Abstract
RegulonDB, first published 20 years ago, is a comprehensive electronic resource about regulation of transcription initiation of Escherichia coli K-12 with decades of knowledge from classic ...molecular biology experiments, and recently also from high-throughput genomic methodologies. We curated the literature to keep RegulonDB up to date, and initiated curation of ChIP and gSELEX experiments. We estimate that current knowledge describes between 10% and 30% of the expected total number of transcription factor- gene regulatory interactions in E. coli. RegulonDB provides datasets for interactions for which there is no evidence that they affect expression, as well as expression datasets. We developed a proof of concept pipeline to merge binding and expression evidence to identify regulatory interactions. These datasets can be visualized in the RegulonDB JBrowse. We developed the Microbial Conditions Ontology with a controlled vocabulary for the minimal properties to reproduce an experiment, which contributes to integrate data from high throughput and classic literature. At a higher level of integration, we report Genetic Sensory-Response Units for 200 transcription factors, including their regulation at the metabolic level, and include summaries for 70 of them. Finally, we summarize our research with Natural language processing strategies to enhance our biocuration work.
Abstract
RegulonDB is a database that contains the most comprehensive corpus of knowledge of the regulation of transcription initiation of Escherichia coli K-12, including data from both classical ...molecular biology and high-throughput methodologies. Here, we describe biological advances since our last NAR paper of 2019. We explain the changes to satisfy FAIR requirements. We also present a full reconstruction of the RegulonDB computational infrastructure, which has significantly improved data storage, retrieval and accessibility and thus supports a more intuitive and user-friendly experience. The integration of graphical tools provides clear visual representations of genetic regulation data, facilitating data interpretation and knowledge integration. RegulonDB version 12.0 can be accessed at https://regulondb.ccg.unam.mx.
Graphical Abstract
Graphical Abstract
RegulonDB (http://regulondb.ccg.unam.mx) is one of the most useful and important resources on bacterial gene regulation,as it integrates the scattered scientific knowledge of the best-characterized ...organism, Escherichia coli K-12, in a database that organizes large amounts of data. Its electronic format enables researchers to compare their results with the legacy of previous knowledge and supports bioinformatics tools and model building. Here, we summarize our progress with RegulonDB since our last Nucleic Acids Research publication describing RegulonDB, in 2013. In addition to maintaining curation up-to-date, we report a collection of 232 interactions with small RNAs affecting 192 genes, and the complete repertoire of 189 Elementary Genetic Sensory-Response units (GENSOR units), integrating the signal, regulatory interactions, and metabolic pathways they govern. These additions represent major progress to a higher level of understanding of regulated processes. We have updated the computationally predicted transcription factors, which total 304 (184 with experimental evidence and 120 from computational predictions); we updated our position-weight matrices and have included tools for clustering them in evolutionary families. We describe our semiautomatic strategy to accelerate curation, including datasets from high-throughput experiments, a novel coexpression distance to search for 'neighborhood' genes to known operons and regulons, and computational developments.
This article summarizes our progress with RegulonDB (http://regulondb.ccg.unam.mx/) during the past 2 years. We have kept up-to-date the knowledge from the published literature regarding ...transcriptional regulation in Escherichia coli K-12. We have maintained and expanded our curation efforts to improve the breadth and quality of the encoded experimental knowledge, and we have implemented criteria for the quality of our computational predictions. Regulatory phrases now provide high-level descriptions of regulatory regions. We expanded the assignment of quality to various sources of evidence, particularly for knowledge generated through high-throughput (HT) technology. Based on our analysis of most relevant methods, we defined rules for determining the quality of evidence when multiple independent sources support an entry. With this latest release of RegulonDB, we present a new highly reliable larger collection of transcription start sites, a result of our experimental HT genome-wide efforts. These improvements, together with several novel enhancements (the tracks display, uploading format and curational guidelines), address the challenges of incorporating HT-generated knowledge into RegulonDB. Information on the evolutionary conservation of regulatory elements is also available now. Altogether, RegulonDB version 8.0 is a much better home for integrating knowledge on gene regulation from the sources of information currently available.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-coronavirus (CoV)-2 infection in children and adolescents primarily causes mild or asymptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and severe illness is ...mainly associated with comorbidities. However, the worldwide prevalence of COVID-19 in this population is only 1%–2%. In Mexico, the prevalence of COVID-19 in children has increased to 10%. As serology-based studies are scarce, we analyzed the clinical features and serological response (SARS-CoV-2 structural proteins) of children and adolescents who visited the Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez (October 2020–March 2021). The majority were 9-year-old children without comorbidities who were treated as outpatients and had mild-to-moderate illness. Children aged 6–10 years and adolescents aged 11–15 years had the maximum number of symptoms, including those with obesity. Nevertheless, children with comorbidities such as immunosuppression, leukemia, and obesity exhibited the lowest antibody response, whereas those aged 1–5 years with heart disease had the highest levels of antibodies. The SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain-localized peptides and M and E proteins had the best antibody response. In conclusion, Mexican children and adolescents with COVID-19 represent a heterogeneous population, and comorbidities play an important role in the antibody response against SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-coronavirus (CoV)-2 infection in children and adolescents primarily causes mild or asymptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and severe illness is ...mainly associated with comorbidities. However, the worldwide prevalence of COVID-19 in this population is only 1%-2%. In Mexico, the prevalence of COVID-19 in children has increased to 10%. As serology-based studies are scarce, we analyzed the clinical features and serological response (SARS-CoV-2 structural proteins) of children and adolescents who visited the Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez (October 2020-March 2021). The majority were 9-year-old children without comorbidities who were treated as outpatients and had mild-to-moderate illness. Children aged 6-10 years and adolescents aged 11-15 years had the maximum number of symptoms, including those with obesity. Nevertheless, children with comorbidities such as immunosuppression, leukemia, and obesity exhibited the lowest antibody response, whereas those aged 1-5 years with heart disease had the highest levels of antibodies. The SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain-localized peptides and M and E proteins had the best antibody response. In conclusion, Mexican children and adolescents with COVID-19 represent a heterogeneous population, and comorbidities play an important role in the antibody response against SARS-CoV-2 infection.