This Data Access Committee controls access for the genetic data from the Sutherland Nine. It consists of involved Scientists and Family respresentatives.
This Data Access Committee (DAC) evaluates and manages access requests for large-scale genomic and phenotypic datasets generated as part of the Jeju Genome Project (JGP). The committee's mission is to facilitate responsible data sharing to advance precision medicine and population genetics. The DAC ensures that data access is granted only to bona fide researchers who agree to the terms of the Data Access Agreement (DAA) and whose proposed research is strictly consistent with the informed consent provided by the participants and the ethical guidelines of the project.
Background: Down syndrome (DS) is a chromosomal disorder characterized by trisomy of chromosome 21 and is associated with various health problems. Congenital thyroid dysfunction is a common endocrine abnormality in DS, but its exact cause remains unknown. This work aimed at studying the etiology of congenital thyroid dysfunction in DS. Methods: Thyroid tissue of fetuses with DS (n=4) and fetuses without a genetic/developmental abnormality (n=5) were analyzed using histopathological evaluation, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), and DNA methylation (DNAm) profiling. Results: Histological examination showed abnormally developed DS thyroid tissue compared to non-DS/healthy tissue. RNA-seq analysis showed numerous differences in gene expression between DS and healthy thyroid tissue, including significant downregulation of thyroid genes FOXE1, IYD and DIO2. Gene set enrichment analysis showed disruption of vital cellular processes and functions in DS fetal thyroid tissue. Analysis of DNAm and expression quantitative trait methylation (eQTM) analysis identified functional and biologically relevant associations, that can be linked to plausible disrupted pathways in DS. Conclusions: Based on these observations, we conclude that congenital non-autoimmune thyroid dysfunction in DS is probably a DS-specific form of thyroid dysfunction, characterized by abnormal thyroid development, altered expression of genes that regulate thyroid development and hormone production, and altered expression and DNAm of genes pertaining to numerous vital pathways leading to significant metabolic disturbances. The disturbances as investigated by multi-omics analyses (RNA-seq, DNAm and eQTM analyses) are widely spread over the genome, and presumably caused by the direct and downstream effects of overexpressed chromosome 21 genes (dosage effect), and (epi)genomic disturbances.
PFA ependymoma is an unusual infantile brain tumor with few somatic mutations, thought to be driven by epigenetic mechanisms. PFA ependymomas have a markedly higher incidence, and a worse prognosis in males as compared to female infants. Here we show that the cellular hierarchy of male PFA is less differentiated than female PFA. Androgen supplementation promotes the growth of PFA ependymoma. We conclude that androgen signaling in both the normal developing hindbrain, and PFA ependymoma are both necessary and sufficient to promote growth and delay differentiation.
This study aims to investigate epigenetic alterations in the HLA-A locus in endometrial cancer. Targeted bisulfite sequencing was performed to evaluate DNA methylation status of the HLA-A region in a cohort of endometrial cancer samples. The resulting data were used to assess the association between HLA-A methylation and tumor immune microenvironment. These findings contribute to understanding the role of epigenetic regulation of antigen presentation in endometrial cancer.
