NucVoter: A Voting Algorithm for Reliable Nucleosome Prediction Using Next-Generation Sequencing Data

Abstract

Nucleosomes, which consist of DNA wrapped around histone octamers, are dynamic, and their structure, including their location, size, and occupancy, can be transformed. Nucleosomes can regulate gene expression by controlling the DNA accessibility of proteins. Using next-generation sequencing techniques along with such laboratory methods as micrococcal nuclease digestion, predicting the genomic locations of nucleosomes is possible. However, the true locations of nucleosomes are unknown, and it is difficult to determine their exact locations using next-generation sequencing data. This paper proposes a novel voting algorithm, NucVoter, for the reliable prediction of nucleosome locations. Multiple models verify the consensus areas in which nucleosomes are placed by the model with the highest priority. NucVoter significantly improves the performance of nucleosome prediction.