12370 results for ""statistically+reactive"+taxa+in+microbial+community"

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• Broccoli Sprouts Extracts Trial (BEST-COPD-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. Objectives: To establish a safe and tolerable dose of sulforaphane that effects in vivo antioxidants via Nrf2 for development as a potential novel treatment for participants with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), caused primarily by smoking, is the third leading cause of death in the United States and world-wide. Surprisingly, there are few treatments available to address the pathobiology of COPD other than cessation of smoking. The development and progression of COPD are associated with increased inflammatory response(s) and increased oxidative stress in the lung. Thus, one approach to the development of novel therapies is the stimulation of endogenous antioxidant defense mechanisms.Nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 (NFE2L2/Nrf2) is a transcription factor activated by oxidative stress. Nrf2 activity promotes anti-oxidant enzymes, and anti-oxidant enzymes play key roles in cellular defenses. Sulforaphane, a derivative of broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables, has been shown to stimulate Nrf2 activity in both in vivo and in vitro experiments. For example, activation of Nrf2 protected mice from developing emphysema after chronic smoke exposure and decreased oxidative stress. Similarly, activation of Nrf2 in human COPD lung cells resulted in decreased oxidative stress. Therefore, this study was designed to assess whether daily ingestion of sulforaphane by COPD participants for four weeks increased Nrf2 activity in alveolar macrophages and bronchial epithelial cells. Participants: There were a total of 89 participants randomized to one of three treatment arms. Of these, 31 participants were randomized to the placebo arm, and 29 participants were randomized to the each of the sulforaphane arms. One participant withdrew from the placebo arm, therefore, a total of 88 participants completed the study.Design: Participants were assigned to receive sulforaphane at 25 micromoles (4.4mg), sulforaphane at 150 micromoles (26.6 mg), or placebo (microcellulose) once daily by mouth. Computer-generated treatment assignments were blinded to participants, clinical staff, and study staff. Doses were back-filled with methylcellulose and presented in similar capsules to compensate for appearance and weight differences in sulforaphane and placebo treatments arms.There were a total of five study visits over the six-week study period. Prior to randomization, participants were assessed for eligibility, which included baseline data collection. Participants provided medical histories, underwent a physical examination, pre-and-post bronchodilator spirometry, lung volume measurements, carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DLCO), and pulse oximetry over the six-week study period. Follow up data and biospecimens were collected at the final visit, which was targeted for four weeks after randomization. Two fiberoptic bronchoscopies were performed under sedation to collect endobronchial brushings and bronchoalveolar lavage used to isolate alveolar macrophages and bronchial epithelial cells. The first bronchoscopy was performed on the day of randomization, and the second bronchoscopy was performed the day after the final visit. In addition, nasal brushings were obtained prior to bronchoscopy to isolate nasal epithelial cells. The primary outcomes were changes in Nrf2 target gene expression at four weeks in alveolar macrophages and bronchial epithelial cells. The target genes for the primary outcome were NQ01, H01, AKR1C1, and AKR1C3. Secondary outcomes included the evaluation of: expression of other genes in the Nrf2/Keap1 pathway (e.g. Nrf2/NFE2L2, KEAP1, and SLPI), markers of oxidative stress (e.g., isoprostane and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) in plasma and expired breath condensate, and cytokine profiles in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Conclusions: Sulforaphane administered at four weeks doses of 25umoles and 150umoles to participants with COPD did not significantly increase Nrf2 target gene expression in alveolar macrophages or bronchial epithelial cells. In addition, changes in oxidative stress markers and the expression of other genes in the Nrf2/Keap1 pathway were not statistically significant between the treatment groups.Wise RA, Holbrook JT, Criner G, et al. Lack of Effect of Oral Sulforaphane Administration on Nrf2 Expression in COPD: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo Controlled Trial. Vij N, ed. PLoS ONE. 2016; 11(11):e0163716. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0163716 (PMID: 27832073; PMID: 28350841).

