12528 results for ""non-traditional+communal+storytelling+approach"+novel+segment+noted+in+critical+commentary"

in 21.27 milliseconds.

• Genome-Wide Association Study of Patients with Coccidioidomycosis

  BackgroundValley Fever is typically an infection of the lungs caused by the fungi Coccidioides immitis and Coccidioides posadasii. The incidence of Coccidioidomycosis (CM), or infection with Coccidioides, has dramatically increased over the last 20 years. This is particularly true in the Southwest of the United States, where people often breathe fungal spores that arise from the soil. Reasons for increased infection rates are thought to include population growth and construction in these endemic regions, an increase in the number of people whose immune systems are compromised due to infection or treatment with drugs required for organ transplants, climate change, as well as improved testing practices and greater physician awareness. Mild CM most commonly presents itself with flu-like symptoms and rashes, which can last weeks to months. Individuals with compromised immune systems, specifically-- substantial suppression of the immune cells known as T cells, can develop severe pulmonary and disseminated disease. Infection that remains localized to the lungs is referred to as pulmonary disease, but when the infection spreads out of the lungs into other parts of the body it represents a more serious condition referred to as a disseminated disease, or disseminated CM. In nature, Coccidioides spp. exists as mold and lives in dust and soil. When the contaminated soil or dust is disturbed by human activity, animals, or weather, the Coccidiodies spores are released into the air. Airborne spores are taken up by breathing and settle in the lungs. Once in the moist and warm environment of the lung, spores transform into spherules, which divide and become filled with smaller spores, called endospores. When the spherules get large enough, they rupture and release these endospores, which can spread and disseminate to surrounding tissue. The cycle then repeats itself as these endospores develop into new spherules3. Different ethnic groups have been described to vary in their susceptibility to developing disseminated CM after initial infection with Coccidioides. For example, evidence suggests that African-American and Filipino patients suffer the disseminated disease at a greater rate than other ethnicities. The suggestion that race plays a role in the clinical expression of the disease is still a source of debate amongst the scientific community and any genetic mechanisms responsible for these differences have yet to be fully elucidated. If our genetic makeup influences our ability to limit the spread of infection, finding which DNA differences cause these variances could provide clues to how the body successfully fights infection, and provide opportunities to boost the body’s ability to do this. Further, if we are able to identify the specific genetic risk factors that correlate with the development of disseminated infection, physicians could perform genetic screenings to identify high-risk patients and provide them with preemptive antifungal therapy prior to developing disseminated disease.The genome, made up of DNA, contains all of the information needed for humans to develop and grow. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) allow us to look for inherited differences that are more common between people who share a particular trait, for example, height or susceptibility to certain diseases, compared to those who do not share the trait. Although some traits and diseases are controlled by a single gene, the majority are influenced by contribution from several, or even many, different genes. To find evidence of genes that contribute to specific traits, GWAS typically compares genome information from large numbers of people who have a particular disease (referred to as “cases”) looking for DNA sequences that are common among these samples, and are different from DNA sequences seen in large numbers of people who lack the trait, but are as much like the cases as possible (referred to as “controls”). The DNA sequence data from each group, cases versus controls, are analyzed to see if there are specific genomic differences that tend to be associated with the disease. MethodsTwo separate GWAS approaches were taken to look for genetic differences that could be responsible for the observed differences between the different patient populations we are studying. The first method, known as genotyping, scans for differences at a set of positions across the genome, which includes both the genes that encode our proteins and the larger amount of DNA that does not. The second method, known as exome sequencing, allows us to compare the entire sequence of the portion of the genome that codes for proteins.  For this study, DNA from patients with either pulmonary or disseminated CM were genotyped and exome sequenced to look for DNA differences that are associated with one condition or the other. All patients were at least 18 years old, had no evidence of immunosuppression, and had proven or probable pulmonary coccidioidomycosis according to established diagnostic criteria. Of these patients, a subset demonstrated disseminated disease, i.e., they showed evidence of coccidioidal infection outside of the thorax by biopsy/aspiration, had radiographic imaging, and show positive coccidioidal serology. Our criteria for including patients with the pulmonary disease were that they must not require ongoing antifungal treatment or show evidence of active CM (in skin test positive patients), show no evidence of extrapulmonary dissemination, and have no evidence of ongoing pulmonary infection (pulmonary nodules are accepted) beyond six months from diagnosis.Patient DNA was purified from blood or from sputum samples by the labs of our collaborators, Drs. George Thompson (UC Davis School of Medicine) and John Galgiani (University of Arizona Health Sciences). Genome-wide association (GWAS) analysis was carried out to look for candidate loci associated with pulmonary versus disseminated disease, taking into account the population structure of the samples. Single nucleotide or insertion/deletion variants were identified from whole-exome sequences (WES) using the Picard/BWA/GATK pipeline. ResultsTable 1. Pulmonary versus Disseminated Cases of Coccidiomycosis for GWAS, Sorted by EthnicityEthnicityPulmonary CasesDisseminated CasesAsian85Black/African American1664Caucasian/White4015Filipino03Hispanic/Latino3414Indian21Mexican American1039Pacific Islander01Samoan03Vietnamese10Unknown16917More than one race02Total373134Table 1 shows the number of samples analyzed from patients with pulmonary versus disseminated disease, and patient ethnicity, where known. In all, we worked with 507 samples, including 134 samples from patients with disseminated disease and 373 samples from patients with pulmonary disease. Of these, 505 samples were genotyped using the Multi-Ethnic Global Array from Illumina Inc. In addition, we were able to generate whole-exome sequence from 498 patient samples. No significant associations were detected that differed between samples from patients with pulmonary versus disseminated disease; that is, no particular DNA sequences were found to be significantly enriched in patients with disseminated disease compared to patients with pulmonary disease. The ability to detect genetic association between specific sequences and genetically determined traits is influenced by several factors, including how many patient samples are available to compare, how many different genes contribute to the trait and how strong their contributions are. When the number of genes is small and the contribution of each gene is great, smaller numbers of patient samples are needed to detect an association. When more genes are involved, or the contribution from each gene is more modest, larger numbers of patient samples must be examined. While we were not able to detect any associated within this study, it does not mean that subsequent studies would not find this connection. Our study suggests significantly more samples should be analyzed in further studies.Whole-exome sequences were generated from 498 samples and were aligned to reference sequences to identify positions where the sequences differed from the reference. These data are being analyzed to determine if any variants are associated with pulmonary, versus disseminated, disease. 

