Integrated analysis of omics data using microRNA-target mRNA network and PPI network reveals regulation of Gnai1 function in the spinal cord of Ews/Ewsr1 KO mice

摘要

BackgroundMultifunctional transcription factor (TF) gene EWS/EWSR1 is involved in various cellular processes such as transcription regulation, noncoding RNA regulation, splicing regulation, genotoxic stress response, and cancer generation. Role of a TF gene can be effectively studied by measuring genome-wide gene expression, i.e., transcriptome, in an animal model of Ews/Ewsr1 knockout (KO). However, when a TF gene has complex multi-functions, conventional approaches such as differentially expressed genes (DEGs) analysis are not successful to characterize the role of the EWS gene. In this regard, network-based analyses that consider associations among genes are the most promising approach.