MeSCoT: The tool for quantitative trait simulation through the mechanistic modeling of genes' regulatory interactions

TY - JOUR

T1 - MeSCoT

T2 - The tool for quantitative trait simulation through the mechanistic modeling of genes' regulatory interactions

AU - Milkevych, Viktor

AU - Karaman, Emre

AU - Sahana, Goutam

AU - Janss, Luc

AU - Cai, Zexi

AU - Lund, Mogens Sandø

N1 - © The Author(s) (2021). Published by Oxford University Press on the Genetics Society of America.

PY - 2021/7

Y1 - 2021/7

N2 - This work represents a novel mechanistic approach to simulate and study genomic networks with accompanying regulatory interactions and complex mechanisms of quantitative trait formation. The approach implemented in MeSCoT software is conceptually based on the omnigenic genetic model of quantitative (complex) trait, and closely imitates the basic in vivo mechanisms of quantitative trait realization. The software provides a framework to study molecular mechanisms of gene-by-gene and gene-by-environment interactions underlying quantitative trait's realization and allows detailed mechanistic studies of impact of genetic and phenotypic variance on gene regulation. MeSCoT performs a detailed simulation of genes' regulatory interactions for variable genomic architectures, and generates complete set of transcriptional and translational data together with simulated quantitative trait values. Such data provide opportunities to study, for example, verification of novel statistical methods aiming to integrate intermediate phenotypes together with final phenotype in quantitative genetic analyses, or to investigate novel approaches for exploiting gene-by-gene and gene-by-environment interactions.

AB - This work represents a novel mechanistic approach to simulate and study genomic networks with accompanying regulatory interactions and complex mechanisms of quantitative trait formation. The approach implemented in MeSCoT software is conceptually based on the omnigenic genetic model of quantitative (complex) trait, and closely imitates the basic in vivo mechanisms of quantitative trait realization. The software provides a framework to study molecular mechanisms of gene-by-gene and gene-by-environment interactions underlying quantitative trait's realization and allows detailed mechanistic studies of impact of genetic and phenotypic variance on gene regulation. MeSCoT performs a detailed simulation of genes' regulatory interactions for variable genomic architectures, and generates complete set of transcriptional and translational data together with simulated quantitative trait values. Such data provide opportunities to study, for example, verification of novel statistical methods aiming to integrate intermediate phenotypes together with final phenotype in quantitative genetic analyses, or to investigate novel approaches for exploiting gene-by-gene and gene-by-environment interactions.

KW - Complex trait

KW - Epistasis

KW - Genomic architecture

KW - Genomic regulatory network

KW - Omnigenic model

U2 - 10.1093/g3journal/jkab133

DO - 10.1093/g3journal/jkab133

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 33905502

SN - 2160-1836

VL - 11

JO - G3 (Bethesda, Md.)

JF - G3 (Bethesda, Md.)

IS - 7

M1 - jkab133

ER -