cg

annotate grant.html @ 99:a48955c639d4

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author bshanks@bshanks.dyndns.org
date Wed Apr 22 06:43:51 2009 -0700 (16 years ago)
parents a75c226cbdd6
children fa7c0a924e7a

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bshanks@0 1 Specific aims
bshanks@96 2 Massive new datasets obtained with techniques such as in situ hybridization (ISH), immunohistochemistry, in
bshanks@96 3 situ transgenic reporter, microarray voxelation, and others, allow the expression levels of many genes at many
bshanks@96 4 locations to be compared. Our goal is to develop automated methods to relate spatial variation in gene expres-
bshanks@96 5 sion to anatomy. We want to find marker genes for specific anatomical regions, and also to draw new anatomical
bshanks@96 6 maps based on gene expression patterns. We have three specific aims:
bshanks@96 7 (1) develop an algorithm to screen spatial gene expression data for combinations of marker genes which
bshanks@96 8 selectively target anatomical regions
bshanks@96 9 (2) develop an algorithm to suggest new ways of carving up a structure into anatomically distinct regions,
bshanks@96 10 based on spatial patterns in gene expression
bshanks@96 11 (3) create a 2-D “flat map” dataset of the mouse cerebral cortex that contains a flattened version of the Allen
bshanks@96 12 Mouse Brain Atlas ISH data, as well as the boundaries of cortical anatomical areas. This will involve extending
bshanks@96 13 the functionality of Caret, an existing open-source scientific imaging program. Use this dataset to validate the
bshanks@96 14 methods developed in (1) and (2).
bshanks@96 15 Although our particular application involves the 3D spatial distribution of gene expression, we anticipate that
bshanks@96 16 the methods developed in aims (1) and (2) will generalize to any sort of high-dimensional data over points located
bshanks@96 17 in a low-dimensional space. In particular, our method could be applied to genome-wide sequencing data derived
bshanks@96 18 from sets of tissues and disease states.
bshanks@96 19 In terms of the application of the methods to cerebral cortex, aim (1) is to go from cortical areas to marker
bshanks@96 20 genes, and aim (2) is to let the gene profile define the cortical areas. In addition to validating the usefulness
bshanks@96 21 of the algorithms, the application of these methods to cortex will produce immediate benefits, because there
bshanks@96 22 are currently no known genetic markers for most cortical areas. The results of the project will support the
bshanks@96 23 development of new ways to selectively target cortical areas, and it will support the development of a method for
bshanks@96 24 identifying the cortical areal boundaries present in small tissue samples.
bshanks@96 25 All algorithms that we develop will be implemented in a GPL open-source software toolkit. The toolkit, as well
bshanks@96 26 as the machine-readable datasets developed in aim (3), will be published and freely available for others to use.
bshanks@87 27 The challenge topic
bshanks@96 28 This proposal addresses challenge topic 06-HG-101. Massive new datasets obtained with techniques such as
bshanks@96 29 in situ hybridization (ISH), immunohistochemistry, in situ transgenic reporter, microarray voxelation, and others,
bshanks@96 30 allow the expression levels of many genes at many locations to be compared. Our goal is to develop automated
bshanks@96 31 methods to relate spatial variation in gene expression to anatomy. We want to find marker genes for specific
bshanks@96 32 anatomical regions, and also to draw new anatomical maps based on gene expression patterns.
bshanks@87 33 The Challenge and Potential impact
bshanks@96 34 Each of our three aims will be discussed in turn. For each aim, we will develop a conceptual framework for
bshanks@96 35 thinking about the task, and we will present our strategy for solving it. Next we will discuss related work. At the
bshanks@96 36 conclusion of each section, we will summarize why our strategy is different from what has been done before. At
bshanks@96 37 the end of this section, we will describe the potential impact.
bshanks@84 38 Aim 1: Given a map of regions, find genes that mark the regions
bshanks@98 39
bshanks@98 40 Figure 1: Gene Pitx2
bshanks@98 41 is selectively underex-
bshanks@98 42 pressed in area SS. Machine learning terminology: classifiers The task of looking for marker genes for
bshanks@98 43 known anatomical regions means that one is looking for a set of genes such that, if
bshanks@98 44 the expression level of those genes is known, then the locations of the regions can be
bshanks@98 45 inferred.
bshanks@98 46 If we define the regions so that they cover the entire anatomical structure to be
bshanks@98 47 subdivided, we may say that we are using gene expression in each voxel to assign
bshanks@98 48 that voxel to the proper area. We call this a classification task, because each voxel
bshanks@98 49 is being assigned to a class (namely, its region). An understanding of the relationship
bshanks@98 50 between the combination of their expression levels and the locations of the regions may
bshanks@98 51 be expressed as a function. The input to this function is a voxel, along with the gene
bshanks@98 52 expression levels within that voxel; the output is the regional identity of the target voxel,
bshanks@98 53 that is, the region to which the target voxel belongs. We call this function a classifier. In general, the input to a
bshanks@98 54 classifier is called an instance, and the output is called a label (or a class label).
bshanks@96 55 The object of aim 1 is not to produce a single classifier, but rather to develop an automated method for
bshanks@96 56 determining a classifier for any known anatomical structure. Therefore, we seek a procedure by which a gene
bshanks@96 57 expression dataset may be analyzed in concert with an anatomical atlas in order to produce a classifier. The
bshanks@96 58 initial gene expression dataset used in the construction of the classifier is called training data. In the machine
bshanks@96 59 learning literature, this sort of procedure may be thought of as a supervised learning task, defined as a task in
bshanks@96 60 which the goal is to learn a mapping from instances to labels, and the training data consists of a set of instances
bshanks@96 61 (voxels) for which the labels (regions) are known.
bshanks@96 62 Each gene expression level is called a feature, and the selection of which genes1 to include is called feature
bshanks@96 63 selection. Feature selection is one component of the task of learning a classifier. Some methods for learning
bshanks@96 64 classifiers start out with a separate feature selection phase, whereas other methods combine feature selection
bshanks@96 65 with other aspects of training.
bshanks@96 66 One class of feature selection methods assigns some sort of score to each candidate gene. The top-ranked
bshanks@96 67 genes are then chosen. Some scoring measures can assign a score to a set of selected genes, not just to a
bshanks@96 68 single gene; in this case, a dynamic procedure may be used in which features are added and subtracted from the
bshanks@96 69 selected set depending on how much they raise the score. Such procedures are called “stepwise” or “greedy”.
bshanks@96 70 Although the classifier itself may only look at the gene expression data within each voxel before classifying
bshanks@96 71 that voxel, the algorithm which constructs the classifier may look over the entire dataset. We can categorize
bshanks@96 72 score-based feature selection methods depending on how the score of calculated. Often the score calculation
bshanks@96 73 consists of assigning a sub-score to each voxel, and then aggregating these sub-scores into a final score (the
bshanks@96 74 aggregation is often a sum or a sum of squares or average). If only information from nearby voxels is used to
bshanks@98 75 _________________________________________
bshanks@98 76 1Strictly speaking, the features are gene expression levels, but we’ll call them genes.
bshanks@96 77 calculate a voxel’s sub-score, then we say it is a local scoring method. If only information from the voxel itself is
bshanks@96 78 used to calculate a voxel’s sub-score, then we say it is a pointwise scoring method.
