TF2TG: an online resource mining the potential gene targets of transcription factors in Drosophila

Abstract

Sequence-specific transcription factors (TFs) are key regulators of many biological processes, controlling the expression of their target genes through binding to the cis-regulatory regions such as promoters and enhancers. Each TF has unique DNA binding site motifs, and large-scale experiments have been conducted to characterize TF-DNA binding preferences. However, no comprehensive resource currently integrates these datasets for Drosophila. To address this need, we developed TF2TG ("transcription factor to target gene"), a comprehensive resource that combines both in vitro and in vivo datasets to link transcription factors (TFs) to their target genes based on TF-DNA binding preferences along with the protein-protein interaction data, tissue-specific transcriptomic data, and chromatin accessibility data. Although the genome offers numerous potential binding sites for each TF, only a subset is actually bound in vivo, and of these, only a fraction is functionally relevant. For instance, some TFs bind to their specific sites due to synergistic interactions with other factors nearby. This integration provides users with a comprehensive list of potential candidates as well as aids users in ranking candidate genes and determining condition-specific TF binding for studying transcriptional regulation in Drosophila.