Analyzer, analysis method, and program

Abstract

To provide an analyzer, an analysis method, and a program with which it is possible to achieve a comprehensive analysis of biological reaction when a coating of specific component is applied to the skin, primarily from external medicine.SOLUTION: In a system where a server, a user terminal, and an external server are connected via a network, a server 100, which is an analyzer, includes a processor that functions as an acquisition unit for acquiring an expression variation gene or a target compound as initial node information, and a display control unit for controlling, when the target compound is brought into contact and when not brought into contact with a human epithelial tissue, display of a correspondence between information relating to the expression variation gene in the epithelial tissue and information relating to the target compound, on the basis of the acquired initial node information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an analysis device, an analysis method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] By using next-generation sequencers and the like, it has become possible to identify RNA in a sample and quantify its expression level. This technique is called RNA sequencing. With RNA sequencing, it has become possible to analyze which genes are expressed in specific tissues or cells and their expression levels. In addition, by using RNA sequencing, it has also become possible to analyze genes (DEGs, Differentially Expressed Genes) whose expression levels have increased or decreased significantly between different conditions or groups.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a pathway analysis program for performing analysis processing (pathway analysis processing) of the interaction in vivo of genes and proteins based on the identified expression-variable genes.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] Incidentally, cosmetics, external quasi-drugs, and other external products contain various components from the viewpoints of maintaining the dosage form and assisting the effects in addition to the active ingredients. In the design and development of their compositions, for example, it is desired to select components that are less likely to cause allergies, are less irritating, and have less impact on the human body.

[0006] However, although there has been some empirical knowledge about ingredients that are less allergenic or irritating, there is no platform that allows for comprehensive analysis of biological reactions when specific ingredients are applied to the skin.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an analysis device, an analysis method, and an analysis program that are capable of comprehensively analyzing biological reactions when specific ingredients are applied to the skin, mainly in topical products, etc. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] That is, the present invention is as follows. [1] an acquisition unit that acquires an expression-changed gene or a target compound as initial node information; and a display control unit that controls display of a correspondence relationship between information about the target compound and information about the expression-varying genes in the epithelial tissue when the target compound is brought into contact with the human epithelial tissue and when the target compound is not brought into contact with the human epithelial tissue, based on the acquired initial node information. Analysis device. [2] The display control unit controls the display by distinguishing between downregulation and upregulation of the expression-changed gene by the target compound in the correspondence relationship. The analysis device described in [1]. [3] The display control unit controls the display by distinguishing the intensity of downregulation or upregulation of the expression-changed gene by the target compound in the correspondence relationship. The analysis device according to [1] or [2]. [4] The display control unit controls the display by distinguishing the correlation between downregulation or upregulation of the expression-changed gene by the target compound in the correspondence relationship. The analysis device according to any one of [1] to [3]. [5] The display control unit controls display of the target compound and the expression-changed gene in a distinguishable manner in the correspondence relationship. The analysis device according to any one of [1] to [4]. [6] The acquisition unit acquires a filtering condition related to display control, The display control unit controls display of the correspondence relationship in accordance with the filtering condition. The analysis device according to any one of [1] to [5]. [7] The acquisition unit acquires the initial node information including a plurality of target compounds, The display control unit has a display control unit that controls display of a correspondence relationship between information on the expression-varying genes and information on the plurality of target compounds when the plurality of target compounds are brought into contact with human epithelial tissue based on the acquired initial node information. The analysis device according to any one of [1] to [6]. [8] Analysis equipment acquiring an expression-change-dependent gene or a target compound as initial node information; and controlling a display of a correspondence relationship between information on the target compound and information on the gene with expression changes in the epithelial tissue when the target compound is brought into contact with the human epithelial tissue and when the target compound is not brought into contact with the human epithelial tissue, based on the acquired initial node information. Analysis method. [9] The analysis device, acquiring an expression-change-dependent gene or a target compound as initial node information; and controlling a display of a correspondence relationship between information on the target compound and information on the gene with altered expression in the epithelial tissue when the target compound is brought into contact with the human epithelial tissue and information on the target compound based on the acquired initial node information. program. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an analysis apparatus, an analysis method, and an analysis program that can comprehensively analyze biological reactions when a specific component is applied to the skin, mainly in external preparations and the like.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010] [Figure 1] It is a schematic diagram showing the system of this embodiment. [Diagram 2] It is a diagram showing the configuration of the server in this embodiment. [Diagram 3] It is a diagram showing the configuration of the user terminal in this embodiment. [Figure 4] It is a diagram showing an example of the screen D1 of the user terminal in this embodiment. [Diagram 5] It is an example of a sequence diagram showing the processing performed by the analysis apparatus in this embodiment.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "the present embodiment") will be described in detail. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications are possible without departing from the gist thereof. The same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted.

