14305 results for ""Pennsylvania+German"+ACS+study+'Socius'+open+access"

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• Effect of Crohn's Disease Risk Alleles on Enteric Microbiota

  This UH2/UH3 demonstration project entitled "Effects of Crohn's disease risk alleles on enteric microbiota" is focused on characterizing intestinal associated microbiota in patients with ileal Crohn's disease (ileal CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) and control patients without inflammatory bowel diseases (non-IBD). We hypothesize that genetic factors that affect Paneth cell function, contribute to compositional changes in intestinal microbiota. These changes in microbiota may lead to reduction of protective commensal organisms and increased numbers of aggressive organisms that incite intestinal inflammation. This hypothesis is being tested by high throughput 16S rRNA sequence analysis of de-identified ileal and colonic tissues that have been archived at Washington University St. Louis, University of North Carolina, Mount Sinai Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic. Multivariate analysis of the metagenomic data will be conducted with genotyping metadata (highly reproducible CD risk alleles, including NOD2 and ATG16L1) and phenotyping metadata (e.g. age, gender, race, body mass index, medications and smoking.) Shotgun sequencing will be performed on selected fecal specimens linked to ileal tissues to identify additional, or auxiliary, or synergistic pathogenic factors or other functional changes in the microbiome. Because members of this research team have observed that a chronic viral infection is required for the Paneth cell defect in Atg16l1 hypomorphic mice, a major focus of these studies will be towards identifying potential viral triggers for the defective Paneth cell phenotype in individuals harboring the ATG16L1 risk allele. Novel genetic probes for protective and aggressive organisms will be developed by mining bacterial genome and shotgun sequencing data. Genomic sequences will be produced for candidate protective and aggressive strains (e.g. adherent-invasive strains of E. coli) isolated from human intestinal tissues where there is limited existing genome information. Quantitative qPCR assays using the novel as well as established genetic probes will be conducted to test the hypothesis that an imbalance between protective and aggressive organisms is associated with genetic factors that affect Paneth cell function. Our combined expertise in multiple disciplines across multiple institutions, our demonstrated ability to collect a large number of well-phenotyped samples with longitudinal clinical information that will be linked to host response and morphologic studies, and our consortium's capacity for high-throughput sequencing will be used to investigate how alterations in human microbiome relate to CD risk alleles and CD pathogenesis.

  Study phs000255

• Region-specific Transcriptome Analysis of the Human Retina and Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE)/Choroid

  Proper spatial differentiation of retinal cell types is necessary for normal human vision. Many retinal diseases, such as Best disease and male germ cell associated kinase (MAK)-associated retinitis pigmentosa, preferentially affect distinct topographic regions of the retina. While much is known about the distribution of cell types in the retina, the distribution of molecular components across the posterior pole of the eye has not been well-studied. To investigate regional difference in molecular composition of ocular tissues, we assessed differential gene expression across the temporal, macular, and nasal retina and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)/choroid of human eyes using RNA-Seq. RNA from temporal, macular, and nasal retina and RPE/choroid from four human donor eyes was extracted, poly-A selected, fragmented, and sequenced as 100 bp read pairs. Digital read files were mapped to the human genome and analyzed for differential expression using the Tuxedo software suite. Retina and RPE/choroid samples were clearly distinguishable at the transcriptome level. Numerous transcription factors were differentially expressed between regions of the retina and RPE/choroid. Photoreceptor-specific genes were enriched in the peripheral samples, while ganglion cell and amacrine cell genes were enriched in the macula. Within the RPE/choroid, RPE-specific genes were upregulated at the periphery while endothelium associated genes were upregulated in the macula. Consistent with previous studies, BEST1 expression was lower in macular than extramacular regions. The MAK gene was expressed at lower levels in macula than in extramacular regions, but did not exhibit a significant difference between nasal and temporal retina. The regional molecular distinction is greatest between macula and periphery and decreases between different peripheral regions within a tissue. Datasets such as these can be used to prioritize candidate genes for possible involvement in retinal diseases with regional phenotypes. Reprinted from Whitmore, S.S., Wagner, A.H., DeLuca, A.P., Drack, A.V., Stone, E.M., Tucker, B.A., Zeng, S., Braun, T.A., Mullins, R.F., Scheetz, T.E., 2014. Transcriptomic analysis across nasal, temporal, and macular regions of human neural retina and RPE/choroid by RNA-Seq. Experimental Eye Research. Used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license. Additional RNA sequencing was performed on temporal, macular, nasal, inferior, and superior retina from a fifth subject and is included in this dataset. See original publication for details.

  Study phs001151

• Discovery of Colorectal Cancer Susceptibility Genes in High-Risk Families

  Colorectal cancer remains one of the most common cancers in the US with 146,970 new diagnoses and 49,920 deaths estimated for 2009. Colon cancer is also one of the most familial of cancers. Individuals with a first-degree relative with colon cancer have a 2- to 3-fold increased risk, and those with more than one first-degree relative with colon cancer, or a single first-degree relative affected at age 50 years, have a 3- to 6-fold greater risk than those with no family history. The most prominent high-risk colorectal cancer susceptibility genes, APC, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PTEN, were all discovered more than a decade ago. Currently, mutation screening of these genes, plus a short list of additional genes that are responsible for a very small fraction of colorectal cancer, plays an important role in the clinical management of individuals with a strong family history of the disease or syndromic evidence for the presence of a gene mutation. At the other end of the risk spectrum, genome-wide association studies have identified a number of common alleles with very modest effects on colorectal cancer risk; their clinical utility has yet to be established. However, taken together, the known spectrum of genetic effects only explain about one quarter of the overall familial excess of colorectal cancer. It should be emphasized that, at present, the vast majority of individuals seen at familial cancer clinics are counseled on the basis of their family history alone because they do not have mutations in the known susceptibility genes. Accordingly, the long-term objective of this project is to identify the majority of genes responsible for the unexplained component of inherited colorectal cancer risk. Nextgen DNA sequencing is well suited for application to research questions in genetic susceptibility for which linkage analysis is confounded by extensive genetic heterogeneity. Taking advantage of unparalleled familial cancer genetics resources available through the Utah Population Database, candidate genes have been identified by sequencing all of the gene exons in the human genome from a series of colorectal cancer cases with a very strong family history of colorectal cancer not explained by one of the currently known high-risk susceptibility genes.

  Study phs001787

• Kids First: The Genomic Basis of Structural Birth Defects Associated with Chromosome 18 Copy Number Changes

  Chromosome abnormalities are a common cause of structural birth defects. Both childhood cancers and structural birth defects are critical and costly conditions associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Elucidating the underlying genetic etiology of these diseases has the potential to profoundly improve preventative measures, diagnostics, and therapeutic interventions.However, because these genomic copy number changes involve multiple genes and because most of these conditions are individually rare, defining the specific causative genes behind specific phenotypes has been a challenge. We met that challenge by spending the last 28 years enrolling and evaluating anyone with a chromosome 18 abnormality. The cohort now includes over 700 individuals with a wide variety of chromosome 18 copy number changes (CNV), as well as their parents. Because the vast majority of these participants have individually unique CNVs, we have been able to perform extensive genotype-phenotype correlations resulting in 58 publications. Of the 263 genes on chromosome 18, 28 are linked to specific hemizygous phenotypes. However, most have low penetrance. Genomic sequence data could identify variants in the extant allele that are hypermorphic and compensate for hemizygosity, or are hypomorphic and exacerbate hemizygosity. Additionally, there are phenotypes within this cohort that are rare, or an extreme version of one of the more common phenotypes. Genomic sequence data could help discover new biallelic conditions by revealing functional sequence variants of the extant allele. In both of these cases, there could also be variants in other genes on other chromosomes that may be associated with the phenotype that confer susceptibility or resilience. Inclusion of this unique cohort in the Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Program can advance the goals of the program in several ways. First, by adding known susceptibility loci to the existing Kids First cohorts for the structural birth defects that are also found in our cohort. Second, for those structural birth defects known to be polygenetic, this cohort has a single defined risk factor which can simplify the search for secondary factors. Third, these studies can also bring clarity to people with chromosome 18 conditions and help to make the genotype more accurately predict phenotype. This approach could be a model for understanding the many other rare chromosome abnormalities which collectively are a common cause of structural birth defects.

  Study phs002627

• Exome Sequencing of Alcohol-Associated Hepatitis

  Alcoholic hepatitis (AH) is a clinically severe, acute disease that only afflicts a fraction of patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Although recent genomic studies of alcoholic cirrhosis (AC) and steatosis have revealed that several genes of large effect are shared between these disorders, the genetic and environmental sources of variation that lead to AH, AC or alcohol fatty liver disease (AFLD) in some AUD patients remain largely unknown. In order to investigate the genetic determinants of AH, we sequenced a 58 Mb exome target to high genotype accuracy (0.996) and completeness (0.941) in 1,735 patients with AH (N=784) and heavy drinking controls without alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) (N=951), detecting 1,085,982 unique single nucleotide variants (SNVs). Analysis of common SNPs that comprised 17.5% of those SNVs, we observed exome-wide significant association of PNPLA3 (rs738409-G allele: odds ratio [OR]=1.73, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.44-2.08, p =3.75e-9), as had previously been seen for AH in candidate gene contexts, and as previously observed for PNPLA3 to AC and nonalcohol steatohepatitis in GWAS. Other genes previously implicated in AC did not strongly contribute to AH, and the only prominently implicated (but not exome wide significant) gene overlapping with AUD was ADH1B, also a known liver disease gene. However, SNPs at ICOSLG (Chr 21) and TOX4/RAB2B (Chr 14), were also exome-wide significant and of large effect-size (ICOSLG rs13052840-C allele: OR=1.67, 95% CI: 1.39-2.02, p = 4.59e-8; TOX4/RAB2B rs17516362-C allele: OR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.50-0.74, p=1.25e-7). ICOSLG encodes a co-stimulatory signal for T-cell proliferation and cytokine secretion and induces B-cell proliferation and differentiation, and thus could be tied to the inflammatory component of AH. TOX4 was previously implicated in diabetes and immune system and its linked SNP is a cis eQTL for TOX4 and RAB2B. A polygenic signal was visible on the exome-wide quantile-quantile graph, where there was modest p value inflation (lambda = 1.040). Ranking p values of all 18,705 genes evaluated versus a list of 227 genes objectively precompiled for relationship to liver diseases (via GWAS), we observed a strong (pThe data generated here also represents a resource that can be used cumulatively or meta-analytically with future datasets.

  Study phs003659

• Genome_Diversity_in_Africa_Project___GemCode_libraries

  Globally, human populations show structured genetic diversity as a result of geographical dispersion, selection and drift. Understanding this genetic variation can provide insights into the evolutionary processes that shape both human adaptation and variation in disease. Populations from Africa have the highest levels of genetic diversity. This characteristic, in addition to historical genetic admixture, can lead to complexities in the design of studies assessing the genetic determinants of disease and human variation. However, such studies of African populations are also likely to provide new opportunities to discover novel disease susceptibility loci and variants and refine gene–disease association signals. A systematic assessment of genetic diversity within Africa would facilitate genomic epidemiological studies in the region.The Genome Diversity in Africa Project (GDAP) will extend and expand the African Genome Variation (AGV) project, an international collaboration aimed to produce a comprehensive catalogue of human genetic variation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Using a sequencing-based approach, GDA project aims to capture human genetic variation in Africa, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), structural variants, and haplotypes. This resource will make a substantial contribution to understanding patterns of genetic diversity within and among populations in Africa, as well as providing a global resource to help design, implement and interpret genomic studies in African populations and studies comprising globally diverse populations, complementing existing genomic resources. Specifically, we plan to carry out whole genome sequencing at high depth (30x) of up to 1000 individuals across Africa (25 individuals from each ethnolinguistic group). We have already completed sequencing from 5 ethno-linguistic groups and we are now adding others.Our scientific objectives are to: 1) develop a resource that provides a comprehensive catalogue of genetic variation in populations from Africa accessible to the global scientific community; 2) characterise population genetic diversity, structure, gene flow and admixture across Africa; 3) develop a cost-efficient, next-generation genotype array for diverse populations across Africa; and 4) facilitate whole genome-sequencing association studies of complex traits and diseases by developing a reference panel for imputation and resource for enhancing fine-mapping disease susceptibility loci. These scientific objectives will be supported by cross-cutting operational activities, including network and management of the consortium, research ethics, and research capacity building in statistical genetics and bioinformatics.

  Study EGAS00001001589

• Genome_Diversity_in_Africa_Project__Benin

  Globally, human populations show structured genetic diversity as a result of geographical dispersion, selection and drift. Understanding this genetic variation can provide insights into the evolutionary processes that shape both human adaptation and variation in disease. Populations from SSA have the highest levels of genetic diversity. This characteristic, in addition to historical genetic admixture, can lead to complexities in the design of studies assessing the genetic determinants of disease and human variation. However, such studies of African populations are also likely to provide new opportunities to discover novel disease susceptibility loci and variants and refine gene–disease association signals. A systematic assessment of genetic diversity within SSA would facilitate genomic epidemiological studies in the region.The Genome Diversity in Africa Project (GDAP) aims to produce a comprehensive catalogue of human genetic variation in SSA, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), structural variants, and haplotypes. This resource will make a substantial contribution to understanding patterns of genetic diversity within and among populations in SSA, as well as providing a global resource to help design, implement and interpret genomic studies in SSA populations and studies comprising globally diverse populations, complementing existing genomic resources. Specifically, we plan to carry out high depth whole genome sequencing of up to 2000 individuals across Africa (25 individuals from each ethnolinguistic group).Our scientific objectives are to: 1) develop a resource that provides a comprehensive catalogue of genetic variation in populations from SSA accessible to the global scientific community; 2) characterise population genetic diversity, structure, gene flow and admixture across SSA; 3) develop a cost-efficient, next-generation genotype array for diverse populations across SSA; and 4) facilitate whole genome-sequencing association studies of complex traits and diseases by developing a reference panel for imputation and resource for enhancing fine-mapping disease susceptibility loci. These scientific objectives will be supported by cross-cutting operational activities, including network and management of the consortium, research ethics, and research capacity building in statistical genetics and bioinformaticsThis data is part of a pre-publication release. For information on the proper use of pre-publication data shared by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (including details of any publication moratoria), please see http://www.sanger.ac.uk/datasharing/

  Study EGAS00001001688

• UK10K RARE COLOBOMA

  In the UK10K project we propose a series of complementary genetic approaches to find new low frequency/rare variants contributing to disease phenotypes. These will be based on obtaining the genome wide sequence of 4000 samples from the TwinsUK and ALSPAC cohorts (at 6x sequence coverage), and the exome sequence (protein coding regions and related conserved sequence) of 6000 samples selected for extreme phenotypes. Our studies will focus primarily on cardiovascular-related quantitative traits, obesity and related metabolic traits, neurodevelopmental disorders and a limited number of extreme clinical phenotypes that will provide proof-of-concept for future familial trait sequencing. We will analyse directly quantitative traits in the cohorts and the selected traits in the extreme samples, and also use imputation down to 0.1% allele frequency to extend the analyses to further sample sets with genome wide genotype data. In each case we will investigate indels and larger structural variants as well as SNPs, and use statistical methods that combine rare variants in a locus or pathway as well as single-variant approaches. Ocular coloboma is the most common significant developmental eye defect with an incidence of ~1 in 5,000 live births. It results from failure of optic fissure closure during embryogenesis. The position and extent of the fusion failure dictates the clinical appearance and functional effect. ~30% of coloboma cases are associated with other systemic malformations. These UK10K samples will mostly comprise isolated coloboma cases without systemic involvement (aka non-syndromal coloboma). There is strong evidence from family studies that coloboma has a major genetic component with autosomal dominance being the most common pattern of inheritance. However, many cases are isolated or show complex patterns of familial clustering. The genes responsible for isolated coloboma are largely unknown, but in a small number of families mutations in SHH, CHX10, and PAX6 have been identified indicating marked genetic heterogeneity. Thus in addition to the clinical benefits of achieving a molecular diagnosis there are also major scientific advantages to identifying coloboma genes, as these are likely to provide insights into the complex process of optic fissure closure, that is critical to normal eye development. In the longer term, understanding the molecular basis of the disease may provide clues to therapeutic strategies.For further information with regard to this cohort please contact David Fitzpatrick (david.fitzpatrick@ed.ac.uk).