bshanks@96 79 Both gene expression data and anatomical atlases have errors, due to a variety of factors. Individual subjects
bshanks@99 80 have idiosyncratic anatomy. Subjects may be improperly registered to the atlas. The method used to measure
bshanks@96 81 gene expression may be noisy. The atlas may have errors. It is even possible that some areas in the anatomical
bshanks@96 82 atlas are “wrong” in that they do not have the same shape as the natural domains of gene expression to which
bshanks@96 83 they correspond. These sources of error can affect the displacement and the shape of both the gene expression
bshanks@96 84 data and the anatomical target areas. Therefore, it is important to use feature selection methods which are
bshanks@96 85 robust to these kinds of errors.
bshanks@85 86 Our strategy for Aim 1
bshanks@98 87
bshanks@98 88
bshanks@98 89 Figure 2: Top row: Genes Nfic
bshanks@98 90 and A930001M12Rik are the most
bshanks@98 91 correlated with area SS (somatosen-
bshanks@98 92 sory cortex). Bottom row: Genes
bshanks@98 93 C130038G02Rik and Cacna1i are
bshanks@98 94 those with the best fit using logistic
bshanks@98 95 regression. Within each picture, the
bshanks@98 96 vertical axis roughly corresponds to
bshanks@98 97 anterior at the top and posterior at the
bshanks@98 98 bottom, and the horizontal axis roughly
bshanks@98 99 corresponds to medial at the left and
bshanks@98 100 lateral at the right. The red outline is
bshanks@98 101 the boundary of region SS. Pixels are
bshanks@98 102 colored according to correlation, with
bshanks@98 103 red meaning high correlation and blue
bshanks@98 104 meaning low. Key questions when choosing a learning method are: What are the
bshanks@98 105 instances? What are the features? How are the features chosen?
bshanks@98 106 Here are four principles that outline our answers to these questions.
bshanks@98 107 Principle 1: Combinatorial gene expression
bshanks@98 108 It is too much to hope that every anatomical region of interest will be
bshanks@98 109 identified by a single gene. For example, in the cortex, there are some
bshanks@98 110 areas which are not clearly delineated by any gene included in the
bshanks@98 111 Allen Brain Atlas (ABA) dataset. However, at least some of these areas
bshanks@98 112 can be delineated by looking at combinations of genes (an example
bshanks@98 113 of an area for which multiple genes are necessary and sufficient is
bshanks@98 114 provided in Preliminary Studies, Figure 4). Therefore, each instance
bshanks@98 115 should contain multiple features (genes).
bshanks@98 116 Principle 2: Only look at combinations of small numbers of
bshanks@98 117 genes
bshanks@98 118 When the classifier classifies a voxel, it is only allowed to look at
bshanks@98 119 the expression of the genes which have been selected as features.
bshanks@98 120 The more data that are available to a classifier, the better that it can do.
bshanks@98 121 For example, perhaps there are weak correlations over many genes
bshanks@98 122 that add up to a strong signal. So, why not include every gene as a
bshanks@98 123 feature? The reason is that we wish to employ the classifier in situations
bshanks@98 124 in which it is not feasible to gather data about every gene. For example,
bshanks@98 125 if we want to use the expression of marker genes as a trigger for some
bshanks@98 126 regionally-targeted intervention, then our intervention must contain a
bshanks@98 127 molecular mechanism to check the expression level of each marker
bshanks@98 128 gene before it triggers. It is currently infeasible to design a molecular
bshanks@98 129 trigger that checks the level of more than a handful of genes. Similarly,
bshanks@98 130 if the goal is to develop a procedure to do ISH on tissue samples in
bshanks@98 131 order to label their anatomy, then it is infeasible to label more than a
bshanks@98 132 few genes. Therefore, we must select only a few genes as features.
bshanks@96 133 The requirement to find combinations of only a small number of genes limits us from straightforwardly ap-
bshanks@96 134 plying many of the most simple techniques from the field of supervised machine learning. In the parlance of
bshanks@96 135 machine learning, our task combines feature selection with supervised learning.
bshanks@30 136 Principle 3: Use geometry in feature selection
bshanks@96 137 When doing feature selection with score-based methods, the simplest thing to do would be to score the per-
bshanks@96 138 formance of each voxel by itself and then combine these scores (pointwise scoring). A more powerful approach
bshanks@96 139 is to also use information about the geometric relations between each voxel and its neighbors; this requires non-
bshanks@96 140 pointwise, local scoring methods. See Preliminary Studies, figure 3 for evidence of the complementary nature of
bshanks@96 141 pointwise and local scoring methods.
bshanks@30 142 Principle 4: Work in 2-D whenever possible
bshanks@96 143 There are many anatomical structures which are commonly characterized in terms of a two-dimensional
bshanks@96 144 manifold. When it is known that the structure that one is looking for is two-dimensional, the results may be
bshanks@96 145 improved by allowing the analysis algorithm to take advantage of this prior knowledge. In addition, it is easier for
bshanks@96 146 humans to visualize and work with 2-D data. Therefore, when possible, the instances should represent pixels,
bshanks@96 147 not voxels.
bshanks@43 148 Related work
bshanks@98 149
bshanks@98 150
bshanks@98 151 Figure 3: The top row shows the two
bshanks@98 152 genes which (individually) best predict
bshanks@98 153 area AUD, according to logistic regres-
bshanks@98 154 sion. The bottom row shows the two
bshanks@98 155 genes which (individually) best match
bshanks@98 156 area AUD, according to gradient sim-
bshanks@98 157 ilarity. From left to right and top to
bshanks@98 158 bottom, the genes are Ssr1, Efcbp1,
bshanks@98 159 Ptk7, and Aph1a. There is a substantial body of work on the analysis of gene expres-
bshanks@98 160 sion data, most of this concerns gene expression data which are not
bshanks@98 161 fundamentally spatial2.
bshanks@98 162 As noted above, there has been much work on both supervised
bshanks@98 163 learning and there are many available algorithms for each. However,
bshanks@98 164 the algorithms require the scientist to provide a framework for repre-
bshanks@98 165 senting the problem domain, and the way that this framework is set
bshanks@98 166 up has a large impact on performance. Creating a good framework
bshanks@98 167 can require creatively reconceptualizing the problem domain, and is
bshanks@98 168 not merely a mechanical “fine-tuning” of numerical parameters. For
bshanks@98 169 example, we believe that domain-specific scoring measures (such as
bshanks@98 170 gradient similarity, which is discussed in Preliminary Studies) may be
bshanks@98 171 necessary in order to achieve the best results in this application.
bshanks@98 172 We are aware of six existing efforts to find marker genes using spa-
bshanks@98 173 tial gene expression data using automated methods.
bshanks@98 174 [13] mentions the possibility of constructing a spatial region for each
bshanks@98 175 gene, and then, for each anatomical structure of interest, computing
bshanks@98 176 what proportion of this structure is covered by the gene’s spatial region.
bshanks@98 177 GeneAtlas[5] and EMAGE [26] allow the user to construct a search
bshanks@99 178 query by demarcating regions and then specifying either the strength of
bshanks@98 179 expression or the name of another gene or dataset whose expression
bshanks@98 180 pattern is to be matched. Neither GeneAtlas nor EMAGE allow one to
bshanks@98 181 search for combinations of genes that define a region in concert but not separately.
bshanks@96 182 [15 ] describes AGEA, ”Anatomic Gene Expression Atlas”. AGEA has three components. Gene Finder: The
bshanks@98 183 user selects a seed voxel and the system (1) chooses a cluster which includes the seed voxel, (2) yields a list of
bshanks@98 184 genes which are overexpressed in that cluster. Correlation: The user selects a seed voxel and the system then
bshanks@96 185 shows the user how much correlation there is between the gene expression profile of the seed voxel and every
bshanks@96 186 other voxel. Clusters: will be described later
bshanks@98 187 [6 ] looks at the mean expression level of genes within anatomical regions, and applies a Student’s t-test with
bshanks@98 188 Bonferroni correction to determine whether the mean expression level of a gene is significantly higher in the
bshanks@98 189 target region.
