12515 results for ""non-traditional+communal+storytelling+approach"+novel+segment+noted+in+critical+commentary"

in 20.26 milliseconds.

• Multimodal Genomic Features Predict Outcome of Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

  Despite progress in immunotherapy, identifying patients that respond has remained a challenge. Through analysis of whole-exome and targeted sequence data from 5,449 tumors, we found a significant correlation between tumor mutation burden (TMB) and tumor purity, suggesting that low tumor purity tumors are likely to have inaccurate TMB estimates. We developed a new method to estimate a corrected TMB (cTMB) that was adjusted for tumor purity and more accurately predicted outcome to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). To identify improved predictive markers together with cTMB, we performed whole-exome sequencing for 104 lung tumors treated with ICB. Through comprehensive analyses of sequence and structural alterations, we discovered a significant enrichment in activating mutations in receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) genes in non-responding tumors in three immunotherapy-treated cohorts. An integrated multivariable model incorporating cTMB, RTK mutations, smoking-related mutational signature, and HLA status provided an improved predictor of response to immunotherapy that was independently validated.

  Study EGAS00001003892

• Familial adult myoclonic epilepsy in Sri Lankan and Indian families

  Familial adult myoclonic epilepsy 1 (FAME1), first recognised in Japanese families, was recently shown to be caused by a TTTCA repeat insertion in intron 4 of SAMD12 on chromosome 8. We performed whole genome sequencing on two families with FAME, one of Sri Lankan origin and the other of Indian origin, and identified a TTTCA repeat insertion in SAMD12 in both families. Haplotype analysis revealed that both families shared the same core ancestral haplotype reported in Japanese and Chinese families with FAME1. Mutation dating, based on the length of shared haplotypes, estimated the age of the ancestral haplotype to be approximately 670 generations, or 17,000 years old. Our data extend the geographic range of this repeat expansion to Southern Asia and potentially implicate an even broader regional distribution given the age of the variant. This finding suggests patients of Asian ancestry with suspected FAME should be screened for the SAMD12 TTTCA expansion.

  Study EGAS00001004012

• SARS‐CoV‐2 receptor ACE2 and TMPRSS2 are primarily expressed in bronchial transient secretory cells

  The SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic affecting the human respiratory system severely challenges public health and urgently demands for increasing our understanding of COVID‐19 pathogenesis, especially host factors facilitating virus infection and replication. SARS‐CoV‐2 was reported to enter cells via binding to ACE2, followed by its priming by TMPRSS2. Here, we investigate ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression levels and their distribution across cell types in lung tissue (twelve donors, 39,778 cells) and in cells derived from subsegmental bronchial branches (four donors, 17,521 cells) by single nuclei and single cell RNA sequencing, respectively. While TMPRSS2 is strongly expressed in both tissues, in the subsegmental bronchial branches ACE2 is predominantly expressed in a transient secretory cell type. Interestingly, these transiently differentiating cells show an enrichment for pathways related to RHO GTPase function and viral processes suggesting increased vulnerability for SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Our data provide a rich resource for future investigations of COVID‐19 infection and pathogenesis.

  Study EGAS00001004419

• Tocilizumab treatment leads to early resolution of myeloid dysfunction and lymphopenia in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

  Tocilizumab, an anti-interleukin-6 receptor inhibitor, is recommended in global treatment guidelines for patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19. Using proteomic and transcriptomic analysis, we characterized the immune profile and identified cellular and molecular pathways directly modified by tocilizumab in peripheral blood samples collected from patients enrolled in the COVACTA study, a phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, to assess the efficacy and safety of tocilizumab in hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia. We identified factors predicting disease severity and clinical outcomes, including markers of inflammation, lymphopenia, myeloid dysfunction, and organ injury. Proteomic analysis confirmed a pharmacodynamic effect for tocilizumab. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that tocilizumab treatment leads to faster resolution of lymphopenia and myeloid dysfunction associated with severe COVID-19 thus supporting an underlying anti-inflammatory mechanism of action for the beneficial effects of tocilizumab in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

  Study EGAS00001006688

• The Genetic Landscape of Ocular Adnexa MALT Lymphoma Reveals Frequent Aberrations in NFAT and MEF2B Signaling Pathways

  A comprehensive constellation of somatic non-silent mutations and copy number (CN) variations in ocular adnexa marginal zone lymphoma (OAMZL) is unknown. By utilizing whole-exome sequencing in 69 tumors we define the genetic landscape of OAMZL. Mutations and CN changes in CABIN1 (30%), RHOA (26%), TBL1XR1 (22%), and CREBBP (17%) and inactivation of TNFAIP3 (26%) were among the most common aberrations. Candidate cancer driver genes cluster in the B-cell receptor (BCR), NFkB, NOTCH and NFAT signaling pathways. One of the most commonly altered genes is CABIN1, a calcineurin inhibitor acting as a negative regulator of the NFAT and MEF2B transcriptional activity. CABIN1 deletions enhance BCR-stimulated NFAT and MEF2B transcriptional activity, while CABIN1 mutations enhance only MEF2B transcriptional activity by impairing binding of mSin3a to CABIN1. Our data provide an unbiased identification of genetically altered genes that may play a role in the molecular pathogenesis of OAMZL and serve as therapeutic targets.

