13380 results for ""pdc"+"heritage+language"+census+study"

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• Peripheral blood DNA methylome in adalimumab-treated patients with rheumatoid arthritis

  Background and aims Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients are currently treated with biological agents mostly aimed at cytokine blockade such as anti-TNFα therapy. Currently, there are no biomarkers to predict therapy response to these agents. Here, we aimed to predict response to adalimumab (ADA) treatment in RA patients using DNA methylation in peripheral blood Methods DNA methylation profiling on whole peripheral blood from 92 RA patients before the start of adalimumab (ADA) was determined using Illumina HumanMethylationEPIC BeadChip Array. After 6 months, treatment response was assessed according to the Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) criteria for disease response. Patients were classified as responders (DAS28<3.2 or decrease of 1.2 points) or as non-responders (DAS28>5.1 or decrease of less than 0.6 points). Machine learning models were built with gradient boosting and stability selection models to predict response prior to ADA treatment with predictor DNA methylation markers. Results We demonstrated a 27-feature panel of DNA methylation markers or CpG classifiers that predict response in RA patients treated with ADA. Forty-nine patients were assigned as responder and 43 patients assigned as non-responders. We differentiate responders from non-responders with a high sensitivity (AUC 0.76). The predictor CpGs annotated to genes involved in immunological- and pathophysiological pathways related to RA such as T-cell signaling, B-cell pathology and angiogenesis. Conclusion Our findings indicate that DNA methylation signatures discriminate responders and non-responders to ADA treatment and can serve as a tool for therapy prediction.

  Study EGAS00001007578

• Evaluation of EBUS-TBNA Aspirates from Advanced NSCLC for Comprehensive Sequencing Platforms Including Whole Genome Sequencing

  Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is often the only source of tumor tissue from patients with advanced, inoperable lung cancer. EBUS-TBNA aspirates are used for the diagnosis, staging, and genomic testing to inform therapy options. Here we extracted DNA and RNA from 220 EBUS-TBNA aspirates to evaluate their suitability for whole genome (WGS), whole exome (WES), and comprehensive panel sequencing. For a subset of 40 cases, the same nucleic acid extraction was sequenced using WGS, WES, and the TruSight Oncology 500 assay. Genomic features were compared between sequencing platforms and compared with those reported by clinical testing. A total of 204 aspirates (92.7%) had sufficient DNA (100 ng) for comprehensive panel sequencing, and 109 aspirates (49.5%) had sufficient material for WGS. Comprehensive sequencing platforms detected all seven clinically reported tier 1 actionable mutations, an additional three (7%) tier 1 mutations, six (15%) tier 2–3 mutations, and biomarkers of potential immunotherapy benefit (tumor mutation burden and microsatellite instability). As expected, WGS was more suited for the detection and discovery of emerging novel biomarkers of treatment response. WGS could be performed in half of all EBUS-TBNA aspirates, which points to the enormous potential of EBUS-TBNA as source material for large, well-curated discovery-based studies for novel and more effective predictors of treatment response. Comprehensive panel sequencing is possible in the vast majority of fresh EBUS-TBNA aspirates and enhances the detection of actionable mutations over current clinical testing.

  Study EGAS00001007708

• RNA isoform repertoire of neuropsychiatric risk genes in human brain

  Neuropsychiatric disorders are highly complex conditions and the risk of developing a disorder has been tied to hundreds of genomic variants that alter the expression and/or products (isoforms) made by risk genes. However, how these genes contribute to disease risk and onset through altered expression and RNA splicing is not well understood. Here we show our current understanding of gene isoforms is far from complete and reveal the precise splicing profiles of neuropsychiatric disorder risk genes. Combining our new bioinformatic pipeline IsoLamp with nanopore long-read amplicon sequencing, we deeply profiled the RNA isoform repertoire of 31 high-confidence neuropsychiatric disorder risk genes in human brain. We show most risk genes are more complex than previously reported, identifying 443 novel isoforms and 28 novel exons, including isoforms which alter protein domains, and genes such as ATG13 and GATAD2A where most expression was from previously undiscovered isoforms. The greatest isoform diversity was present in the schizophrenia risk gene ITIH4. Mass spectrometry of brain protein isolates confirmed translation of a novel exon skipping event in ITIH4, suggesting a new regulatory mechanism for this gene in brain. Our results emphasize the widespread presence of previously undetected RNA and protein isoforms in brain and provide an effective approach to address this knowledge gap. Uncovering the isoform repertoire of neuropsychiatric risk genes will underpin future analyses of the functional impact these isoforms have on neuropsychiatric disorders, enabling the translation of genomic findings into a pathophysiological understanding of disease.

