14308 results for ""Pennsylvania+German"+ACS+study+'Socius'+open+access"

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• The Vaginal Microbiome: Disease, Genetics and the Environment

  The vagina is an interactive interface with the environment, and as such is covered by a protective epithelial surface. This surface is colonized by a biofilm consisting of bacteria and other microorganisms, which through a variety of mechanisms serve to protect the host from invasion by pathogens. Alterations in the normal vaginal microflora; i.e., dysbioses, particularly those associated with bacterial vaginosis, the most common disorder of the female reproductive tract, contribute to risk of sexually transmitted infections, infection by HIV, and are associated with increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes including but not limited to spontaneous preterm birth. Physiologic alterations in the host (e.g., menopause and pregnancy), which are beginning to be investigated as potential selective conditions for change in the "normal" vaginal flora, and their impact on disease susceptibility and transmission, remain to be more definitively elucidated. The effects of chronically abnormal physiologic states (e.g., diabetes mellitus) on normal vaginal flora have not been well described or studied. Finally, an almost unexplored area of inquiry is the genetic contribution, including race/ethnicity, to the establishment and maintenance of a "normal" vaginal flora, under normal and physiologically altered circumstances. Our research will shed light on how the vaginal microbiome contributes to adverse obstetrical outcomes and sexually transmitted infections in diverse populations. This project addresses the following questions: First: Do the genes of the host contribute to the composition of the vaginal microbiome? We hypothesize that a woman's genetic composition significantly affects the ability of certain commensal, parasitic and pathogenic microbes to colonize and/or infect the genital tract. Thus, we will compare and quantify the microbial populations inhabiting the vaginas of monozygotic and dizygotic twins from the Mid Atlantic Twin Registry, and, in the process, address the question of whether there is a relationship between the microbiomes of the vagina, mouth and GI tract. Second: What changes in the vaginal microbiome are associated with common physiological perturbations or non-infectious pathological states of the host?We hypothesize that "altered" physiologic (pregnancy, menopause) and pathologic (chronic disease, hysterectomy) conditions, or environmental "exposures" (exogenous hormones, antibiotics, chronic immunosuppressant, smoking; douching) can predictably alter the vaginal microenvironment. These alterations will lead to changes in microbial populations within the vagina. Changes in the microbial populations may have impacts, positive or more likely negative, on the spontaneous and future well-being of the affected individual. We are characterizing the effects of these "altered" physiologic and pathologic conditions, and environmental exposures, on the composition of the vaginal microbiome. Finally, we are examining the impact of the important physiological changes incurred during pregnancy on the composition of the microbiome of the female reproductive tract. Third: What changes in the vaginal microbiome are associated with relevant infectious diseases and conditions? We are testing the hypothesis that infectious diseases predictably alter the vaginal microbiome, and that these changes have an impact on the disease susceptibility, process, and outcome. A predilection for bacterial vaginosis, vaginitis, HIV infection, or other sexually transmitted diseases, is likely associated with a women's vaginal microbial composition. Thus, we will characterize samples from women with a variety of these infectious conditions to determine the contribution of their microbiomes to the disease process and susceptibility. We are addressing these questions using a combination of high throughput 'nextgen' sequencing technologies. Early studies were performed using the Roche 454 FLX and the first generation Illumina Genome Analyzer II instruments and more recently employing Illumina MiSeq and HiSeq 2500 and 4000 platforms, installed in the Genomics Core of the Nucleic Acids Research Facilities at VCU. Thus, segments of the 16S rRNA genes are amplified from the complex samples taken from various target sites in and around the vagina of each study participant. These segments are sequenced and subjected to taxonomic classification protocols to identify and quantify the bacterial taxa present in each sample. Additionally, total DNA isolated from these samples are subjected to shotgun sequence analysis to empirically reconstruct the metabolic potential of these microbiomes. Finally, specific bacterial clones are completely sequenced and analyzed to associate the unavoidable strain and isolate diversity with the clinical phenotypes presented.