  Study phs002170

• NHLBI TOPMed: Outcome Modifying Genes in Sickle Cell Disease (OMG)

  Sickle cell disease (SCD) is caused by homozygosity for a single mutation of the beta hemoglobin gene. Despite the constancy of this genetic abnormality, the clinical course of patients with SCD is remarkably variable. SCD can affect the function and cause the failure of multiple organ systems through the pathophysiologic processes of vaso-occlusion and hemolysis. These pathophysiological processes are complex and expected to impact multiple organ systems in a variety of ways. This study, therefore, was designed to identify genetic factors that predispose SCD patients to develop specific end-organ complications and to experience more or less severe clinical courses. We enrolled > 700 patients with Hb SS, Hb S-beta0 thalassemia and HbSC being followed primarily at three southeastern U.S. regional institutions (Duke University Medical Center, University of North Carolina Medical Center, and Emory University Medical Center). Medical information obtained included the presence or absence of specific targeted outcomes (overall disease severity as well as specific types of end organ damage). Clinical data include medical status (history, physical, examination, and laboratory results) and information regarding potentially confounding environmental factors. Limited plasma samples are available for correlative studies (e.g. of cytokine levels, coagulation activation). Targeted SNP for candidate gene analysis as well as GWAS has been performed on most samples. Whole genome sequencing has been conducted through the TOPMed Consortium. The subjects in this analysis were collected as part of a larger study, "Outcome Modifying Genes in Sickle Cell Disease" (OMG-SCD) aimed at identifying genetic modifiers for sickle cell disease. More information about the study can be found in Elmariah et al. (2014), PMID: 24478166. Clinical and genetic data have been used to identify genetic characteristics predisposing patients with SCD to a more or less severe overall clinical course as well as to individual organ-specific complications. It is anticipated that identification of such genetic factors will reveal new therapeutic targets individualized to specific complications of SCD, leading to improved outcomes and increased life expectancy for patients with SCD.