  Study EGAS00001007744

• OMKar

  The whole genome karyotype refers to the sequence of large chromosomal segments that make up an individuals genotype. karyotype analysis, which includes descriptions of aneuploidies and other rearrangements is crucial for understanding genetic risk factors, for diagnosis, treatment decisions, and genetic counseling linked to constitutional disorders. The current karyotyping standard is based on microscopic examination of chromosomes, a complex process that requires high expertise and offers Mb scale resolution. Optical Genome Mapping (OGM) technology can identify large DNA lesions in a cost-effective manner. In this paper, we developed OMKar, a method that uses OGM data to create a virtual karyotype. OMKar processes Structural (SV) and Copy Number (CN) Variants as inputs and encodes them into a compact breakpoint graph. It recomputes copy numbers using Integer Linear Programming to maintain CN balance and then identifies constrained Eulerian paths representing entire donor chromosomes. In tests using 38 whole genome simulations of constitutional disorders, OMKar reconstructed the karyotype with 88% precision and 95% recall on SV concordance and 95% Jaccard score on CN concordance. We applied OMKar to 50 prenatal, 41 postnatal, and 63 parental samples from ten different sites. OMKar reconstructed the correct karyotype in 144 out of 154 samples, covering 25 of 25 aneuploidies, 32 of 32 balanced translocations, and 72 of 82 unbalanced variations. Detected constitutional disorders included Cri-du-chat, Wolf-Hirschhorn, Prader-Willi deletions, Down, and Turner syndromes. Importantly, it identified a plausible genetic mechanism for five cases of constitutional disorder that were not detected by other technologies. Together, these results demonstrate the robustness of OMKar for OGM-based karyotyping.

  Study EGAS00001008245

• RNAseq data for Failure of Differentiation of the Rhombic Lip Constitutes Medulloblastoma

  We used single-cell transcriptomics to study cells from the developing human cerebellum, and show that different molecular subgroups of medulloblastoma resemble distinct glutamatergic progenitors.

  Dataset EGAD00001008458

• Combination of ribociclib and gemcitabine for the treatment of medulloblastoma

  Group 3 (G3) medulloblastoma (MB) is one of the deadliest forms of the disease for which novel treatment is desperately needed. Here we evaluate ribociclib, a highly selective CDK4/6 inhibitor, with gemcitabine in mouse and human G3 MBs. Ribociclib CNS penetration was assessed by in vivo microdialysis and by immunohistochemistry and gene expression studies. Survival studies to determine the efficacy of ribociclib and gemcitabine combination were performed on mice orthotopically implanted with luciferase labelled mouse and human G3 MB. Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic outcomes and univariable survival models were analyzed to estimate survival. Gene activity inference using NetBID and tumor differentiation analysis investigated the effects of the combination after short and long-term treatments. Tumors from mice treated with oral ribociclib displayed inhibited RB phosphorylation, downregulated E2F target genes, and decreased proliferation. Treatment of mice with the combination of ribociclib and gemcitabine was well tolerated, slowed tumor progression and metastatic spread, and increased survival. Molecular analysis of treated versus untreated tumors showed a significant decrease in the activity and expression of genes involved in cell cycle progression and DNA damage response, and an increase in activity and expression of genes implicated in neuronal identity and neuronal differentiation. Ribociclib is CNS-penetrant. When administered/combined with gemcitabine in orthotopic G3 MB models resulted in improved survival. Our findings, with both mouse and human patient-derived-orthotopic xenograft models, suggest that this combination therapy has promise for children with G3 MB and may represent an effective treatment strategy for other CNS malignancies.

  Study EGAS00001006001

• Implementation of pediatric precision oncology into clinical practice: The individualized Therapies for Children with cancer program “iTHER”

  iTHER is a prospective national precision oncology program aiming to define tumor molecular profiles in children and adolescents with primary very high-risk, relapsed, or refractory pediatric tumors in order to identify relevant aberrations to inform treatment. From April 2017 to April 2021, 302 samples of 253 patients were included. Comprehensive molecular profiling utilizing lcWGS, WES, RNAseq, Affymetrix, and/or 850k methylation profiling was performed for 226 samples. Germline pathogenic variants were identified in 16% of patients. At least one somatic alteration was detected in 204 (90.3%), and 185 (81.9%) were considered druggable, with priority levels very high (6.1%), high (21.3%), moderate (26.0%), intermediate (36.1%), and borderline (10.5%). Diagnosis was revised or refined in 8 patients (3.5%). Spatial and temporal heterogeneity was observed in paired samples of 15 patients, indicating the value of sequential analysis. Of 137 patients with follow-up beyond 12 months, 21 molecularly matched treatments were applied in 19 patients (13.9%) with modest response. Most relevant barriers to not applying targeted therapies included poor performance status, as well as limited access to drugs within clinical trial. iTHER demonstrates feasibility of comprehensive molecular profiling across all ages, tumor types and stages in pediatric cancers, informing of diagnostic, prognostic, and targetable alterations as well as reportable germline variants within a clinically relevant timeframe. Therefore, WES and RNAseq is implemented into standard clinical care at the Princess Máxima Center for all children. Improved access to targeted treatments within biology-driven combination trials is required to eventually improve survival.

  Study EGAS00001007099

• Surgical Treatment for Ischemic Heart Failure (STICH-BioLINCC)