  Study phs000256

• Human Microbiome Project Demonstration Study of Cutaneous Microbiome in Psoriasis

  Psoriasis, a highly prevalent disease of humans of unknown cause, is a chronic inflammatory disorder primarily involving skin, with distinctive clinical characteristics. With the newly developed tools that facilitate microbiome research, it now is possible to assess whether the cutaneous microbiome plays a role in the pathogenesis of this disorder. Preliminary data from our studies suggest that the cutaneous microbiome in psoriasis is complex and possibly different from normal. To deal with this complexity, we propose to examine the cutaneous microbiome in relation to psoriasis with explorations at several taxonomic and informatic levels. Our overall objective is to examine how changes in the normal cutaneous microbiome contribute to the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Since causality is complex and often difficult to prove, and beyond the scope of this RFP, our overall hypothesis is that there are alterations in the cutaneous microbiome in areas of skin affected by psoriasis in comparison with the range observed in clinically unaffected areas, or in healthy persons. We also hypothesize that the characteristics of the microbiome may affect clinical responses to the immunomodulatory agents used to treat psoriasis. An alternative hypothesis is that effective treatment of psoriasis with systemic immunomodulatory agents will not substantially affect the disordered microbial ecosystem. Such observations would provide evidence for the roles of the microbiota in this disorder. Since an important consideration in microbiome research is the optimal level (e.g. phylum, genus, species, strain, gene) at which to examine a scientific question, and we are not yet certain what are the optimal levels for psoriasis, this also will be examined. Our studies of psoriasis should allow development of both approaches and tools that will have general utility for Microbiome research. To test our hypothesis, we propose the following specific aims: 1) To understand the cutaneous microbiome species composition overlaying psoriatic lesions; 2)To investigate differences in metagenome content for psoriatic lesions compared to normal skin; 3) To identify differences in the transcriptional profiles of the microbiome and the host between normal skin and psoriatic lesions using high-throughput sequencing; and 4) To estimate the effects of systemic immunomodulatory therapy for psoriasis on microbiome composition. In total, these studies should help us understand the role of the microbiome in psoriasis pathogenesis. We sought to characterize and compare the cutaneous microbiota of psoriatic lesions (lesion), unaffected contralateral skin from psoriatic patients (normal), and similar skin loci in matched healthy controls (control) in order to discern patterns that govern skin colonization and their relationship to clinical diagnosis. Using high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing, we assayed the cutaneous bacterial communities of 51 matched triplets and characterized these samples using community data analysis techniques.

  Study phs000251

• Efficacy of two different FGFR-inhibitors in a patient with extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma harboring an FGFR2 mutation

  Cholangiocarcinomas (CCAs) is a type of cancer with few effective systemic therapies. Elucidation of the molecular landscape of the disease from genomic studies based on next generation sequencing (NGS) has contributed to the introduction of new targeted therapies. One of these treatments consists of a class of small molecules that target members of the FGFR family of receptor tyrosine kinases. These drugs are effective and have been approved for cholangiocarcinomas with fusions or rearrangements of FGFR genes. In contrast, the role of these inhibitors in cholangiocarcinomas with mutations in FGFR genes is less well defined. We report here a patient with a cholangiocarcinoma bearing a FGFR2 p.Ser252Trp mutation. The patient was treated with two different FGFR inhibitors, as the first caused ocular toxicity. She obtained clinical benefit from both. This case illustrates the efficacy of FGFR inhibitors on cholangiocarcinoma with specific point mutations. This is the first case to report the clinical benefit of these drugs in FGFR2 p.Ser252Trp mutation. Clinical benefit can be sustained, as seen in our patient. Our case also shows that FGFR inhibitors-induced adverse effects, such as ocular toxicities, may not recur after re-challenge with an alternative drug of the same class.

  Study EGAS50000000015

• Genome Variation among HIV-Resistant People with Hemophilia

  Rare individuals are highly resistant to infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Studies of candidate genes resulted in the discovery of a 32bp deletion in the CC-chemokine receptor 5 gene (CCR5Δ32), which rendered this critical co-receptor for primary HIV infection to be non-functional. Pharmacologic and vaccine-induced blockade of CCR5 is being pursued to treat and prevent HIV infection and other conditions. The allele frequency of CCR5Δ32 among persons of European ancestry is approximately 10%. CCR5Δ32/Δ32 homozygotes are almost totally resistant to HIV infection. People with severe hemophilia A require frequent replacement with clotting Factor VIII (FVIII) to control hemorrhage. Prior to the discovery of HIV in 1984 and licensure of recombinant FVIII in the late 1980s, people with severe hemophilia A were treated with plasma-derived FVIII and thus were intensively exposed to HIV. Only 5% of such patients were not infected with HIV. Of these, approximately 1/3 were CCR5Δ32/Δ32 homozygotes. The remaining 2/3 of these people who were highly resistant to HIV remain unexplained. This project seeks to discover genome variations among people who are highly resistant to HIV infection. Such variation is likely to serve as a target for reducing the morbidity and incidence of HIV.

