PRODE recovers essential and context-essential genes through neighborhood-informed scores

Abstract Gene context-essentiality assessment supports precision oncology opportunities. The variability of gene effects inference from loss-of-function screenings across models and technologies limits identifying robust hits. We propose a computational framework named PRODE that integrates gene eff...

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Main Authors: Thomas Cantore, Paola Gasperini, Riccardo Bevilacqua, Yari Ciani, Sanju Sinha, Eytan Ruppin, Francesca Demichelis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-02-01
Series:Genome Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-025-03501-0
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author Thomas Cantore
Paola Gasperini
Riccardo Bevilacqua
Yari Ciani
Sanju Sinha
Eytan Ruppin
Francesca Demichelis
author_facet Thomas Cantore
Paola Gasperini
Riccardo Bevilacqua
Yari Ciani
Sanju Sinha
Eytan Ruppin
Francesca Demichelis
author_sort Thomas Cantore
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Gene context-essentiality assessment supports precision oncology opportunities. The variability of gene effects inference from loss-of-function screenings across models and technologies limits identifying robust hits. We propose a computational framework named PRODE that integrates gene effects with protein–protein interactions to generate neighborhood-informed essential (NIE) and neighborhood-informed context essential (NICE) scores. It outperforms the canonical gene effect approach in recovering missed essential genes in shRNA screens and prioritizing context-essential hits from CRISPR-KO screens, as supported by in vitro validations. Applied to Her2 + breast cancer tumor samples, PRODE identifies oxidative phosphorylation genes as vulnerabilities with prognostic value, highlighting new therapeutic opportunities.
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issn 1474-760X
language English
publishDate 2025-02-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series Genome Biology
spelling doaj-art-da711a5ae0d643f09f471554ed076cec2025-08-20T03:04:34ZengBMCGenome Biology1474-760X2025-02-0126112610.1186/s13059-025-03501-0PRODE recovers essential and context-essential genes through neighborhood-informed scoresThomas Cantore0Paola Gasperini1Riccardo Bevilacqua2Yari Ciani3Sanju Sinha4Eytan Ruppin5Francesca Demichelis6Laboratory of Computational and Functional Oncology, Department of Cellular, Computational, and Integrative Biology, University of TrentoLaboratory of Computational and Functional Oncology, Department of Cellular, Computational, and Integrative Biology, University of TrentoLaboratory of Computational and Functional Oncology, Department of Cellular, Computational, and Integrative Biology, University of TrentoLaboratory of Computational and Functional Oncology, Department of Cellular, Computational, and Integrative Biology, University of TrentoCancer Data Science Laboratory (CDSL), Center for Cancer Research (CCR), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH)Cancer Data Science Laboratory (CDSL), Center for Cancer Research (CCR), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH)Laboratory of Computational and Functional Oncology, Department of Cellular, Computational, and Integrative Biology, University of TrentoAbstract Gene context-essentiality assessment supports precision oncology opportunities. The variability of gene effects inference from loss-of-function screenings across models and technologies limits identifying robust hits. We propose a computational framework named PRODE that integrates gene effects with protein–protein interactions to generate neighborhood-informed essential (NIE) and neighborhood-informed context essential (NICE) scores. It outperforms the canonical gene effect approach in recovering missed essential genes in shRNA screens and prioritizing context-essential hits from CRISPR-KO screens, as supported by in vitro validations. Applied to Her2 + breast cancer tumor samples, PRODE identifies oxidative phosphorylation genes as vulnerabilities with prognostic value, highlighting new therapeutic opportunities.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-025-03501-0EssentialityContext-essentialityGene effectPPICancer vulnerabilitiesNeighborhood-informed scores
spellingShingle Thomas Cantore
Paola Gasperini
Riccardo Bevilacqua
Yari Ciani
Sanju Sinha
Eytan Ruppin
Francesca Demichelis
PRODE recovers essential and context-essential genes through neighborhood-informed scores
Genome Biology
Essentiality
Context-essentiality
Gene effect
PPI
Cancer vulnerabilities
Neighborhood-informed scores
title PRODE recovers essential and context-essential genes through neighborhood-informed scores
title_full PRODE recovers essential and context-essential genes through neighborhood-informed scores
title_fullStr PRODE recovers essential and context-essential genes through neighborhood-informed scores
title_full_unstemmed PRODE recovers essential and context-essential genes through neighborhood-informed scores
title_short PRODE recovers essential and context-essential genes through neighborhood-informed scores
title_sort prode recovers essential and context essential genes through neighborhood informed scores
topic Essentiality
Context-essentiality
Gene effect
PPI
Cancer vulnerabilities
Neighborhood-informed scores
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-025-03501-0
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