  Study EGAS00001000127

• Clinical and Molecular Investigation of Familial CEBPA-mutated Acute Myeloid Leukaemia

  Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) are clonal diseases arising from the sequential acquisition of genetic aberrations in haematopoietic stem cells. Whilst the aetiology is predominantly sporadic, rare reports describe the autosomal dominant inheritance of MDS and AML (familial MDS/AML), often presenting in younger patients (<40 years of age) with a germline mutation in one of three haematopoietic transcription factors: RUNX1, CEBPA and GATA2. The clinical recognition of familial disease can be challenging due to wide variations in phenotype, latency and transmission, complicated further by the patients’ awareness and reporting of affected relatives. Distinct clinical manifestations have however been reported for each genetic subtype and whilst RUNX1 and GATA2 mutations can harbour prolonged dysplastic or cytopenic phases, germline CEBPA mutations universally present with AML de novo. Our group were the first to describe germline CEBPA mutations in 3 related individuals, all of whom developed AML between 10-30 years of age. The initial pedigree together with those described in the intervening period, were predominantly isolated case reports with limited follow up, hence long term outcomes for this group of patients remain poorly defined. This contrasts with CEBPA mutations occurring in 10-15% of sporadic AML with normal karytoype (NK-AML), where double mutations (CEBPAdm, found in approximately 50% of all CEBPA-AML) are considered a unique molecular entity, associated with favourable clinical outcomes. In sporadic and familial CEBPAdm AML, N’ terminal mutations enforce translation of the shorter P30-kDa isoform and are typically accompanied by C’ terminal insertions or deletions (disrupting the DNA-binding and/or Leucine zipper domains). Definition of the full molecular landscape awaits extensive whole exome sequencing, although GATA2 mutations (targeting the Zinc Finger 1, ZF1, domain) have been reported in 20-40% of sporadic CEBPAdm AML and recent targeted resequencing analysis revealed a further association with WT1 mutations. With minimal clinical and molecular information available for familial CEBPA-AML, we are often consulted regarding the management of this unique patient population. To address this need, we have investigated a multi-centre cohort of families with germline CEBPA mutations, providing extended clinical follow up, whole exome profiling of secondary mutations and molecular analysis of relapsed disease.

  Study EGAS00001000949

• Discrepancies in Tumour Mutation Burden (TMB) reporting from sequential Endobronchial ultrasound trans bronchial needle aspiration (EBUS TBNA) samples within single lymph node stations

  Introduction: Tumour Mutation Burden (TMB) is a potential biomarker for immune therapies. Identifying factors that may affect TMB prediction is key to its utility as biomarker for treatment options. Here we investigated parameters that might affect TMB using cytology smears obtained from endobronchial ultrasound transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS TBNA)-sampled malignant lymph nodes, which are often the only diagnostic samples collected in patients with advanced lung cancer. Methods: Individual Diff-Quik cytology smears were prepared for each needle pass from the same enlarged malignant mediastinal lymph nodes. DNA extracted from smears of each pass underwent sequencing using a large gene panel sequencing (TSO500, Illumina). TMB was estimated for each individual needle pass using the TSO500 Local App v. 2.0 (Illumina). Results: Twenty patients had two or more Diff-Quik smears (total 45 smears) which passed sequencing quality control. Average TMB for all smears was 8.7 ± 5.0 mutations per megabase (Mb). Sixteen of the 20 patients had paired samples with minimal differences in TMB score (average difference 1.3 ± 0.85). Paired samples from 13 patients had concordant TMB in terms of scores being below or above a threshold of 10 mutations/Mb. Samples from seven patients had discrepant TMB, with four cases in particular exhibiting an average difference of 11.3 ± 2.7 mutations/Mb. Factors affecting TMB calling involved tumour content of the samples, the amount of DNA used in sequencing as well as bone fide intra tumour heterogeneity between paired samples. Conclusions: TMB assessment is feasible from EBUS-TBNA derived Diff-Quik slides from a single needle pass. Repeated samples of one or more lymph nodes have minimal variation in TMB in most cases (80%), suggesting accuracy of the test overall. To enhance accuracy of the result, care should be taken in relation to the tumour content of the cytology smear. Further, clinicians should be aware that even slight differences in lymph node site selection could give rise to variable genomics and discrepant TMB due to tumour heterogeneity. Therefore, it would be reasonable for multi-lymph node site analysis of TMB to be performed using EBUS TBNA aspirates from different easily accessible lymph nodes. Further investigations need to determine whether these samples should be combined as one sample or tested separately.

  Study EGAS00001007484

• Multi-omics data of 1000 Inflammatory Bowel Disease patients

  Portal available at https://1000ibd.org Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic complex disease of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Patients with IBD can experience a wide range of symptoms, but the pathophysiological mechanisms that cause these individual differences in clinical presentation remain largely unknown. In consequence, IBD is currently classified into subtypes using clinical characteristics. If we are to develop a more targeted treatment approach, molecular subtypes of IBD need to be discovered that can be used as new drug targets. To achieve this, we need multiple layers of molecular data are generated from the same IBD patients.We initiated the 1000IBD project to prospectively follow more than 1000 IBD patients from the Northern provinces of the Netherlands. For these patients, we have collected a uniquely large number of phenotypes and generated multi-omics profiles. To date, 1,215 participants have been enrolled in the project and enrolment is on-going, with 609 patients being present in the first data release. Phenotype data collected for these participants includes information on dietary and environmental factors, drug responses, and adverse drug events. Genome information has been generated using genotyping (ImmunoChip, Global Screening Array and HumanExomeChip) and sequencing (whole exome sequencing and targeted resequencing of IBD susceptibility loci), transcriptome information generated using RNA-sequencing of intestinal biopsies and microbiome information generated using both sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and whole genome shotgun metagenomic sequencing.All molecular data generated within the 1000IBD project will be shared in multiple data on the European Genome-Phenome Archive (www.ega-archive.org). The first data release, will contain basic phenotypes for 609 participants, genotypes of 314 participants, gut microbiome data generated by tag sequencing the 16S gene of feces from 315 participants and intestinal biopsies from 107 participants, and gut microbiome metagenomic sequencing of feces of 355 participants . Future releases will comprise many more additional phenotypes and -omics data layers. 1000IBD data can be used by other researchers as a replication cohort, a dataset to test new software tools, or a dataset for applying new statistical models.

  Study EGAS00001002702

• Exploring high-throughput drug sensitivity testing in neuroblastoma cell lines and patient-derived tumor organoids in the era of precision medicine

  Despite druggable events in 80% of neuroblastoma patients within the Princess Máxima Center precision medicine program 'iTHER', clinical uptake of treatment recommendations has been low, and the clinical impact for individual patients remains hard to predict. This stresses the need for a method integrating genomics and transcriptomics with functional approaches into therapeutic decision making. We aimed to launch an online repository integrating genomics and transcriptomics with high-throughput drug screening (HTS) of nineteen commonly used neuroblastoma cell lines and fourteen generated neuroblastoma patient-derived organoids (NBL-PDOs) to improve identification of molecularly matched therapies and support clinical uptake. Cell lines, NBL-PDOs and their parental tumors were characterized utilizing (lc)WGS, WES and RNAseq. Cells were exposed to a ~200 compound library, and viability was assessed using CellTiterGlo or MTT. Molecular and HTS results were transferred to the R2 platform (http://r2platform.com/pmc_nb_drugs/), in which a comprehensive suite of visualizations and analysis options were implemented. As a result, a powerful reference set of cell lines is available, reflecting distinct known pharmacologic vulnerabilities, including resistance of TP53-inactivated lines to MDM2 inhibitor idasanutlin; ALK-inhibitor sensitivity in ALK-activated lines, and sensitivity of an ATM-deleted cell line to PARP- and CHEK1-inhibitors. Novel established NBL-PDOs retained molecular features of their parental tumor and again reflected established drug sensitivities. However, HTS also identified additional therapeutic vulnerabilities in vitro, such as a striking correlation between a positive mesenchymal signature and sensitivity to BCL2-inhibitor venetoclax. Finally, we explored personalized drug sensitivities within iTHER, demonstrating HTS can support genomic and transcriptomic results, thereby strengthening the rationale for clinical uptake. Furthermore, in vitro insensitivity may avoid ineffective treatments. Lastly, novel treatment options may be identified, as indicated by sensitivity to ponatinib correlating with overexpression of RET or KIT. In conclusion, we established a dynamic publicly available dataset with detailed genomic, transcriptomic, and pharmacological annotation of classical neuroblastoma cell lines as well as NBL-PDOs, representing the heterogeneous landscape of neuroblastoma. We anticipate that in vitro drug screening will be complementary to genomic-guided precision medicine by supporting clinical decision making, thereby improving prognosis for all neuroblastoma patients in the future.

  Study EGAS00001007160

• Dissociation of solid tumour tissues with cold active protease for single-cell RNA-seq minimizes conserved collagenase-associated stress responses

  Background Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) is a powerful tool for studying complex biological systems, such as tumour heterogeneity and tissue microenvironments. However, the sources of technical and biological variation in primary solid tumour tissues and patient-derived mouse xenografts for scRNAseq, are not well understood. Here, we used low temperature (6°C) protease and collagenase (37°C) to identify the transcriptional signatures associated with tissue dissociation across a diverse scRNAseq dataset comprising 128,481 cells from patient cancer tissues, patient-derived breast cancer xenografts and cancer cell lines.Results We observe substantial variation in standard quality control (QC) metrics of cell viability across conditions and tissues. From FACS sorted populations gated for cell viability, we identify a sub-population of dead cells that would pass standard data filtering practices, and quantify the extent to which their transcriptomes differ from live cells. We identify a further subpopulation of transcriptomically “dying” cells that exhibit up-regulation of MHC class I transcripts, in contrast with live and fully dead cells. From the contrast between tissue protease dissociation at 37°C or 6°C, we observe that collagenase digestion results in a stress response. We derive a core gene set of 512 heat shock and stress response genes, including FOS and JUN, induced by collagenase (37°C), which are minimized by dissociation with a cold active protease (6°C). While induction of these genes was highly conserved across all cell types, cell type-specific responses to collagenase digestion were observed in patient tissues. We observe that the yield of cancer and non-cancer cell types varies between tissues and dissociation methods.Conclusions The method and conditions of tumour dissociation influence cell yield and transcriptome state and are both tissue and cell type dependent. Interpretation of stress pathway expression differences in cancer single cell studies, including components of surface immune recognition such as MHC class I, may be especially confounded. We define a core set of 512 genes that can assist with identification of such effects in dissociated scRNA-seq experiments.

  Study EGAS00001003753

• Sensitive and robust liquid biopsy-based detection of PIK3CA mutations

  Over the last years, the treatment of hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer patients has dramatically changed. Combination strategies attempting to overcome resistance to endocrine therapy such as targeting the PI3 kinase pathway are gaining importance. The phase III SOLAR-1 trial demonstrated the benefit of the addition of alpelisib to fulvestrant, thereby providing further clinical evidence of the increasing importance of PIK3CA testing. Here, we performed a comparison of liquid biopsy and tissue-based detection of PIK3CA mutations in HR-positive metastatic breast cancer patients. Plasma samples and the latest available tumor tissue from 69 patients with metastatic hormone-receptor positive breast cancer were analyzed for PIK3CA hotspot mutations. A high-resolution NGS assay (SiMSen-Seq) was used for plasma samples covering 11 recurrent PIK3CA mutations, used for stratification in SOLAR-1. Additionally, mFAST-SeqS was used to estimate the tumor fractions in the plasma samples. For tumor tissue samples, targeted Ion Torrent NGS was employed. Matched tissue and plasma samples were available from 63 patients. PIK3CA mutations were detected in 46.1% of the tissue samples and in 50.7% of the plasma samples. The variant allele frequency (VAF) ranged from 4.36% to 72.93% with a median of 28.60% in tissue samples, and from 0.28% to 49.85% with a median of 1.17% in plasma samples. The most frequent variants in tissue and plasma were H1047R, E545K, and E542K. We detected at least one of 11 PIK3CA mutations from the SOLAR-1 trial in 51/63 patients, both in tissue and plasma. In 7 patients, such mutations were found only in plasma. In 5 patients, PIK3CA mutations found in tissue were not detectable in ctDNA, 2 of which had a low tumor fraction.Together, in 33/67 plasma samples without detectable PIK3CA mutations, 18 samples had elevated tumor fraction, implicating true negative results. In the remaining 15 patients with low tumor fraction, additional tissue analysis was needed. SiMSen-Seq-based detection of PIK3CA mutations in plasma shows advantageous concordance with the tissue analyses. A combination with an untargeted, mutation-independent approach for detecting ctDNA fractions may confirm a negative PIK3CA result and thereby enhance the performance of the SiMSen-Seq test. This combinatory approach for selecting suitable patients for alpelisib treatment should be validated in larger patient cohorts.