  Study phs000445

• Analysis of the Whole Transcriptomes of Human Testis with Complete Spermatogenesis and of Human Testes with Sertoli Cell-Only Syndrome

  Sertoli cell-only syndrome is severe form of human male infertility in which most seminiferous tubules appear to lack all spermatogenic cells, including spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs). However, a few small tubule segments of some patients have active spermatogenesis and, thus, functional stem cell niches and SSCs. Normally SSCs replicate, migrate and refill adjacent empty niches, but this does not appear to occur in SCO syndrome. We hypothesized that this failure occurs because most niches are dysfunctional. As Sertoli cells are essential to formation of these niches, we used RNAseq to compare the transcriptomes of human testes with qualitatively normal (complete) spermatogenesis (n=4) with the transcriptomes of human testes with SCO syndrome (n=7). We then focused our analysis on the expression of transcripts that bioinformatic analyses identified as Sertoli cell signature transcripts. Results show that Sertoli cells in SCO testes express abnormally low levels of GDNF, FGF8 and BMP4, all of which are important regulators of mouse SSCs and/or progenitor spermatogonia. Sertoli cells in SCO testes express significantly reduced levels of transcripts for proteins that polarize the Sertoli cell plasma membrane and regulate the trafficking of cell adhesion and gap junction proteins in and out of that plasma membrane.

  Study phs001777

• Whole Transcriptome Sequencing of Human Tumor Cells and Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells During Aging and Bone Marrow Disorders

  Whole transcriptome sequencing analyses were performed on human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells during aging and bone marrow disorders. For this purpose, normal and diseased bone marrow or peripheral blood-derived mononuclear cells were FACS-purified into hematopoietic stem (CD34+CD38-Lin-) or hematopoietic progenitor (CD34+CD38+Lin-) populations. Primary human samples from healthy individuals were used along with comparative analyses in some pre-malignant and malignant conditions, including myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and plasma cell dyscrasias (e.g., multiple myeloma). Studies were also performed on total mononuclear cell fractions from patients with newly-diagnosed or relapsed multiple myeloma, or plasma cell leukemia. Briefly, RNA was extracted from all samples and quality was assessed using a Bioanalyzer instrument. Only samples with RNA integrity (RIN) values >7 were subjected to library preparation for RNA-sequencing. The SMARTer v4 cDNA amplification kit was used along with library construction by the NEB Ultra DNA kit for Illumina. Paired-end sequencing was performed on Illumina NextSeq instruments (Scripps Next Generation Sequencing Core), with all samples run over two separate flow-cells (to generate additional sequencing reads); >95M reads were generated in total for each sample. The RNA-sequencing data are available as FASTQ files.

  Study phs002291

• Germ Cell and Associated Heme Malignancies Evolve from a Common Shared Precursor

  Germ cell tumors (GCTs) are the most common cancer in men between the ages of 15-40. While most patients are cured, those with disease arising in the mediastinum have distinctly poor outcomes. One in every 17 patients with primary mediastinal non-seminomatous GCTs develop an incurable hematologic malignancy and prior data intriguingly suggests a clonal relationship exists between hematologic malignancies and GCTs in these cases. To date however, the precise clonal relationship between GCTs and the diverse additional somatic malignancies arising in such individuals has not been determined. Here, we traced the clonal evolution and characterized the genetic features of each neoplasm from a cohort of fifteen patients with GCTs and associated hematologic malignancies. We discovered that GCTs and hematologic malignancies developing in such individuals evolved from a common shared precursor, nearly all of which harbored allelically imbalanced TP53 and/or RAS pathway mutations. Hematologic malignancies arising in this setting genetically resembled mediastinal GCTs rather than de novo myeloid neoplasms. Our findings argue that this scenario represents a unique clinical syndrome, distinct from de novo GCTs or hematologic malignancies, initiated by an ancestral precursor which gives rise to the parallel evolution of GCTs and blood cancers in these patients. Reprinted from PMID: 32897884, with permission from JCI.

