Computational reconstruction of hierarchical cis-regulatory networks reveals synergistic transcription control and disease-associated rewiring

Authors

Zhu, X., Zhou, X., Zhang, Y., Cai, G., Zhao, W., Zhou, B., Zhou, J., Tang, Z., Liu, J., Zhu, Q., Cao, J., Yang, B., Gu, X., Zhou, Z.

Abstract

Gene regulation emerges from coordinated interactions among dispersed cis-regulatory elements, yet how these elements integrate into functional regulatory networks and collectively regulate gene transcription remains poorly understood. Here, we present ORIGAMI, a multi-omics, gene-centric deep learning framework that reconstructs functional cis-regulatory networks constrained by transcriptional output. ORIGAMI formulates cis-regulatory modeling as a latent graph inference task, which integrates DNA sequence, epigenomic signals, and three-dimensional chromatin priors to infer denoised regulatory graphs that capture functional interactions rather than structural proximity alone. The inferred regulatory graphs exhibit distinct topological regimes, where hierarchical and modular organization encodes cell-state-specific functional demands and enables synergistic transcriptional control. Furthermore, we show that these regulatory architectures undergo measurable state-dependent rewiring across disease contexts. Finally, ORIGAMI accurately predicts the transcriptional consequences of both cis- and trans-regulatory perturbations and links the rearrangement of regulatory architecture to perturbation response. Together, ORIGAMI advances a network-based view of gene regulation and establishes a foundation for virtual cell modeling of regulatory dynamics.

Preprint server: bioRxiv
The authors list and abstract were imported from bioRxiv on 27 Jun 2026.

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