bshanks@98 190 [15 ] and [6] differ from our Aim 1 in at least three ways. First, [15] and [6] find only single genes, whereas
bshanks@98 191 we will also look for combinations of genes. Second, [15] and [6] can only use overexpression as a marker,
bshanks@98 192 whereas we will also search for underexpression. Third, [15] and [6] use scores based on pointwise expression
bshanks@98 193 levels, whereas we will also use geometric scores such as gradient similarity (described in Preliminary Studies).
bshanks@98 194 Figures 4, 1, and 3 in the Preliminary Studies section contain evidence that each of our three choices is the right
bshanks@98 195 one.
bshanks@96 196 [10 ] describes a technique to find combinations of marker genes to pick out an anatomical region. They use
bshanks@96 197 an evolutionary algorithm to evolve logical operators which combine boolean (thresholded) images in order to
bshanks@99 198 match a target image.
bshanks@99 199 _____________________
bshanks@98 200 2By “fundamentally spatial” we mean that there is information from a large number of spatial locations indexed by spatial coordinates;
bshanks@98 201 not just data which have only a few different locations or which is indexed by anatomical label.
bshanks@96 202 In summary, there has been fruitful work on finding marker genes, but only one of the previous projects
bshanks@96 203 explores combinations of marker genes, and none of these publications compare the results obtained by using
bshanks@96 204 different algorithms or scoring methods.
bshanks@84 205 Aim 2: From gene expression data, discover a map of regions
bshanks@98 206
bshanks@98 207
bshanks@98 208 Figure 4: Upper left: wwc1. Upper
bshanks@98 209 right: mtif2. Lower left: wwc1 + mtif2
bshanks@98 210 (each pixel’s value on the lower left is
bshanks@98 211 the sum of the corresponding pixels in
bshanks@98 212 the upper row). Machine learning terminology: clustering
bshanks@98 213 If one is given a dataset consisting merely of instances, with no
bshanks@98 214 class labels, then analysis of the dataset is referred to as unsupervised
bshanks@98 215 learning in the jargon of machine learning. One thing that you can do
bshanks@98 216 with such a dataset is to group instances together. A set of similar
bshanks@98 217 instances is called a cluster, and the activity of finding grouping the
bshanks@98 218 data into clusters is called clustering or cluster analysis.
bshanks@98 219 The task of deciding how to carve up a structure into anatomical
bshanks@98 220 regions can be put into these terms. The instances are once again
bshanks@98 221 voxels (or pixels) along with their associated gene expression profiles.
bshanks@98 222 We make the assumption that voxels from the same anatomical region
bshanks@98 223 have similar gene expression profiles, at least compared to the other
bshanks@98 224 regions. This means that clustering voxels is the same as finding po-
bshanks@98 225 tential regions; we seek a partitioning of the voxels into regions, that is,
bshanks@98 226 into clusters of voxels with similar gene expression.
bshanks@98 227 It is desirable to determine not just one set of regions, but also how
bshanks@98 228 these regions relate to each other. The outcome of clustering may be
bshanks@99 229 a hierarchical tree of clusters, rather than a single set of clusters which
bshanks@99 230 partition the voxels. This is called hierarchical clustering.
bshanks@96 231 Similarity scores A crucial choice when designing a clustering method is how to measure similarity, across
bshanks@96 232 either pairs of instances, or clusters, or both. There is much overlap between scoring methods for feature
bshanks@96 233 selection (discussed above under Aim 1) and scoring methods for similarity.
bshanks@96 234 Spatially contiguous clusters; image segmentation We have shown that aim 2 is a type of clustering
bshanks@96 235 task. In fact, it is a special type of clustering task because we have an additional constraint on clusters; voxels
bshanks@96 236 grouped together into a cluster must be spatially contiguous. In Preliminary Studies, we show that one can get
bshanks@96 237 reasonable results without enforcing this constraint; however, we plan to compare these results against other
bshanks@96 238 methods which guarantee contiguous clusters.
bshanks@96 239 Image segmentation is the task of partitioning the pixels in a digital image into clusters, usually contiguous
bshanks@96 240 clusters. Aim 2 is similar to an image segmentation task. There are two main differences; in our task, there are
bshanks@98 241 thousands of color channels (one for each gene), rather than just three3. A more crucial difference is that there
bshanks@96 242 are various cues which are appropriate for detecting sharp object boundaries in a visual scene but which are not
bshanks@96 243 appropriate for segmenting abstract spatial data such as gene expression. Although many image segmentation
bshanks@96 244 algorithms can be expected to work well for segmenting other sorts of spatially arranged data, some of these
bshanks@96 245 algorithms are specialized for visual images.
bshanks@96 246 Dimensionality reduction In this section, we discuss reducing the length of the per-pixel gene expression
bshanks@96 247 feature vector. By “dimension”, we mean the dimension of this vector, not the spatial dimension of the underlying
bshanks@96 248 data.
bshanks@96 249 Unlike aim 1, there is no externally-imposed need to select only a handful of informative genes for inclusion
bshanks@98 250 in the instances. However, some clustering algorithms perform better on small numbers of features4. There are
bshanks@96 251 techniques which “summarize” a larger number of features using a smaller number of features; these techniques
bshanks@98 252 _________________________________________
bshanks@98 253 3There are imaging tasks which use more than three colors, for example multispectral imaging and hyperspectral imaging, which are
bshanks@98 254 often used to process satellite imagery.
bshanks@98 255 4First, because the number of features in the reduced dataset is less than in the original dataset, the running time of clustering
bshanks@98 256 algorithms may be much less. Second, it is thought that some clustering algorithms may give better results on reduced data.
bshanks@96 257 go by the name of feature extraction or dimensionality reduction. The small set of features that such a technique
bshanks@96 258 yields is called the reduced feature set. Note that the features in the reduced feature set do not necessarily
bshanks@96 259 correspond to genes; each feature in the reduced set may be any function of the set of gene expression levels.
bshanks@85 260
bshanks@85 261
bshanks@85 262
bshanks@85 263
bshanks@96 264 Figure 5: From left to right and top
bshanks@96 265 to bottom, single genes which roughly
bshanks@96 266 identify areas SS (somatosensory pri-
bshanks@96 267 mary + supplemental), SSs (supple-
bshanks@96 268 mental somatosensory), PIR (piriform),
bshanks@96 269 FRP (frontal pole), RSP (retrosple-
bshanks@96 270 nial), COApm (Cortical amygdalar, pos-
bshanks@96 271 terior part, medial zone). Grouping
bshanks@96 272 some areas together, we have also
bshanks@96 273 found genes to identify the groups
bshanks@85 274 ACA+PL+ILA+DP+ORB+MO (anterior
bshanks@96 275 cingulate, prelimbic, infralimbic, dor-
bshanks@96 276 sal peduncular, orbital, motor), poste-
bshanks@96 277 rior and lateral visual (VISpm, VISpl,
bshanks@96 278 VISI, VISp; posteromedial, posterolat-
bshanks@96 279 eral, lateral, and primary visual; the
bshanks@96 280 posterior and lateral visual area is dis-
bshanks@96 281 tinguished from its neighbors, but not
bshanks@96 282 from the entire rest of the cortex). The
bshanks@96 283 genes are Pitx2, Aldh1a2, Ppfibp1,
bshanks@98 284 Slco1a5, Tshz2, Trhr, Col12a1, Ets1. Clustering genes rather than voxels Although the ultimate goal is
bshanks@98 285 to cluster the instances (voxels or pixels), one strategy to achieve this
bshanks@98 286 goal is to first cluster the features (genes). There are two ways that
bshanks@98 287 clusters of genes could be used.