  Study phs001608

• SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study - Genetic Risk Score

  Genetic risk scores (GRS) quantify polygenic disease risk into a single measure and can aid in disease classification. GRS studies have focused primarily on adult populations of recent European ancestry. We aimed to assess the utility of GRS in classification of diabetes type among racially/ethnically diverse youth in the United States. We used data from SEARCH baseline visits and follow up visits for which key data elements were available. 2260 participants are included. Phenotypic Data to be submitted here include: Self-reported sex, race and ethnicity Diabetes type determined by provider Etiologic diabetes type T1D (antibody positive, or antibody negative/missing and insulin sensitive) T2D (antibody negative and insulin resistant) Diabetes duration (years) Age at diagnosis (years) Measures from baseline, SEARCH 3 (follow-up) and SEARCH 4 (follow-up): Age Height Weight Waist circumference HbA1c Fasting/non-fasting glucose C-peptide Triglycerides HDL LDL Systolic Blood Pressure Diastolic Blood Pressure Measures from SEARCH 3 and 4:Arterial stiffness as characterized by PWVRetinopathy Measures from SEARCH 4 only: LV structure and diastolic function measurements from echocardiogram GAD autoantibody IAD autoantibody ZnT8 autoantibody We performed genotyping using the Illumina Multi-Ethnic Global Array (MEGA) array with 1,697,069 genotyped variants including 748,291 with minor allele frequency <0.01. Genotyping and preliminary quality control checks were performed at the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine. After additional quality control, 2,238 samples and 900,743 variants remained for analyses. Samples genotyped on the MEGA array were categorized using SEARCH etiologic type and consisted of predominantly type 1 diabetes cases (n=2,051) but also those with other diabetes (n=133 type 2 diabetes, n=52 other diabetes including monogenic diabetes; genetic confirmation with either a genetic clinical test or test performed as an ancillary study to SEARCH). The median reported age at DNA collection was 11.2 years (interquartile range 7.6 – 14.1) with a minimum age of 1.9 years and maximum of 21.9 years. We used additional data genotyped on the Affymetrix 500K imputation scaffold chip with 239,279 genotyped variants. This cohort consisted of predominantly type 2 diabetes cases (n=417) but also those with type 1 (n=104), and other diabetes types (n=16). After additional quality control, 537 samples and 235,967 variants remained. The median reported age at collection was 11.2 years (quartile range 8.1 – 14.2) with a minimum of 2.0 years and a maximum of 21.1 years. About 100 type 2 diabetes cases were also genotyped using the MEGA chip to ensure concordance between the data sets and facilitate strand alignment between the two chips before genotypic imputation. The data sets had n=230,228 genotyped variants in common and concordance between the genotypes was high (mean correlation r2 for SNPs used in GRS=0.95). We used the 1000 Genomes reference panel to impute each data set separately, resulting in a total of 34.5M and 27.8M well-imputed variants (r2>0.8) for the MEGA and Affymetrix data sets respectively. We combined high quality imputed variants for analysis.