  Study EGAS00001004940

• Defective Homologous Recombination DNA Repair as Therapeutic Target in Advanced-Stage Chordoma (HIPO_021)

  HIPO project: HIPO_021 Importance: Chordomas are rare tumors of the axial skeleton and skull base with few therapeutic options and no clinically validated molecular drug targets. The value of comprehensive genomic analyses for guiding medical therapy of patients with advanced-stage chordoma is unknown.Objective: To identify therapeutically tractable genetic lesions in a cohort of chordoma patients within a genomics-guided precision oncology program and to document the outcome of individualized, molecularly targeted chordoma therapy.Design, Setting, and Participants: We performed whole-exome sequencing of tumor and matched germline control samples from seven patients with locally advanced or metastatic chordoma who were enrolled in a cross-institutional molecular stratification registry trial for younger adults with advanced-stage cancer across all histologies and patients with rare tumors. All patients were heavily pretreated and had progressive disease prior to molecular analysis.Interventions: Individualized medical therapy was administered according to the patients’ molecular profiles.Main Outcomes and Measures: Candidate therapeutic targets identified by whole-exome sequencing and response to genotype-directed therapy.Results: All patients harbored alterations of two or more genes known to be involved in DNA repair via homologous recombination (HR), including heterozygous deletions of ERCC6, FANC family members, RAD51L (n = 6), BRCA2 (n = 5), ATR, CHEK2, RAD18, RAD51B, and XRCC3 (n = 4); inactivating PTEN mutations coupled with loss of heterozygosity (n = 2); and pathogenic germline variants in BRCA2 (n = 1), NBN (n = 1), and CHEK2 (n = 1) that were accompanied by somatic deletion of the corresponding wild-type alleles. Consistently, a mutational signature associated with defective HR was enriched in all samples and co-occurred with extensive genomic instability, as evidenced by HR deficiency scores and high numbers of large-scale state transitions. These results prompted off-label treatment with the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib in a patient whose tumor was refractory to irradiation and systemic treatment with imatinib, which led to a prolonged response and substantial clinical improvement.Conclusions and Relevance: Advanced-stage chordomas are frequently characterized by genomic imprints of defective HR DNA repair. HR deficiency represents a new therapeutic opportunity in this intractable disease through repositioning of PARP inhibitors that warrants further exploration in clinical trials.

  Study EGAS00001002720

• RNA-seq of DF149 cells – a patient-derived xenograft model of ascites-derived, homologous recombination repair-proficient, high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma – cultured in vitro and isolated after 8 hours treatment with DMSO control (3 x biological replicates) and 2.5 µM CBL0137 (3 x biological replicates)

  Background: High-grade serous ovarian carcinomas (HGSCs) are a heterogeneous subtype of epithelial ovarian cancers and include serous cancers arising in the fallopian tube and peritoneum. These cancers are now subdivided into homologous recombination repair (HR)-deficient and proficient subgroups as this classification impacts on management and prognosis. PARP inhibitors (PARPi) have shown significant clinical efficacy, particularly as maintenance therapy following response to platinum based chemotherapy in BRCA-mutant or homologous recombination (HR)-deficient HGSCs in both the 1st and 2nd line settings. However, PARPi have limited clinical benefit in HR-proficient HGSCs which make up almost 50% of HGSC and improving outcomes in these patients is now a high priority due to the poor prognosis with current standard of care. There are a number of potential lines of investigation including efforts in sensitizing HR-proficient tumors to PARPi. Herein, we aimed to develop a novel combination therapy by targeting SSRP1 using a small molecule inhibitor CBL0137 with PARPi in HR-proficient HGSOCs. Experimental design: We tested anti-cancer activity of CBL0137 monotherapy using a panel of HGSOC cell lines and patient-derived tumor cells in vitro. RNA sequencing was used to map global transcriptomic changes in CBL0137-treated patient-derived HR-proficient HGSOC cells. We tested efficacy of CBL0137 in combination with PARPi using HGSOC cell lines and patient-derived tumor cells in vitro and in vivo. Results: We show that SSRP1 inhibition using a small molecule, CBL0137, that traps SSRP1 onto chromatin, exerts a significant anti-growth activity in vitro against HGSC cell lines and patient-derived tumor cells, and also reduces tumor burden in vivo. CBL0137 induced DNA repair deficiency via inhibition of the HR repair pathway and sensitized SSRP1-high HR-proficient HGSC cell lines and patient-derived tumor cells/xenografts to the PARPi, Olaparib in vitro and in vivo. CBL0137 also enhanced the efficacy of DNA damaging platinum-based chemotherapy in HGSC patient-derived xenografts. Conclusion: Our findings strongly suggest that combination of CBL0137 and PARP inhibition represents a novel therapeutic strategy for HR-proficient HGSCs that express high levels of SSRP1 and should be investigated in the clinic.

  Study EGAS00001006662

• MediMer: A versatile do-it-yourself peptide-receptive MHC class I multimer platform for tumor neoantigen-specific T cell detection

  Peptide-loaded MHC class I (pMHC-I) multimers have revolutionized our capabilities to monitor disease-associated T cell responses with high sensitivity and specificity. To improve the discovery of T cell receptors (TCR) targeting neoantigens of individual tumor patients with recombinant MHC molecules, we developed a peptide-loadable MHC class I platform termed MediMer. MediMers are based on soluble disulfide-stabilized β2-microglobulin/heavy chain ectodomain single-chain dimers (dsSCD) that can be easily produced in large quantities in eukaryotic cells and tailored to individual patients’ HLA allotypes with only little hands-on time. Upon transient expression in CHO-S cells together with ER-targeted BirA biotin ligase, biotinylated dsSCD are purified from the cell supernatant and are ready to use. We show that CHO-produced dsSCD are free of endogenous peptide ligands. Empty dsSCD from more than 30 different HLA-A,B,C allotypes, that were produced and validated so far, can be loaded with synthetic peptides matching the known binding criteria of the respective allotypes, and stored at low temperature without loss of binding activity. We demonstrate the usability of peptide-loaded dsSCD multimers for the detection of human antigen-specific T cells with comparable sensitivities as multimers generated with peptide-tethered β2m-HLA heavy chain single-chain trimers (SCT) and wild-type peptide-MHC-I complexes prior formed in small-scale refolding reactions. Using allotype-specific, fluorophore-labeled competitor peptides, we present a novel dsSCD-based peptide binding assay capable of interrogating large libraries of in silico predicted neoepitope peptides by flow cytometry in a high-throughput and rapid format. We discovered rare T cell populations with specificity for tumor neoepitopes and epitopes from shared tumor-associated antigens in peripheral blood of a melanoma patient including a so far unreported HLA-C*08:02-restricted NY-ESO-1-specific CD8+ T cell population. Two representative TCR of this T cell population, which could be of potential value for a broader spectrum of patients, were identified by dsSCD-guided single-cell sequencing and were validated by cognate pMHC-I multimer staining and functional responses to autologous peptide-pulsed antigen presenting cells. By deploying the novel CHO producer cell-based dsSCD MHC-I MediMer platform, we hope to significantly improve success rates for the discovery of personalized neoepitope- specific TCR in the future by being able to also cover rare HLA allotypes.

  Study EGAS50000000065

• Molecular Biomarkers Predicting Lung Cancer Response Phenotypes

  We have used a "chemistry first" approach to discover druggable acquired vulnerabilities that arised in the pathogenesis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We screened chemical libraries (~200,000 compounds) for chemical toxins that killed subsets of NSCLC but not normal human lung epithelial cells (HBECs). We first screened a panel of 12 NSCLC lines that represented a variety of known oncogenotypes and identified chemicals with large Z scores and appropriate properties including re-supply, chemistry, and reproducible drug response phenotypes. This was then narrowed down to a list of 202 chemicals and 18 drugs with known targeting (henceforth called "Precision Oncology Probe Set", or POPS). These, and a panel of 30 clinically available drugs, targeted therapies, and drug combinations, already in use or in trials for NSCLC treatment, were then tested on a panel of 96 NSCLC lines for their drug response phenotypes in 12-point dose response curves. This information was analyzed using scanning ranked KS (Kolmogorov-Smirnov) and elastic net biostatistics approaches to identify molecular biomarkers (mutations, mRNA expression, copy number variation, protein expression, and metabolomics) which could predict for sensitivity or resistance to a particular chemical toxin or treatment regimen. From this we have discovered that: our approach identifies already known molecular biomarker of drug sensitivities (e.g. EGFR mutations and EGFR TK inhibitors); many clinically available chemotherapy agents have molecular biomarkers predicting preclinical model drug responses; the POP set of chemical toxins provides novel drug response phenotype patterns in the large NSCLC panel different from those found with clinically available agents including a therapeutic window; many of the POP toxins only hit a small percentage (~5%) of the NSCLC panel but the POP set as a whole provides "coverage" of the entire NSCLC panel; there are simple, one or 2 component molecular biomarkers (mutations, mRNA expression) that predict responses to the different chemical toxins in the NSCLC panel; and that the molecular biomarkers provide some information on the targets and pathways involved in response to the chemical toxins. Thus, we have identified a group of chemical toxins with selectivity for subsets of NSCLC and associated tumor molecular biomarkers to facilitate their development for precision medicine, and also, in some cases, information on the targets and pathways interdicted by these chemical compounds. In addition, we have discovered NSCLC predictive biomarkers for clinically available agents.

  Study phs001823

• Genes for Non-Syndromic Congenital Heart Disease

  Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most common serious birth defect and a leading cause of infant mortality. Affected individuals who survive infancy require substantial medical care and experience lifelong morbidity and early mortality. Despite their prevalence and impact upon public health, the etiology of CHDs is poorly understood. Our long-term goal is to better define the genetic basis of CHDs and using this information, develop preventive measures and provide precise medical management based on genotype. As CHDs are a heterogeneous group of conditions, we have focused our studies on cases with conotruncal heart defects (CTDs) that comprise at least 36% of all CHDs and are a prominent feature of the 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS). We have conducted both SNP- and CNV-based genome-wide association studies as part of our previous and current P01 (HD070454). Our current analyses of genes and gene-sets provide new insights regarding the contribution of common and rare inherited genetic variants to CTDs. Specifically, based on the results from our studies as well as recently published findings, we hypothesize that: (1) CTDs are influenced by the full range of genetic variability (rare to common; de novo and inherited) in relevant gene-sets; (2) the number of disease-related variants within these gene-sets varies directly with CTD severity; and (3) gene-sets associated with CTDs in nonsyndromic individuals are also associated with CTDs in individuals with the 22q11DS. To augment our existing cohorts and thus substantially improve the statistical power of our proposed analyses, application was made to complete array genotyping of a set of patients with CTDs and in particular, those with mild disease represented by isolated aortic arch anomalies. The new cases with CTD and some with an isolated aortic arch anomaly were ascertained at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) while some of the cases with isolated aortic arch anomalies were ascertained by the Pediatric Cardiac Genomics Consortium (PCGC). A small group of cases with left-sided obstructive lesions from CHOP were included to combine with our existing datasets to serve as a comparison to those with CTD. The additional genotype data will augment the statistical power of the proposed common variant analyses. We anticipate that this work will reduce the gaps in our understanding of CTDs by identifying an explicit set of genes associated with CTD-risk by way of common variants. This work will also help define the genetic architecture for the full clinical spectrum of these common birth defects.

  Study phs002059

• High density copy number analysis and whole exome sequencing of unselected chronic lymphocytic leukemia cases and of paired chronic lymphocytic leukemia and Richter Syndrome cases

  Analysis of the chronic lymphocytic leukemia coding genome: role of NOTCH1 mutational activation The pathogenesis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the most common leukemia in adults, is still largely unknown since the full spectrum of genetic lesions that are present in the CLL genome, and therefore the number and identity of dysregulated cellular pathways, have not been identified. By combining next-generation sequencing and copy number analysis, we show here that the typical CLL coding genome contains less than 20 clonally represented gene alterations/case, including predominantly non-silent mutations and fewer copy number aberrations. These analyses led to the discovery of several genes not previously known to be altered in CLL. While most of these genes were affected at low frequency in an expanded CLL screening cohort, mutational activation of NOTCH1, observed in 8.3% of CLL at diagnosis, was detected at significantly higher frequency during disease progression toward Richter transformation (31.0%) as well as in chemorefractory CLL (20.8%). Consistent with the association of NOTCH1 mutations with clinically aggressive forms of the disease, NOTCH1 activation at CLL diagnosis emerged as an independent predictor of poor survival. These results provide initial data on the complexity of the CLL coding genome and identify a dysregulated pathway of diagnostic and therapeutic relevance. Genetic Lesions associated with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia transformation to Richter Syndrome Richter syndrome (RS) derives from the rare transformation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) into an aggressive lymphoma, most commonly of the diffuse large B cell type (DLBCL). The molecular pathogenesis of RS is only partially understood. By combining whole-exome sequencing and copy-number analysis of 9 CLL-RS pairs and of an extended panel of 43 RS cases, we show that this aggressive disease typically arises from the predominant CLL clone by acquiring an average of ~20 genetic lesions/case. RS lesions are heterogeneous in terms of load and spectrum among patients, and include those involved in CLL progression and chemorefractoriness (TP53 disruption and NOTCH1 activation) as well as some not previously implicated in CLL or RS pathogenesis. In particular, disruption of the CDKN2A/B cell cycle regulator locus is associated with ~30% of RS cases. Finally, we report that the genomic landscape of RS is significantly different from that of de novo DLBCL, suggesting that they represent distinct disease entities. These results provide insights into RS pathogenesis, and identify dysregulated pathways of potential diagnostic and therapeutic relevance.