  Data Access NOTE: Please refer to the “Authorized Access” section below for information about how access to the data from this accession differs from many other dbGaP accessions. ObjectiveTo compare medical therapy with coronary bypass surgery and/or surgical ventricular reconstruction for patients with congestive heart failure and coronary artery disease.BackgroundCoronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common cause of heart failure, which in turn is a major cause of death and disability globally. Evidence from previous clinical trials supports the use of coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG) to relieve disabling symptoms of angina, particularly among high-risk subgroups with extensive CAD. However, the studies did not include patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction, and developments in medical therapy have since led to updated guidelines. In addition, the benefits of CABG in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy had still not been clearly established at the time of this study. STICH sought to evaluate the role of CABG in the treatment of patients with CAD and left ventricular systolic dysfunction.Reduced left ventricular function may occur after myocardial infarction, often in conjunction with left ventricular remodeling, including left ventricular enlargement and changes in chamber geometry. Left ventricular remodeling is correlated with progression of heart failure and a poor prognosis. Therefore, a surgical approach to remodeling through left ventricular volume reduction could improve outcomes for patients with CAD and heart failure. Surgical ventricular reconstruction (SVR) has been shown to reduce the left ventricular volume, increase the ejection fraction, and improve ventricular function. There is also evidence that SVR performed with CABG may reduce the rate of hospitalization and improve ventricular function, as compared to CABG alone. As part of a second hypothesis, STICH additionally investigated whether SVR when added to CABG would improve outcomes in patients with heart failure and CAD.ParticipantsA total of 2,136 participants were enrolled in STICH. 1,212 were enrolled in the hypothesis 1 component of the trial, with 602 participants assigned to receive medical therapy alone, and 610 participants assigned to receive medical therapy plus CABG. 1,000 were enrolled in the hypothesis 2 component, with 499 participants assigned to receive medical therapy plus CABG, and 501 participants assigned to receive medical therapy plus CABG and SVR. 76 participants that were assigned to the CABG with medical therapy treatment were enrolled in both hypothesis components.DesignAfter initial determination of overall eligibility, participants were evaluated to determine which component of the STICH program was appropriate for them on the basis of suitable therapeutic options. All participants underwent cardiac imaging for assessment of left ventricular function and wall motion. Participants in the hypothesis 1 component were randomly assigned to receive either medical therapy alone or medical therapy plus CABG. Participants in the hypothesis 2 component were randomly assigned to receive either medical therapy plus CABG or medical therapy plus CABG and SVR.At baseline, demographic factors and clinical characteristics were assessed, including current medications and prior diagnostic and other cardiovascular procedures, and a physical examination was performed. Guideline-based recommendations for drug and device use were emphasized for all participants. All participants underwent follow-up evaluations at the time of discharge or at 30 days for participants still hospitalized, every 4 months for the first year, and every 6 months thereafter. The median length of follow-up was 56 months for hypothesis 1 and 48 months for hypothesis 2.For participants receiving CABG, arterial grafting for stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery was required for all participants without specific contraindications. The use of additional arterial conduits supplemented by vein grafts was recommended for revascularization of all major vessels with clinically significant stenoses. Concurrent mitral-valve surgery for regurgitation was performed at the discretion of the surgeon. For participants receiving SVR, the operation was most commonly performed during a single period of cardioplegic arrest after construction of bypass grafts. However, the procedure could also be performed with the heart beating in order to facilitate identification of the noncontractile zone of scarring. After an anterior left ventriculotomy was centered in the zone of anterior asynergy, a suture was placed in the interior of the ventricle to encircle the scar at the boundary between the akinetic and viable tissue. Visual inspection and palpation facilitated the judgment of whether a patch was needed to optimize the chamber size without deforming the left ventricle during closure of the ventriculotomy.The primary outcome for hypothesis 1 was the rate of death from any cause. The primary outcome for hypothesis two was a composite of death from any cause and hospitalization for cardiac causes.ConclusionsThere was no significant difference between medical therapy alone and medical therapy plus CABG for death from any cause, though participants that underwent CABG had lower rates of death from cardiovascular causes, death from any cause, or hospitalization for cardiovascular causes. Adding SVR to CABG reduced the left ventricular volume, as compared with CABG alone. However, this anatomical change was not associated with a greater improvement in symptoms or exercise tolerance, or with a reduction in the rate of death or hospitalization for cardiac causes.

  Study phs003493

• NHLBI GO-ESP Family Studies: Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

  The NHLBI "Grand Opportunity" Exome Sequencing Project (GO-ESP), a signature project of the NHLBI Recovery Act investment, was designed to identify genetic variants in coding regions (exons) of the human genome (the "exome") that are associated with heart, lung and blood diseases. These and related diseases that are of high impact to public health and individuals from diverse racial and ethnic groups will be studied. These data may help researchers understand the causes of disease, contributing to better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases, as well as determine whether to tailor prevention and treatments to specific populations. This could lead to more effective treatments and reduce the likelihood of side effects. GO-ESP is comprised of five collaborative components: 3 cohort consortia - HeartGO, LungGO, and WHISP - and 2 sequencing centers - BroadGO and SeattleGO. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive disease characterized by widespread occlusion of the smallest arteries of the lungs. Pulmonary vascular obstruction leads to increased pulmonary vascular resistance, which subsequently causes heart failure with mean survival of 3 years. PAH occurs at all ages and affects women more than twice as frequently as men. Sporadic Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH), comprises 94% of what was formerly known as primary pulmonary hypertension, and is clinically and pathologically indistinguishable from familial PAH (FPAH). Most FPAH is due to mutation in BMPR2, including more than 120 families in the US. Our goal here is to find other genes that are a basis for FPAH, so we selected for exome sequencing 5 families among 40 who do not have mutation in BMPR2, or other known genes (ACVRL1, SMAD8, ENG) that rarely are the basis for FPAH.

