scenic-gene-regulatory-network

Infer transcription factor regulatory networks and score regulon activities from single-cell RNA-seq data.

32|5|Updated Mar 12, 2026
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/omicverse/omicclaw --skill scenic-gene-regulatory-network-omicverse
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: scenic-gene-regulatory-network
Source: https://github.com/omicverse/omicclaw/tree/main/src/omicverse_skills/skills/single-scenic-grn
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/omicverse/omicclaw --skill scenic-gene-regulatory-network-omicverse

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve?

Reconstructing transcription factor (TF) regulatory networks and quantifying regulon activity from single-cell RNA-seq is complex, resource-intensive, and sensitive to input format and species-specific databases; this Skill codifies the SCENIC pipeline to automate GRN inference, motif-based pruning, and per-cell regulon scoring while surfacing common failure modes and validation checks.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Three-stage SCENIC pipeline: fast GRN inference with RegDiffusion, cisTarget-based regulon pruning, and AUCell per-cell activity scoring.
  • Downstream analytics: regulon specificity scores (RSS) to identify master regulators, binary activity matrices, and visualization helpers for embedding and GRN graphs.
  • Operational safeguards: checks for raw counts vs log-normalized data, species-matching of gene names, and verification of large cisTarget ranking and motif files to avoid common failures.
  • Use Cases: discovering cell-type-specific TFs in mouse or human scRNA-seq, comparing regulon activity across conditions, and exporting regulon/aucell results for further analysis.

Quick Start

Run SCENIC on your AnnData using raw count layer, point to species-matched cisTarget .feather rankings and motif .tbl files, and return the top regulons per cell type.

Frequently Asked Questions about scenic-gene-regulatory-network

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I infer transcription factor regulatory networks from scRNA-seq data?

Scoring regulon activity in scRNA-seq requires the AUCell algorithm, which operates on raw count-level AnnData matrices to calculate per-cell transcription factor activity scores after cisTarget regulon pruning.

Do I need raw counts or normalized data for SCENIC regulon inference?

SCENIC regulon inference requires raw count-level matrices as input. The pipeline includes operational safeguards to check for raw counts versus log-normalized data to prevent common processing failures.

What files are required for cisTarget regulon pruning in mouse or human scRNA-seq?

cisTarget regulon pruning requires species-matched cisTarget ranking .feather files and motif .tbl annotations. The pipeline verifies these large database files to ensure species-matching with your gene names.

How does RegDiffusion compare to standard GRN inference for single-cell data?

RegDiffusion provides fast GRN inference as the first stage of the SCENIC pipeline, followed by cisTarget pruning and AUCell scoring. It requires parallel workers and is designed specifically for scRNA-seq AnnData inputs.

Why does my SCENIC pipeline fail during species matching for scRNA-seq regulatory networks?

SCENIC pipeline failures during species matching often occur when input gene names do not align with the species-matched cisTarget ranking .feather files and motif .tbl annotations required for the workflow.

Can I identify cell-type-specific master regulators from scRNA-seq regulon activity?

You can identify cell-type-specific master regulators by calculating regulon specificity scores (RSS) from AUCell per-cell activity matrices, allowing comparison of regulon activity across conditions and cell types.