  Study phs000364

• Genetic Analysis of Normal Human Facial Variation

  The purpose of this project is to identify genes associated with normal human quantitative facial variation. The motivation for this project stems from the fact that very little is known about how variation in specific genes relates to the diversity of facial forms commonly observed in humans. Viable candidates for these morphogenes originate from a number of sources: tissue expression studies, animal models with targeted or spontaneous mutations, and genetic syndromes with craniofacial manifestations. Importantly, understanding the genetic basis for normal facial variation also has important implications for health-related research. For example, this work has the potential to shed light on the factors influencing liability to common craniofacial anomalies such as orofacial clefts. There is now ample evidence that certain facial features (e.g., increased midfacial retrusion) characterize individuals genetically at-risk for orofacial clefts (e.g., biological relatives of affected cases). While these predisposing facial features are statistically over-represented in at-risk groups, they are also common in the general population. Since many of the current candidate genes for clefting are thought to play a critical role in facial morphogenesis, variation in these genes may also underlie normal variation in these facial features. These candidate genes, however, probably represent only a small fraction of the total number of loci influencing normal human facial variation. Phenotypes for this project were obtained from over 3000 healthy Caucasian subjects recruited through three separate studies. The majority of the subjects were recruited as part of the 3D Facial Norms Project, which is described in extensive detail here: (https://www.facebase.org/facial_norms/notes). The provided dbGaP phenotypes include a series of anthropometric craniofacial measurements (linear distances) primarily derived from 3D photographic facial surface scans (see previous hyperlink). The specific genotyping requested is described elsewhere in this document. Our analysis team is pursuing a variety of different analytic approaches to derive genetically informative phenotypes, including various shape-based morphometric methods. For those interested in pursuing more advanced phenotypic approaches, the original 3D surface scans and additional phenotypic traits are available to researchers through the FaceBase Consortium. This dataset has the potential to facilitate the discovery of new genetic loci with an important role in both normal and abnormal facial development. It may also serve as a dataset to test hypotheses regarding specific SNP associations (e.g. as a replication dataset) or as part of a larger meta-analysis.

  Study phs000949

• A Genomic Atlas of Systemic Interindividual Epigenetic Variation in Humans (GTEx)

  Methylation of cytosines in CpG dinucleotides is an epigenetic mechanism with essential roles in mammalian development. To explore its functions in cellular differentiation, unbiased analysis of CpG methylation by whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) has been used to characterize epigenetic differences among different human tissues and cell types. Meanwhile, human interindividual variation in DNA methylation that is not cell-type specific has attracted relatively little attention. Systemic interindividual epigenetic variation is important, however, because like genetic variation it is a potential determinant of phenotypic variation and can be assessed in any easily obtainable DNA sample. Since systemic epigenetic variants originate in the preimplantation embryo, their establishment can be influenced by periconceptional environment, and potentially provide information about lifetime risks relevant to global health, obesity, and cancer. We elucidated systemic interindividual variation in CpG methylation in the human genome. We studied brain, heart, and thyroid tissues (representing all three germ layer lineages) from each of 10 donors in the NIH Gene-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project. We performed deep whole genome bisulfite sequencing for these 30 samples, achieving a sequencing depth of over 50x coverage per sample. We identified 9,926 correlated regions of systemic interindividual variation (CoRSIVs). These regions, comprising just 0.1% of the human genome, often correlate with one another over long genomic distances, are associated with transposable elements and subtelomeric regions, conserved across various human ethnic groups, and particularly sensitive to periconceptional environment. While genetic variation appears to influence methylation at most CoRSIVs, many show no evidence of genetic influence, suggestive of 'pure' epigenetic variation. At CoRSIVs, interindividual variation in DNA methylation in an easily biopsied tissue predicts expression in other tissues, and genes associated with these loci are implicated in a range of human disorders. In addition to charting a previously unrecognized molecular level of human individuality, this atlas of human CoRSIVs provides a resource for future population-based investigations into how interindividual epigenetic variation modulates risk of disease.Version 2 now also includes Target Capture Sequencing of CoRSIVs in 808 tissues (188 GTEx Donors). Focusing on the CoRSIVs identified by analyzing WGBS data, a Target Capture Bisulfite sequencing assay was developed. Using the genotype data of 188 GTEx donors, we assessed mQTL by capturing a 1MB region at each CoRSIV and quantifying methylation by Bisulfite-seq. The Target Capture Bisulfite sequencing data will be available to download via the AnVIL project.

  Study phs001746

• The Lung Genomics Research Consortium (LGRC)

  Chronic lung diseases represent a broad spectrum of chronic fibrosing/inflammatory lung conditions that are for the most part poorly responsive to treatment and often fatal. COPD/emphysema is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and the incidence and rate of death from pulmonary fibrosis is increasing each year. Although progress has been made in interpretation of the clinical, radiological, and pathological features of chronic lung disorders, and progress in determining the pathobiology continues, the causes, biologic mechanisms, and therapeutic options remain obscure. Moreover, predicting individuals or populations at risk for developing any of these complex diseases, at present, is not possible. To address this challenge, we plan to create a genetic, molecular, and quantitative clinical phenotyping data warehouse with bioinformatic tools that will empower investigators to make fundamental discoveries in disease pathogenesis, refine diagnostic criteria, and lead to real gains in personalized medicine. The composite genetic, genomic, and epigenetic signature combined with quantitative clinical phenotypes has the potential to characterize the dynamic biological state of a complex disease and complement existing diagnostic approaches that are reliant on traditional clinical measures of disease. In the proposed project, we plan to extend the scope and impact of the NHLBI Lung Tissue Research Consortium (LTRC) biorepository by creating the Lung Genomics Research Consortium (LGRC), a comprehensive genetic, molecular, and quantitative clinical phenotyping warehouse. Our overall hypothesis is that a genetic, molecular, and quantitative clinical phenotyping warehouse combined with a rich clinical database will enable the lung research community to make fundamental discoveries in disease pathogenesis, refine diagnostic criteria, and lead to real gains in personalized medicine. We plan to pursue this hypothesis through the following aims. Specific Aim 1: Establish a genetic, genomic, and epigenetic molecular library to complement the existing clinical database in the LTRC. Specific Aim 2: Develop a quantitative clinical phenotyping platform using existing LTRC data, as well as an enhanced data set including novel quantitative CT and histology imaging analyses. Specific Aim 3: Establish a publicly-accessible database that would integrate the genetic, molecular, and quantitative phenotyping data with the existing clinical data in the LTRC and provide query and data exploration tools that are easily accessible to the lung research community. These discoveries will enable clinicians to Identify individuals at risk of developing chronic lung diseases; Diagnose these conditions earlier; Identify novel mechanisms that cause these diseases; Reclassify disease entities into categories more representative of molecular and cellular pathogenic mechanisms regardless of traditional disease categories; develop personalized approaches to treatment.

  Study phs000624

• De Novo Mutation Rates at the Single-Mutation Resolution in the Human Genome

  We developed a method to measure the origination rates of target mutations of choice and applied it to the HbS and nearby mutations in the human beta-globin (HBB) gene, as well as to the equivalent mutations in the nearly identical delta-globin (HBD) gene in sperm cells from African and European donors. Specifically, after extracting DNA from the sperm of the donors, each sample is enriched for the HbS mutation and nearby mutations by the restriction enzyme Bsu36I, which cleaves the wild-type (WT) sequence CCTGAGG at positions 16–22 of HBB and the homologous positions of HBD while leaving the HbS mutant and other mutants in these positions intact. Next, unique barcodes are attached to the DNA fragments from these Bsu36I-treated samples in order to reduce error by consensus sequencing of copies originating from the same original fragment. To determine how many target WT sequences have been removed (scanned) by Bsu36I digestion and hence to be able to calculate the de novo mutation rate, we run a second reaction in parallel for each donor. This reaction involves the same steps as the former reaction except for digestion by Bsu36I (Bsu36I-untreated). Spiking into the Bsu36I-treated and untreated samples known amounts of mock HBB-like DNA molecules that are fully resistant to Bsu36I digestion allows to calculate in the sequence analysis stage the Bsu36I-enrichment score based on the change in their frequency between the two treatments, which in turn is used to calculate the number of scanned WT sequences. Our results show significant correspondence between de novo mutation rates and past observations of alleles in carriers, showing that mutation rates vary substantially in a mutation-specific manner that contributes to the site frequency spectrum. We also found that the overall point mutation rate is significantly higher in Africans than Europeans in the HBB region studied. Finally, the rate of the 20A>T mutation, called the “HbS mutation” when it appears in HBB, is significantly higher than expected from the genome-wide average for this mutation type. Nine instances were observed in the African HBB ROI, where it is of adaptive significance, representing at least three independent originations, and no instances were observed in the European HBB ROI or in the European or African HBD ROI.12 consented subjects; samples from two subjects were pooled

  Study phs002391

• Integrative Single-Cell Analysis of Transcriptome, Epigenome, and Lineage in HIV Latency and Activation

  With the development of triple combination antiretroviral therapy, routine HIV treatment eliminates nearly all actively infected cells. Nevertheless, the small reservoir of latently infected cells, which can remain dormant for long periods of time before becoming active and producing new virus particles, represents a crucial barrier to completely curing the disease. Identifying markers that identify latently infected cells or the biochemical factors that control latency activation could enable the effective use of a “shock and kill” strategy, where specific targeting or activation of latently infected cells eliminates the viral reservoir. Our recent work suggests that the global transcriptomic and epigenomic changes during hematopoietic differentiation affect viral latency and activation. Additionally, we recently found that global inhibition of histone deacetylase activity increases viral activation in these cells, further implicating epigenomic changes during activation. These results raise fundamental questions: What are the markers of latently infected cells? How do the transcriptomic and epigenomic states of a cell affect latency and activation? How does the differentiation state relate to viral latency? Here, we leverage our experimental platform for identifying latently and actively infected cells, single-cell transcriptome and epigenome sequencing, and our recently developed computational integration methods to investigate these questions. Our interdisciplinary team combines expertise in HIV basic science, HIV clinical treatment, and bioinformatics to develop an experimental and computational framework for integrated gene expression, chromatin accessibility, and lineage into a single picture of viral latency and activation. Specifically, this project will (1) use single-cell RNA-seq and single-cell ATAC-seq to map the diversity of infected cells, (2) investigate the relationship between hematopoietic differentiation state and viral activation, (3) determine viral integration sites through single-cell RNA-seq, (4) computationally integrate single-cell transcriptome and epigenome profiles, and (5) computationally infer cell lineage relationships among viral genomes and infected cells. To accomplish these goals, we will carry out the following aims: (1) Characterize lineage, transcriptomic and epigenomic diversity of single latently and actively infected primary cells. (2) Investigate latency and activation during in vitro differentiation. (3) Survey single cell diversity of re-activated and in vitro infected cells from cART-suppressed patients. Together, these aims will produce a comprehensive, integrated transcriptomic and epigenomic atlas of the HIV reservoir, identify DNA and RNA biomarkers of latency, and characterize clonal expansion patterns. Our work also develops a broadly applicable experimental and computational framework, laying a foundation for the discovery of novel insights into HIV latency and activation.

  Study phs002915

• Multiomic Landscape of Multiple Myeloma Precursor and Relapsed Disease

  Multiple myeloma (MM) is a treatable, though incurable, plasma cell malignancy. The molecular mechanisms driving disease onset and the emergence of drug resistance remain elusive. To better characterize the mutational, transcriptional, and epigenetic alterations that accompany MM disease evolution, we accessed molecular data from MM patients treated at Moffitt Cancer Center, with bone marrow biopsies collected between 2011 and 2023.We performed scMultiome (single-cell, paired RNA/ATAC-Seq, 10x Genomics) on 18 CD138+-selected bone marrow aspirate samples, including: 2 healthy donors, 3 patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), 4 with smoldering myeloma (SMM), 3 with newly diagnosed MM (NDMM), 1 with early relapse MM (ERMM, 1 to 3 lines of therapy), and 5 with late relapse MM (LRMM, 4 or more lines of therapy). Our dataset includes a sequential sample: a patient with a premalignant condition ("scMultiome_SMM_4") that progressed to active myeloma ("scMultiome_NDMM_3"). These data allow for the assessment of transcriptional and epigenetic dysregulation at the cellular level. Our findings illustrate the dynamic epigenetic and transcriptional landscapes that accompany MM disease progression.We also conducted CUT&Tag analysis on 4 NDMM and 4 LRMM samples to map histone modifications, specifically H3K27ac, to investigate their role in transcriptional reprogramming observed in advanced stages of MM. This analysis revealed sample heterogeneity in terms of super-enhancer-regulated genes associated with active transcription.This cohort also includes samples from the clinical trial NCT04151667, “Daratumumab-Based Response-Adaptive Therapy for Older Adults With Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma.” We performed scRNAseq (single-cell RNA sequencing, 10x Genomics) on 30 CD138+-selected bone marrow aspirate samples and 31 pre-sort samples featuring bone marrow mononuclear cells of various cell types from 5 healthy donors and 11 patients with newly diagnosed MM (NDMM). Our dataset includes sequential samples for all 11 NDMM patients, both prior to induction therapy (denoted by ‘a') with Daratumumab and Dexamethasone, and at cycle 2 day 22 (C2D22, i.e., 60 days after induction therapy start, denoted by ‘b'). For three NDMM patients, we also have samples at relapse (denoted by ‘c'). These data allow for the assessment of transcriptional dysregulation at the single-cell level in both the tumor and immune-tumor microenvironment, associated with Daratumumab treatment in NDMM patients.In addition to the molecular data, demographic, and phenotypic information for all samples is provided.