  Study phs000354

• Whole Transcriptome Sequencing of Resectable Stage III/IV Melanoma Evaluated After Starting Hu14.18-IL2 Predicts Outcome

  Background: We analyzed whole transcriptome sequencing in tumors from 23 patients with stage III or IV melanoma from a pilot trial of the anti-GD2 immunocytokine, hu14.18-IL2, to identify predictive immune and/or tumor biomarkers in melanoma patients at high risk for recurrence. Methods: Patients were randomized to receive the first of 3 monthly-courses of hu14.18-IL2 immunotherapy either before (Group A) or after (Group B) complete surgical resection of all known disease. Tumors were evaluated by histology and whole transcriptome sequencing. Results: We report here that tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) levels directly associate with relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in resected tumors from Group A, where early responses to the immunotherapy agent could be assessed. TIL levels directly associated with a previously reported immune signature which associated with RFS and OS, particularly in Group A tumors. In Group A tumors there were decreased cell cycling gene RNA transcripts, but increased RNA transcripts for repair and growth genes. We found that outcome (RFS and OS) was directly associated with several immune signatures and immune-related RNA transcripts and inversely associated with several tumor growth-associated transcripts, particularly in Group A tumors. Most of these associations were not seen in Group B tumors. Conclusion: We interpret these data to signify that both immunologic and tumoral cell processes, as measured by RNAseq analyses detected shortly after initiation of hu14.18-IL2 therapy are associated with long term survival and could potentially be used as prognostic biomarkers in tumor resection specimens obtained after initiating neoadjuvant immunotherapy. Note: RNA sequences and expression data can be found at NCBI GEO GSE133713

  Study phs001947

• Genomic Analysis of Mycosis Fungoides and Sézary Syndrome Identifies Recurrent Alterations in TNFR2

  Mycosis Fungoides (MF) and Sézary Syndrome (Sz) comprise the majority of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (CTCL) cases and are characterized by clinical heterogeneity. This array of symptoms includes skin patches, plaques and tumors as well as blood involvement and erythroderma. Because the genetic basis of CTCL is still poorly understood, we performed whole-exome sequencing on 11 MF/Sz samples and their matched, normal control DNA. Upon analyzing this data, we distilled a list of an additional 494 genes to be sequenced at depth. The majority of these 494 genes were sequenced in the exons alone, however, for a small subset of these genes we sequenced the entire genomic locus in search of structural variation events. This 494 gene targeted resequencing effort was performed upon 72 patients with MF/Sz and their matched, normal control DNA. An additional 5 MF/Sz and matched, normal DNA samples underwent whole genome amplification (WGA) prior to library preparation, which appears to have introduced mutations into these samples, however we also include them here. We additionally include 10 MF/Sz samples without a matched, normal control samples, 1 of which underwent WGA. In addition to primary disease samples, we also performed targeted resequencing on 4 CTCL cell lines (HH, MyLa, SeAx and Hut78) as well as on H9 cells (a subclone of Hut78 cells) and Jurkat cells, a T-ALL derived cell line that was used as an experimental system for our work. In sum, this data deposition includes exome and/or targeted resequencing from 92 individuals with 192 samples submitted.

  Study phs000913

• Genetics of Neuropsychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

  Although schizophrenia is a highly heritable disease, relatively little progress had been made in securely identifying the genetic causes of this disorder, and most instances of schizophrenia in the general population remain unexplained. One avenue of explanation for the genetic basis of schizophrenia, however, has been effectively closed by recent research. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have now shown that common variation makes at most a modest contribution to the risk of schizophrenia. At the same time that the role of common variation has been circumscribed by GWAS, however, the analysis of copy number variants that are detectable on a genome-wide scale has revealed and replicated a number of very rare variants that associate with schizophrenia. These rare copy number variants that have been implicated in schizophrenia, however, have one striking feature in common: they are all risk factors for other brain related disorders beyond schizophrenia such as mental retardation, autism and epilepsy. These findings argue that genetic risk factors may confer a highly penetrant vulnerability to neuropsychiatric disorder, which is then further modified by interacting genetic or environmental factors to determine the ultimate manifestation. Most schizophrenia collections that are being studied today, however, have been selected precisely for their homogeneity: including only schizophrenia patients with no comorbidities, or schizophrenia patients with relatives who have schizophrenia but no other neuropsychiatric conditions. These selection criteria are inconsistent with what we now know about the bulk of the genetic differences that have been associated with disease. The central hypothesis of this project is that there are rare genetic variants that strongly elevate the risk of various neuropsychiatric diseases, and that these risk factors can be identified most readily in families segregating multiple neuropsychiatric conditions.

  Study phs000682

• CSER: South-Seq: DNA Sequencing for Newborn Nurseries in the South

  SouthSeq, part of the Clinical Sequencing Evidence-Generating Research (CSER2) effort, aims to perform genome sequencing for infants in nurseries at hospitals in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Kentucky. SouthSeq aims to sequence 600 newborn babies presenting with congenital anomalies, or other signs of a rare genetic disorder. The primary goals of SouthSeq are to provide early diagnoses to children with rare genetic conditions, to demonstrate the utility of genome sequencing as a frontline test with potential to improve intermediate and long-term clinical outcomes, and to equip non-genetics providers to deliver test results in order to facilitate the conduction of genome sequencing outside of major medical centers where patients may not have access to a genetics provider. SouthSeq also aims to ensure that genomic testing is applied across diverse communities; recruitment efforts focus on patients from rural and minority populations that have been historically under-represented in both medicine and genomics research. Sequencing and analysis for SouthSeq are being conducted at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, Alabama (https://www.hudsonalpha.org/). Enrollment of infants with signs of genetic disease is approved at five clinical sites, including nurseries at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge, Children's Hospital in New Orleans, and the University of Louisville. Both biological parents are enrolled when available so that follow-up testing can be performed to determine inheritance. Further, participant families may choose to opt-into return of secondary findings identified in the proband, which focus on pathogenic and likely pathogenic variation identified within ACMG SFv3.0 genes.