[0012] 1. System FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the system of the present embodiment. According to the system of the present embodiment, it is possible to realize an information platform capable of comprehensively analyzing biological reactions to a specific component. As shown in FIG. 1, the system 1 of the present embodiment may include a server 100 and a user terminal 200, and may be configured to be communicable with an external server 300. The server 100, the user terminal 200, and the external server 300 may be connected via a network N.

[0013] In response to a request from the user terminal 200, the server 100 extracts a correspondence relationship between information on genes whose expression changes in human epithelial tissue when the target compound is brought into contact with the epithelial tissue and information on the target compound when the target compound is not brought into contact with the epithelial tissue, and controls display of the information on the display device of the user terminal 200. When extracting the correspondence relationship, the server 100 may refer to an external server 300 as necessary, and may obtain information on, for example, interactions between genes and proteins in the body.

[0014] The user terminal 200 is a terminal used by a user, and may specify a gene or a target compound for the server 100, receive a result of the above-mentioned correspondence based on the gene or target compound from the server 100, and control the display of the processing result on a display device. For example, if a user is analyzing the product design or irritation of a specific topical product, the user operates the user terminal 200 to transmit a specific component to be used in the product as a target compound to the server 100. Then, the user terminal 200 receives the correspondence between information on genes whose expression changes in epithelial tissue and information on the target compound for the target compound.

[0015] The external server 300 may be a publicly known database that records genes, variants, proteins, compounds, and medical publications.

[0016] Network N may be, but is not limited to, an ad-hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a portion of the Internet, a portion of the public switched telephone network (PSTN), a cellular network, ISDNs, wireless LANs, LTE, CDMA, Bluetooth, satellite communications, or any combination thereof. A network may include one or more networks.

[0017] Hereinafter, a case will be described in which the analysis device of this embodiment is a server, but this embodiment is not limited to this.

[0018] 1.1.Server 2 shows a configuration of the server 100 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the server 100 includes, for example, a processor 110, a communication interface 120, an input / output interface 130, a memory 140, a storage 150, and one or more buses 160 for interconnecting these components. The server 100 may be, for example, a desktop, a laptop, or other computer. The server 100 is a general-purpose computer and may be composed of a single computer or may be composed of multiple computers present on a network N.

[0019] The processor 110 executes a program stored in the storage 150, Or execute a process, function, or method implemented by the instruction. As shown in FIG. The processor 110 of this embodiment includes a transmission / reception unit 111, an acquisition unit 112, and a display control unit 1 It may also function as 13.

[0020] The transmission / reception unit 111 may function, for example, as a transmission unit that transmits various information to another device such as the user terminal 200 via the communication interface 120 and the network N, or as a reception unit that receives various information from another device such as the user terminal 200 or the external server 300. In the following, the transmission unit and the reception unit will be referred to as the transmission / reception unit 111 without any particular distinction between them.

[0021] For example, the transmission / reception unit 111 may function as a receiving unit that receives initial node information regarding expression-varying genes or target compounds from the user terminal 200 as initial information for generating a correspondence relationship, or may function as a transmitting unit that transmits information regarding the generated correspondence relationship to the user terminal 200.

[0022] The acquisition unit 112 acquires an expression-variable gene or a target compound as initial node information. Here, the expression-variable gene is a gene identified by DEG analysis of an RNA sequence. Also, the target compound means one or more components contained in external-use products such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Note that the target compound may be an active ingredient in cosmetics, external quasi-drugs, and other external-use products, or may be various components from the viewpoints of maintaining the dosage form and assisting the effects other than the active ingredient.

[0023] The acquisition unit 112 may acquire, as initial node information, information indicating that a plurality of target compounds are used in combination as initial node information.

[0024] The initial node information acquired by the acquisition unit 112 may include information for specifying the relationship of the correlation relationship that the display control unit 114 described later performs display control on. The "information for specifying the relationship of the correlation relationship" may be, for example, information that defines, as the correlation relationship that the display control unit 114 performs display control on, displaying a correlation diagram of protein-protein interactions, displaying a correlation diagram of gene-gene interactions, or displaying a correlation diagram of protein-gene interactions.

[0025] The correlation generation unit 113 may generate correlation information based on the initial node information when the transmission / reception unit 111 receives the initial node information from the user terminal 200. Here, the initial node information is used as the center (starting point) of the correlation diagram.