  Study phs003892

• RNA_seq_analysis_of_transcriptome_variation_with_human_ESC_subclones

  Many studies over the past 10 years, culminating in the recent report of the International Stem Cell Initiative (ISCI, 2011) have shown that hPSC acquire genetic and epigenetic changes during their time in culture. Many of the genetic changes are non-random and recurrent, probably because they provide a selective growth advantage to the undifferentiated cells. Some are shared by embryonal carcinoma cells, the malignant counterparts of ES cells. The origins of these growth advantages are poorly understood, but may come from altered cell cycle dynamics, resistance to apoptosis or altered patterns of differentiation. Less is known about the nature and consequences of epigenetic changes, but it is likely that these similarly affect hPSC behaviour; e.g., enhanced expression of DLK1, an imprinted gene, is associated with altered hPSC growth (Enver et al 2005). Inevitably, these genetic and epigenetic changes will impact on our ability to use hPSC for regenerative medicine, either because malignant transformation of the undifferentiated cells or their differentiated derivatives to be used for transplantation compromises safety, or because they impede the function of those differentiated derivatives, or because they affect the efficiency with which the undifferentiated cells can be expanded and differentiated into desired cell types. Focusing initially upon the existing clinical grade hESC lines, later moving to iPSC, we will Consolidate and extend knowledge of the rate, type and functional impact of the genetic variations that occur during hPSC culture. We will use whole genome and exome sequencing as well as SNP arrays, together with clonal analysis and other cytogenetics techniques. Common changes will be compared with those found in the normal human population, at low frequency in the original cell population or observed during iPSC generation in the HIPSCI project currently based at the WTSI. These studies will provide a better understanding of the range of genetic changes that occur in hPSC beyond the CNVs already identified. In conjunction with cancer genome resources and expertise at WTSI, bioinformatic analyses of these hPSC data will allow us to assess potential impact on hPSC behaviour pertinent to applications in regenerative medicine, notably the likelihood that specific changes arising in undifferentiated PSC cultures may be associated with potential malignant transformation of differentiated progenyThis data is part of a pre-publication release. For information on the proper use of pre-publication data shared by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (including details of any publication moratoria), please see http://www.sanger.ac.uk/datasharing/

  Study EGAS00001001655

• PSCP_bisulphite_analysis_in_hESCs

  Many studies over the past 10 years, culminating in the recent report of the International Stem Cell Initiative (ISCI, 2011) have shown that hPSC acquire genetic and epigenetic changes during their time in culture. Many of the genetic changes are non-random and recurrent, probably because they provide a selective growth advantage to the undifferentiated cells. Some are shared by embryonal carcinoma cells, the malignant counterparts of ES cells. The origins of these growth advantages are poorly understood, but may come from altered cell cycle dynamics, resistance to apoptosis or altered patterns of differentiation. Less is known about the nature and consequences of epigenetic changes, but it is likely that these similarly affect hPSC behaviour; e.g., enhanced expression of DLK1, an imprinted gene, is associated with altered hPSC growth (Enver et al 2005). Inevitably, these genetic and epigenetic changes will impact on our ability to use hPSC for regenerative medicine, either because malignant transformation of the undifferentiated cells or their differentiated derivatives to be used for transplantation compromises safety, or because they impede the function of those differentiated derivatives, or because they affect the efficiency with which the undifferentiated cells can be expanded and differentiated into desired cell types. Focusing initially upon the existing clinical grade hESC lines, later moving to iPSC, we will Consolidate and extend knowledge of the rate, type and functional impact of the genetic variations that occur during hPSC culture. We will use whole genome and exome sequencing as well as SNP arrays, together with clonal analysis and other cytogenetics techniques. Common changes will be compared with those found in the normal human population, at low frequency in the original cell population or observed during iPSC generation in the HIPSCI project currently based at the WTSI. These studies will provide a better understanding of the range of genetic changes that occur in hPSC beyond the CNVs already identified. In conjunction with cancer genome resources and expertise at WTSI, bioinformatic analyses of these hPSC data will allow us to assess potential impact on hPSC behaviour pertinent to applications in regenerative medicine, notably the likelihood that specific changes arising in undifferentiated PSC cultures may be associated with potential malignant transformation of differentiated progeny. This data is part of a pre-publication release. For information on the proper use of pre-publication data shared by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (including details of any publication moratoria), please see http://www.sanger.ac.uk/datasharing/

  Study EGAS00001001625

• PSCP_mutation_analysis_in_hESCs

  Many studies over the past 10 years, culminating in the recent report of the International Stem Cell Initiative (ISCI, 2011) have shown that hPSC acquire genetic and epigenetic changes during their time in culture. Many of the genetic changes are non-random and recurrent, probably because they provide a selective growth advantage to the undifferentiated cells. Some are shared by embryonal carcinoma cells, the malignant counterparts of ES cells. The origins of these growth advantages are poorly understood, but may come from altered cell cycle dynamics, resistance to apoptosis or altered patterns of differentiation. Less is known about the nature and consequences of epigenetic changes, but it is likely that these similarly affect hPSC behaviour; e.g., enhanced expression of DLK1, an imprinted gene, is associated with altered hPSC growth (Enver et al 2005). Inevitably, these genetic and epigenetic changes will impact on our ability to use hPSC for regenerative medicine, either because malignant transformation of the undifferentiated cells or their differentiated derivatives to be used for transplantation compromises safety, or because they impede the function of those differentiated derivatives, or because they affect the efficiency with which the undifferentiated cells can be expanded and differentiated into desired cell types. Focusing initially upon the existing clinical grade hESC lines, later moving to iPSC, we will Consolidate and extend knowledge of the rate, type and functional impact of the genetic variations that occur during hPSC culture. We will use whole genome and exome sequencing as well as SNP arrays, together with clonal analysis and other cytogenetics techniques. Common changes will be compared with those found in the normal human population, at low frequency in the original cell population or observed during iPSC generation in the HIPSCI project currently based at the WTSI. These studies will provide a better understanding of the range of genetic changes that occur in hPSC beyond the CNVs already identified. In conjunction with cancer genome resources and expertise at WTSI, bioinformatic analyses of these hPSC data will allow us to assess potential impact on hPSC behaviour pertinent to applications in regenerative medicine, notably the likelihood that specific changes arising in undifferentiated PSC cultures may be associated with potential malignant transformation of differentiated progeny. This data is part of a pre-publication release. For information on the proper use of pre-publication data shred by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (including details of any publication moratoria), please see http://www.sanger.ac.uk/datasharing/

  Study EGAS00001001561

• Pediatric Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma RNA-Seq

  Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common malignancy amongst adolescent and young adult women. Clinical and genomic features of PTC in children differ from those in adults. Historically, a substantial proportion (~50%) of pediatric PTC (PPTC) lack any of the common driver mutations typical of adult PTC. Thus, molecular diagnostics developed for adults may not be valid in children. We applied novel bioinformatic pipelines to RNASeq analysis of pediatric thyroid tumors to identify known and novel fusion oncogenes as drivers of tumorigenesis and to define gene expression patterns among tumors. Analysis of 38 samples resulted in identification of 16 previously reported oncogenic fusions and three novel candidate fusions. In conducting these analyses, we reduced the proportion of cancers with unknown drivers from approximately 50% to 6%. Gene expression analysis identified three distinct categories of tumors. These studies represent the first unbiased genomic approach to childhood PTC. Novel bioinformatic pipeline. GEC Identified 3 distinct classes. DICER1, PTEN segregated with benign tumors. >90% of PPTC carry identifiable ongognic driver variants, however, the landscape differs from that in adults and existing tools for tumor genotyping in adults may not be applicable to pediatric tumors. BACKGROUND: Papillary thyroid carcinoma demonstrates clinically distinct behaviour in pediatric patients when compared to adults, with increased regional and distal metastases, more frequent recurrence, yet overall highly favourable prognosis. Recent tumor genotyping has demonstrated that in pediatric tumors, ***-*** do not carry the most common genomic variants found in adult PTC, leaving a substantial proportion of driver-unknown or “dark matter” tumors. METHODS: We established a cohort of 52 pediatric PTC and performed quantitative-PCR genotyping followed in a subset by whole exome and whole transcriptome (RNASeq) sequencing using a novel, robust bioinformatic pipeline to identify oncogenic fusion transcripts. Gene expression analysis was used to derive distinct clusters. RESULTS: In 52 pediatric PTC, genotyping identified BRAFV600E(21%), NRASQ61R(2%), RET/PTC1 (21%), RET/PTC3 (17%) or PAX8-PPAR in 33 (63%) of tumors. Among the remaining 19 tumors, oncogenic variants were identified in /19 (%). The variants included SNVs in DICER1, ETV6-NTRK3, PTEN and 9 additional oncogenic fusions including two previously-undescribed fusion transcripts, *** and ***. CONCLUSIONS: The genomic landscape of PTC differs between children and adults. In children, there is a substantial fraction of tumors that are unexplained by variants typical of adult PTC. This discrepancy is explained largely by uncommon oncogenic fusions which can be identified by whole-transcriptome analysis.

  Study EGAS00001005182

• Single cell genomic variation induced by mutational processes in cancer

  How cell-to-cell copy number alterations that underpin genomic instability in human cancers drive genomic and phenotypic variation, and consequently cancer evolution, remains understudied. Here, applying scaled single cell whole genome sequencing to wildtype, TP53-deficient and TP53/BRCA1/2-deficient mammary epithelial cells (n=13,818 genomes) and primary triple negative breast (TNBC) and high grade serous ovarian cancers (HGSC) (n=22,057 genomes), we identified three distinct ‘foreground’ mutational patterns defined by cell-to-cell copy number and structural variation properties occurring in the ‘background’ of cancer-associated genomic instability. Cell and clone-specific high level amplifications (HLAMPs), parallel allele-specific copy number alterations and copy number segment length variation (serrate structural variations) exhibited measurable phenotypic and evolutionary consequences. Clone-specific HLAMPs in known oncogenes were highly prevalent in fold back inversion (FBI)-bearing tumors and associated with increased clone-to-clone phenotypic variation in gene expression inferred from matched single cell RNASeq. Parallel allele-specific alterations were linked with phylogenetically determined evolutionary diversity and clone-specific mono-allelic expression. Serrate patterns present across all clones were increased in FBI tumors, most prominently on a tetraploid background and were highly correlated with increased genomic diversity of cellular populations. Taken together, we show that cell-to-cell structural-copy number variation significantly impacts the phenotypes and evolutionary diversity of TNBC and HGSC, revealing previously hidden genomic states of cancer cells.

  Study EGAS00001006343

• Kids First: Genomic Etiologies of CHARGE Syndrome, Related Conditions and Structural Anomalies

  Developmental disorders with structural birth defects account for the majority of morbidity and mortality in children's hospitals, and the genetic bases of many clinical phenotypes remain unknown. Genetic testing for individuals with structural malformations has uncovered the basis of many such birth defects; however, many more cases remain unsolved, posing challenges for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Multiple anomaly conditions are particularly challenging to diagnose, since they often present with unique combinations of clinical features that vary widely between affected individuals, even in the same family. CHARGE Syndrome (Coloboma of the eye, Heart Defects, Atresia of the choanae, Retardation of growth and development, Genital abnormalities including pubertal delay and infertility, Ear abnormalities with deafness and vestibular disorders) is a multiple anomaly condition that affects a wide variety of organ systems. CHARGE Syndrome is caused in most cases by monoallelic pathogenic variants in CHD7, the gene encoding ATP-dependent helicase chromodomain DNA binding protein 7. Both de novo and inherited variants in CHD7 have been reported in CHARGE, and a growing number of families present with individuals who test positive for a pathogenic CHD7 variant yet exhibit only mild features. Similarly, individuals with CHARGE Syndrome often exhibit broad variability and reduced penetrance of clinical features, consistent with pleiotropic roles for CHD7 during development and/or additional genetic contributors or modifying alleles. Recent work has also implicated RERE, KMT2D, EP300, and PUF60 in having a role in CHARGE Syndrome.We hypothesize that (1) some cases of CHARGE are due to other genetic etiologies including oligogenicity, and (2) genetic modifiers contribute to the broad clinical variability and reduced penetrance of CHARGE features. To address these hypotheses, we have generated a cohort of 223 deeply clinically phenotyped individuals with CHARGE Syndrome and related disorders and structural anomalies who tested negative by chromosomal microarray, single gene sequencing, next generation panel sequencing, or exome sequencing. These individuals exhibit clinical CHARGE-like features including structural birth defects affecting craniofacial, ocular, neurosensory, brain, heart, mediastinal, renal, genitourinary, and skeletal organs. Our cohort includes these 223 individuals as well as affected and unaffected family members who consented to clinical and research genetic testing and donated blood samples for DNA and RNA isolation and sequencing. Building on this valuable cohort, we propose to use exome and genome sequencing to identify novel genetic etiologies of CHARGE and related developmental disorders for which alternative genetic tests have been inconclusive. Identification of novel pathogenic genetic variants and contributing modifier alleles within the coding and non-coding portion of the genome of these individuals will improve genetic diagnosis and provide important insights toward understanding the developmental mechanisms of structural birth defects.

  Study phs002592

• Birth Defects: Moebius Syndrome and Related Congenital Facial Weakness Disorders

  It is estimated that about 1 in every 33 infants in the United States is born with a birth defect. Among these, the subset of birth defect syndromes associated with facial weakness and lack of facial expression can have profound implications for social interactions and psychosocial development. Moebius syndrome is defined by congenital and non-progressive facial weakness and limited eye abduction, and most cases are believed to result from dysfunction of cranial nuclei/nerves VI and VII. Although rare, this syndrome causes significant impairment because of facial weakness and associated intellectual disabilities, autism, hearing loss, difficulty swallowing and breathing, peripheral neuropathy, muscle hypotonia, heart defects, chest wall abnormalities, and limb malformations. The phenotypic spectrum and the associated genetic and environmental factors underlying Moebius syndrome are poorly understood. The goal of this research is to identify causative gene mutations for Moebius syndrome and related conditions, such as Moebius-Poland or -Robin sequence, hereditary congenital facial paresis (HCFP), and oculoauriculovertebral dysplasia (Goldenhar syndrome). This proposal builds on an ongoing collaboration among researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, NHGRI intramural program, and the Moebius Syndrome Foundation, but aims to greatly extend that work by collaboration with investigators in the NIH Clinical Center (CC). Our groups have already defined a new autosomal dominant syndrome with Moebius syndrome, Kallmann syndrome, cyclic vomiting resulting from a TUBB3 E410K substitution. We have also identified a new autosomal recessive Moebius-related syndrome with bilateral facial palsy, hearing loss, and strabismus resulting from a HOXB1 R207C substitution. Through collaborative efforts of these extramural teams with intramural investigators, whole exome sequencing (WES) has been conducted for four families with Moebius-like features, and data analyses are ongoing. The overall goal of this new grant application will be to conduct extensive phenotype analysis on approximately 24 families per year with Moebius and other undefined syndromes with facial weakness. Studies to be conducted at the CC include neurology, psychiatry, neurocognitive, rehabilitation medicine (muscle strength, speech/language pathology), ophthalmology, audiology, and genetics evaluations; autism screening; electromyography, nerve conduction, and blink reflex studies; videoscopy of quantitative eye movement recordings; 3D-CT craniofacial imaging; MRI of the brain, orbit, internal auditory canals, posterior fossa including brain diffusion tensor imaging for tractography; and genetic counseling. Jointly with the extramural teams, WES analysis and variant confirmation will be performed. A more comprehensive definition of the phenotypic and genotypic spectrum of these birth defects will have a significant impact on our understanding of the molecular pathways underlying dysmorphologies, cranial nerve development, and more common childhood disorders such as autism. Thus, this project will lead to strategies for prevention and treatment of birth defects.