  Study phs004022

• Identification of intronic sequences promoting natural skipping of ABCA4 exon 15 using long-read transcriptomics and midigene assays

  Stargardt disease is an inherited retinal disease that leads to progressive loss of vision, and is caused by biallelic variants in the ABCA4 gene. A significant proportion of ABCA4 variants of variable penetrance affect pre-mRNA splicing. Previously, we observed the exclusion of certain ABCA4 exons into the final transcript in the absence of any disease-causing variants. In this study, we explored this phenomenon that we coined natural exon skipping (NES) for the entire ABCA4 transcript, using targeted RT-PCR analysis as well as long-read transcriptome sequencing of control retina samples. For the most abundant NES event, which is skipping of ABCA4 exon 15, overlapping ABCA4 deletion constructs were employed to identify responsible cis-regulatory sequence motifs. Subsequently, antisense oligonucleotides (AONs) were designed and tested to reverse NES and restore fully-spliced ABCA4 mRNA. We identified intronic regions on each side of exon 15 that, when deleted, increased the inclusion of exon 15 in the final transcripts. Interestingly, these motifs appear to work in a synergistic manner. Further fine-mapping of these regions revealed several cis-regulatory motifs that may be responsible for inducing NES, on each side of the exon. AONs targeting these motifs unfortunately did not decrease the skipping of exon 15. In conclusion, we discovered an intriguing phenomenon that, in the absence of disease-causing variants, results in the skipping of one or more exons in the ABCA4 transcript. These NES events appear to be regulated by cis-regulatory motifs within the flanking introns. This work captured the extend of NES throughout ABCA4 transcript and the role of cis-regulatory motifs in pre-mRNA splicing.. The use of AONs targeting cis-regulatory motifs is an innovative strategy for splicing modulation, suitable for complementing future variant-specific splicing modulation therapies in ABCA4 retinopathies.

  Study EGAS50000000071

• Genomic Profiling of Pediatric Tumors by Cell Free DNA Sequencing

  BACKGROUND Analysis of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from peripheral blood has been studied extensively for detection and monitoring therapy response in adult cancers, but utility in pediatric tumors is unclear. METHODS We studied 233 children with hematologic, solid and brain tumors. cfDNA was extracted from 1 mL of plasma collected at diagnosis. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in cfDNA was quantified and diverse classes of somatic genomic variants were detected using PeCan-Seq. PeCan-Seq findings were compared with matched tumor whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing data. Minimal residual disease (MRD) status was evaluated by cfDNA PeCan-Seq in 14 patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. RESULTS Plasma cfDNA yields at diagnosis were higher for hematologic malignancies than for solid and brain tumors. Patients with hematologic malignancy were 100% ctDNA-positive, the median ctDNA fraction in cfDNA was 0.77. We detected 97% variants that were present in tumors and covered by the capture panel, and 50 subclonal variants that were present in cfDNA only. Our approach enabled detection of sequence and structural variants in B-ALL ctDNA at varying levels of MRD. Nineteen of 38 patients with solid tumors were ctDNA-positive, with high prevalence in Ewing Sarcoma, liver tumors and osteosarcoma. One of 19 brain tumor patients was ct-DNA positive, indicating lack of utility for plasma-derived cfDNA in this disease. Notably, cfDNA analysis of a single plasma sample identified genomic features in ctDNA derived from B-ALL, concurrent primary neuroblastoma, and a later neuroblastoma relapse, indicating that genomic variations from multiple tumors could be detected simultaneously. CONCLUSIONS Pediatric patients with hematologic malignancy had an abundance of plasma ctDNA at diagnosis. Plasma ctDNA levels varied between different solid tumor types, more studies are needed to determine utility. Panel-based cfDNA sequencing could serve as a non-invasive approach for pediatric cancer diagnosis and disease monitoring.

  Study EGAS50000000072

• A circulating biomarker for severity of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy

  Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is a prevalent, incurable skeletal myopathy. Clinical trials for FSHD are hindered by heterogeneous biomarkers poorly associated with clinical severity, requiring invasive muscle biopsy. Macroscopically FSHD presents with slow fatty replacement of muscle, rapidly accelerated by inflammation. Mis-expression of the transcription factor DUX4 is currently accepted to underlie FSHD pathogenesis and mechanisms including PAX7 target gene repression have been proposed. Here we perform RNA-sequencing on MRI guided inflamed (n=24) and isogenic non-inflamed (n=24) muscle biopsies from the same clinically characterised FSHD patients, alongside isogenic peripheral blood mononucleated cells from a subset of patients (n=13), and unaffected controls. We employ multivariate models to evaluate the clinical associations of 5 published FSHD transcriptomic biomarkers. We demonstrate that PAX7 target gene repression can discriminate control, inflamed and non-inflamed FSHD muscle independently of age and sex (p<0.013), while the discriminatory power of DUX4 target genes is limited to distinguishing FSHD muscle from control. Importantly, the level of PAX7 target gene repression in non-inflamed muscle associates with clinical assessments of FSHD severity (p=0.04). DUX4 target gene biomarkers in FSHD muscle show associations with lower limb fat fraction and D4Z4 array length, but not clinical assessment. Lastly, PAX7 target gene repression in FSHD muscle correlates with the level in isogenic peripheral blood mononucleated cells (p=0.002). A refined PAX7 target gene biomarker comprising 143/601 PAX7 target genes computed in peripheral blood (the FSHD muscle-blood biomarker) associates with clinical severity in FSHD patients (p<0.036). Our new circulating biomarker validates as a classifier of clinical severity in an independent data set of 54 FSHD patient blood samples, with improved power in older patients (p=0.03). In summary, we present the minimally invasive FSHD muscle-blood biomarker of FSHD clinical severity valid in patient muscle and blood, with potential utility in routine disease monitoring and clinical trials.

  Study EGAS00001007350

• Intra-tumor heterogeneity of localized lung adenocarcinomas defined by multi-region sequencing

  Background: Intra-tumor heterogeneity (ITH) may have profound impacts on biopsy strategy, characterization of actionable targets, treatment planning, and drug resistance. ITH of lung cancers has not been well studied. Methods: We performed multi-region whole exome sequencing (average sequencing depth 277x) on 48 tumor regions from 11 resected lung adenocarcinomas (8 stage I, 2 stage II and one stage III tumors) followed by deep sequencing validation (average sequencing depth 863x). Results: All tumors showed clear evidence of spatial ITH. On average, 76% of all mutations and 20/21 known cancer gene mutations were present in all regions of individual tumors (trunk mutations). Copy number analysis did not show substantial difference in large-scale chromosome aberrations. A canonical KRAS p.G12C mutation was detected in only 1 of 4 tumor regions (branch mutations) at exome depth but detected in all four tumor regions (trunk mutations) at increased sequencing depth. In addition, many heterogeneous branch mutations defined by exome sequencing were detectable in all regions of individual tumors with increasing sequencing depth. Significant differences in mutational spectrum were observed in 6 tumors indicating that specific mutational processes were likely operative at different times during development of these tumors. With a median follow up of 21 months post surgery, 3 patients have relapsed and all 3 patients presented with significantly larger fractions of subclonal mutations in their primary tumors. Conclusions: Although multi-region sampling is still required to fully assess ITH complexity, single biopsy analysis at appropriate depth might be sufficient to identify the majority of known cancer gene mutations in localized lung adenocarcinomas. Larger subclonal mutation fractions may be associated with increased likelihood of postsurgical relapse in patients with localized lung adenocarcinomas. Studies on larger cohort, ideally with comprehensive clinical annotation and repeat biopsy at relapse are needed to fully understand the clinical impact of ITH.

  Study EGAS00001000930

• Tanzania dietary intervention study 2019-2020

  We performed a dietary intervention study comparing western diet, traditional diet and the supplementation of fermented banana beverage in a cohort of 66 individuals (22 in each study arm)

  Study EGAS50000000317

• The elucidation of molecular mechanisms of hematopoietic stem cells focusing on paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH)-type cells

  To elucidate the pathogenicity of aplastic anemia, we conducted exome seqence analysis in 5 patients with aplastic anemia with uniparental disomy in 6p.

  Study JGAS000094

• ChIP_sequencing_in_Cancer_Cell_Lines

  The project is to evaluate the genomic binding sites of the histone demethylase JARID1C. This gene was recently identified in CGP as a novel recessive cancer gene in human renal cell carcinoma.

  Study EGAS00001000203

• CLL_targeted_exome_sequencing

  Aim to characterise cancer gene landscape in CLL, particularly in cases with mutated POT1 gene. Treatment-naïve CLL cases will be interrogated by targeted exome sequencing using a cancer gene panel.

  Study EGAS00001001963

• Role_of_HPV_and_Interferon_in_APOBEC_mutational_signature

  The aim of this project is to test whether HPV oncogenes and /or interferon induce the APOBEC mutational signature in vitro, and to test the role of APOBEC3A in this process.

  Study EGAS00001002988