bshanks@98 288 Gene clusters could be used as part of dimensionality reduction:
bshanks@98 289 rather than have one feature for each gene, we could have one reduced
bshanks@98 290 feature for each gene cluster.
bshanks@98 291 Gene clusters could also be used to directly yield a clustering on
bshanks@98 292 instances. This is because many genes have an expression pattern
bshanks@99 293 which seems to pick out a single, spatially contiguous region. This
bshanks@98 294 suggests the following procedure: cluster together genes which pick
bshanks@98 295 out similar regions, and then to use the more popular common regions
bshanks@98 296 as the final clusters. In Preliminary Studies, Figure 7, we show that a
bshanks@98 297 number of anatomically recognized cortical regions, as well as some
bshanks@98 298 “superregions” formed by lumping together a few regions, are associ-
bshanks@98 299 ated with gene clusters in this fashion.
bshanks@98 300 Related work
bshanks@98 301 Some researchers have attempted to parcellate cortex on the basis of
bshanks@98 302 non-gene expression data. For example, [18], [2], [19], and [1] asso-
bshanks@98 303 ciate spots on the cortex with the radial profile5 of response to some
bshanks@98 304 stain ([12] uses MRI), extract features from this profile, and then use
bshanks@98 305 similarity between surface pixels to cluster.
bshanks@98 306 [23] describes an analysis of the anatomy of the hippocampus us-
bshanks@98 307 ing the ABA dataset. In addition to manual analysis, two clustering
bshanks@98 308 methods were employed, a modified Non-negative Matrix Factoriza-
bshanks@99 309 tion (NNMF), and a hierarchical recursive bifurcation clustering scheme
bshanks@98 310 based on correlation as the similarity score. The paper yielded impres-
bshanks@98 311 sive results, proving the usefulness of computational genomic anatomy.
bshanks@98 312 We have run NNMF on the cortical dataset
bshanks@99 313 AGEA[15] includes a preset hierarchical clustering of voxels based
bshanks@98 314 on a recursive bifurcation algorithm with correlation as the similarity
bshanks@98 315 metric. EMAGE[26] allows the user to select a dataset from among a
bshanks@98 316 large number of alternatives, or by running a search query, and then to
bshanks@99 317 cluster the genes within that dataset. EMAGE clusters via hierarchical
bshanks@99 318 complete linkage clustering.
bshanks@99 319 [6] clusters genes. For each cluster, prototypical spatial expression
bshanks@99 320 patterns were created by averaging the genes in the cluster. The pro-
bshanks@99 321 totypes were analyzed manually, without clustering voxels.
bshanks@98 322 [10] applies their technique for finding combinations of marker
bshanks@98 323 genes for the purpose of clustering genes around a “seed gene”.
bshanks@98 324 In summary, although these projects obtained clusterings, there has
bshanks@98 325 not been much comparison between different algorithms or scoring
bshanks@98 326 methods, so it is likely that the best clustering method for this appli-
bshanks@99 327 cation has not yet been found. The projects using gene expression on
bshanks@99 328 cortex did not attempt to make use of the radial profile of gene expression. Also, none of these projects did a
bshanks@92 329 _________________________________________
bshanks@98 330 5A radial profile is a profile along a line perpendicular to the cortical surface.
bshanks@99 331 separate dimensionality reduction step before clustering pixels, none tried to cluster genes first in order to guide
bshanks@99 332 automated clustering of pixels into spatial regions, and none used co-clustering algorithms.
bshanks@98 333 Aim 3: apply the methods developed to the cerebral cortex
bshanks@60 334
bshanks@69 335
bshanks@69 336
bshanks@69 337
bshanks@96 338 Figure 6: First row: the first 6 reduced dimensions, using PCA. Sec-
bshanks@96 339 ond row: the first 6 reduced dimensions, using NNMF. Third row:
bshanks@96 340 the first six reduced dimensions, using landmark Isomap. Bottom
bshanks@96 341 row: examples of kmeans clustering applied to reduced datasets
bshanks@96 342 to find 7 clusters. Left: 19 of the major subdivisions of the cortex.
bshanks@96 343 Second from left: PCA. Third from left: NNMF. Right: Landmark
bshanks@96 344 Isomap. Additional details: In the third and fourth rows, 7 dimen-
bshanks@96 345 sions were found, but only 6 displayed. In the last row: for PCA,
bshanks@96 346 50 dimensions were used; for NNMF, 6 dimensions were used; for
bshanks@98 347 landmark Isomap, 7 dimensions were used. Background
bshanks@98 348 The cortex is divided into areas and lay-
bshanks@98 349 ers. Because of the cortical columnar or-
bshanks@98 350 ganization, the parcellation of the cortex
bshanks@98 351 into areas can be drawn as a 2-D map on
bshanks@98 352 the surface of the cortex. In the third di-
bshanks@98 353 mension, the boundaries between the ar-
bshanks@98 354 eas continue downwards into the cortical
bshanks@98 355 depth, perpendicular to the surface. The
bshanks@98 356 layer boundaries run parallel to the sur-
bshanks@98 357 face. One can picture an area of the cortex
bshanks@98 358 as a slice of a six-layered cake6.
bshanks@98 359 It is known that different cortical areas
bshanks@98 360 have distinct roles in both normal function-
bshanks@98 361 ing and in disease processes, yet there are
bshanks@98 362 no known marker genes for most cortical
bshanks@98 363 areas. When it is necessary to divide a
bshanks@98 364 tissue sample into cortical areas, this is a
bshanks@98 365 manual process that requires a skilled hu-
bshanks@98 366 man to combine multiple visual cues and
bshanks@98 367 interpret them in the context of their ap-
bshanks@98 368 proximate location upon the cortical sur-
bshanks@98 369 face.
bshanks@98 370 Even the questions of how many ar-
bshanks@98 371 eas should be recognized in cortex, and
bshanks@98 372 what their arrangement is, are still not com-
bshanks@98 373 pletely settled. A proposed division of the
bshanks@98 374 cortex into areas is called a cortical map.
bshanks@98 375 In the rodent, the lack of a single agreed-
bshanks@98 376 upon map can be seen by contrasting the recent maps given by Swanson[22] on the one hand, and Paxinos
bshanks@98 377 and Franklin[17] on the other. While the maps are certainly very similar in their general arrangement, significant
bshanks@98 378 differences remain.
bshanks@98 379 The Allen Mouse Brain Atlas dataset
bshanks@98 380 The Allen Mouse Brain Atlas (ABA) data were produced by doing in-situ hybridization on slices of male,
bshanks@98 381 56-day-old C57BL/6J mouse brains. Pictures were taken of the processed slice, and these pictures were semi-
bshanks@98 382 automatically analyzed to create a digital measurement of gene expression levels at each location in each slice.
bshanks@98 383 Per slice, cellular spatial resolution is achieved. Using this method, a single physical slice can only be used
bshanks@98 384 to measure one single gene; many different mouse brains were needed in order to measure the expression of
bshanks@98 385 many genes.
bshanks@98 386 An automated nonlinear alignment procedure located the 2D data from the various slices in a single 3D
bshanks@98 387 coordinate system. In the final 3D coordinate system, voxels are cubes with 200 microns on a side. There are
bshanks@98 388 67x41x58 = 159,326 voxels in the 3D coordinate system, of which 51,533 are in the brain[15].