  Study phs002703

• Regulatory and Effector T cells in Oral Immunotherapy for Food Allergy

  This study consisted of a clinical trial for peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) and a follow-up project (see below). Patients were included from 2013-2015, and samples from the last timepoints were collected in 2017. The study focused on peanut-specific CD4+ T cell responses before, during, and after OIT with peanut protein. We analyzed T cell gene expression, cytokine production, and T cell receptor β (TCRβ) and TCRα clonotypes, both in bulk T cell populations and single cells, and sought to correlate these data with differences in clinical sensitivity between peanut-allergic patients before OIT, and with differences in clinical outcome after OIT. The goal was to better understand the role of peanut-specific effector and regulatory T cells in peanut allergy and tolerance, which may inform more effective therapies (e.g., OIT combined with biologicals, probiotics, or adjuvants) in the future. Tolerance Following Peanut Oral Immunotherapy (PNOIT2, NCT01750879): The unifying objective of this project is to determine whether peanut oral immunotherapy (PNOIT)-induced clinical tolerance in the context of food allergy is significantly associated with the expansion of a specific regulatory T cell subset (CD45RA-, CD25++, FoxP3+ +) that is thought to be inducible in the gut-associated lymphoid compartment and associated with immunological tolerance. The hypothesis of the study is that the induction of Treg cells will be associated with clinical tolerance. The investigators will measure the change from baseline of induced Treg cells as a frequency of total CD4+ T cells during active treatment and compare that between participants who achieve significant clinical tolerance and those who do not. High Threshold Peanut Challenge Study (PAID-UP, NCT02698033): This protocol was designed to better characterize a sub-population of peanut-sensitized individuals who may be non-allergic, despite significant sensitization, or who may be allergic, but at high threshold doses. By specifically targeting participants who met the initial screening criteria of an earlier study, NCT01750879, but failed to react during the pre-treatment 443 mg challenge to peanut, the investigators anticipate that they will identify individuals who have become spontaneously tolerant, despite persistent sensitization. The investigators might also find that clinical sensitivity persists but only with higher thresholds, or that sensitivity has increased (or is variable) since the previous allergen exposure. By repeating food challenges through to a full serving dose (7.4 gram), the investigators will distinguish participants who react only at higher doses from those who were not truly peanut-allergic, address whether their sensitivity has changed, and have the opportunity to further investigate their immune response to peanut allergen. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from patient blood samples, and stimulated with peanut protein. Peanut-activated CD4+ T cells were sorted based on the activation marker CD154. For a more recent study, the activation marker CD137 was used as well. Total RNA from peanut-activated CD154+ and resting CD154- CD69- T cells was used for cDNA synthesis and amplification (SMARTer ultra low input RNA kit for sequencing - v3; Clontech Laboratories). Libraries were prepared and sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq platform, at a read depth of approximately 30 million reads per sample. Genomic DNA from CD154+ and CD154- CD69- T cells was used to amplify and sequence the TCRβ CDR3 regions (immunoSEQ assay; Adaptive Biotechnologies). The immunoSEQ approach generates an 87 base-pair fragment capable of identifying the VDJ region spanning each unique CDR3. Amplicons were sequenced using the Illumina NextSeq platform. Using a baseline developed from a suite of synthetic templates, primer concentrations and computational corrections were used to correct for the primer bias common to multiplex PCR reactions. Raw sequence data were filtered on the basis of TCRβ V, D, and J gene definitions provided by the IMGT database (www.imgt.org) and binned using a modified nearest-neighbor algorithm to merge closely related sequences and remove both PCR and sequencing errors. For single-cell analysis, we aimed to recover TCR variable sequences from high-throughput single-cell libraries generated by popular platforms such as SeqWell and DropSeq. We paired TCR information with T cell single-cell RNA sequencing results from patients undergoing peanut OIT to show clonal expansion-related T cell phenotypes.

  Study phs001897

• Data access committee (DAC) in the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering (GSMSE) at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)

  Dac EGAC00001001643

• DAC of The polarity and specificity of antiviral T lymphocyte responses determine susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection in cancer patients and healthy individuals

  Dac EGAC00001002517

• EGAD00010000722

  Pilot experiment on functional genomics in osteoarthritis (coreex)

  Dataset EGAD00010000722

• Transcriptional regulatory networks of tumor-associated macrophages that drive malignancy in mesenchymal glioblastoma

  Dataset EGAD00001003324

• LOPEZ_2019.vcf.gz

  Genotype data for new samples in Lopez et al 2021

  Dataset EGAD00010002100

• ITER-FIISC Data Access Committee

  DAC for whole-genome variant calling data of individuals from the study of allergic diseases in the Canary Islands.

  Dac EGAC50000000180