  Study phs001383

• Multi-Modal Single-Cell, Spatial, and Genomic Analyses of Human Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Brain Metastases

  We performed single nuclei RNA-sequencing (snRNA-seq) with matched T cell receptor sequencing (TCR-seq), and pool matched low pass whole genome sequencing (WGS) of 12 treatment-naive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) primary tumors (PTs) and 31 treatment-naive NSCLC brain metastases (BMs). In total, we recovered 277,206 cell transcriptomes in 43 samples. Single-nuclei suspension from frozen NSCLC metastases were generated using methods published in Slyper et al. (Nature Medicine, 2020, PMID:32405060) with modifications. The tissue was first cut in 20 µm sections using a cryostat and stored on dry ice until the next step. Then the tissue was put on wet ice and washed once with 5 ml PBS to remove OCT. After this step nuclei were extracted by vigorous pipetting in salt-tris buffer with Tween-20 (TST) followed by a high-volume wash in salt-tris buffer (ST). Nuclei were counted and 10,000-14,000 and were loaded using a Chromium controller (10X genomics) and Chromium Single Cell 5' Reagents (V1.1 and V2). Complementary DNA libraries were generated according to manufacturer's instructions, with the modification of one additional cycle of amplification. Matched single nuclei T cell receptor (snTCR) sequencing libraries were prepared from amplified cDNA libraries using either Chromium Single Cell V(D)J Enrichment Kit for human T cells Reagent Kit, v1.1, or single cell human TCR amplification kit. Final snTCR sequencing libraries were prepared using Single Index Kit T Set A for V1.1 libraries or Library construction kit and Dual Index Kit TT set A for V2 libraries. Sequencing libraries were quantified using Tapestation D5000 reagents and a 2200 TapeStation and pooled for sequencing. Pool matched low pass whole-genome sequencing (lp-WGS) was performed in addition to snRNA-seq to improve the identification of the malignant and non-malignant cell compartments. Nuclei from snRNA-seq sample preparations were collected by centrifugation (500g, 5 min), snap frozen after removing excess ST buffer, and stored at -200C until further processing. If insufficient nuclei (0C for 9 minutes. Adapters were not diluted, and the optional PCR (5 cycles) and cleanup were performed. After library cleanup with AMPure beads (Beckman Coulter, Brea, CA), libraries were quantified with Tapestation D5000 HS tapes (Agilent) and stored at -200C until sequencing.Using multiplexed immunofluorescence in an independent cohort of treatment-naïve pairs of primary tumors and brain metastases from the same patients with NSCLC, we validated genomic and tumor-microenvironmental findings and identified a cancer cell population characterized by neural features that strongly enriched in brain metastases. This comprehensive analysis provides insights into human NSCLC brain metastasis biology and serves as an important resource for additional discovery.

  Study phs003865

• Atezolizumab Plus Personalized Neoantigen Vaccination in Patients with Urothelial Cancer: a Phase 1 Trial

  This is a phase 1 single center clinical trial evaluating a multi-peptide personalized neoantigen vaccine, PGV001, in combination with atezolizumab for patients with urothelial cancer. Patients were enrolled in either the adjuvant or metastatic setting. Those in the adjuvant setting included patients considered high risk of recurrence (pathological stage ypT2-T4 or ypN+ for those treated with prior neoadjuvant chemotherapy or pT3-T4 or pN+ for those not treated with prior neoadjuvant chemotherapy). Those in the metastatic setting included patients progressing after prior chemotherapy or those with at least stable disease after chemotherapy treated as “switch maintenance” therapy. The primary endpoint was feasibility (including the number of neoantigens identified per patient, vaccine production time, the proportion of patients consenting to the vaccine development phase for whom a vaccine product was prepared, and the proportion of patients eligible for the treatment phase who completed the priming cycle 1 of PGV001 plus atezolizumab) and safety. Secondary endpoints included the objective response rate, progression-free survival or disease-free survival, overall survival, and immunomodulatory effects of treatment. Urothelial tumor tissue and normal tissue or peripheral blood specimens were utilized for DNA sequencing. HLA typing was performed utilizing genomic DNA isolated from whole blood, and RNA sequencing was performed utilizing tumor tissue specimens. Neoantigen prediction and final selection for incorporation into the vaccine was determined by the OpenVax computational pipeline. 12 patients were initially enrolled into the vaccine development phase and 10 patients initiated the treatment phase. PGV001 was administered with poly-ICLC and tetanus peptide on subsequent days for up to 10 doses, including an initial priming cycle 1. Atezolizumab was administered every 3 weeks for up to 1 year in the adjuvant setting or 2 years in the metastatic setting. The vaccine was feasible and safe, the median vaccine production time was 20.3 weeks, and 100% of patients that initiated the treatment phase completed the priming cycle. The most common treatment-related adverse events were local grade 1 injection site reactions, fever, and fatigue. Three of the 4 patients in the adjuvant setting remained disease-free at median follow-up of 39.5 months. There was a 40% objective response rate among patients with measurable disease in the metastatic setting. The single patient treated as “switch maintenance” therapy remained with no evidence of disease at 39.4 month follow-up. All patients demonstrated on-treatment neoantigen-specific T cell reactivity, as measured by ELISPOT and flow cytometry assays. Overall, PGV001 plus atezolizumab was feasible, safe, and warrants further investigation. Whole exome sequencing from tumor tissue and normal tissue or whole blood specimens and RNA sequencing from tumor tissue specimens will be available through dbGaP.

  Study phs003922

• sn-RNAseq profiling of the impact of a cytokine storm model in human cardiac organoids

  We developed conditions to model conditions of diastolic dysfunction caused by inflammatory factors in human cardiac organoids. Our organoid model is based on conditions promoting maturation (Mills et al., PNAS, 2017 and Voges et al., In Revision) and incorporating human pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes, epicardial cells, fibroblasts, endothelial cells and pericytes. Following 15 days of differentiation (Voges et al., Development, 2017) we formed human cardiac organoids incorporating both our multicellular differentiation (Mills et al., PNAS, 2017) and additional endothelial cells (Voges et al., In Revision). After another 12 days of maturation in 5 days maturation medium and 5 days weaning medium (Voges et al., In Revision) human cardiac organoids were either treated with weaning medium or “cardiac cytokine storm” comprised of 100 ng/ml IFNg, 10 ng/ml IL-1 β and 10 µg/ml poly(I:C). After 48 hours human cardiac organoids were harvested and snap frozen in -80C before nuclei isolation and single nuclei RNA sequencing.Pooled hCO (~40) were homogenized in 4 mL lysis buffer (300 mM sucrose, 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH = 8), 5 mM CaCl2, 5 mM magnesium acetate, 2 mM EDTA, 0.5 mM EGTA, 1 mM DTT)(all Sigma-Aldrich) with 30 strokes of a dounce tissue grinder (Wheaton). Large pieces of hCO were allowed to settle and homogenate was passed through pre-wetted 40 µm cell strainers (Becton Dickinson). Remaining hCO material in the douncer was resuspended in 4 mL and the douncing and filtering steps were repeated twice. All steps of the homogenization were performed on ice. The filtered homogenate was centrifuged at 1500 x g for 5 min at 4oC. Nuclei pellets were then re-suspended in PBS. A fraction of resuspended nuclei were then stained with hoechst nuclear stain (1:500 dilution) and counted on a haemocytometer under fluorescent microscope.The nuclei were then re-centrifuged (1500 x g for 5 min at 4°C) and resuspended at a density to load ~5,000 nuclei per sample. Cell were loaded into the Chromium Controller (10X Genomics) for gel bead emulsion (GEM) formation. Library preparation was conducted according to the manufacturer’s recommended protocol using the Chromium Next GEM Single Cell 3’ GEM, Library & Gel Bead Kit v3.1. Libraries were sequenced on the NextSeq 500/550 v2 (Illumina) with 150 bp reads.In the snRNA-seq we note the lower than expected percentage of non-myocytes and the loss of endothelial cells (Mills et al., PNAS, 2017 and Voges et al., In Revision), indicating the protocol requires further optimization for hCO samples.

  Study EGAS00001005174

• Molecularly matched targeted therapies plus radiotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma without MGMT promoter hypermethylation (N2M2/NOA-20 phase I/IIa umbrella trial)

  Background: Patients with glioblastoma without MGMT promoter hypermethylation are unlikely to benefit from temozolomide (TMZ). Trials aiming at replacing TMZ with targeted agents in not molecularly selected patient populations have failed. Methods: This phase I/IIa umbrella trial aimed at showing safety, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of targeted compounds in addition to standard radiotherapy initiated within 42 days postoperatively. Molecular diagnostics and bioinformatic evaluation are performed within 28 days after surgery. Stratification for treatment takes place in five subtrials, including alectinib, idasanutlin, palbociclib, vismogedib and temsirolimus, according to the best matching molecular alteration. Patients without matching alterations are randomized between subtrials without strong biomarkers using atezolizumab and asunercept and TMZ as standard of care. Primary objective of the phase I parts of the trial was dose finding or dose validation. In the phase IIa trials, centrally determined progression-free survival at six months (PFS-6) is used as endpoint for efficacy with interim analyses for futility (H0: p=0.231). Results: From May 2018 through July 2022, 301 patients were enrolled and 228 treated in 13 German NOA sites. The alectinib and vismodegib subtrials were closed since no molecularly matching patients were accrued; the idasanutlin subtrial was closed prior to the optimal dose at nine patients at discretion of the company providing the drug. The TMZ subtrial showed a PFS-6 of 18.52% (10/54 patients) (p=0.831) and a median overall survival (OS) of 12.1 months. Asunercept: PFS-6 of 15.4% (4/26) (p=0.8825) and OS of 12.8 months. Atezolizumab: PFS-6 of 21.4% (9/42) (p=0.660) and OS of 11.7 months. Palbociclib with patients demonstrating CDK4 amplification or CDKN2A/B codeletion: PFS-6 of 24.4% (10/41) (p=0.4823) and OS of 12.6 months. Temsirolimus with patients demonstrating mTOR activation: PFS-6 of 39.1% (18/46) (p=0.0109) and OS of 15.4 months. The regimen-limiting toxicity (RLT)-rate is 34.8%, which is insignificantly above the predefined unacceptable rate for RLTs of 30%. Most RLTs had severity grade 3, one RLT had severity grade 4. No RLTs resulted in death. Conclusions: N2M2 allows for elaborate molecular testing being integrated into the treatment decision and efficient determination of treatment activity for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. There is clinical activity of temsirolimus in patients with tumors harboring an activated mTOR pathway although this is not positively prognostic without mTOR inhibition; there is no clinical activity for asunercept and atezolizumab in not molecularly selected patients and also palbociclib in molecularly selected patients.

  Study EGAS00001008033

• NHLBI TOPMed: Pediatric Cardiac Genomics Consortium (PCGC)'s Congenital Heart Disease Biobank

  The Pediatric Cardiovascular Genetics Consortium (PCGC) proposes to define genetic causes for congenital heart defects (CHD) as part of the TOPMed Program are the most common form of heart disease in childhood and are also the most prevalent form of birth defects, occurring in 2-3% of live births. The PCGC has recruited and clinically characterized = 10,000 CHD probands and parents (CHD trios). From whole exome sequencing (WES) of >2800 CHD trios, we identified a substantial enrichment of damaging de novo mutations in genes important for cardiogenesis, particularly implicating histone modifier enzyme gene defects. Analysis of whole genome sequencing (WGS) of 350 probands with CHD unexplained by WES and their parents preliminarily implicated de novo mutations in enhancers of genes previously shown to cause CHD in mouse knock out models. Sequencing of RNA (RNAseq) from discarded cardiac tissues from CHD probands has revealed likely causal allele-specific expression (ASE) as well as biallelic loss of expression (LOE). We have also discovered de novo epimutations, differentially methylated regions (DMRs), some with underlying de novo DNA variation, that are detectable in peripheral blood leukocytes and appear to underlie 10% of CHD. Of note, these assorted 'omic' approaches have enabled one another, both for attributing causality and assessing functional impact. Based on these extensive preliminary data, we hypothesize that PCGC probands with uninformative exomic analyses (WES-negative) harbor de novo genetic and/or epigenetic mutations in critical regulatory elements that participate in developmental expression of cardiac genes. To identify these etiologies, we propose analyses of WGS in 1000 WES-negative CHD trios, prioritizing those with probands with banked CHD tissues (n=78), one damaging variant in a recessive CHD gene, and older fathers (age>45). We also request WGS for 230 probands, for whom we have cardiac tissues but not parental DNAs. We request RNAseq for 308 cardiac tissues. For DNA methylation, which TOPMed will offer through the Illumina 850k array platform, we are requesting analysis of DNAs from peripheral blood leukocytes for all probands for whom WGS will be performed (1000 from trios, 230 singletons) as well as DNAs from cardiac tissues (n=308) to pair with the WGS, RNAseq and blood DNA methylation data. We will use existing resources and capabilities of the PCGC to confirm relevant mutations and those of its companion consortium in the Bench to Bassinet Program, the Cardiovascular Development Consortium, to inform analyses of non-coding mutations as well as to perform confirmatory functional genomics studies using cell and animal models. We expect that the studies resulting from data generated through TOPMed will provide novel insights into the molecular basis for CHD and fundamental knowledge about genes and pathways involved in cardiac development. Aside from being relevant to CHD, we anticipate that our findings will inform the understanding of later-onset cardiovascular diseases, including some arising in adulthood.