bshanks@98 389 Mus musculus is thought to contain about 22,000 protein-coding genes[28]. The ABA contains data on about
bshanks@98 390 20,000 genes in sagittal sections, out of which over 4,000 genes are also measured in coronal sections. Our
bshanks@94 391 _________________________________________
bshanks@98 392 6Outside of isocortex, the number of layers varies.
bshanks@98 393 dataset is derived from only the coronal subset of the ABA7.
bshanks@98 394 The ABA is not the only large public spatial gene expression dataset. However, with the exception of the ABA,
bshanks@98 395 GenePaint, and EMAGE, most of the other resources have not (yet) extracted the expression intensity from the
bshanks@98 396 ISH images and registered the results into a single 3-D space.
bshanks@98 397 Related work
bshanks@98 398 [15 ] describes the application of AGEA to the cortex. The paper describes interesting results on the structure
bshanks@98 399 of correlations between voxel gene expression profiles within a handful of cortical areas. However, this sort
bshanks@98 400 of analysis is not related to either of our aims, as it neither finds marker genes, nor does it suggest a cortical
bshanks@98 401 map based on gene expression data. Neither of the other components of AGEA can be applied to cortical
bshanks@99 402 areas; AGEA’s Gene Finder cannot be used to find marker genes for the cortical areas; and AGEA’s hierarchical
bshanks@98 403 clustering does not produce clusters corresponding to the cortical areas8.
bshanks@98 404 In summary, for all three aims, (a) only one of the previous projects explores combinations of marker genes,
bshanks@98 405 (b) there has been almost no comparison of different algorithms or scoring methods, and (c) there has been no
bshanks@99 406 work on computationally finding marker genes for cortical areas, or on finding a hierarchical clustering that will
bshanks@98 407 yield a map of cortical areas de novo from gene expression data.
bshanks@98 408 Our project is guided by a concrete application with a well-specified criterion of success (how well we can
bshanks@98 409 find marker genes for / reproduce the layout of cortical areas), which will provide a solid basis for comparing
bshanks@98 410 different methods.
bshanks@98 411 Significance
bshanks@98 412
bshanks@98 413 Figure 7: Prototypes corresponding to sample gene
bshanks@98 414 clusters, clustered by gradient similarity. Region bound-
bshanks@98 415 aries for the region that most matches each prototype
bshanks@99 416 are overlaid. The method developed in aim (1) will be applied to
bshanks@98 417 each cortical area to find a set of marker genes such
bshanks@98 418 that the combinatorial expression pattern of those
bshanks@98 419 genes uniquely picks out the target area. Finding
bshanks@98 420 marker genes will be useful for drug discovery as well
bshanks@98 421 as for experimentation because marker genes can be
bshanks@98 422 used to design interventions which selectively target
bshanks@98 423 individual cortical areas.
bshanks@98 424 The application of the marker gene finding algo-
bshanks@98 425 rithm to the cortex will also support the development
bshanks@98 426 of new neuroanatomical methods. In addition to find-
bshanks@98 427 ing markers for each individual cortical areas, we will
bshanks@98 428 find a small panel of genes that can find many of the
bshanks@98 429 areal boundaries at once. This panel of marker genes
bshanks@98 430 will allow the development of an ISH protocol that will allow experimenters to more easily identify which anatom-
bshanks@98 431 ical areas are present in small samples of cortex.
bshanks@98 432 The method developed in aim (2) will provide a genoarchitectonic viewpoint that will contribute to the creation
bshanks@98 433 of a better map. The development of present-day cortical maps was driven by the application of histological
bshanks@98 434 stains. If a different set of stains had been available which identified a different set of features, then today’s
bshanks@98 435 cortical maps may have come out differently. It is likely that there are many repeated, salient spatial patterns
bshanks@98 436 _________________________________________
bshanks@98 437 7The sagittal data do not cover the entire cortex, and also have greater registration error[15]. Genes were selected by the Allen
bshanks@98 438 Institute for coronal sectioning based on, “classes of known neuroscientific interest... or through post hoc identification of a marked
bshanks@98 439 non-ubiquitous expression pattern”[15].
bshanks@98 440 8In both cases, the cause is that pairwise correlations between the gene expression of voxels in different areas but the same layer
bshanks@98 441 are often stronger than pairwise correlations between the gene expression of voxels in different layers but the same area. Therefore, a
bshanks@98 442 pairwise voxel correlation clustering algorithm will tend to create clusters representing cortical layers, not areas (there may be clusters
bshanks@98 443 which presumably correspond to the intersection of a layer and an area, but since one area will have many layer-area intersection
bshanks@98 444 clusters, further work is needed to make sense of these). The reason that Gene Finder cannot the find marker genes for cortical areas
bshanks@98 445 is that, although the user chooses a seed voxel, Gene Finder chooses the ROI for which genes will be found, and it creates that ROI by
bshanks@98 446 (pairwise voxel correlation) clustering around the seed.
bshanks@98 447 in the gene expression which have not yet been captured by any stain. Therefore, cortical anatomy needs to
bshanks@98 448 incorporate what we can learn from looking at the patterns of gene expression.
bshanks@98 449 While we do not here propose to analyze human gene expression data, it is conceivable that the methods
bshanks@98 450 we propose to develop could be used to suggest modifications to the human cortical map as well. In fact, the
bshanks@98 451 methods we will develop will be applicable to other datasets beyond the brain.
bshanks@98 452 The approach: Preliminary Studies
bshanks@98 453 Format conversion between SEV, MATLAB, NIFTI
bshanks@98 454 We have created software to (politely) download all of the SEV files9 from the Allen Institute website. We have
bshanks@98 455 also created software to convert between the SEV, MATLAB, and NIFTI file formats, as well as some of Caret’s
bshanks@98 456 file formats.
bshanks@98 457 Flatmap of cortex
bshanks@98 458 We downloaded the ABA data and applied a mask to select only those voxels which belong to cerebral cortex.
bshanks@98 459 We divided the cortex into hemispheres. Using Caret[7], we created a mesh representation of the surface of the
bshanks@98 460 selected voxels. For each gene, and for each node of the mesh, we calculated an average of the gene expression
bshanks@98 461 of the voxels “underneath” that mesh node. We then flattened the cortex, creating a two-dimensional mesh. We
bshanks@98 462 sampled the nodes of the irregular, flat mesh in order to create a regular grid of pixel values. We converted this
bshanks@98 463 grid into a MATLAB matrix. We manually traced the boundaries of each of 49 cortical areas from the ABA coronal
bshanks@98 464 reference atlas slides. We then converted these manual traces into Caret-format regional boundary data on the
bshanks@98 465 mesh surface. We projected the regions onto the 2-d mesh, and then onto the grid, and then we converted the
bshanks@98 466 region data into MATLAB format.
bshanks@98 467 At this point, the data are in the form of a number of 2-D matrices, all in registration, with the matrix entries
bshanks@98 468 representing a grid of points (pixels) over the cortical surface. There is one 2-D matrix whose entries represent
bshanks@98 469 the regional label associated with each surface pixel. And for each gene, there is a 2-D matrix whose entries
bshanks@98 470 represent the average expression level underneath each surface pixel. We created a normalized version of the
bshanks@98 471 gene expression data by subtracting each gene’s mean expression level (over all surface pixels) and dividing the
bshanks@98 472 expression level of each gene by its standard deviation. The features and the target area are both functions on
bshanks@98 473 the surface pixels. They can be referred to as scalar fields over the space of surface pixels; alternately, they can
bshanks@98 474 be thought of as images which can be displayed on the flatmapped surface.
