cell type-specific deconvolution methodologies [25 ,26,30]....
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Harvard University1, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill2, University of California, Berkeley3, Washington University in St. Louis4, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory5, University of California, San Francisco6, Mayo Clinic7, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center8, SRA International9, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research10
TL;DR: A robust gene expression-based molecular classification of GBM into Proneural, Neural, Classical, and Mesenchymal subtypes is described and multidimensional genomic data is integrated to establish patterns of somatic mutations and DNA copy number.
5,764 citations
Harvard University1, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill2, University of California, Berkeley3, Washington University in St. Louis4, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory5, University of California, San Francisco6, Mayo Clinic7, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center8, SRA International9, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research10
TL;DR: The Cancer Genome Atlas Network recently cataloged recurrent genomic abnormalities in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and proposed a robust gene expression-based molecular classification of GBM into Proneural, Neural, Classical, and Mesenchymal subtypes as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas Network recently cataloged recurrent genomic abnormalities in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). We describe a robust gene expression-based molecular classification of GBM into Proneural, Neural, Classical, and Mesenchymal subtypes and integrate multidimensional genomic data to establish patterns of somatic mutations and DNA copy number. Aberrations and gene expression of EGFR, NF1, and PDGFRA/IDH1 each define the Classical, Mesenchymal, and Proneural subtypes, respectively. Gene signatures of normal brain cell types show a strong relationship between subtypes and different neural lineages. Additionally, response to aggressive therapy differs by subtype, with the greatest benefit in the Classical subtype and no benefit in the Proneural subtype. We provide a framework that unifies transcriptomic and genomic dimensions for GBM molecular stratification with important implications for future studies.
4,464 citations
TL;DR: A new version of the database, MSigDB 3.0, is reported, with over 6700 gene sets, a complete revision of the collection of canonical pathways and experimental signatures from publications, enhanced annotations and upgrades to the web site.
Abstract: Motivation: Well-annotated gene sets representing the universe of the biological processes are critical for meaningful and insightful interpretation of large-scale genomic data. The Molecular Signatures Database (MSigDB) is one of the most widely used repositories of such sets.
Results: We report the availability of a new version of the database, MSigDB 3.0, with over 6700 gene sets, a complete revision of the collection of canonical pathways and experimental signatures from publications, enhanced annotations and upgrades to the web site.
Availability and Implementation: MSigDB is freely available for non-commercial use at http://www.broadinstitute.org/msigdb.
Contact: gsea@broadinstitute.org
4,128 citations
TL;DR: Observations indicate that TBK1 and NF-κB signalling are essential in KRAS mutant tumours, and establish a general approach for the rational identification of co-dependent pathways in cancer.
Abstract: The proto-oncogene KRAS is mutated in a wide array of human cancers, most of which are aggressive and respond poorly to standard therapies. Although the identification of specific oncogenes has led to the development of clinically effective, molecularly targeted therapies in some cases, KRAS has remained refractory to this approach. A complementary strategy for targeting KRAS is to identify gene products that, when inhibited, result in cell death only in the presence of an oncogenic allele. Here we have used systematic RNA interference to detect synthetic lethal partners of oncogenic KRAS and found that the non-canonical IkappaB kinase TBK1 was selectively essential in cells that contain mutant KRAS. Suppression of TBK1 induced apoptosis specifically in human cancer cell lines that depend on oncogenic KRAS expression. In these cells, TBK1 activated NF-kappaB anti-apoptotic signals involving c-Rel and BCL-XL (also known as BCL2L1) that were essential for survival, providing mechanistic insights into this synthetic lethal interaction. These observations indicate that TBK1 and NF-kappaB signalling are essential in KRAS mutant tumours, and establish a general approach for the rational identification of co-dependent pathways in cancer.
2,438 citations