  Study phs002307

• Genomic Evolution of Low- and High-Grade Glioma

  Malignant transformation (MT) of IDH-mutant low-grade glioma (LGG) to aggressive high-grade tumors is an event of major clinical significance, eventually leading to death in the majority of LGG patients. While patients with primary glioblastoma (GBM) have benefited from increased overall survival due to treatment with the alkylating chemotherapy temozolomide (TMZ), the benefit of TMZ for patients with diffuse low-grade gliomas (LGG) remains unknown. To further explore the relationships among TMZ treatment, hypermutation and malignant progression, we studied tumor evolution in an expanded cohort of untreated and TMZ-treated patients by exome-sequencing of paired IDH1/2-mutant LGGs and their post-TMZ recurrences. Together, these findings further our understanding of the molecular features and clinical behavior of hypermutated clones. The heterogeneity present in individual tumors, i.e. intratumoral heterogeneity (ITH), is thought to be a major reason why targeted treatments eventually fail. However, we know little about ITH in most human tumors because studies typically analyze one biopsy per tumor without knowledge of where in the tumor the sample was taken. Understanding how malignant and non-malignant cellular populations are distributed in 3D tumor space is foundational knowledge for resolving how human tumors grow, with translational implications for identifying representative biopsy specimens and predicting the impact of targeted therapy. Diffuse gliomas are incurable brain tumors with variably aggressive molecular subtypes. To determine the extent of ITH and its 3D organization in diffuse glioma, we prospectively collected a median of 10 spatially mapped samples from newly diagnosed and recurrent patient tumors, including aggressive canonical IDH1/IDH2 wild-type (IDH-wtc) glioblastoma, slower-growing IDH1/IDH2 mutant (IDHmut) glioma and a noncanonical IDH-wt glioblastoma (IDH-wtnc) lacking the TERT promoter mutation typical of canonical Glioblastoma.

  Study phs002034

• Germ Cell Tumor Molecular Heterogeneity Revealed through Analysis of Primary and Metastasis Pairs

  Purpose: While primary germ cell tumors (GCTs) have been extensively characterized, molecular analysis of metastatic sites has been limited. We performed whole-exome sequencing and targeted next-generation sequencing on paired primary and metastatic GCT samples in a patient cohort enriched for cisplatin-resistant disease. Experimental Design: Tissue sequencing was performed on 100 tumor specimens from 50 patients with metastatic GCT, and sequencing of plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) was performed for a subset of patients. Data is being provided for a subset of 10 patients whose samples were analyzed using whole-exome sequencing. Results: The mutational landscape of primary and metastatic pairs from GCT patients was highly discordant (68% of all somatic mutations were discordant). Whereas genome duplication was common and highly concordant between primary and metastatic samples, only 25% of primary-metastasis pairs had =50% concordance at the level of DNA copy number alterations (CNAs). Evolutionary-based analyses revealed that most mutations arose after CNAs at the respective loci in both primary and metastatic samples, with oncogenic mutations enriched in the set of early occurring mutations versus variants of unknown significance (VUS). TP53 pathway alterations were identified in nine cisplatin-resistant cases and had the highest degree of concordance in primary and metastatic specimens, consistent with their association with this treatment-resistant phenotype. Conclusions: Analysis of paired primary and metastatic GCT specimens revealed significant molecular heterogeneity for both CNAs and somatic mutations. Among loci demonstrating serial genetic evolution, most somatic mutations arose after CNAs but oncogenic mutations were enriched in the set of early occurring mutations as compared to VUS. Alterations in TP53 were clonal when present and shared among primary-metastasis pairs. Reprinted from pending publication, with permission from JCO Precision Oncology.

  Study phs002229

• Genetic Progression of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

  These data are tumor/normal-matched exome sequencing results on 45 participants (median age of 58.6 years) treated for squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx at Mass Eye and Ear (MEE; Boston, MA, USA). Some tumors had two portions sequenced separately. All research complied with all relevant ethical regulations. Human subject research on patients at MEE was approved by the MEE Human Studies Committee under protocol HSC 11-024H, with informed consent obtained from participants. Participants were not compensated. Clinical data, including HPV status, were abstracted from patient records. Sequencing and clinical data were combined with TCGA data on 486 cases of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The PhylogicNDT suite of genomic analysis tools was used to infer the relative timing of genetic events during tumor progression for major molecularly defined classes of HNSCC: HNSCC negative for human papillomavirus (HPV), HPV-associated HNSCC, and HPV-negative HNSCC involving mutations in CASP8, NSD1, and NOTCH1. The timing of the development of whole-genome somatic events leading to tetraploidy or triploidy and to increased measures of intratumor genetic heterogeneity was determined. Associations of heterogeneity measures with clinical outcomes were assessed. The analysis identified genes with early mutations that likely play roles in HPV-tumor initiation (FBXW7, NOTCH1, CASP8, FAT1, NSD1, HRAS, EP300, CREBBP, KMT2D). Genes with mutations at later median relative timing (PK3CA, NFE2L2, HLA-A, SPEN, and KMT2C) were more likely to be important for progressing to later stages of the disease. Gain of chromosome arm 3q and loss of arm 11q were found to occur more frequent in HPV+ HNSCC cases. A high prevalence of 3p and 17p loss were also observed in HPV+ HNSCC cases.

