12529 results for ""non-traditional+communal+storytelling+approach"+novel+segment+noted+in+critical+commentary"

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• 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

• Platinum Genomes

  Improvement of variant calling in next-generation sequence data requires a comprehensive, genome-wide catalogue of high-confidence variants called in a set of genomes for use as a benchmark. We generated deep, whole-genome sequence data of seventeen individuals in a three-generation pedigree and called variants in each genome using a range of currently available algorithms. We used haplotype transmission information to create a phased "platinum" variant catalogue of 4.7 million single nucleotide variants (SNVs) plus 0.7 million small (1-50bp) insertions and deletions (indels) that are consistent with the pattern of inheritance in the parents and eleven children of this pedigree. Platinum genotypes are highly concordant with the current catalogue of the National Institute of Standards and Technology for both SNVs (>99.99%) and indels (99.92%), and add a validated truth catalogue that has 26% more SNVs and 45% more indels. Analysis of 334,652 SNVs that were consistent between informatics pipelines yet inconsistent with haplotype transmission ("non-platinum") revealed that the majority of these variants are de novo and cell-line mutations or reside within previously unidentified duplications and deletions. The reference materials from this study are a resource for objective assessment of the accuracy of variant calls throughout genomes.

  Study phs001224

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

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

  Study phs001777

• Relationship between low LDL cholesterol concentrations not due to statin therapy and risk of type 2 diabetes: a US-based cross-sectional observational study using electronic medical records

  Lipid lowering therapy using HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) is associated with an approximately 9-12% increase in the risk of new-onset type 2 diabetes (T2DM). The risk of diabetes could be increased by statins directly; however, genetic approaches have also implicated low LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) concentrations as a risk factor for T2DM. Mendelian randomization studies using functional variants in both HMGCR (GeneID:3156) and PCSK9 (GeneID:255738) genes found a higher risk of T2DM in individuals with variants associated with lower LDL-C concentrations. Since PCSK9 and HMGCR are involved in lipid metabolism through distinct molecular pathways, the altered glycemic effect associated with variants in both genes is likely to be the result of their common effect on LDL-C concentrations. Despite the findings from statin clinical trials and genetic studies, there is little direct evidence implicating low LDL-C concentrations with increased risk of T2DM. Individuals who have very low LDL-C concentrations not due to lipid lowering therapy can provide insights into the relationship between low LDL-C concentrations and T2DM. Here, we used de-identified electronic health records (EHRs) to test the hypothesis that low LDL-C concentrations are associated with T2DM.

  Study phs001588

• Genetics of Human Developmental Brain Disorders

  Developmental brain malformations are at the core of significant neurological diseases affecting many families in the United States and around the world. It is known that epilepsy, specific learning deficits and intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, and abnormalities of brain volume can be attributed in many cases to pathological malformations of the cerebral cortex. Although these consequences, such as epilepsy and intellectual disability, might appear broadly in the population as due to complex traits, this study's focus on those associated with cortical malformations highlights individual developmental pathways likely represented by innumerable and rare Mendelian alleles. Research has thus far uncovered dozens of genes responsible for these conditions and dissected the mechanisms underlying early cortical development in animals. However, this progress represents only the dawn of understanding the complex genetic network and neuronal architecture of the uniquely human cerebral cortex. The overall goal of this study is to define the genetic bases of human cerebral cortical development. This is accomplished through (1) the ascertainment of families with disorders of human brain development and malformation, (2) categorizing these using medical, physical and neuroimaging data, and (3) mapping and identifying the gene causing the disorder of cortical development, which can then be investigated for its normal expression and function, and role in human disease.

  Study phs000492

• CIP: Obesity-Diabetes Familial Risk, Viva La Familia Study

  The VIVA LA FAMILIA Study was designed to identify genetic variants influencing childhood obesity and its comorbidities in the Hispanic population. Family recruitment and phenotyping were conducted in 2000-2005 in Houston, TX. All enrolled children (n=1030) and parents gave written informed consent or assent. The protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Boards for Human Subject Research for Baylor College of Medicine and Affiliated Hospitals and for Texas Biomedical Research Institute. The VIVA LA FAMILIA study design and methodology have been described in detail (Butte NF, 2006). Each family was ascertained on an obese proband, defined as a BMI > 95th percentile, between the ages 4-19 y. The cross-sectional, longitudinal study design consisted of baseline measurements, with a one-year. GWAS was performed using the Illumina HumanOmni1 v1.0 BeadChips on 815 children from 263 Hispanic families and HumanOmni 2.5-8v1 on an additional 43 children. Exome sequencing is being performed on 822 children using NimbleGen capture, followed by Illumina DNA sequencing. Butte NF, Cai G, Cole SA, Comuzzie AG. Viva la Familia Study: genetic and environmental contributions to childhood obesity and its comorbidities in Hispanic population. Am J Clin Nutr 2006;84(3):646-54. PMID: 16960181

