While gene therapy (GT) provides a potentially curative treatment option for patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), the occurrence of myeloid malignancies in clinical trials has prompted concern. To interrogate potential mechanisms underlying increased cancer risk, we used hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) clonal tracking by whole genome sequencing (WGS) to map the somatic mutation and clonal landscape of 2,592 gene modified as well as unmodified single stem and progenitor cells from six SCD patients undergoing gene therapy (7-26 years old, average 12.7× depth). Pre-GT phylogenetic trees in SCD were highly polyclonal and mutation burdens per cell were elevated in some, but not all, patients. Post-GT, no clonal expansions were identified. However, an increased frequency of driver mutations associated with myeloid neoplasms or clonal hematopoiesis (DNMT3A- and EZH2-mutated clones in particular) were seen in both genetically modified and unmodified cells suggested positive selection of mutant clones during gene therapy. This work sheds light on the mutation landscape and HSC clonal dynamics in gene therapy for SCD and highlights enhanced fitness of some HSCs harboring pre-existing driver mutations following gene therapy. Future studies should define the long-term fate of mutant clones including any contribution to expansions associated with myeloid neoplasms.
This study, as part of the Emirati Genome Project, aims to establish a foundational pangenome reference to advance precision medicine in the United Arab Emirates. We are generating single-sample diploid whole genome assemblies for 30 Emirati nationals using deep PacBio HiFi sequencing. This process yielded 60 distinct assemblies representing both the maternal and paternal genomes for each individual. The resulting high-quality reference will capture the unique genetic landscape of the Emirati population, thereby accelerating translational research and genomic discovery.
The Genetic Studies of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is an ongoing genetic research and biobanking protocol which aims to elucidate the genetic basis CKD. The study recruits patients seen at the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) Nephrology Division for the evaluation and care of CKD. All patients clinically diagnosed with CKD are eligible to participate; there are no inclusion or exclusion criteria related to age, sex/gender, and/or race/ethnicity. In addition to office visits, patients are recruited in contexts including perinatal care and nonprofit events for patients with various forms of CKD; recruitment tools include bilingual informational brochures, flyers, and consent forms. All individuals provide informed consent; for minors, signature of the parent/guardian is required. Consent includes: use of biosamples given for genetic studies, and the request to be re-contacted if medically actionable genetic findings are identified. In the case of the latter, such research-level findings are first validated in a clinically certified (CLIA) laboratory environment, using a second sample given by the individual at the time of re-contact; following CLIA validation, the individual is once again re-contacted, and, assuming he or she still desires return of these results, they can then be returned. Following the above consent process to participate in the study, individuals provide a single biosample (generally, a venous blood sample), from which DNA is extracted using standard protocols and used for genetic studies, such as exome sequencing. Basic clinical and demographic data, including sex/gender, age, and race/ethnicity are also collected. All data collected is stored in a secure computerized database, with patient samples anonymized using numerical identifiers; the relation of this identifier to patients' names is kept in a locked computer file in a centralized database. Electronic data complies with all HIPAA and other privacy and security regulations, and resides on a firewall server maintained by the CUMC IT department.
