Reconstruction of transcriptional network from microarray data using combined mutual information and network-assisted regression

Many methods had been developed on inferring transcriptional network from gene expression. However, it is still necessary to design new method that discloses more detailed and exact network information. Using network-assisted regression, the authors combined the averaged three-way mutual information (AMI3) and non-linear ordinary differential equation (ODE) model to infer the transcriptional network, and to obtain both the topological structure and the regulatory dynamics. Synthetic and experimental data were used to evaluate the performance of the above approach. In comparison with the previous methods based on mutual information, AMI3 obtained higher precision with the same sensitivity. To describe the regulatory dynamics between transcription factors and target genes, network-assisted regression and regression without network, respectively, were applied in the steady-state and time series microarray data. The results revealed that comparing with regression without network, network-assisted regression increased the precision, but decreased the fitting goodness. Then, the authors reconstructed the transcriptional network of Escherichia coli and simulated the regulatory dynamics of genes. Furthermore, the authors´ approach identified potential transcription factors regulating yeast cell cycle. In conclusion, network-assisted regression, combined AMI3 and ODE model, was a more precisely to infer the topological structure and the regulatory dynamics of transcriptional network from microarray data.