Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30658573›Full record

ArticleBMC bioinformatics2019

Comparative analysis of differential gene expression analysis tools for single-cell RNA sequencing data.

Tianyu Wang, Boyang Li, Craig E Nelson, Sheida Nabavi

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC bioinformatics, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 155 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
155citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

155 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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95 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Tianyu WangComputer Science and Engineering Department, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
Boyang LiDepartment of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
Craig E NelsonDepartment of Molecular & Cell Biology, The Institute for Systems Genomics, CLAS, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
Sheida NabaviComputer Science and Engineering Department, The Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA. sheida.nabavi@uconn.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5996-1020

Funding

Novel integrative method to detect biomakers of breast cancer resistanceR00LM011595 · NLM · UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT STORRS · PI NABAVI, SHEIDA · 2015 to 2017
$597k
National Institutes of Health R00LM011595NLM NIH HHS R00 LM011595
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe analysis of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) data plays an important role in understanding the intrinsic and extrinsic cellular processes in biological and biomedical research. One significant effort in this area is the detection of differentially expressed (DE) genes. scRNAseq data, however, are highly heterogeneous and have a large number of zero counts, which introduces challenges in detecting DE genes. Addressing these challenges requires employing new approaches beyond the conventional ones, which are based on a nonzero difference in average expression. Several methods have been developed for differential gene expression analysis of scRNAseq data. To provide guidance on choosing an appropriate tool or developing a new one, it is necessary to evaluate and compare the performance of differential gene expression analysis methods for scRNAseq data.

resultsIn this study, we conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the performance of eleven differential gene expression analysis software tools, which are designed for scRNAseq data or can be applied to them. We used simulated and real data to evaluate the accuracy and precision of detection. Using simulated data, we investigated the effect of sample size on the detection accuracy of the tools. Using real data, we examined the agreement among the tools in identifying DE genes, the run time of the tools, and the biological relevance of the detected DE genes.

conclusionsIn general, agreement among the tools in calling DE genes is not high. There is a trade-off between true-positive rates and the precision of calling DE genes. Methods with higher true positive rates tend to show low precision due to their introducing false positives, whereas methods with high precision show low true positive rates due to identifying few DE genes. We observed that current methods designed for scRNAseq data do not tend to show better performance compared to methods designed for bulk RNAseq data. Data multimodality and abundance of zero read counts are the main characteristics of scRNAseq data, which play important roles in the performance of differential gene expression analysis methods and need to be considered in terms of the development of new methods.

Indexed as

Gene Expression ProfilingHumansSequence Analysis, RNAComparative analysisDifferential gene expression analysisRNAseqSingle-cell

Identifiers

PMID30658573
PMCPMC6339299

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.