Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33092526›Full record

ArticleBMC bioinformatics2020

NIMBus: a negative binomial regression based Integrative Method for mutation Burden Analysis.

Jing Zhang, Jason Liu, Patrick McGillivray, Caroline Yi, Lucas Lochovsky, Donghoon Lee, Mark Gerstein

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC bioinformatics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.1field-weighted citation impact, top 61% of its field
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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Mutation rate variability in viral populations: Implications for lethal mutagenesis.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
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

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Jing ZhangDepartment of Computer Science, University of California, Irvine, CA, 92617, USA.
Jason LiuProgram in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CA, 06520, USA.
Patrick McGillivrayProgram in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CA, 06520, USA.
Caroline YiDepartment of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CA, 06520, USA.
Lucas LochovskyProgram in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CA, 06520, USA.
Donghoon LeeDepartment of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CA, 06520, USA.
Mark GersteinProgram in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CA, 06520, USA. pi@gersteinlab.org.
Yale University · USUniversity of California, Irvine · US

Funding

EDAC: ENCODE Data Analysis CenterU41HG007000 · NHGRI · UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS MED SCH WORCESTER · PI WENG, ZHIPING · 2012 to 2016
$9.8M
A big data approach to explore epigenetic heterogeneity and interpret noncoding variants for psychiatric disordersK01MH123896 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · PI ZHANG, JING · 2020 to 2023
$431k
National Institute of Mental Health (US) 1K01MH123896NHGRI NIH HHS U41 HG007000NIH HHS 5U41HG007000-04NIMH NIH HHS K01 MH123896
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIdentifying frequently mutated regions is a key approach to discover DNA elements influencing cancer progression. However, it is challenging to identify these burdened regions due to mutation rate heterogeneity across the genome and across different individuals. Moreover, it is known that this heterogeneity partially stems from genomic confounding factors, such as replication timing and chromatin organization. The increasing availability of cancer whole genome sequences and functional genomics data from the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) may help address these issues.

resultsWe developed a negative binomial regression-based Integrative Method for mutation Burden analysiS (NIMBus). Our approach addresses the over-dispersion of mutation count statistics by (1) using a Gamma-Poisson mixture model to capture the mutation-rate heterogeneity across different individuals and (2) estimating regional background mutation rates by regressing the varying local mutation counts against genomic features extracted from ENCODE. We applied NIMBus to whole-genome cancer sequences from the PanCancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project (PCAWG) and other cohorts. It successfully identified well-known coding and noncoding drivers, such as TP53 and the TERT promoter. To further characterize the burdening of non-coding regions, we used NIMBus to screen transcription factor binding sites in promoter regions that intersect DNase I hypersensitive sites (DHSs). This analysis identified mutational hotspots that potentially disrupt gene regulatory networks in cancer. We also compare this method to other mutation burden analysis methods.

conclusionNIMBus is a powerful tool to identify mutational hotspots. The NIMBus software and results are available as an online resource at github.gersteinlab.org/nimbus.

Indexed as

SoftwareCalibrationComputer SimulationDiseaseDNA Mutational AnalysisGenome, HumanHumansMolecular Sequence AnnotationMutationMutation RateNeoplasmsOpen Reading FramesPromoter Regions, GeneticRegression AnalysisWhole Genome SequencingMutation count overdispersionMutation rate estimationMutation rate heterogeneitySomatic mutation burden

Identifiers

PMID33092526
PMCPMC7580035
OpenAlexW3093670775

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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 OpenQuestion graph.