The package is available on Bioconductor
doi.org/doi:10.18129...
(7/7)

The mechanisms by which gene expression is longitudinally regulated can only be completely uncovered with real experiments, but we think our method will support the nomination of candidate genes for downstream experimental assays — both in aging and other contexts. (6/7)

Application to Pseudobulk scRNA-seq (AIDA): We discovered cell-type-specific DDGs related to aging in immune cells of East Asian populations. For example, RBM38 is a DDG across multiple immune cell types (previously linked to aging and tumour suppression in mice). (5/7)

Examples of DDGs found in multiple tissues: EDA2R is a DDG in 16 tissues (previously found associated with aging in the lung and skeletal muscle); PTCHD4 is a DDG in 16 tissues (previously found associated with aging in the thyroid gland). (4/7)

Application to Bulk RNA-seq (GTEx): We discovered tissue-specific differentially dispersed genes (DDGs) and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to aging across 33 tissues from GTEx data. Our method uncovers numerous DDGs that are missed by mean-shift analysis. (3/7)

QRscore generalizes the Mann-Whitney test, achieving similar power to parametric tests when assumptions hold (e.g., negative binomial). Crucially, it controls FDR and retains high power even when the data don't fit well, demonstrating robustness to model misspecification! (2/7)

Gene expression changes aren’t just about mean shifts — variability shifts matter too, especially for aging. We're thrilled to introduce QRscore, a flexible non-parametric framework for detecting shifts in mean and variance across conditions. doi.org/10.1016/j.cr...