Bioinformatic Assessment of Macrophage Activation by the Innate Immune System

Methods Mol Biol. 2018:1714:19-40. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7519-8_2.

Abstract

Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) allows for the identification and characterization of cell type-specific gene modules in complex transcriptome datasets. Here, we use a microarray dataset of human macrophages comprising 29 conditions and 299 samples generated by differentiation of CD14+ monocytes into macrophages followed by in vitro stimulations to identify stimulation-specific gene modules. These gene modules can be used for experimental validation, as well as further bioinformatic analysis to determine key pathways or upstream transcription factors.

Keywords: Bioinformatics; Macrophages; Microarray; RNA-seq; Transcriptome analysis; Weighted gene co-expression network analysis.

MeSH terms

  • Cells, Cultured
  • Computational Biology / methods*
  • Gene Expression Profiling / methods*
  • Gene Regulatory Networks
  • Humans
  • Immunity, Innate*
  • Macrophage Activation*
  • Macrophages / cytology
  • Macrophages / immunology
  • Macrophages / metabolism
  • Monocytes / cytology
  • Monocytes / immunology
  • Monocytes / metabolism