  Study phs000616

• Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) Repository

  The Study of Womens Health Across the Nation (SWAN) is an active multi-site, multi-disciplinary, longitudinal study of women's health. Initially funded in 1994 by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), and the Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH), the overall goal of SWAN is to describe the natural history of the menopausal transition and the post menopause including biological, behavioral, and psychosocial characteristics. SWAN focuses on the impact of menopause on age-related chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, bone loss and osteoporosis, as well as physical and cognitive functioning. SWAN has seven clinical study sites located in six states, two in California, and one each in Chicago, Boston, Detroit area, northern New Jersey and Pittsburgh. The SWAN cohort was recruited from these areas and consists of 3,302 African American, Caucasian, Chinese American, Hispanic and Japanese American women. SWAN participants were enrolled in 1996-1997 and have been seen annually or bi-annually for clinic visits, which include interviews, measurements, and the collection of blood and urine samples. SWAN participants have now been seen for the baseline and 15 follow-up visits.

  Study phs001470

• Genetic Epidemiology of Lung Cancer Consortium GWAS of Familial Lung Cancer

  Familial lung cancer cases were collected by the Genetic Epidemiology of Lung Cancer Consortium (GELCC) recruitment sites: University of Cincinnati, Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans, Mayo Clinic, and Medical College of Ohio. Familial cases for this study came from three sources: 1) one case each from families (at least 3 affected lung cancer cases in the family) included in the linkage analysis; 2) one case from linkage-eligible families (at least 3 affected lung cancer cases in the family) but where there were insufficient biospecimens available to make them informative for linkage analysis; and 3) one case from families not eligible for the linkage study with a family history of at least one first or second degree relative affected with lung cancer. Unrelated controls were selected from 1) among the spouses of family members, thus matching on socio-economic status (SES) and ethnicity (typically) of the cases or 2) from case-control studies of lung cancer conducted in the same location in which the linkage families were collected and matched on age, sex, and race. All cases and controls self-reported as European American. Biospecimens used for normal DNA extraction included blood, saliva or mouthwash. Some samples underwent whole genome amplication.

  Study phs000629

• Genome-Wide Analysis for Addiction Susceptibility Genes

  Genome wide analysis for addiction susceptibility genes is an affected sibling pair linkage study using subjects who were patients in methadone replacement treatment programs (MMTP). Such patients are highly addicted to opioids and usually to other addicting substances as well. For entry into the programs, patients had to be at least 18 years of age and had to satisfy DSM-IV criteria for opioid dependence. Despite their common substance use disorder diagnosis, patients enrolled in MMTPs generally have a heterogeneous mix of co-morbid psychiatric disorders including anti-social personality disorder, major depression and anxiety disorders, and often satisfy DSM-IV criteria of substance use disorders other than opioid dependence. Genetic analysis was carried out using genotyping data obtained from a 10K SNP array, and non-parametric linkage was assessed using MERLIN. This resulted in the identification of a linkage peak on 14q that overlapped the NRXN3 gene (neurexin 3), which was previously identified as a potential candidate gene for addiction, and subsequently identified as a target gene in other addiction studies and autism. In version 2 of this study, a text file containing 7704 SNPs with large allele frequency discrepancy as compared to 1000 Genomes is included. Users have the option to exlude these 7704 SNPs.

  Study phs001266

• Cross-Species Single-Cell Analysis of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Reveals Antigen-Presenting Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts

  Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are major players in the progression and drug resistance of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). CAFs constitute a diverse cell population consisting of several recently described subtypes, although the extent of CAF heterogeneity has remained undefined. Here we employ single-cell RNA-sequencing to thoroughly characterize the neoplastic and tumor microenvironment content of human PDAC tumors. Six human PDAC tumor specimens from six patients were collected, and processed for single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis. Adjacent-normal pancreas tissue was also collected from two of the patients. Tumor samples were digested, and fluorescence-activated cell sorting was used to isolate viable cells. For one tumor sample, viable, CD45-negative, CD31-negative, and EpCAM-negative cells were also isolated to enrich for CAFs. The 10X Chromium platform was then used to isolate single cells for RNA-sequencing analysis. This work has demonstrated the differences in immune cell populations between adjacent-normal and tumor tissues, and identified subpopulations of epithelial cells and CAFs present in PDAC tumors. This high-throughput analysis is a resource to better understand the cell populations present in PDAC, and may ultimately aid in the development of more effective therapies for this deadly malignancy.

  Study phs001840