  Study phs003139

• Characterization of Human Transcriptome by Computational and HTS Approaches

  We have deeply sequenced total RNA and whole exome of six different post-mortem human snap-frozen tissues (brain, liver, lung, striated muscle, kidney, heart) from three unrelated healthy Caucasian individuals (males, aged 47-54) with the aim to characterize post-transcriptional events due to alternative splicing and RNA editing. In addition, to facilitate the detection of RNA editing sites we have also resequenced the entire genome of each individual. Data are also used to investigate tissue-specific abundance of mitochondrial DNA from exomes and its correlation with mitochondrial transcription, mass and respiratory activity. Tissues were obtained from Cureline (South San Francisco, CA, USA). DNA and RNA were purified using the DNeasy Blood and Tissue Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) and the RNeasy Plus Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany), respectively. Exome capture was performed using the TruSeq Exome Enrichment Kit (Illumina, San Diego, CA) and the sequencing was carried out at IGA Technology Services in Udine (Italy) on Illumina HiSeq 2000 (generating for each tissue approximately 40 millions of 100bp paired-end reads). Strand-oriented RNA reads (2x100bp) were generated using the TruSeq Stranded Total RNA Sample Prep Kit (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA) and sequenced at IGA Technology Services in Udine (Italy) on Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. Whole genome resequencing was performed at Personal Genomics in Italy on an Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform (2x100bp) with a mean coverage of 30X. MiRNA-Seq was instead performed at IBBE Institute (Italy) using the TruSeq Small RNA Sample Prep Kit on Illumina MiSeq platform. Preliminary bioinformatics analyses have been performed to check quality using FASTQC software and inconsistent read regions have been trimmed using trim_galore. All reads were mapped onto the human reference genome (version hg19) using GSNAP.

  Study phs000870

• Exome Sequencing to Identify Medically Relevant Associations in Finnish Sub-Isolate Samples from the FINRISK Cohort

  We propose to undertake, at the McDonnell Genome Institute of Washington University, a collaborative exome sequencing project of ~10,000 samples from a large Finnish population cohort, FINRISK, a participating component of the Sequencing Initiative Suomi (SISu) consortium. Together these sequenced samples will provide a unique resource for identification of infrequent or rare variants with a large impact on cardiovascular and metabolic disorders as well as on a wide range of heritable, disease-related quantitative phenotypes. Our collaborative group has already shown, in exome sequencing studies of smaller Finnish samples, that numerous loss of function variants are dramatically more frequent in Finland compared to other European populations, and that such variants demonstrate strong associations to several disease-related traits. Finland is the largest population isolate in Europe and the enrichment of these variants reflects its rapid growth from a severe population bottleneck about 100 generations ago. Northern and Eastern parts of Finland experienced additional, more recent bottlenecks, and therefore the enrichment of particular high-impact variants in these regions is even more extreme (Stoll et al., 2013, PMID: 23912948). We therefore propose to focus exome sequencing efforts on about 10,000 members of FINRISK who are specifically drawn from these sub-isolate regions. As a very wide range of phenotypes are available from this cohort (including cardiovascular and metabolic disease outcomes obtained from national registries) we hypothesize that the proposed exome sequencing will identify numerous new disease-related associations. Within the National Biobanks of Finland (www.nationalbiobanks.fi) we have DNA and tissue samples from over 200,000 individuals of whom 50,000 have GWAS data; these samples provide an exceptional resource for both imputation from the sequencing studies proposed here, as well as for replication of associations.

  Study phs000756

• Chromothripsis in Patient WHIM-09

  We are studying the natural history, pathogenesis and treatment of patients with WHIM syndrome, an immunodeficiency disorder characterized by warts, hypogammaglobulinemia, recurrent infections and neutropenia usually due to autosomal dominant gain-of-function mutations in chemokine receptor CXCR4. We have identified a patient born with WHIM syndrome and the WHIM mutation CXCR4R334X who has been disease-free for 20 years and who lacks CXCR4R334X in myeloid cells, the cells that drive disease manifestations. She is a genetic and hematopoietic mosaic, since she still has the mutation in lymphoid cells and non-hematopoietic cells. Cytogenetics and microarray analysis revealed that the mechanism of loss of the mutation was deletion of the mutant allele from one copy of chromosome 2. Whole genome sequencing of patient neutrophil and skin fibroblast genomic DNA revealed that the mechanism of deletion was chromothripsis, a process of chromosome shattering resulting in deletions and rearrangements of the non-deleted chromosomal segments. In the patient, this process evidently occurred in a single hematopoietic stem cell (HSC), resulting in deletion of the disease allele CXCR4R334X and one copy of 163 other genes on chromosome 2. This HSC evidently acquired a growth advantage and repopulated the HSC population and the myeloid lineage. Consistent with this, studies using gene targeted mice in competitive bone marrow transplantation experiments revealed that selective Cxcr4 haploinsufficiency (inactivation of one copy of Cxcr4 and not of any other genes) was sufficient to confer a strong engraftment advantage over bone marrow cells from wild type mice as well as bone marrow cells from a mouse model of WHIM syndrome. These results suggest that CXCR4 knockdown may be a useful strategy to enhance bone marrow engraftment in the absence of toxic bone marrow conditioning regimens.

