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RegulatorTrail: a web service for the identification of key transcriptional regulators

Tim Kehl1, Lara Schneider1, Florian Schmidt1,2,3

  • 1Center for Bioinformatics, Saarland Informatics Campus, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany.

Nucleic Acids Research
|May 5, 2017
PubMed

Insights

RegulatorTrail identifies key transcriptional regulators impacting biological and pathological processes. This web service aids researchers in pinpointing influential factors in diseases like cancer and in cellular functions.

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Bioinformatics
  • Genomics
  • Epigenomics
  • Cancer Research

Background:

  • Transcriptional regulators, including transcription factors and chromatin modifiers, are crucial for biological processes.
  • Dysregulation of these regulators is implicated in various diseases, notably cancer.
  • Assessing the impact of transcriptional regulators on normal and pathological conditions is vital.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce RegulatorTrail, a web service for identifying and prioritizing key transcriptional regulators.
  • To provide tools for evaluating the influence of regulators on pathological and natural biological processes.
  • To enable integration into existing bioinformatics workflows via a RESTful API.

Main Methods:

  • RegulatorTrail employs eight distinct methods for regulator inference.
  • These methods integrate regulator binding information with transcriptomic or epigenomic data.
  • A user-friendly web interface and a documented RESTful API are provided.

Main Results:

  • Case studies demonstrate RegulatorTrail's capability in identifying influential regulators.
  • Successfully identified regulators associated with increased malignancy in metastatic melanoma versus primary tumors.
  • Identified significant regulators within macrophage biology.

Conclusions:

  • RegulatorTrail is a valuable web service for the identification and prioritization of influential transcriptional regulators.
  • The tool aids in understanding disease mechanisms and biological functions.
  • It offers a flexible platform for researchers through its web interface and API.

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