[0026] For example, when the initial node information is a gene with variable expression, the gene with variable expression is set as the center of the correlation diagram, and other genes, proteins, or compounds acting on proteins related to the gene that have been reported to be related to the gene with variable expression are generated as correlation information. When the initial node information is a target compound, the target compound is set as the center of the correlation diagram, and genes, proteins, or compounds acting on proteins related to the gene that have a relationship with the target compound are generated as correlation information. When the initial node information is a combination of multiple target compounds, the combination of multiple target compounds is set as the center of the correlation diagram, and genes, proteins, or compounds acting on proteins related to the gene that have a relationship when the multiple target compounds are used in combination are generated as correlation information.

[0027] Such correlation information generated by the correlation generating unit 113 may be a correlation diagram between the initial node information and other genes or proteins. This correlation diagram may be a diagram in which genes, proteins, or compounds acting on proteins related to the genes are treated as nodes, and each node is connected by an edge. In addition, such correlation information generated by the correlation generating unit 113 may be displayed in other display formats such as a table format, a database format, or 3D.

[0028] The correlation generating unit 113 may generate a correlation diagram of interactions between proteins, may generate a correlation diagram of interactions between genes, or may generate a correlation diagram of interactions between proteins and genes, based on the information specifying the relationship of the correlation acquired by the acquiring unit 112. In addition to this, the correlation diagram may include a compound acting on a protein, etc., as one node.

[0029] The display control unit 114 controls the display of the correspondence between the information on the target compound and the information on the gene whose expression changes in the epithelial tissue when the target compound is brought into contact with the human epithelial tissue and when the target compound is not brought into contact with the human epithelial tissue, based on the acquired initial node information. Specifically, the display control unit 114 may output information for controlling the display of the correspondence, and transmit it as data that can be displayed on the user terminal 200.

[0030] Hereinafter, specific examples of the correlation diagram generated by the correlation generating unit 113 and displayed and controlled by the display control unit 114 will be described. The display control unit 114 may control the display of the correspondence (correlation diagram) by distinguishing between downregulation and upregulation of expression-varying genes caused by the target compound. The method of distinction is not particularly limited, and may be expressed, for example, by the type of edge line (including animation) or color.

[0031] Furthermore, the display control unit 114 may control the display of the correspondence relationship (correlation diagram) by distinguishing the strength of downregulation or upregulation of the expression-varying gene by the target compound. The method of distinction is not particularly limited, but may be expressed, for example, by the type of edge line (including animation), for example, by thickness. For example, the thicker the line, the higher the strength.

[0032] The display control unit 114 may control the display of the correspondence relationship (correlation diagram) by distinguishing the correlation between downregulation and upregulation of the expression-changed gene by the target compound.

[0033] Furthermore, the display control unit 114 may control the display of the correspondence (correlation diagram) by distinguishing between target compounds and differentially expressed genes. The method of distinction is not particularly limited, but may be expressed by the color of the node, for example. For example, the nodes representing genes, proteins, or small molecules may be shown in different colors.

[0034] Additionally, the display control unit 114 may include information on SNPs as one of the elements of the nodes representing the expression-varying genes and their related genes in the correspondence relationship (correlation diagram).

[0035] For example, when a node representing a differentially expressed gene and a gene related thereto includes information on SNP, the display control unit 114 may control the display by distinguishing the strength of downregulation or upregulation of the differentially expressed gene by the target compound according to the SNP. This makes it possible to distinguish and analyze cases that are susceptible to the effect of the target compound from cases that are not susceptible to the effect of the target compound according to the SNP.

[0036] As another example, if a node representing a differentially expressed gene and genes related to it includes information about a SNP and also about the proportion of the population that has a particular SNP, the display control unit 114 may control the display of the strength of down- or up-regulation of the differentially expressed gene by the target compound and the proportion of the population that has that influence, depending on the population proportion of that SNP.

[0037] This allows the analysis to distinguish between the proportion of people in the population who are susceptible to the target compound and the proportion of people in the population who are not susceptible to the target compound, based on SNPs. This allows the user to select an ingredient that is irritating to a small proportion of the population from a demographic perspective.

[0038] The display control unit 114 may control the display of the correspondence generated by the correlation generation unit 113. In other words, the elements on which the various expressions controlled by the display control unit 114 are displayed, such as the distinction between downregulation and upregulation and their strengths, are based on information included in the correspondence generated by the correlation generation unit 113.