  Study EGAS00001006631

• A Pilot Study of Neoadjuvant Nivolumab, Ipilimumab and Intralesional Oncolytic Virotherapy for HER2-Negative Breast Cancer

  This study was a single arm phase 1 trial that assessed the regimen safety and feasibility as well as tumor response in patients with localized HER2-negative breast cancer treated with talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) in combination with nivolumab and ipilimumab. The primary objective was to evaluate the safety and adverse event profile of this treatment combination. Six patients were enrolled, four having relapses after prior neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and two who were previously untreated. One patient had a pathological complete response, three patients had pathological partial responses, one showed no significant response, and one had disease progression. Biopsies demonstrated increased immune cell infiltration in samples from patients who responded to therapy. In this study, the checkpoint blockade immunotherapy combined with T-VEC provided responses in patients with advanced or relapsed HER2-negative breast cancer at the expense of long-term toxicities.

  Study phs003316

• Detection and phasing of single base de novo mutations in biopsies from human in vitro fertilized embryos by advanced whole-genome sequencing

  Current methods available for pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) of in vitro fertilized (IVF) embryos do not detect de novo. Detection of these types of mutations requires whole genome sequencing (WGS). In this study advanced massively parallel WGS was performed on three 5-10 cell biopsies from two blastocyst-stage embryos. Overall, greater than 95% of each genome was called and experimentally derived haplotypes and barcoded read data were used to detect and phase up to 82% of de novo single base mutations with a false positive rate of ~1 error per Gb. These results suggest that phased WGS using barcoded DNA could be used in the future as part of the PGD process to maximize comprehensiveness in detecting disease causing mutations and reduce the incidence of genetic diseases.

  Study phs000858

• Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/Broad Hurthle cell carcinoma whole exome sequencing study

  In this study, we performed whole-exome sequencing of 41 patients with Hurthle cell carcinoma, a thyroid cancer variant with abundant mitochondria. We were able to identify recurrent somatic mutations in both the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes of Hurthle cell carcinoma. Our study identifies mutations in DAXX (GeneID: 1616), TP53 ( GeneID:7157), NF1(GeneID:4763) , NRAS (GeneID:4893), CDKN1A (GeneID:1026), ARHGAP35 (GeneID:2909), the TERT (GeneID:7015) promoter, and mitochondrial-encoded complex I genes to be candidate driver events in Hurthle cell carcinoma. Furthermore, copy number analysis revealed widespread chromosomal losses, resulting in loss-of-heterozygosity and a near-haploid state, to be a defining feature of these tumors. Finally, by analyzing locoregional recurrences and metastases, we were able to identify that widespread chromosomal losses and mitochondrial complex I mutations appear to be early driver events that are selected during clonal evolution.

  Study phs001580

• Genome Sequencing of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma at The Human Genome Sequencing Center of Baylor College of Medicine (HGSC-BCM)

  Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC) is the 11th most common cancer in the USA but the 4th in fatalities. The onset and progression of cancer is driven by extensive rearrangement and mutation of the genome. We combined our capability to capture and enrich exome DNA with the next generation sequencing capacity to allow us to detect and characterize the somatic mutation profile of 24 patients with PDAC. Patient samples were collected by the Elkins Pancreatic Center in the Baylor College of Medicine Department of Surgery. Sequencing of the pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is one of the NHGRI Center Initiated Projects in progress in the Human Genome Sequencing Center at Baylor College of Medicine. These data are also contributed to an ICGC study and will be published with the ICGC collaborators.

  Study phs000516

• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute SNP Health Association Asthma Resource Project (SHARP)

  SNP Health Association Resource (SHARe) Asthma Resource project (SHARP) is conducting a genome-wide analysis in adults and children who have participated in National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's clinical research trials on asthma. This includes 1041 children with asthma who participated in the Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP), 994 children who participated in one or five clinical trials conducted by the Childhood Asthma Research and Education (CARE) network, and 701 adults who participated in one of six clinical trials conducted by the Asthma Clinical Research Network (ACRN). There are three study types. The longitudinal clinical trials can be subsetted for population-based and/or case-control analyses. Each of the childhood asthma studies has a majority of children participating as part of a parent-child trio. The ACRN (adult) studies are probands alone. Control genotypes will be provided for case-control analyses.

  Study phs000166