LASSIM-A network inference toolbox for genome-wide mechanistic modeling

Recent technological advancements have made time-resolved, quantitative, multi-omics data available for many model systems, which could be integrated for systems pharmacokinetic use. Here, we present large-scale simulation modeling (LASSIM), which is a novel mathematical tool for performing large-scale inference using mechanistically defined ordinary differential equations (ODE) for gene regulatory networks (GRNs). LASSIM integrates structural knowledge about regulatory interactions and non-linear equations with multiple steady state and dynamic response expression datasets. The rationale behind LASSIM is that biological GRNs can be simplified using a limited subset of core genes that are assumed to regulate all other gene transcription events in the network. The LASSIM method is implemented as a general-purpose toolbox using the PyGMO Python package to make the most of multicore computers and high performance clusters, and is available at https://gitlab.com/Gustafsson-lab/lassim. As a method, LASSIM works in two steps, where it first infers a non-linear ODE system of the pre-specified core gene expression. Second, LASSIM in parallel optimizes the parameters that model the regulation of peripheral genes by core system genes. We showed the usefulness of this method by applying LASSIM to infer a large-scale non-linear model of naïve Th2 cell differentiation, made possible by integrating Th2 specific bindings, time-series together with six public and six novel siRNA-mediated knock-down experiments. ChIP-seq showed significant overlap for all tested transcription factors. Next, we performed novel time-series measurements of total T-cells during differentiation towards Th2 and verified that our LASSIM model could monitor those data significantly better than comparable models that used the same Th2 bindings. In summary, the LASSIM toolbox opens the door to a new type of model-based data analysis that combines the strengths of reliable mechanistic models with truly systems-level data. We demonstrate the power of this approach by inferring a mechanistically motivated, genome-wide model of the Th2 transcription regulatory system, which plays an important role in several immune related diseases.
Author summary There are excellent methods to mathematically model time-resolved biological data on a small scale using accurate mechanistic models. Despite the rapidly increasing availability of such data, mechanistic models have not been applied on a genome-wide level due to excessive runtimes and the non-identifiability of model parameters. However, genome-wide, mechanistic models could potentially answer key clinical questions, such as finding the best drug combinations to induce an expression change from a disease to a healthy state. We present LASSIM, which is a toolbox built to infer parameters within mechanistic models on a genomic scale. This is made possible due to a property shared across biological systems, namely the existence of a subset of master regulators, here denoted the core system. The introduction of a core system of genes simplifies the network inference into small solvable sub-problems, and implies that all main regulatory actions on peripheral genes come from a small set of regulator genes. This separation allows substantial parts of computations to be solved in parallel, i.e. permitting the use of a computer cluster, which substantially reduces computation time.