  Study phs000856

• CIP: Differential Response to Hydroxyurea and Incidence of Stroke in Sickle Cell Disease

  Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a severe debilitating hematological disorder associated with a high degree of morbidity and mortality. There are approximately 200,000 babies born with sickle cell disease each year, with the disease predominately affecting individuals in Africa. The overall global burden of the disease is tremendous, with more than 100,000 patients currently in the US and further millions worldwide. The governing bodies of the World Health Organization have recently adopted a resolution to strengthen the response to sickle disease in all affected countries and there is a definite need for high quality sickle cell disease research that has the potential to improve the treatment and prognosis of patients with this devastating disease. The clinical manifestations of SCD arise from a complex pathophysiology that includes hemolysis, acute vaso-occlusion, endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, and chronic organ damage. While the individual clinical course of this disease is highly variable, many of the associated complications demonstrate some degree of heritability. Intensive research into identifying genetic modifiers that can affect the pathophysiology of SCD has been limited to date and there is an urgent need to improve of our knowledge the molecular mechanisms underlying the clinical complications of SCD. The Sickle cell CIP project is investigating complication of stroke and pharmacogenomics of hydroxyurea response in patients with sickle cell anemia. The major benefit of hydroxyurea comes from its ability to induce fetal hemoglobin (HbF) and higher HbF levels are associated with reduced morbidity and mortality in SCA patients. We will perform whole exome and whole genome sequencing of SCA patients in order to identify genome variants associated with incidences of stroke and HbF response to hydroxyurea.

  Study phs000691

• Non-coding RNAs Activated by the Wnt/Beta-catenin Signaling Pathway in Hepatoblastoma

  Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common pediatric liver tumor, affecting mostly children under 3 years of age. This rare tumor represents 1% of all pediatric cancers. Genetic studies have shown that HB is characterized by high frequency mutations of the CTNNB1 gene encoding beta-catenin (around 75%) and relative genomic stability. Here we have analyzed the transcriptional profile of 21 HBs compared to matched non-tumor livers by Cap Analysis of Gene Expression (CAGE), which provides accurate and quantitative profiling of all transcripts. CAGE analysis revealed strong upregulation of known Wnt target coding genes in most tumors analyzed, consistent with previous transcriptomic studies. To better define the Wnt-dependent transcriptional landscape of HB, we integrated CAGE data with TCF4 ChIP-seq data from a CTNNB1-mutated cancer cell line and with the FANTOM5 genomic coordinates of TCF/LEF binding motifs. Both TCF/LEF binding motifs and ChIP-seq peaks were strongly enriched in the immediate upstream region, not only for protein-coding genes, but also for non-coding transcripts. Among the selected 112 top Wnt target genes at FDR<1.0E-6 and fold change>8, we found clear over-representation (66%) of distant transcription start sites (TSSs) representing lncRNAs and enhancer RNAs, which raises the question of their role in HB pathogenesis. Analysis of the 112 promoters using CAGEd-oPOSSUM confirmed the predominant involvement of Tcf/Lef transcription factors, together with HNF4G, GATA2, Sox3 and Ets-related genes. Finally, the 112 Wnt target signature defined 3 tumor subclasses, T1, T2 and T3, characterized by progressive alteration of the non-coding part of the transcriptome and significant differences in clinical behavior.

  Study phs001433

• Mitochondrial DNA deletion detection in POLG patients

  Accumulation of deletions in the mitochondrial genome is a pathological hallmark of both aging and a broad range of neurometabolic disorders. Prior mtDNA deletion studies have been limited by reliance upon either long range PCR or NGS strategies that target specific regions of the mitochondrial genome. We developed an ultrasensitive high throughput sequencing process (LostArc) to identify and quantify all deletions in circular DNA molecules while minimizing interference from linear DNA and PCR artefacts. We applied this process to skeletal muscle biopsies from 19 unaffected individuals (aged 17 to 93 years) and from 22 patients with heritable mitochondrial disease (17 to 80 years) bearing pathogenic variants in POLG, the nuclear gene encoding the catalytic subunit of the mitochondrial replicative DNA polymerase ɣ (Pol ɣ). To our astonishment, LostArc revealed 35 million mtDNA deletions with ~470,000 unique deletion spans. This unprecedented volume of data enabled detailed and highly informative bioinformatics analyses. We show that ablation of mtDNA is sufficient to explain skeletal muscle phenotypes associated with aging and POLG-derived disease, with a clear threshold separating symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering and principle component analysis reveal distinct age- and disease-correlated deletion patterns that implicate DNA replication by Pol ɣ in the formation of mtDNA deletions. Deletion patterns also point to active mtDNA replication but little or no purifying selection against deleted mtDNA by mitophagy in postmitotic muscle fibers. Monte Carlo simulations of varied hypotheses for deletion formation, based in part on competing models of mtDNA replication, suggest the observed patterns are most consistent with deletions initiated by replication fork stalling during strand displacement mtDNA synthesis. Note that sequence data for HEK293 can be found under BioProject PRJNA642884.