  Study phs001735

• Maintenance of Brain Tumor Profile on Organotypic Brain Slice Culture (OBSC)

  We used uncultured tumor resection tissue from an NF2 mutation-driven grade II meningioma (MG-II) to investigate whether tumors engrafted onto organotypic brain slice cultures (OBSCs) maintained the genetic profile of the parent tumor. We prepared three groups of samples for whole exome sequencing (WES) from the same pool of dissociated MG-II tissue. Group HT is the original uncultured human tumor tissue (n = 3). Group CL is the parent tumor tissue expanded in standard in vitro cell culture until the minimum number of cells required for WES had grown. Because of initial cell loss and subsequent clonal expansion, this required six passages over the span of approximately one month (n = 3). Group BSHT is the uncultured tumor resection tissue engrafted onto OBSCs and subsequently dissected from the OBSCs at the conclusion of our standardized assay length (4 days; n = 4). WES analysis showed that tumor tissue engrafted onto OBSCs maintained a significant genetic resemblance to the parent tumor, while tumor tissue expanded in vitro displayed a distinctly different profile. Furthermore, the mutational profiles of all four BSHT biological replicates were markedly similar, indicating that each OBSC-engrafted tumor indeed contained a representative sample of the original patient tumor. A closer look at the hallmark NF2 mutations existing within all samples revealed that while all samples from the original tumor (HT1-3) and the OBSC-engrafted tumor (BSHT1-4) maintain the frame shift deletion at V24, this mutation was lost in all samples expanded in vitro (CL1-3) and replaced by mutations in other areas. Together, this data suggests that the rapid assay design and tumor-accommodating niche of our OBSC platform enables effective maintenance of the original patient tumor profile. The BBsplit algorithm from the BBtools suite was run on all samples to eliminate rat DNA contamination in the BSHT samples as well as to account for any biases that may result as a part of that process. Only the reads that were binned to the human reference were used for subsequent analysis. Reads were then mapped to the GRCh38 version of the human genome with BWA v0.7.17 and realigned together with ABRA2 v.23. Quality control was implemented using the GATK/Picard v4.1.7.0 toolkit. Somatic variants were called for each sample using the MuTect2 algorithm v4.1.7.0. Variants were merged into a single cohort variant call file and then converted to MAF via vcf2maf v1.6.21 tool. Variants were annotated using VEP v87. To identify mutations with potentially high biological impact, multiple filtering steps were applied to somatic mutation calling. First, we selected only the somatic variants that passed all filters from the MuTect2 FilterMutectCalls algorithm and second, only high/moderate impact (change coding) variants as defined by the VEP annotation were further analyzed. Over 1900 single nucleotide variants (SNVs) were detected across all samples. Figures that summarized the results were generated using maftools.

  Study phs003268

• Kids First: Whole Genome Sequencing in Structural Defects of the Neural Tube

  Myelomeningocele (aka meningomyelocele, MM) is the most severe form of spina bifida, a neural tube defect (NTD) in humans and the most common CNS birth defect. MM is considered a genetically complex disease, and occurs in 3.72/10,000 live US birth, and is partly preventable with prenatal folate, but the genetic basis and the mechanisms by which folate work to reduce disease incidence remain obscure. MM is associated nearly uniformly with prenatal hydrocephalus and the Arnold-Chiari malformation, as well as paraplegia and lifelong neuromotor disability. The genes for several rare syndromic forms of NTDs are known, but the causes for the majority with sporadic MM remain unknown. Despite the importance of MM, most previous research has been limited to targeted sequencing and association studies of folate metabolism genes, or very small-scale exome sequencing. We hypothesize that de novo mutations (DNMs) produce likely gene disrupting (LGD) events that contribution to MM risk. Using conservative estimates of between 50-100 recurrently mutated discoverable genes contributing to risk, and our preliminary data demonstrating an excess of LGD DNMs in MM compared with control individuals, we estimate that with a cohort size of 1000 trios, we should uncover between 5-20 new recurrently mutated genes underlying MM, with minimal false-discovery. With this in mind, we formed the Spina Bifida Sequencing Consortium, and established a platform for data and sample sharing. Preliminary analysis of our first batch of 100 trios analyzed by WGS from GMKF suggests a wealth of important gene mutations. We have embarked on a new recruitment effort of an additional cohort of 400 new simplex MM trios, in collaboration with the US Spina Bifida Association, consented trios to allow for data sharing, and have performed detailed sample quality control. We also have preliminary data that use of dried bloodspot DNA from trios performs comparably to whole blood DNA, so will be happy to swap saliva for bloodspot recruitment at NIH's preference. This cohort is now half-way assembled, with the remaining cohort to be ascertained in the next 6 months. We have established a workflow for de novo SNP/INDEL/SV detection from WGS and have ample computer storage and nodes to see the project to completion. We also plan to continue recruitment into the future with the goal of 2000 trios in the next 5 years. We propose a detailed bioinformatics workflow to identify gene mutations within a statistical framework, considering detailed scRNA expression profiling from developing mammalian neural tube, and have developed a robust functional validation workflow using Xenopus and mouse gene targeting. Our project has the potential to uncover a host of causes for this most common of the CNS birth defects, paving the way for future breakthroughs in detection, treatment, and prevention.

  Study phs002591

• DDD DATAFREEZE 2013-12-18: 1133 trios - README, family trios, phenotypes, validated DNMs (Ref: DDD Nature 2015)

  DDD DATAFREEZE 2013-12-18: 1133 trios - README, family trios, phenotypes, validated DNMs (Ref: DDD Nature 2015)

  Dataset EGAD00001001413

• The BC Cancer Agency's Personalized Onco-Genomics Project

  The BC Cancer Agency's Personalized Onco-Genomics (POG) Project involves molecular and clinical characterization of individual cancer patients to guide their treatment. The project aims to use whole genome and transcriptome data together with patient information to match treatments to cancer driver alterations and support clinical decision-making. Incorporating genomic data into decision-making should enable more rational development of treatment plans, facilitate enrollment into appropriate clinical trials and potentially identify less toxic and more effective therapeutic options.

  Study EGAS00001001159

• Transcriptomic analysis of liver CD8+ T cells

  Sorted single CD8+T cells expressing CD14 from human liver for SMARTSeq2. Livers processed: Kucykowicz et al STAR Prot 2022:pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35516846/ Published: Pallett et al Nature 2022 Tissue CD14+CD8+T-cells are reprogrammed by myeloid cells and modulated by LPS The liver is bathed in bacterial products including LPS transported from the intestinal portal vasculature, but maintains a state of tolerance exploited by persistent pathogens and tumours1,2,3,4. The cellular basis mediating this tolerance, yet allowing a switch to immunity or immunopathology, needs to be better understood for successful immunotherapy of liver diseases. Here we show that a variable proportion of CD8+T-cells compartmentalised in the human liver co-stain for CD14 and other prototypic myeloid membrane proteins; CD14+CD8+T-cells preferentially accumulate within the donor pool in liver allografts, amongst hepatic virus-specific and tumour-infiltrating responses, and in cirrhotic ascites. CD14+CD8+T-cells exhibit increased turnover, activation and constitutive immunomodulatory features with high homeostatic IL-10/IL-2 production directly ex vivo, and an enhanced capacity to rapidly produce antiviral/anti-tumour cytokines upon TCR engagement. This CD14+CD8+T-cell profile can be recapitulated by acquisition of membrane proteins, including the LPS receptor complex, from mononuclear phagocytes, resulting in augmented tumour killing by TCR-redirected T-cells in vitro. CD14+CD8+T-cells express integrins and chemokine receptors favouring interactions with the local stroma, which can promote their induction through CXCL12. LPS can also increase the frequency of CD14+CD8+T-cells in vitro and in vivo, and skew their function towards the production of chemotactic and regenerative cytokines. Thus, bacterial products in the gut-liver axis and tissue stromal factors can tune liver immunity by driving myeloid instruction of CD8+T-cells with immunomodulatory capacity. For the analysis of the single cell transcriptome two intrahepatic perfusate samples were isolated and frozen at -80 'C for storage prior to transportation to Newcastle, UK. Once thawed in pre-warmed HBSS containing 0.001% DNaseI, intrahepatic leukocytes were sorted by FACS to index classical mononuclear phagocytes (MNP) defined as Singlets, CD3-CD56-CD19-CD14hiHLA-DR+ or CD14± CD8+T-cells as follows: Singlets, CD3+CD56-CD19-CD4-CD8+V7.2- and split in to CD14± based on an isotype control. Single cells were sorted into 96-well skirted LoBind plates (Eppendorf) containing 5 µL lysis buffer (TCL buffer [Qiagen], supplemented with 1% b-mercaptoethanol [Sigma Aldrich; Merck]) on a BD Bioscience FACSFusion. The sorted plates were subsequently immediately sealed, centrifuged, and placed on dry ice to flash-freeze the cell lysate and stored at -80 'C. A modified SMART-seq2 protocol57 was performed on the single flow cytometry sorted-cells as previously described58. After cDNA generation, libraries were prepared (384 cells per library) using the Illumina Nextera XT kit (Illumina). Each library was sequenced to achieve a minimum depth of 1-2 million raw reads per cell using an Illumina HiSeq 4000 using v. 4 SBS chemistry to generate 75-bp paired-end reads.

  Study EGAS00001006885

• Genome-Wide Analysis of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (De Novo and Derived from the High Grade Transformation of Follicular Lymphoma)

  Version 1. Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) represents the most common form of B-cell non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (B-NHL), accounting for ~30% of the de novo diagnoses and also arising as a frequent clinical evolution of Follicular Lymphoma (FL). The molecular pathogenesis of DLBCL is associated with multiple genetic lesions that in part distinctly segregate with individual phenotypic subtypes, suggesting the involvement of distinct oncogenic pathways. However, the lesions identified so far likely represent only a fraction of those necessary for malignant transformation. In order to characterize the entire set of structural alterations present in the DLBCL genome, we have integrated next generation whole exome sequencing analysis of 6 DLBCL cases and genome-wide high-density SNP array analysis of 72 DLBCL cases. We report here that FL and DLBCL harbor frequent structural alterations inactivating CREBBP and, more rarely, EP300, two highly related histone and non-histone acetyltransferases (HATs) that act as transcriptional co-activators in multiple signaling pathways. Overall, ~37% of DLBCL and 36% of FL cases display genomic deletions and/or somatic point mutations that remove or inactivate the HAT coding domain of these two genes. These lesions commonly affect a single allele, suggesting that reduction in HAT dosage is important for lymphomagenesis. We demonstrate specific defects in the acetylation-mediated inactivation of the BCL6 oncoprotein and activation of the p53 tumor suppressor. These results identify CREBBP/EP300 mutations as a major pathogenic mechanism shared by common forms of B-NHL, and have direct implications for the use of drugs targeting acetylation/deacetylation mechanisms. Version 2. Follicular lymphoma (FL) is an indolent, but incurable disease that, in 30-40% of cases, undergoes transformation to an aggressive diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The history of clonal evolution and the mechanisms that underlie transformation to DLBCL (tFL) remain largely unknown. Using whole exome sequencing and copy number analysis of 39 tFL patients, including 12 with paired sequential FL/tFL biopsies, we show that, in most cases, FL and tFL arise by divergent evolution from a common mutated precursor cell through the acquisition of distinct genetic lesions. Mutations in epigenetic modifiers (e.g., MLL2, CREBBP, EZH2, ARID1A) and anti-apoptotic genes (BCL2, FAS) were observed in 93% (36/39) and 78% (30/39) of cases, respectively, and were invariably shared between the two disease phases, suggesting an early acquisition in the common mutated precursor. Conversely, the development of tFL is associated with deregulation of genes involved in the control of cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and DNA damage responses (CDKN2A/2B, MYC, TP53), as well as with an aberrant activity of the somatic hypermutation mechanism. Finally, we show that the genomic profile of tFL shares significant similarities with that of germinal center B-cell type de novo DLBCL, but also displays unique combinations of altered genes that may explain the dismal clinical course of tFL.Version 3. This version includes thirty-five additional de novo DLBCL samples, newly diagnosed, and their paired normal DNA from previously untreated patients, which were analyzed by whole exome sequencing (n=27T and 25N), whole genome sequencing (8T and 10N), and/or targeted HLA-next generation sequencing (n=26T/N pairs) in order to identify genetic alterations associated with loss of surface MHC-II expression.

  Study phs000328

• Integration of Clinical and Molecular Biomarkers for Melanoma Survival (Berwick)

  The long-term goal of the InterMEL Program Project: Integration of Clinical and Molecular Biomarkers for Melanoma Survival is to identify molecular and clinical factors that predict survival of melanoma patients. Our overarching hypothesis is that we can identify factors in the primary melanoma tumor that will lead to more aggressive disease. Melanoma patients diagnosed at American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) tumor, lymph nodes, and metastases (TNM) stages IIA/IIB/IIC/IIIA/IIIB/IIIC/IIID display highly variable clinical outcomes and responses to therapy. We wish to identify robust and reproducible biomarkers or sets of classifiers that distinguish patients likely to have poor prognosis. These biomarkers will help establish targets for adjuvant therapies for this set of patients before the tumors metastasize. Aim 1. Classify actionable somatic mutations, and copy number variations (CNVs) in relationship to melanoma survival. In Project 1, Targeted Sequencing and Clinicopathology to Evaluate Primary Melanoma Molecular Subtypes and Outcomes, we will profile 468 genes using the MSKIMPACT ™ assay and identify somatic mutations and CNVs associated with melanoma-specific survival, as well as their co-occurrence with other mutations, in 1,000 tumors from patients at AJCC TNM stages IIA-IIID: approximately 500 from patients who died with melanoma within five years and approximately 500 from individuals who have lived at least five years. We will also evaluate the joint effects of somatic mutations, CNVs and pathologic characteristics associated with good and poor outcomes. Aim 2. Identify primary melanoma DNA methylation profiles to evaluate subtypes and survival. Although it has been established that melanomas frequently have aberrant DNA methylation, it is unknown if DNA methylation in primary melanomas predicts outcome. In Project 2, Primary Melanoma DNA Methylation Profiling for Evaluating Subtypes and Survival, we will profile the same primary melanomas as in Project 1 with Illumina Infinium 850K methylation arrays. We expect to: identify and characterize DNA methylation-based melanoma subclasses; train, test and validate a CpG signature prognostic for survival from melanoma; determine whether this profile adds information to outcome prediction beyond AJCC TNM staging. This project is based on the hypothesis that DNA methylation in primary melanoma will define subgroups (including a poor-prognosis CIMP – ‘CpG island methylator phenotype' subtype) and that a CpG signature will be prognostic for melanoma survival. Aim 3. Define microRNA expression changes in relation to melanoma survival. MicroRNAs have been associated with poor prognosis in melanoma, as well as in other cancers. In Project 3, Prognostic and Functional Role of a Gene Expression Signature in Melanoma Patients, we hypothesize that altered miRNA expression, captured at the time of diagnosis, may contribute to the aggressive behavior of a subset of early stage primary melanomas. We will profile the same primary melanomas as in Projects 1 and 2 with a Nanostring assay. This project will define and validate a tissue-based microRNA signature in conducted to determine whether the prognostic miRNA signature, as well as other candidate genes emerging from other projects, contribute to melanoma survival. Aim 4. Integrate data from multiple platforms to identify melanoma subtypes and survival. Despite substantial literature on gene tumor mutation-, methylation- and gene expression-based prognostic and predictive signatures for melanoma, few such signatures are used in clinical practice. Project 4, Multiplatform Analysis of Melanoma Molecular Subtypes and Patient Survival Outcome, will use novel integrative clustering methods to identify molecular subtypes of melanoma jointly defined across these platforms.