[0039] In addition, when the acquisition unit 112 acquires node information including a plurality of target compounds, the display control unit 114 may perform display control on the correspondence relationship between information on expression fluctuation genes when a plurality of target compounds are brought into contact with human epithelial tissue and information on the plurality of target compounds based on the acquired node information. Thereby, it is possible to evaluate the effects exerted on the living body by the synergistic action of a plurality of target compounds, the effects finally exerted on the living body when the effects of the plurality of target compounds cancel each other out, and the like.

[0040] For example, as an evaluation of the former synergistic effect, it can be used for efficacy evaluation of the active ingredient acting more efficiently, risk evaluation of the risk that components added from the viewpoint of dosage form and the like may have high irritation depending on the combination, and the like. Further, as an evaluation of the latter antagonistic effect, for example, it can be used for efficacy evaluation from the viewpoint that the effect of the active ingredient is canceled and reduced by the combination of components, risk evaluation that the irritation is canceled by the combination of low-irritation components and the irritation is further reduced, and the like.

[0041] In addition, when the acquisition unit 112 described above acquires filtering conditions related to display control, the display control unit 114 may perform display control on the correspondence relationship according to the filtering conditions. Specifically, when the information included in the correlation diagram becomes extensive and a large number of nodes and edges are displayed, making the relationship that the user wants to focus on less visible, the display control unit 114 may use a predetermined filtering condition to display only specific nodes and edges.

[0042] The processor 110 includes, by way of non-limiting example, one or more central processing units (CPUs), microprocessors (MPUs), image processing devices (GPUs), processor cores, multiprocessors sensors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc. and is disclosed in each embodiment by an integrated circuit (IC) chip, an LS), or a dedicated circuit. Each of the above may implement a process, function, or method.

[0043] The communication interface 120 transmits and receives various data to and from other devices via a network. The communication may be performed either wired or wirelessly, and any communication protocol may be used as long as the devices can communicate with each other. For example, the communication interface 120 is implemented as hardware such as a network adapter, various communication software, or a combination of these.

[0044] The input / output interface 130 includes an input device for inputting various operations to the server 100, and an output device for outputting processing results processed by the server 100. For example, the input / output interface 130 may include information input devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a touch panel, and an information output device such as a display device 131. Note that the server 100 may receive a predetermined input and execute a predetermined output by connecting an external input / output interface 130.

[0045] The memory 140 temporarily stores the program loaded from the storage 150. The memory 140 provides a working area for the processor 110. Various data generated during program execution is also temporarily stored. 40 may be, for example, a DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM or other random access solid state memory. A high-speed random access memory such as a memory device, or a combination of these. Good too.

[0046] The storage 150 stores programs, each functional unit, and various data. The storage 150 may store information necessary for generating the above-mentioned relationship information, such as information on genes, variants, proteins, compounds, and medical publications.

[0047] Storage 150 may also be, for example, one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or non-volatile memory such as other non-volatile solid-state storage devices, or a combination thereof. Another example of storage 150 may include one or more storage devices located remotely from processor 110.

[0048] 1.2. User terminal FIG. 3 shows a configuration of a user terminal 200 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. The user terminal 200 includes, for example, a processor 210, a communication interface 220, an input / output power interface 230, memory 240, storage 250, and their components The user terminal 200 may include, for example, one or more buses 260 for interconnecting , smartphone, mobile phone, desktop, laptop, tablet, handheld The device may be a handheld computing device, a wearable terminal, etc.

[0049] The processor 210 executes a program stored in the storage 250, Or execute a process, function, or method implemented by the instruction. As shown in FIG. The processor 210 of this embodiment functions as a transmission / reception unit 211 and a display control unit 212. This is also fine.

[0050] The transmission / reception unit 211 may function as a transmission unit that transmits various information to another device such as the server 100, or as a reception unit that receives various information from another device, via the communication interface 220 and the network N. In the following, the transmission unit and the reception unit will be referred to as the transmission / reception unit 211 without any particular distinction between them.

[0051] The display control unit 212 displays on the display device 231 a screen for accepting user input, The display control may also be performed on a screen that displays the processing results for the information input by the user.

[0052] For example, in one embodiment, the display control unit 212 receives various information from the server 100. The display control may be performed on the display device. 1 shows an example of a screen D1 on which display control is performed. In the screen D1, the initial node O1 and the node O In addition, in the screen D1, the edge O3 connecting the nodes 2 and 3 is shown. The expressions of O3 and node O2 are differentiated according to their types.

[0053] In addition, when controlling the display of SNPs, a node O3 may be provided for each polymorphism, or When you click on node O3, detailed information about the polymorphism appears in a pop-up. It may be arranged so that

[0054] In addition, the configurations of the processor 210, communication interface 220, input / output interface 230, memory 240, storage 250, and bus 260 may be similar to those of the processor 110, communication interface 120, input / output interface 130, memory 140, storage 150, and bus 160.

