CytoSig

CytoSig infers cytokine signaling activity from bulk and single-cell transcriptomic profiles to map cytokine-regulated gene expression and intercellular communication.

Key Features:

• Database of Target Genes: Comprehensive catalog of genes modulated by cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors derived from curated transcriptome responses.
• Predictive Model of Signaling Cascades: Model that infers cytokine signaling cascades and activity from transcriptomic profiles.
• Extensive Transcriptome Profiles: Reference atlas of 20,591 human transcriptome profiles capturing responses to cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors.

Scientific Applications:

• Infectious disease and inflammation research: Predicts cytokine activities in contexts such as severe COVID-19 and identifies candidate inflammatory mediators like CXCL8.
• Cancer research: Infers cytokine-regulated transcriptional responses relevant to tumor microenvironments.
• Cell-type-specific signaling inference: Applies to both bulk and single-cell transcriptomic data to assign cytokine signaling activity to distinct cell populations.
• Discovery of cytokine functions and therapeutic targets: Enables identification of previously unrecognized cytokine roles, exemplified by BMP6's anti-inflammatory activity, and candidate therapeutic targets in inflammatory diseases.

Methodology:

Integrates analysis of bulk and single-cell transcriptomic data with predictive modeling and correlation of gene expression changes against known cytokine activities using a reference atlas of 20,591 human transcriptome profiles.