We used uncultured tumor resection tissue from an NF2 mutation-driven grade II meningioma (MG-II) to investigate whether tumors engrafted onto organotypic brain slice cultures (OBSCs) maintained the genetic profile of the parent tumor. We prepared three groups of samples for whole exome sequencing (WES) from the same pool of dissociated MG-II tissue. Group HT is the original uncultured human tumor tissue (n = 3). Group CL is the parent tumor tissue expanded in standard in vitro cell culture until the minimum number of cells required for WES had grown. Because of initial cell loss and subsequent clonal expansion, this required six passages over the span of approximately one month (n = 3). Group BSHT is the uncultured tumor resection tissue engrafted onto OBSCs and subsequently dissected from the OBSCs at the conclusion of our standardized assay length (4 days; n = 4). WES analysis showed that tumor tissue engrafted onto OBSCs maintained a significant genetic resemblance to the parent tumor, while tumor tissue expanded in vitro displayed a distinctly different profile. Furthermore, the mutational profiles of all four BSHT biological replicates were markedly similar, indicating that each OBSC-engrafted tumor indeed contained a representative sample of the original patient tumor. A closer look at the hallmark NF2 mutations existing within all samples revealed that while all samples from the original tumor (HT1-3) and the OBSC-engrafted tumor (BSHT1-4) maintain the frame shift deletion at V24, this mutation was lost in all samples expanded in vitro (CL1-3) and replaced by mutations in other areas. Together, this data suggests that the rapid assay design and tumor-accommodating niche of our OBSC platform enables effective maintenance of the original patient tumor profile. The BBsplit algorithm from the BBtools suite was run on all samples to eliminate rat DNA contamination in the BSHT samples as well as to account for any biases that may result as a part of that process. Only the reads that were binned to the human reference were used for subsequent analysis. Reads were then mapped to the GRCh38 version of the human genome with BWA v0.7.17 and realigned together with ABRA2 v.23. Quality control was implemented using the GATK/Picard v4.1.7.0 toolkit. Somatic variants were called for each sample using the MuTect2 algorithm v4.1.7.0. Variants were merged into a single cohort variant call file and then converted to MAF via vcf2maf v1.6.21 tool. Variants were annotated using VEP v87. To identify mutations with potentially high biological impact, multiple filtering steps were applied to somatic mutation calling. First, we selected only the somatic variants that passed all filters from the MuTect2 FilterMutectCalls algorithm and second, only high/moderate impact (change coding) variants as defined by the VEP annotation were further analyzed. Over 1900 single nucleotide variants (SNVs) were detected across all samples. Figures that summarized the results were generated using maftools.
Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rare fatal neurodegenerative disease, face a lengthy diagnostic process, and, although most survive only 2 to 4 years from diagnosis, lack information regarding their specific anticipated disease course due to a lack of prognostic tools. Although ALS is a heterogeneous disease of varied etiology, peripheral immune system dysfunction is ubiquitous, reflected in altered whole blood transcriptome. Herein, we profiled whole blood gene expression by RNA sequencing in a large cohort of ALS cases versus controls. Several machine learning classifiers trained on our gene expression dataset predicted case-control status and survival, and integration analysis with external cohorts led to the identification of drug candidates.
Pathogen invasion of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) is a key gut infection event. The dynamics of this process in intact epithelia and the factors governing IEC susceptibility remain underexplored. We present a resource for live-cell infection imaging in human enteroid-/colonoid-derived IEC layers, across maturation states and in the presence or absence of soluble mucus production. Utilization of this resource shows how human IEC maturation fortifies the apical surface against invasion by Salmonella Typhimurium (S.Tm). Immature IEC layers appear permissive to S.Tm invasion, but maturation towards an enterocyte/colonocyte phenotype reduces the susceptibility by up to tenfold. This shift couples to downregulated expression of actin regulatory proteins exploited by the pathogen, an increased dependence on the S.Tm effector SipA, and the build-up of the apical IEC glycocalyx linked to surface-attached mucins like MUC13 and nullifiable by StcE-enzyme treatment. This underscores how the maturation state of human IECs governs susceptibility to bacterial invasion.
Fibroblasts have been shown to re-program into induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cells, through over-expression of pluripotency genes. These hiPS cells show similar characteristics to embryonic stem cells including cell surface markers, epigenetic changes and ability to differentiate into the three germ layers. However it is unclear as to the extent of changes in gene expression through the re-programming process.. This data is part of a pre-publication release. For information on the proper use of pre-publication data shared by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (including details of any publication moratoria), please see http://www.sanger.ac.uk/datasharing/
The study included 47 newborn twins conceived though in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and 60 non-IVF-conceived twins from the Peri/postnatal Epigenetic Twins Study (PETS). Cord blood was collected at birth and used to process mononuclear cells. Whole blood cells (WBCs) from cord blood of 98 twins (40 IVF and 58 non-IVF) and cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMCs) of 82 twins (35 IVF and 47 non-IVF) were subjected to DNA methylation profiling. Methylated DNA immunoprecipitation followed by deep sequencing (MeDIP-seq) was applied to generate genome-wide DNA methylation profiles in a total of 180 samples. Single-end reads were mapped onto hg19 using BWA. Methylation levels were quantified using MEDIPS and used to identify IVF-associated differentially methylated regions.
