mimicINT: A workflow for microbe-host protein interaction inference [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]

Background The increasing incidence of emerging infectious diseases is posing serious global threats. Therefore, there is a clear need for developing computational methods that can assist and speed up experimental research to better characterize the molecular mechanisms of microbial infections. Meth...

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Main Authors: Andreas Zanzoni, Lilian Drets, Mégane Boujeant, Marceau Cristianini, Christine Brun, Aurélie Bergon, Lionel Spinelli, Kevin Maldonado, Sébastien A. Choteau
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: F1000 Research Ltd 2025-03-01
Series:F1000Research
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Online Access:https://f1000research.com/articles/14-128/v2
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author Andreas Zanzoni
Lilian Drets
Mégane Boujeant
Marceau Cristianini
Christine Brun
Aurélie Bergon
Lionel Spinelli
Kevin Maldonado
Sébastien A. Choteau
author_facet Andreas Zanzoni
Lilian Drets
Mégane Boujeant
Marceau Cristianini
Christine Brun
Aurélie Bergon
Lionel Spinelli
Kevin Maldonado
Sébastien A. Choteau
author_sort Andreas Zanzoni
collection DOAJ
description Background The increasing incidence of emerging infectious diseases is posing serious global threats. Therefore, there is a clear need for developing computational methods that can assist and speed up experimental research to better characterize the molecular mechanisms of microbial infections. Methods In this context, we developed mimicINT, an open-source computational workflow for large-scale protein-protein interaction inference between microbe and human by detecting putative molecular mimicry elements mediating the interaction with host proteins: short linear motifs (SLiMs) and host-like globular domains. mimicINT exploits these putative elements to infer the interaction with human proteins by using known templates of domain-domain and SLiM-domain interaction templates. mimicINT also provides (i) robust Monte-Carlo simulations to assess the statistical significance of SLiM detection which suffers from false positives, and (ii) an interaction specificity filter to account for differences between motif-binding domains of the same family. We have also made mimicINT available via a web server. Results In two use cases, mimicINT can identify potential interfaces in experimentally detected interaction between pathogenic Escherichia coli type-3 secreted effectors and human proteins and infer biologically relevant interactions between Marburg virus and human proteins. Conclusions The mimicINT workflow can be instrumental to better understand the molecular details of microbe-host interactions.
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spelling doaj-art-443d829eee97486ea7d3d063e924367e2025-08-20T03:05:14ZengF1000 Research LtdF1000Research2046-14022025-03-011410.12688/f1000research.160063.2179574mimicINT: A workflow for microbe-host protein interaction inference [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]Andreas Zanzoni0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4818-6161Lilian Drets1Mégane Boujeant2Marceau Cristianini3Christine Brun4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5563-6765Aurélie Bergon5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1518-4562Lionel Spinelli6Kevin Maldonado7Sébastien A. Choteau8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5128-7086Aix-Marseille University, Inserm, TAGC, UMR_S1090, Turing Centre for Living Systems, Marseille, FranceAix-Marseille University, Inserm, TAGC, UMR_S1090, Turing Centre for Living Systems, Marseille, FranceAix-Marseille University, Inserm, TAGC, UMR_S1090, Turing Centre for Living Systems, Marseille, FranceAix-Marseille University, Inserm, TAGC, UMR_S1090, Turing Centre for Living Systems, Marseille, FranceAix-Marseille University, Inserm, TAGC, UMR_S1090, Turing Centre for Living Systems, Marseille, FranceAix-Marseille University, Inserm, TAGC, UMR_S1090, Turing Centre for Living Systems, Marseille, FranceAix-Marseille University, Inserm, TAGC, UMR_S1090, Turing Centre for Living Systems, Marseille, FranceAix-Marseille University, Inserm, TAGC, UMR_S1090, Turing Centre for Living Systems, Marseille, FranceAix-Marseille University, Inserm, TAGC, UMR_S1090, Turing Centre for Living Systems, Marseille, FranceBackground The increasing incidence of emerging infectious diseases is posing serious global threats. Therefore, there is a clear need for developing computational methods that can assist and speed up experimental research to better characterize the molecular mechanisms of microbial infections. Methods In this context, we developed mimicINT, an open-source computational workflow for large-scale protein-protein interaction inference between microbe and human by detecting putative molecular mimicry elements mediating the interaction with host proteins: short linear motifs (SLiMs) and host-like globular domains. mimicINT exploits these putative elements to infer the interaction with human proteins by using known templates of domain-domain and SLiM-domain interaction templates. mimicINT also provides (i) robust Monte-Carlo simulations to assess the statistical significance of SLiM detection which suffers from false positives, and (ii) an interaction specificity filter to account for differences between motif-binding domains of the same family. We have also made mimicINT available via a web server. Results In two use cases, mimicINT can identify potential interfaces in experimentally detected interaction between pathogenic Escherichia coli type-3 secreted effectors and human proteins and infer biologically relevant interactions between Marburg virus and human proteins. Conclusions The mimicINT workflow can be instrumental to better understand the molecular details of microbe-host interactions.https://f1000research.com/articles/14-128/v2Protein-protein interactions interaction inference microbe-host interactions molecular mimicry short linear motifseng
spellingShingle Andreas Zanzoni
Lilian Drets
Mégane Boujeant
Marceau Cristianini
Christine Brun
Aurélie Bergon
Lionel Spinelli
Kevin Maldonado
Sébastien A. Choteau
mimicINT: A workflow for microbe-host protein interaction inference [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]
F1000Research
Protein-protein interactions
interaction inference
microbe-host interactions
molecular mimicry
short linear motifs
eng
title mimicINT: A workflow for microbe-host protein interaction inference [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]
title_full mimicINT: A workflow for microbe-host protein interaction inference [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]
title_fullStr mimicINT: A workflow for microbe-host protein interaction inference [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]
title_full_unstemmed mimicINT: A workflow for microbe-host protein interaction inference [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]
title_short mimicINT: A workflow for microbe-host protein interaction inference [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]
title_sort mimicint a workflow for microbe host protein interaction inference version 2 peer review 2 approved
topic Protein-protein interactions
interaction inference
microbe-host interactions
molecular mimicry
short linear motifs
eng
url https://f1000research.com/articles/14-128/v2
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