[0055] 1.3. Operation Processing The process of the analysis device according to this embodiment and the details of each functional unit will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 shows an example of a sequence diagram showing the process performed by the system 1 in this embodiment. Note that the process procedure described below is merely an example, and each process may be changed as much as possible within the scope of the technical concept of this disclosure, and steps may be omitted, replaced, or added as appropriate.

[0056] In step S1, the user terminal 200 transmits initial node information to the server 100 in response to a user operation, and the transmitting / receiving unit 111 of the server 100 receives this information.

[0057] In step S2, the correlation generating unit 113 of the server 100 generates a correlation in accordance with the received initial node information. Then, in steps S3 and S4, the display control unit 114 of the server 100 transmits the correlation via the transmitting / receiving unit 111 and controls the display of the correlation on the display device of the user terminal 200.

[0058] 2. Information processing method In one aspect of the information processing method of the server 100 of this embodiment, the analysis device executes a step of acquiring expression-varying genes or a target compound as initial node information, and a step of displaying and controlling the correspondence between information on the expression-varying genes in human epithelial tissue and information on the target compound when the target compound is brought into contact with the epithelial tissue and when it is not brought into contact with the epithelial tissue, based on the acquired initial node information.

[0059] Note that since the specific aspects of the method of this embodiment have been described above in the operational processing, detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0060] 3. Program In one aspect of the program of the server 100 of this embodiment, the analysis device is caused to execute the steps of acquiring expression-varying genes or target compounds as initial node information, and, based on the acquired initial node information, displaying and controlling the correspondence between information on the expression-varying genes in human epithelial tissue and information on the target compound when the target compound is brought into contact with the epithelial tissue and when it is not brought into contact with the epithelial tissue.

[0061] The program may be recorded on a readable recording medium. Since the specific aspects of the processing executed by the program of the present embodiment have been described above in the operation processing, detailed description thereof will be omitted here. [Explanation of symbols]

[0062] 1...system, 100...server, 110...processor, 111...transmitter / receiver, 112...acquisition unit, 113...correlation generation unit, 114...display control unit, 120...communication interface, 130...input / output interface, 131...display device, 140...memory, 150...storage, 160...bus, 200...user terminal, 210...processor, 211...transmitter / receiver, 212...display control unit, 220...communication interface, 230...input / output interface, 231...display device, 240...memory, 250...storage, 260...bus, 300...external server

Claims

1. an acquisition unit that acquires an expression-changed gene or a target compound as initial node information; and a display control unit that controls display of a correspondence relationship between information about the target compound and information about the expression-varying genes in the epithelial tissue when the target compound is brought into contact with the human epithelial tissue and when the target compound is not brought into contact with the human epithelial tissue, based on the acquired initial node information. Analysis device.

2. The display control unit controls the display by distinguishing between downregulation and upregulation of the expression-changed gene by the target compound in the correspondence relationship. The analysis device according to claim 1 .

3. The display control unit controls the display by distinguishing the intensity of downregulation or upregulation of the expression-changed gene by the target compound in the correspondence relationship. The analysis device according to claim 1 .

4. The display control unit controls the display by distinguishing the correlation between downregulation or upregulation of the expression-changed gene by the target compound in the correspondence relationship. The analysis device according to claim 1 .

5. The display control unit controls display of the target compound and the expression-changed gene in a distinguishable manner in the correspondence relationship. The analysis device according to claim 1 .

6. The acquisition unit acquires a filtering condition related to display control, The display control unit controls display of the correspondence relationship in accordance with the filtering condition. The analysis device according to claim 1 .

7. The acquisition unit acquires the initial node information including a plurality of target compounds, The display control unit has a display control unit that controls display of a correspondence relationship between information on the expression-varying genes and information on the plurality of target compounds when the plurality of target compounds are brought into contact with human epithelial tissue based on the acquired initial node information. The analysis device according to claim 6.

8. Analysis equipment acquiring an expression-change-dependent gene or a target compound as initial node information; and controlling a display of a correspondence relationship between information on the target compound and information on the gene with expression changes in the epithelial tissue when the target compound is brought into contact with the human epithelial tissue and when the target compound is not brought into contact with the human epithelial tissue, based on the acquired initial node information. Analysis method.

9. The analysis device, acquiring an expression-change-dependent gene or a target compound as initial node information; and controlling a display of a correspondence relationship between information on the target compound and information on the gene with altered expression in the epithelial tissue when the target compound is brought into contact with the human epithelial tissue and information on the target compound based on the acquired initial node information. program.

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