SACSANN: identifying sequence-based determinants of chromosomal compartments

Prost, J. A.; Cameron, C. J.; Blanchette, M.

doi:10.1101/2020.10.06.328039

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2020.10.06.328039

SACSANN: identifying sequence-based determinants of chromosomal compartments

Prost, J. A.·Cameron, C. J.·Blanchette, M.

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Abstract

Genomic organization is critical for proper gene regulation and based on a hierarchical model, where chromosomes are segmented into megabase-sized, cell-type-specific transcriptionally active (A) and inactive (B) compartments. Here, we describe SACSANN, a machine learning pipeline consisting of stacked artificial neural networks that predicts compartment annotation solely from genomic sequence-based features such as predicted transcription factor binding sites and transposable elements. SACSANN provides accurate and cell-type specific compartment predictions, while identifying key genomic sequence determinants that associate with A/B compartments. Models are shown to be largely transferable across analogous human and mouse cell types. By enabling the study of chromosome compartmentalization in species for which no Hi-C data is available, SACSANN paves the way toward the study of 3D genome evolution. SACSANN is publicly available on GitHub: https://github.com/BlanchetteLab/SACSANN

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Prost, J. A., Cameron, C. J., Blanchette, M.. 2020-10-07. SACSANN: identifying sequence-based determinants of chromosomal compartments. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.06.328039

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