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Large‐scale comparative evaluation of user‐friendly tools for predicting variant‐induced alterations of splicing regulatory elements
Author(s) -
Tubeuf Hélène,
Charbonnier Camille,
Soukarieh Omar,
Blavier André,
Lefebvre Arnaud,
Dauchel Hélène,
Frebourg Thierry,
Gaildrat Pascaline,
Martins Alexandra
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
human mutation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.981
H-Index - 162
eISSN - 1098-1004
pISSN - 1059-7794
DOI - 10.1002/humu.24091
Subject(s) - biology , rna splicing , computational biology , genetics , intron , benchmark (surveying) , gene , dna sequencing , rna , machine learning , computer science , geodesy , geography
Discriminating which nucleotide variants cause disease or contribute to phenotypic traits remains a major challenge in human genetics. In theory, any intragenic variant can potentially affect RNA splicing by altering splicing regulatory elements (SREs). However, these alterations are often ignored mainly because pioneer SRE predictors have proved inefficient. Here, we report the first large‐scale comparative evaluation of four user‐friendly SRE‐dedicated algorithms (QUEPASA, HEXplorer, SPANR, and HAL) tested both as standalone tools and in multiple combined ways based on two independent benchmark datasets adding up to >1,300 exonic variants studied at the messenger RNA level and mapping to 89 different disease‐causing genes. These methods display good predictive power, based on decision thresholds derived from the receiver operating characteristics curve analyses, with QUEPASA and HAL having the best accuracies either as standalone or in combination. Still, overall there was a tight race between the four predictors, suggesting that all methods may be of use. Additionally, QUEPASA and HEXplorer may be beneficial as well for predicting variant‐induced creation of pseudoexons deep within introns. Our study highlights the potential of SRE predictors as filtering tools for identifying disease‐causing candidates among the plethora of variants detected by high‐throughput DNA sequencing and provides guidance for their use in genomic medicine settings.