  Study phs002052

• Peripheral Blood Transcriptome Analysis of ALS Patients

  Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are neurodegenerative disorders which overlap in their clinical presentation, pathology, and genetic origin. An over-representation of autoimmune disorders exists in both ALS and FTD, but this remains an unexplained epidemiologic observation. Expansions of a hexanucleotide repeat (GGGGCC) in the C9orf72 gene (GeneID:203228) are the most common cause of familial ALS and FTD (C9-ALS/FTD), leading to both repeat containing RNA and dipeptide accumulation coupled with decreased C9orf72 protein expression in brain and peripheral blood cells. Here we show that loss of C9orf72 in myeloid cells is sufficient to recapitulate the age dependent lymphoid hypertrophy and autoinflammation seen in complete C9orf72-/- mice. Dendritic cells isolated from C9orf72-/- mice showed marked early activation of the type I interferon response, and C9orf72-/- myeloid cells were primarily hyperresponsive to activators of stimulator of interferon gene (STING1 GeneID:340061), a key regulator of the innate immune response to cytosolic DNA. STING degradation through the autolysosomal pathway was diminished in C9orf72-/- mice myeloid cells, and blocking STING suppressed hyperactive type I interferon responses in C9orf72-/- myeloid cells and splenomegaly and inflammation in C9orf72-/- mice. Additionally, mice lacking one or both copies of C9orf72 were more susceptible to experimental autoimmune encephalitis, mirroring the susceptibility to autoimmune diseases seen in C9-ALS/FTD patients. Finally, we found that blood derived macrophages, peripheral blood monocytes, and brain tissue from C9-ALS/FTD patients all showed a hyperactive type I interferon signature compared to sporadic ALS/FTD subjects. Collectively, our results indicate that C9-ALS/FTD patients have an altered immunophenotype due to loss of C9orf72 regulation of STING mediated type I interferon activation.

  Study phs002055

• Intraductal transplantation models of human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma reveal progressive transition of molecular subtypes

  Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most lethal common malignancy, with little improvement in patient outcomes over the past few decades. Recently, subtypes of pancreatic cancer with different prognoses have been elaborated. However, the inability to model these subtypes has precluded mechanistic investigation of their origins. Here, we present an orthotopic xenotransplantation model of human patient-derived PDAC organoids in which organoids are grafted via direct injection into the pancreatic duct of immunocompromised (NSG) mice. Tumors that arise from these intraductally grafted organoids (IGOs) enable the distinction of the two main PDAC subtypes: intraepithelial neoplasms from this model progress in an indolent or invasive manner representing the classical or basal-like subtypes of PDAC, respectively, depending on which organoid they originate from. RNA-sequencing was used to characterize the tumors that resulted from IGO xenografts, and to compare the fast- and slow-progressing IGO tumors. Tumors generated using a traditional orthotopic xenograft model, in which organoids are injected into the parenchyma of the pancreas (i.e. orthotopically grafted organoids, or OGOs), were also sequenced for comparison with the IGO tumors. To further characterize the model, laser-capture microdissection followed by RNA-sequencing was used to compare intraductal to invasive lesions resulting from IGOs. To better understand the connection between KRAS signaling and the fast-progressing phenotype, RNA-sequencing was used to compare cultured organoids in which oncogenic KRAS (GeneID: 3845) was hyperactivated to control organoids, and to compare laser-capture microdissected lesions derived from IGOs of KRAS-hyperactivated organoids to lesions derived from control organoids. To ascertain copy number, low-coverage, whole genome DNA-sequencing was performed on organoids cultured in vitro, and on laser-capture microdissected lesions derived from IGO tumors.

  Study phs002045

• A novel recurrent mutation in MITF predisposes to familial and sporadic melanoma

  We conducted whole-genome sequencing of probands from several melanoma families, identifying one individual carrying a novel germline variant (c.G1075A, NM_000248.3; p.E318K, NP_000239.1; rs149617956) in the melanoma lineage-specific oncogene MITF. While the variant cosegregated with melanoma in some, but not all cases in the family, linkage analysis of 31 families subsequently identified to carry the variant generated a LOD score of 2.7 under a dominant model, suggesting E318K as a possible intermediate risk variant. Consistent with this, E318K was significantly associated with melanoma in a large Australian case-control sample, giving an odds ratio (OR) of 2.33, 95% CI 1.21-4.70 (case and control carrier frequency, 0.0165 and 0.0072, respectively; P=0.008). Likewise, it was similarly associated in an independent case-control sample from the United Kingdom (UK P=0.012; combined P=0.0003, OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.41-3.45). In the Australian sample, the variant allele was significantly over-represented in cases with a family history of melanoma (OR 2.95, 95% CI 1.23-6.92), multiple primary melanomas (OR 4.22, 95% CI 1.52-10.91), or both (OR 8.37, 95% CI 2.58-23.80). The variant allele was also associated with increased nevus count (combined P=0.002, OR 2.54, 95% CI 1.42-4.55) and non-blue eye color (combined P=0.008, OR 2.01, 95% CI 1.11-3.81). Functional analysis of E318K showed that MITF encoded by the variant allele had impaired sumoylation and differentially regulated several MITF targets. These data indicate that MITF is a melanoma predisposition gene and highlights the utility of whole-genome sequencing to identify novel rare variants associated with disease susceptibility.

  Study phs000419