bshanks@98 475 To move beyond a single average expression level for each surface pixel, we plan to create a separate matrix
bshanks@98 476 for each cortical layer to represent the average expression level within that layer. Cortical layers are found at
bshanks@98 477 different depths in different parts of the cortex. In preparation for extracting the layer-specific datasets, we have
bshanks@98 478 extended Caret with routines that allow the depth of the ROI for volume-to-surface projection to vary. In the
bshanks@98 479 Research Plan, we describe how we will automatically locate the layer depths. For validation, we have manually
bshanks@98 480 demarcated the depth of the outer boundary of cortical layer 5 throughout the cortex.
bshanks@98 481 Feature selection and scoring methods
bshanks@98 482 Underexpression of a gene can serve as a marker Underexpression of a gene can sometimes serve as a
bshanks@98 483 marker. See, for example, Figure 1.
bshanks@98 484 Correlation Recall that the instances are surface pixels, and consider the problem of attempting to classify
bshanks@98 485 each instance as either a member of a particular anatomical area, or not. The target area can be represented
bshanks@98 486 as a boolean mask over the surface pixels.
bshanks@98 487 We calculated the correlation between each gene and each cortical area. The top row of Figure 2 shows the
bshanks@98 488 three genes most correlated with area SS.
bshanks@98 489 __
bshanks@98 490 9SEV is a sparse format for spatial data. It is the format in which the ABA data is made available.
bshanks@98 491 Conditional entropy
bshanks@98 492 Foreach region, we created and ran a forward stepwise procedure which attempted to find pairs of gene
bshanks@98 493 expression boolean masks such that the conditional entropy of the target area’s boolean mask, conditioned
bshanks@98 494 upon the pair of gene expression boolean masks, is minimized.
bshanks@98 495 This finds pairs of genes which are most informative (at least at these discretization thresholds) relative to the
bshanks@98 496 question, “Is this surface pixel a member of the target area?”. Its advantage over linear methods such as logistic
bshanks@98 497 regression is that it takes account of arbitrarily nonlinear relationships; for example, if the XOR of two variables
bshanks@98 498 predicts the target, conditional entropy would notice, whereas linear methods would not.
bshanks@98 499 Gradient similarity We noticed that the previous two scoring methods, which are pointwise, often found
bshanks@98 500 genes whose pattern of expression did not look similar in shape to the target region. For this reason we designed
bshanks@98 501 a non-pointwise scoring method to detect when a gene had a pattern of expression which looked like it had a
bshanks@98 502 boundary whose shape is similar to the shape of the target region. We call this scoring method “gradient
bshanks@98 503 similarity”. The formula is:
bshanks@98 504 ∑
bshanks@98 505 pixel<img src="cmsy8-32.png" alt="&#x2208;" />pixels cos(abs(&#x2220;&#x2207;1 -&#x2220;&#x2207;2)) &#x22C5;|&#x2207;1| + |&#x2207;2|
bshanks@98 506 2 &#x22C5; pixel_value1 + pixel_value2
bshanks@98 507 2
bshanks@98 508 where &#x2207;1 and &#x2207;2 are the gradient vectors of the two images at the current pixel; &#x2220;&#x2207;i is the angle of the
bshanks@98 509 gradient of image i at the current pixel; |&#x2207;i| is the magnitude of the gradient of image i at the current pixel; and
bshanks@98 510 pixel valuei is the value of the current pixel in image i.
bshanks@98 511 The intuition is that we want to see if the borders of the pattern in the two images are similar; if the borders
bshanks@98 512 are similar, then both images will have corresponding pixels with large gradients (because this is a border) which
bshanks@98 513 are oriented in a similar direction (because the borders are similar).
bshanks@98 514 Gradient similarity provides information complementary to correlation
bshanks@98 515 To show that gradient similarity can provide useful information that cannot be detected via pointwise analyses,
bshanks@98 516 consider Fig. 3. The pointwise method in the top row identifies genes which express more strongly in AUD than
bshanks@98 517 outside of it; its weakness is that this includes many areas which don&#8217;t have a salient border matching the areal
bshanks@98 518 border. The geometric method identifies genes whose salient expression border seems to partially line up with
bshanks@98 519 the border of AUD; its weakness is that this includes genes which don&#8217;t express over the entire area.
bshanks@98 520 Areas which can be identified by single genes Using gradient similarity, we have already found single
bshanks@98 521 genes which roughly identify some areas and groupings of areas. For each of these areas, an example of
bshanks@98 522 a gene which roughly identifies it is shown in Figure 5. We have not yet cross-verified these genes in other
bshanks@98 523 atlases.
bshanks@98 524 In addition, there are a number of areas which are almost identified by single genes: COAa+NLOT (anterior
bshanks@98 525 part of cortical amygdalar area, nucleus of the lateral olfactory tract), ENT (entorhinal), ACAv (ventral anterior
bshanks@98 526 cingulate), VIS (visual), AUD (auditory).
bshanks@98 527 These results validate our expectation that the ABA dataset can be exploited to find marker genes for many
bshanks@98 528 cortical areas, while also validating the relevancy of our new scoring method, gradient similarity.
bshanks@98 529 Combinations of multiple genes are useful and necessary for some areas
bshanks@98 530 In Figure 4, we give an example of a cortical area which is not marked by any single gene, but which
bshanks@99 531 can be identified combinatorially. According to logistic regression, gene wwc1 is the best fit single gene for
bshanks@98 532 predicting whether or not a pixel on the cortical surface belongs to the motor area (area MO). The upper-left
bshanks@98 533 picture in Figure 4 shows wwc1&#8217;s spatial expression pattern over the cortex. The lower-right boundary of MO is
bshanks@98 534 represented reasonably well by this gene, but the gene overshoots the upper-left boundary. This flattened 2-D
bshanks@98 535 representation does not show it, but the area corresponding to the overshoot is the medial surface of the cortex.
bshanks@98 536 MO is only found on the dorsal surface. Gene mtif2 is shown in the upper-right. Mtif2 captures MO&#8217;s upper-left
bshanks@98 537 boundary, but not its lower-right boundary. Mtif2 does not express very much on the medial surface. By adding
bshanks@98 538 together the values at each pixel in these two figures, we get the lower-left image. This combination captures
bshanks@98 539 area MO much better than any single gene.
bshanks@98 540 This shows that our proposal to develop a method to find combinations of marker genes is both possible and
bshanks@98 541 necessary.
bshanks@98 542 Multivariate supervised learning
bshanks@98 543 Forward stepwise logistic regression Logistic regression is a popular method for predictive modeling of cate-
bshanks@99 544 gorical data. As a pilot run, for five cortical areas (SS, AUD, RSP, VIS, and MO), we performed forward stepwise
bshanks@98 545 logistic regression to find single genes, pairs of genes, and triplets of genes which predict areal identify. This is
bshanks@98 546 an example of feature selection integrated with prediction using a stepwise wrapper. Some of the single genes
bshanks@98 547 found were shown in various figures throughout this document, and Figure 4 shows a combination of genes
bshanks@98 548 which was found.
bshanks@98 549 SVM on all genes at once
bshanks@98 550 In order to see how well one can do when looking at all genes at once, we ran a support vector machine to
bshanks@98 551 classify cortical surface pixels based on their gene expression profiles. We achieved classification accuracy of
bshanks@98 552 about 81%10. This shows that the genes included in the ABA dataset are sufficient to define much of cortical
bshanks@98 553 anatomy. However, as noted above, a classifier that looks at all the genes at once isn&#8217;t as practically useful as a
bshanks@98 554 classifier that uses only a few genes.