  Study phs002231

• TNF-induced dynamic regulation of mRNA stabilome in rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synoviocytes

  During rheumatoid arthritis (RA), TNF activates fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) inducing in a temporal order a constellation of genes, which perpetuate synovial inflammation. Although the molecular mechanisms regulating TNF-induced transcription are well characterized, little is known about the impact of mRNA stability on gene expression and the impact of TNF on decay rates of mRNA transcripts in FLS. To address these issues we performed RNA sequencing and genome-wide analysis of the mRNA stabilome in RA FLS. We found that TNF induces a biphasic gene expression program: initially, the inducible transcriptome consists primarily of unstable transcripts but progressively switches and becomes dominated by very stable transcripts. This temporal switch is due to: a) TNF-induced prolonged stabilization of previously unstable transcripts that enables progressive transcript accumulation over days and b) sustained expression and late induction of very stable transcripts. TNF- induced mRNA stabilization in RA FLS occurs during the late phase of TNF response, is MAPK-dependent, and involves several genes with pathogenic potential such as IL6, CXCL1, CXCL3, CXCL8/IL8, CCL2, and PTGS2. These results provide the first insights into genome-wide regulation of mRNA stability in RA FLS and highlight the potential contribution of dynamic regulation of the mRNA stabilome by TNF to chronic synovitis.

  Study phs001371

• Identification and Targeting of Inflammatory Macrophage-Fibroblast Crosstalk in Rheumatoid Arthritis

  Macrophages tailor their function according to the signals found in tissue microenvironments, assuming a wide spectrum of phenotypes. A detailed understanding of macrophage phenotypes in human tissues is limited. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we defined distinct macrophage subsets in the joints of patients with the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which affects ~1% of the population. The subset we refer to as HBEGF+ inflammatory macrophages is enriched in RA tissues and is shaped by resident fibroblasts and the cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF). These macrophages promoted fibroblast invasiveness in an epidermal growth factor receptor-dependent manner, indicating that intercellular cross-talk in this inflamed setting reshapes both cell types and contributes to fibroblast-mediated joint destruction. In an ex vivo synovial tissue assay, most medications used to treat RA patients targeted HBEGF+ inflammatory macrophages; however, in some cases, redirecting them into a state is not expected to resolve inflammation. These data highlight how advances in our understanding of chronically inflamed human tissues and the effects of medications therein can be achieved by studies on local macrophage phenotypes and intercellular interactions. Reprinted from Kuo, Ding et al., Science Translational Medicine 2019, PMID: 31068444, with permission from American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  Study phs001340

• Genomic Sequencing of Cervical Cancers

  Cervical cancer is responsible for 10-15% of cancer related deaths in women worldwide. The etiological role of infection with high-risk human papilloma viruses (HPV) in carcinomas of the cervix is well established. In general, the development of cervical carcinomas follows a progression from persistent HPV infection through precancerous lesions to invasive cancer. Previous studies have implicated somatic mutations in PIK3CA, PTEN, TP53, STK11 and KRAS as well as chromosome-arm level copy number alterations in the pathogenesis of cervical carcinomas. Here, we report whole exome sequencing analysis of 118 cervical carcinoma-normal paired samples from patients in Norway and Mexico, as well as transcriptome sequencing of 80 cases and whole genome sequencing of 13 tumor-normal pairs. Novel somatic mutations include recurrent E322K substitutions in the MAPK1 gene encoding the ERK2 kinase and inactivating mutations in the HLA-B gene. In addition, recurrent somatic mutations in FBXW7, EP300, and NFE2L2 are novel in the context of primary cervical carcinomas. Analysis of HPV integration sites revealed recurrent integration into the RAD51B locus as well as co-occurrence of HPV genome integration and copy number gains within several genomic loci. These findings shed new light on the pathogenesis of cervical carcinomas and suggest potential novel therapeutic targets.

  Study phs000600