  Study phs003099

• Effect of ETS2 modulation on chromatin accessibility and enhancer activity in inflammatory (TPP) macrophages

  This dataset consists of H3K27ac ChIP-seq and ATAC-seq in primary human macrophages following modulation of ETS2 expression. There are three datasets: H3K27ac ChIP-seq in ETS2-edited and unedited inflammatory (TPP) macrophages, H3K27ac ChIP-seq in ETS2-overexpressing and control M0 macrophages, and ATAC-seq in ETS2-edited and unedited inflammatory macrophages. For editing experiments, monocytes were transfected with CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoproteins containing a gRNA that was validated to edit ETS2, or a non-targeting control gRNA. Inflammatory macrophage differentiation was performed using conditions that model chronic inflammation (TPP): 3 days GM-CSF (50ng/mL) followed by 3 days GM-CSF, TNFa (50ng/mL), PGE2 (1mg/mL), and Pam3CSK4 (1mg/mL). For overexpression experiments, controlled overexpression of ETS2 mRNA or control mRNA (an equivalent amount of mRNA encoding the reverse complement of ETS2 – thereby controlling for the quantity, length and purine/pyrimidine composition of the transfected RNA but with a transcript that would not be translated) was induced in resting, non-activated (M0) macrophages by transfecting 500ng mRNA. To minimise non-specific activation due to the transfected RNA, in vitro transcription was performed using co-transcriptional capping (to minimise uncapped products), and incorporating modified, minimally immunogenic nucleotides (replacing uridine with N1-methyl-pseudouridine and cytidine with methylcytidine). After 18 hours, transfected cells were were activated with low dose LPS and harvested 6 hours later. For H3K27ac ChIP-seq, cells were harvested, cross-linked, quenched, lysed, and sheared. Immunoprecipitation of histone-DNA complexes was performed overnight at 4C with rotation using an anti-H3K27ac antibody and the SimpleChIP Plus Sonication ChIP kit (Cell Signaling Technology). Following reverse cross-linking, 50ng of immunoprecipitated DNA or input DNA were used to prepare sequencing libraries using the iDeal Library Preparation kit (Diagenode), according to manufacturer instructions. 10 PCR cycles were used for the amplification step and size selection was not performed. The quality and molarity of all libraries was assessed using a BioAnalyzer 2100 (Agilent) and the libraries were sequenced on an Illumina NovaSeq 6000. Raw data are provided as raw and aligned sequencing reads from H3K27ac-bound DNA and the input chromatin. ATAC-seq in TPP macrophages was performed using the Omni-ATAC protocol (Corces et al 2017) with the following modifications: cell number was increased to 75,000 cells, cell lysis time was increased to 5 minutes; volume of Tn5 transposase in the transposition mixture was doubled; duration of the transposition step was extended to 40 minutes. Sequencing libraries were prepared by PCR with the NEBNext Ultra II Q5Master Mix (NEB) as described previously (Corces et al 2017). Amplified libraries were cleaned using AMPure XP beads (Beckman Coulter). Sequencing reads were trimmed using TrimGalore! (Phred score 24), filtered to remove reads < 20 bp and aligned to the human genome (hg19) using Burrows-Wheeler Aligner (BWA). Aligned reads were converted to BAM files, sorted and indexed using SAMtools (Li et al, 2009). PCR duplicates and unmapped reads were removed, and the resulting BAM files were re-sorted and indexed. Raw data are provided as 100 bp paired-end Illumina reads from n = 3 donors for each experiment. BAM files are also provided.

  Study EGAS50000000109

• Small molecule inhibitors of LOXL synergize with 5-AZA to restore erythropoiesis in myeloid neoplasms

  Objectives: Bone marrow (BM) stroma and microenvironmental factors in the BM milieu of myeloid neoplasms are increasingly being recognized as novel perspective therapeutic targets. Lysyl oxidases (LOX/LOXL) are crucial enzymes that cross-link collagen and contribute to the deposition of aberrant stiff extracellular matrix (ECM) in the BM of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). Here, we studied whether inhibition of LOX/LOXL enzymes produced by BM-derived MSCs favors the differentiation of MDS/MPN hematopoietic stem cell and progenitor cells (HPSCs) and enhances the effects of 5-azacytidine (5-AZA). Methods: Primary co-cultures of MSCs and HPSCs were established from n=31 MDS/MPN patients and treated with the pan-LOX/LOXL inhibitor PXS-5505, 5-AZA or the combination of both for 4 days. At the end of co-culture, HSPC differentiation was assessed by CFU assays and flow cytometry. In some of the experiments, MSCs monolayers were pre-treated or not with PXS-5505 for 6 days and decellularized using 20 mM ammonia. Subsequently, autologous HSPCs were cultured on ECM matrices in the presence of 5-AZA or PXS-5505 + 5-AZA combination with or without inhibitors of integrin signaling such as blebbistatin, Y-27632 and αvβ3-integrin blocking antibodies. Patient-derived xenografts (PDX) were established in NSG mice based on intrafemoral co-injection of HSPCs and autologous MSCs. PDX were treated with 3 cycles of 5-AZA (75 mg/m2), PXS-5505 (30 mg/kg on alternate days for the duration of 5-AZA treatment) or combination of both. Results: MSCs of MDS and MPN patients displayed significant overexpression of LOX/LOXL transcripts as compared to healthy age-matched controls. Remarkably, LOX/LOXL inhibition in MSCs/HSPCs co-cultures increased erythroid differentiation of patient HSPCs that had suboptimal or no response to 5-AZA alone. From a total of n=31 advanced stage MDS/MPN patients, n=11 (35.5%) responded to the combination treatment, which was evidenced by a significant increase of CD235a+CD45- erythroid cell production compared to 5-AZA/PXS/untreated arms (p&lt;0.05). Of note, combination treatment with 5-AZA + PXS-5505 facilitated differentiation of CD235+ erythroid progenitors from HSPCs sub-clones with low mutational VAFs. The presence of MSCs was necessary for the effects of the combination treatment and required direct cell contacts between MSCs and HSPCs. Moreover, PXS-5505-mediated alterations of the ECM composition alone were sufficient to induce erythroid differentiation. Inhibition of integrin-mediated signaling using blebbistatin, Y-27632 and αvβ3-integrin antibodies completely abrogated the effects of PXS-5505 induced erythroid differentiation. In vivo, the combination of PXS-5505 + 5-AZA favored erythroid differentiation of HSPCs and confirmed the in-vitro results. The combination treatment of 5-AZA + PXS-5505 induced the greatest reduction of disease burden as assessed by decrease of spleen indexes, total engraftment rates, BM fibrosis and mutational VAF profiles. Conclusions: The combination of 5-AZA + LOX/LOXL inhibitor PXS-5505 in MDS and MPN synergistically restores erythropoietic differentiation of primary HSPCs. The effect is dependent of contact interaction between HSPCs and niche components, such as MSCs and MSCs-derived ECM. Our data propose a strong rationale for a BM niche targeted combination treatment with 5-AZA + PXS-5505 in transfusion dependent MDS and MPN, which will be assessed in forthcoming clinical trials.

  Study EGAS00001006174

• The British Autozygosity Populations BioResource (2022-04-26)

  This data set contains whole exome sequences of individuals from 8086 (mostly British Pakistani/British Bangladeshi, mostly self-reported parentally related) individuals from the following studies: 1. 5236 British Pakistani/British Bangladeshi adults from East London Genes &amp; Health, now known as Genes &amp; Health 2. 2624 British South Asian mothers from Born in Bradford (mostly Pakistani) 3. 1061 British South Asian adults from Birmingham (mostly Pakistani) This dataset contains all the exome sequence data available for this study on 2022-04-26

  Dataset EGAD00001008736

• National Cancer Institute (NCI) TARGET: Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments

  The Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET) Initiative seeks to accelerate research in novel marker and drug development, along with understanding the molecular basis of pediatric malignancy, through identification of genomic changes associated with the following childhood cancers: Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) - A fast-growing type of blood cancer in which too many immature white blood cells are found in the blood and bone marrow. Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), including AML Induction Failure cases (AML-IF) - Another type of blood cancer marked by too many myeloblasts, an alternate type of immature white blood cell, are found in the blood and bone marrow. Upon diagnosis, AML patients without high-risk genetic markers undergo standard chemotherapy regimen, called the primary induction phase, to eliminate most cancer cells and induce a remission state. Clear Cell Sarcoma of the Kidney (CCSK) - A rare type of kidney cancer, in which the inside of the cells looks clear when viewed under a microscope. Clear cell sarcoma can spread from the kidney to other organs, most commonly the bone, but also including the lungs, brain, and soft tissues of the body. Neuroblastoma (NBL) - Cancer of cells of the sympathetic nervous system. Cancer Model Systems (MDLS), including PPTP - MDLS includes acute leukemia cell lines and xenografts with matched primary and/or relapsed tumor information, NBL cell lines and xenografts with matched controls, kidney tumor cell lines, normal brain tissues, and embryonic stem cell lines that were sequenced for some TARGET disease projects. Osteosarcoma (OS) - A cancer of the bone that primarily affects children and adolescents. Rhabdoid Tumor (RT) - A rare, fast-growing cancer that usually forms in the kidney or central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) but can also form in soft tissues in other areas of the body. Rhabdoid tumors tend to spread quickly, are hard to treat, and have a poor prognosis. Wilms' Tumor (WT) - A cancer of cells in the kidney that can spread to the liver, lung and lymph nodes. More information can be found about each TARGET subproject by following the links on the top of this page. Together these cancers account for the majority of the more than 10,000 childhood cancer cases diagnosed in the United States each year. TARGET has employed a set of advanced and complementary genome analysis technologies, including large scale 2nd and 3rd generation genome sequencing, to strategically characterize alterations in both gene expression and in genomic structure (such as deletions and amplification) that are involved in childhood cancers. The goal of this coordinated effort has been to create a comprehensive genomic and transcriptomic profile of each cancer. Integrated analysis of the TARGET data has identified those genes that are either altered in their expression level or mapped to the chromosome regions of deletion/amplification/translocation, as these genes represent strong candidates for therapeutic targeting. To learn more about the TARGET project, which is now completed, visit the website at https://www.cancer.gov/ccg/research/genome-sequencing/target. TARGET data is accessible at the NCI's Genomic Data Commons (GDC) via the GDC's Data Portal and from each of the TARGET Publication Pages at the GDC (Please see the "Supplemental Links" section of any TARGET publication's "Publication Information and Associated Data Files page" at the GDC.). Available datasets include raw sequencing data, datasets generated by the original TARGET research teams (fully annotated clinical information and higher-level/analyzed molecular characterization data - gene expression, copy number variation, epigenetics, targeted sequencing), as well as higher level data generated by the GDC. Please see the TARGET Use and Publication Guidelines for updated details on the sharing of any TARGET substudy data, including how to cite TARGET.

  Study phs000218

• NHLBI TOPMed - NHGRI CCDG: The BioMe Biobank at Mount Sinai

  The IPM BioMe Biobank, founded in September 2007, is an ongoing, broadly-consented electronic health record (EHR)-linked clinical care biobank that enrolls participants non-selectively from the Mount Sinai Medical Center patient population. BioMe currently comprises &gt;42,000 participants from diverse ancestries, characterized by a broad spectrum of longitudinal biomedical traits. Participants are enrolled through an opt-in process and consent to be followed throughout their clinical care (past, present, and future) in real-time, allowing us to integrate their genomic information with their EHRs for discovery research and clinical care implementation. BioMe participants consent for recall, based on their genotype and/or phenotype, permitting in-depth follow-up and functional studies for selected participants at any time. Phenotypic and genomic data are stored in a secure database and made available to investigators, contingent on approval by the BioMe Governing Board. BioMe uses a "data-broker" system to protect confidentiality. Ancestral diversity - BioMe participants represent a broad racial, ethnic and socioeconomic diversity with a distinct and population-specific disease burden. Specifically, BioMe participants are of African (AA), Hispanic/Latino (HL), European (EA) and other/mixed ancestry. BioMe participants are predominantly of African (AA, 24%), Hispanic/Latino (HL, 35%), European (EA, 32%), and other ancestry (OA, 10%). Participants who self-identify as Hispanic/Latino further report to be of Puerto Rican (39%), Dominican (23%), Central/South American (17%), Mexican (5%) or other Hispanic (16%) ancestry. More than 40% of European ancestry participants are genetically determined to be of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. With this broad ancestral diversity, BioMe is uniquely positioned to examine the impact of demographic and evolutionary forces that have shaped common disease risk. Phenotypes available in BioMe - BioMe has a high-quality and validated set of fully implemented clinical phenotype data that has been culled by a multi-disciplinary team of experienced investigators, clinicians, information technologists, data-managers, and programmers who apply advanced medical informatics and data mining tools to extract and harmonize EHRs. BioMe, as a cohort, offers a great versatility for designing nested case-control sample-sets, particularly for studying longitudinal traits and co-morbidity in disease burden. Biomedical and clinical outcomes: The BioMe Biobank is linked to Mount Sinai's system-wide Epic EHR, which captures a full spectrum of biomedical phenotypes, including clinical outcomes, covariate and exposure data from past, present and future health care encounters. As such, the BioMe Biobank has a longitudinal design as participants consent to make all of their EHR data from past (dating back as far as 2003), present and future inpatient or outpatient encounters available for research, without restriction. The median number of outpatient encounters is 21 per participant, reflecting predominant enrollment of participants with common chronic conditions from primary care facilities. Environmental data: The clinical and EHR information is complemented by detailed demographic and lifestyle information, including ancestry, residence history, country of origin, personal and familial medical history, education, socio-economic status, physical activity, smoking, dietary habits, alcohol intake, and body weight history, which is collected in a systematic manner by interview-based questionnaire at time of enrollment. The IPM BioMe Biobank contributed ~10,600 DNA samples for whole genome sequencing to the TOPMed program. Samples were selected for the Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) and the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) working groups. Using a Case-Definition-Algorithm (CDA), we identified ~4,100 individuals with CAD (~50% women) and ~3,000 individuals as controls (65% women). In addition, we identified ~800 individuals with COPD (62% women) and 1800 individuals as controls (72% women). Another 600 BioMe participants with Atrial Fibrillation, all of African ancestry, were included.

  Study phs001644