bshanks@96 555 Data-driven redrawing of the cortical map
bshanks@98 556 We have applied the following dimensionality reduction algorithms to reduce the dimensionality of the gene ex-
bshanks@98 557 pression profile associated with each pixel: Principal Components Analysis (PCA), Simple PCA, Multi-Dimensional
bshanks@98 558 Scaling, Isomap, Landmark Isomap, Laplacian eigenmaps, Local Tangent Space Alignment, Stochastic Proximity
bshanks@98 559 Embedding, Fast Maximum Variance Unfolding, Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NNMF). Space constraints
bshanks@98 560 prevent us from showing many of the results, but as a sample, PCA, NNMF, and landmark Isomap are shown in
bshanks@98 561 the first, second, and third rows of Figure 6.
bshanks@96 562 After applying the dimensionality reduction, we ran clustering algorithms on the reduced data. To date we
bshanks@96 563 have tried k-means and spectral clustering. The results of k-means after PCA, NNMF, and landmark Isomap are
bshanks@96 564 shown in the last row of Figure 6. To compare, the leftmost picture on the bottom row of Figure 6 shows some
bshanks@96 565 of the major subdivisions of cortex. These results clearly show that different dimensionality reduction techniques
bshanks@96 566 capture different aspects of the data and lead to different clusterings, indicating the utility of our proposal to
bshanks@99 567 produce a detailed comparison of these techniques as applied to the domain of genomic anatomy.
bshanks@98 568 Many areas are captured by clusters of genes We also clustered the genes using gradient similarity to
bshanks@98 569 see if the spatial regions defined by any clusters matched known anatomical regions. Figure 7 shows, for ten
bshanks@98 570 sample gene clusters, each cluster&#8217;s average expression pattern, compared to a known anatomical boundary.
bshanks@98 571 This suggests that it is worth attempting to cluster genes, and then to use the results to cluster pixels.
bshanks@98 572 The approach: what we plan to do
bshanks@98 573 Flatmap cortex and segment cortical layers
bshanks@98 574 There are multiple ways to flatten 3-D data into 2-D. We will compare mappings from manifolds to planes which
bshanks@98 575 attempt to preserve size (such as the one used by Caret[7]) with mappings which preserve angle (conformal
bshanks@98 576 maps). Our method will include a statistical test that warns the user if the assumption of 2-D structure seems to
bshanks@98 577 be wrong.
bshanks@96 578 We have not yet made use of radial profiles. While the radial profiles may be used &#8220;raw&#8221;, for laminar structures
bshanks@96 579 like the cortex another strategy is to group together voxels in the same cortical layer; each surface pixel would
bshanks@96 580 then be associated with one expression level per gene per layer. We will develop a segmentation algorithm to
bshanks@96 581 automatically identify the layer boundaries.
bshanks@98 582 __
bshanks@98 583 105-fold cross-validation.
bshanks@30 584 Develop algorithms that find genetic markers for anatomical regions
bshanks@96 585 Scoring measures and feature selection We will develop scoring methods for evaluating how good individual
bshanks@96 586 genes are at marking areas. We will compare pointwise, geometric, and information-theoretic measures. We
bshanks@96 587 already developed one entirely new scoring method (gradient similarity), but we may develop more. Scoring
bshanks@96 588 measures that we will explore will include the L1 norm, correlation, expression energy ratio, conditional entropy,
bshanks@96 589 gradient similarity, Jaccard similarity, Dice similarity, Hough transform, and statistical tests such as Student&#8217;s t-
bshanks@96 590 test, and the Mann-Whitney U test (a non-parametric test). In addition, any classifier induces a scoring measure
bshanks@96 591 on genes by taking the prediction error when using that gene to predict the target.
bshanks@96 592 Using some combination of these measures, we will develop a procedure to find single marker genes for
bshanks@96 593 anatomical regions: for each cortical area, we will rank the genes by their ability to delineate each area. We
bshanks@96 594 will quantitatively compare the list of single genes generated by our method to the lists generated by previous
bshanks@96 595 methods which are mentioned in Aim 1 Related Work.
bshanks@96 596 Some cortical areas have no single marker genes but can be identified by combinatorial coding. This requires
bshanks@96 597 multivariate scoring measures and feature selection procedures. Many of the measures, such as expression
bshanks@96 598 energy, gradient similarity, Jaccard, Dice, Hough, Student&#8217;s t, and Mann-Whitney U are univariate. We will extend
bshanks@96 599 these scoring measures for use in multivariate feature selection, that is, for scoring how well combinations of
bshanks@96 600 genes, rather than individual genes, can distinguish a target area. There are existing multivariate forms of some
bshanks@96 601 of the univariate scoring measures, for example, Hotelling&#8217;s T-square is a multivariate analog of Student&#8217;s t.
bshanks@96 602 We will develop a feature selection procedure for choosing the best small set of marker genes for a given
bshanks@96 603 anatomical area. In addition to using the scoring measures that we develop, we will also explore (a) feature
bshanks@96 604 selection using a stepwise wrapper over &#8220;vanilla&#8221; classifiers such as logistic regression, (b) supervised learning
bshanks@96 605 methods such as decision trees which incrementally/greedily combine single gene markers into sets, and (c)
bshanks@96 606 supervised learning methods which use soft constraints to minimize number of features used, such as sparse
bshanks@99 607 support vector machines (SVMs).
bshanks@96 608 Since errors of displacement and of shape may cause genes and target areas to match less than they should,
bshanks@96 609 we will consider the robustness of feature selection methods in the presence of error. Some of these methods,
bshanks@96 610 such as the Hough transform, are designed to be resistant in the presence of error, but many are not. We will
bshanks@96 611 consider extensions to scoring measures that may improve their robustness; for example, a wrapper that runs a
bshanks@96 612 scoring method on small displacements and distortions of the data adds robustness to registration error at the
bshanks@96 613 expense of computation time.
bshanks@96 614 An area may be difficult to identify because the boundaries are misdrawn in the atlas, or because the shape
bshanks@96 615 of the natural domain of gene expression corresponding to the area is different from the shape of the area as
bshanks@96 616 recognized by anatomists. We will extend our procedure to handle difficult areas by combining areas or redrawing
bshanks@96 617 their boundaries. We will develop extensions to our procedure which (a) detect when a difficult area could be
bshanks@98 618 fit if its boundary were redrawn slightly11, and (b) detect when a difficult area could be combined with adjacent
bshanks@96 619 areas to create a larger area which can be fit.
bshanks@96 620 A future publication on the method that we develop in Aim 1 will review the scoring measures and quantita-
bshanks@96 621 tively compare their performance in order to provide a foundation for future research of methods of marker gene
bshanks@96 622 finding. We will measure the robustness of the scoring measures as well as their absolute performance on our
bshanks@96 623 dataset.
bshanks@96 624 Classifiers We will explore and compare different classifiers. As noted above, this activity is not separate
bshanks@96 625 from the previous one, because some supervised learning algorithms include feature selection, and any clas-
bshanks@96 626 sifier can be combined with a stepwise wrapper for use as a feature selection method. We will explore logistic
bshanks@98 627 regression (including spatial models[16]), decision trees12, sparse SVMs, generative mixture models (including
bshanks@96 628 naive bayes), kernel density estimation, instance-based learning methods (such as k-nearest neighbor), genetic
bshanks@98 629 _________________________________________
bshanks@98 630 11Not just any redrawing is acceptable, only those which appear to be justified as a natural spatial domain of gene expression by
bshanks@98 631 multiple sources of evidence. Interestingly, the need to detect &#8220;natural spatial domains of gene expression&#8221; in a data-driven fashion
bshanks@98 632 means that the methods of Aim 2 might be useful in achieving Aim 1, as well &#8211; particularly discriminative dimensionality reduction.
bshanks@98 633 12Actually, we have already begun to explore decision trees. For each cortical area, we have used the C4.5 algorithm to find a decision
bshanks@98 634 tree for that area. We achieved good classification accuracy on our training set, but the number of genes that appeared in each tree was
bshanks@98 635 too large. We plan to implement a pruning procedure to generate trees that use fewer genes.
bshanks@96 636 algorithms, and artificial neural networks.
bshanks@30 637 Develop algorithms to suggest a division of a structure into anatomical parts
bshanks@98 638 Dimensionality reduction on gene expression profiles We have already described the application of ten
bshanks@98 639 dimensionality reduction algorithms for the purpose of replacing the gene expression profiles, which are vectors
bshanks@98 640 of about 4000 gene expression levels, with a smaller number of features. We plan to further explore and interpret
bshanks@98 641 these results, as well as to apply other unsupervised learning algorithms, including independent components
bshanks@98 642 analysis, self-organizing maps, and generative models such as deep Boltzmann machines. We will explore ways
bshanks@98 643 to quantitatively compare the relevance of the different dimensionality reduction methods for identifying cortical
bshanks@98 644 areal boundaries.
bshanks@98 645 Dimensionality reduction on pixels Instead of applying dimensionality reduction to the gene expression
bshanks@99 646 profiles, the same techniques can be applied instead to the pixels. It is possible that the features generated in
bshanks@98 647 this way by some dimensionality reduction techniques will directly correspond to interesting spatial regions.
bshanks@98 648 Clustering and segmentation on pixels We will explore clustering and segmentation algorithms in order to
bshanks@98 649 segment the pixels into regions. We will explore k-means, spectral clustering, gene shaving[9], recursive division
bshanks@98 650 clustering, multivariate generalizations of edge detectors, multivariate generalizations of watershed transforma-
bshanks@98 651 tions, region growing, active contours, graph partitioning methods, and recursive agglomerative clustering with
bshanks@98 652 various linkage functions. These methods can be combined with dimensionality reduction.
bshanks@98 653 Clustering on genes We have already shown that the procedure of clustering genes according to gradient
bshanks@98 654 similarity, and then creating an averaged prototype of each cluster&#8217;s expression pattern, yields some spatial
bshanks@98 655 patterns which match cortical areas. We will further explore the clustering of genes.
bshanks@96 656 In addition to using the cluster expression prototypes directly to identify spatial regions, this might be useful
bshanks@96 657 as a component of dimensionality reduction. For example, one could imagine clustering similar genes and then
bshanks@96 658 replacing their expression levels with a single average expression level, thereby removing some redundancy from
bshanks@96 659 the gene expression profiles. One could then perform clustering on pixels (possibly after a second dimensionality
bshanks@96 660 reduction step) in order to identify spatial regions. It remains to be seen whether removal of redundancy would
bshanks@96 661 help or hurt the ultimate goal of identifying interesting spatial regions.
bshanks@99 662 Co-clustering There are some algorithms which simultaneously incorporate clustering on instances and on
bshanks@98 663 features (in our case, genes and pixels), for example, IRM[11]. These are called co-clustering or biclustering
bshanks@98 664 algorithms.
bshanks@98 665 Radial profiles We wil explore the use of the radial profile of gene expression under each pixel.
bshanks@98 666 Compare different methods In order to tell which method is best for genomic anatomy, for each experimental
bshanks@98 667 method we will compare the cortical map found by unsupervised learning to a cortical map derived from the Allen
bshanks@98 668 Reference Atlas. We will explore various quantitative metrics that purport to measure how similar two clusterings
bshanks@98 669 are, such as Jaccard, Rand index, Fowlkes-Mallows, variation of information, Larsen, Van Dongen, and others.
bshanks@96 670 Discriminative dimensionality reduction In addition to using a purely data-driven approach to identify
bshanks@96 671 spatial regions, it might be useful to see how well the known regions can be reconstructed from a small number
bshanks@96 672 of features, even if those features are chosen by using knowledge of the regions. For example, linear discriminant
bshanks@96 673 analysis could be used as a dimensionality reduction technique in order to identify a few features which are the
bshanks@96 674 best linear summary of gene expression profiles for the purpose of discriminating between regions. This reduced
bshanks@96 675 feature set could then be used to cluster pixels into regions. Perhaps the resulting clusters will be similar to the
bshanks@96 676 reference atlas, yet more faithful to natural spatial domains of gene expression than the reference atlas is.
bshanks@96 677 Apply the new methods to the cortex
bshanks@96 678 Using the methods developed in Aim 1, we will present, for each cortical area, a short list of markers to identify
bshanks@96 679 that area; and we will also present lists of &#8220;panels&#8221; of genes that can be used to delineate many areas at once.
bshanks@96 680 Because in most cases the ABA coronal dataset only contains one ISH per gene, it is possible for an unrelated
bshanks@96 681 combination of genes to seem to identify an area when in fact it is only coincidence. There are two ways we will
bshanks@96 682 validate our marker genes to guard against this. First, we will confirm that putative combinations of marker genes
bshanks@96 683 express the same pattern in both hemispheres. Second, we will manually validate our final results on other gene
bshanks@98 684 expression datasets such as EMAGE, GeneAtlas, and GENSAT[8].
bshanks@99 685 Using the methods developed in Aim 2, we will present one or more hierarchical cortical maps. We will identify
bshanks@96 686 and explain how the statistical structure in the gene expression data led to any unexpected or interesting features
bshanks@96 687 of these maps, and we will provide biological hypotheses to interpret any new cortical areas, or groupings of
bshanks@96 688 areas, which are discovered.
bshanks@87 689 Timeline and milestones
bshanks@90 690 Finding marker genes
bshanks@96 691 September-November 2009: Develop an automated mechanism for segmenting the cortical voxels into layers
bshanks@96 692 November 2009 (milestone): Have completed construction of a flatmapped, cortical dataset with information
bshanks@96 693 for each layer
bshanks@99 694 October 2009-April 2010: Develop scoring methods, dimensionality reduction, and supervised learning meth-
bshanks@99 695 ods.
bshanks@96 696 January 2010 (milestone): Submit a publication on single marker genes for cortical areas
bshanks@99 697 February-July 2010: Continue to develop scoring methods and supervised learning frameworks. Extend tech-
bshanks@99 698 niques for robustness. Compare the performance of techniques. Validate marker genes. Prepare software
bshanks@99 699 toolbox for Aim 1.
bshanks@96 700 June 2010 (milestone): Submit a paper describing a method fulfilling Aim 1. Release toolbox.
bshanks@96 701 July 2010 (milestone): Submit a paper describing combinations of marker genes for each cortical area, and a
bshanks@96 702 small number of marker genes that can, in combination, define most of the areas at once
bshanks@90 703 Revealing new ways to parcellate a structure into regions
bshanks@99 704 June 2010-March 2011: Explore dimensionality reduction algorithms for Aim 2. Explore clustering algorithms.
bshanks@99 705 Adapt clustering algorithms to use radial profile information. Compare the performance of techniques.
bshanks@96 706 March 2011 (milestone): Submit a paper describing a method fulfilling Aim 2. Release toolbox.
bshanks@96 707 February-May 2011: Using the methods developed for Aim 2, explore the genomic anatomy of the cortex. If
bshanks@99 708 new ways of organizing the cortex into areas are discovered, interpret the results. Prepare software toolbox for
bshanks@99 709 Aim 2.
bshanks@96 710 May 2011 (milestone): Submit a paper on the genomic anatomy of the cortex, using the methods developed in
bshanks@96 711 Aim 2
bshanks@96 712 May-August 2011: Revisit Aim 1 to see if what was learned during Aim 2 can improve the methods for Aim 1.
bshanks@99 713 Possibly submit another paper.
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