Objectives: The clinical trial assessed the safety and efficacy of three interventions. Specifically, it evaluated (1) the major health benefits and risks of estrogen plus progestin and estrogen alone, (2) the effects of a low-fat eating pattern on risk of colorectal cancer, and (3) the efficacy of calcium with vitamin D supplementation for preventing hip and other fractures. The objective of the memory study was to determine whether estrogen plus progestin therapy protects global cognitive function, and evaluate the therapy's effect on the incidence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment.The observational study is examining the relationship between lifestyle, socioeconomic, health, and other risk factors with cardiovascular, breast cancer, colorectal cancer and osteoporotic fracture outcomes. Secondary objectives include providing more reliable estimates of the extent to which known risk factors predict disease, more precise estimates of new occurrences of disease, and to provide a future resource for the identification of new or novel risk factors especially factors found in blood. Background: The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) is a long-term national health study that has focused on strategies for preventing the major causes of death, disability, and frailty in postmenopausal women, specifically heart disease, cancer, and osteoporotic fractures. The WHI is primarily composed of an observational study (OS), as well a clinical trial (CT) with three components: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HT), Dietary Modification, (DM) and Calcium/Vitamin D supplementation (CaD).Prior to the WHI, observational studies suggested that postmenopausal hormone therapy was associated with a decreased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Potential cardioprotection was based on generally supportive data on lipid levels in intermediate outcome clinical trials, trials in nonhuman primates, and a large body of observational studies suggesting a 40% to 50% reduction in risk among users of either estrogen alone or, less frequently, combined estrogen and progestin. Observational studies primarily examining unopposed estrogen preparations have suggested a 30% to 50% reduction in coronary events, and an 8% to 30% increase in breast cancer with extended use. Other research findings indicated that hormone therapy was also associated with a decreased risk of osteoporosis and increased bone density. The WHI HT trials were designed to test the effects of postmenopausal hormone therapy on risk for coronary heart disease and assess overall risks and benefits in predominantly healthy women. The Women's Health Initiative Memory Program (WHIMS) consists of a suite of studies which include cohorts of women who participated in the WHI HT trials. Postmenopausal women have a greater risk than men of developing Alzheimer's disease, but studies of the effects of estrogen therapy on Alzheimer's disease have been inconsistent. Additionally, observational studies have suggested that postmenopausal hormone treatment may improve cognitive function, but data from randomized clinical trials have been sparse and inconclusive. International comparisons and migration studies have suggested that countries with 50% lower fat intake than the US population had approximately one third the risk of colorectal cancer. Additionally, fairly consistent evidence existed for an effect of dietary fat, vegetables and fruits, and grains on colorectal cancer risk from within-country observational studies, although the protective effect of lower fat intake was no longer clear after adjusting for energy intake. The WHI DM trial was the first randomized trial to directly address the health effects of a low-fat eating pattern in predominantly healthy postmenopausal women from diverse racial/ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Osteoporosis is a major cause of injury, loss of independence, and death, and contributes to hip fractures. Observational evidence and data from previous randomized clinical trials suggest that calcium and/or vitamin D supplements may slow bone loss and reduce the risk of falls in postmenopausal and elderly women. However, evidence from trials, observational studies, and meta-analyses of calcium and vitamin D supplementation with respect to hip and other fractures was limited at the time the WHI was initiated. In two prior randomized trials, calcium plus vitamin D supplements did not reduce the risk of nonvertebral fractures among older women. When the WHI CaD trial was designed, guidelines recommended daily intakes of 800 to 1200 mg of calcium with 400 IU of vitamin D for the prevention of osteoporosis, which was not met by many American women. Therefore, the WHI CaD trial was designed to test the primary hypothesis that postmenopausal women randomly assigned to calcium plus vitamin D supplementation would have a lower risk of hip fracture and, secondarily, of all fractures than women assigned to placebo. Subjects: Postmenopausal women ages 50 to 79 were eligible to participate. A woman was considered postmenopausal if she had experienced no vaginal bleeding for 6 months (12 months for women under 55 years of age), had had a hysterectomy, or had ever used postmenopausal hormones. Recruitment was carried out in 40 US clinical centers in 1993-1998. The clinical trial components had additional specific inclusion or exclusion criteria.A total of 68,132 women were randomized into at least one component of the clinical trial. 27,347 women were enrolled in the hormone therapy component with 16,608 in the estrogen plus progestin trial and 10,739 in the unopposed estrogen trial, 48,835 women were enrolled in the diet modification component, and 36,282 women were enrolled in the calcium/vitamin D component. 7,479 women 65 years of age and older at baseline and that participated in the HT trial component were enrolled in the ancillary memory study. Women who were either ineligible or unwilling to participate in the clinical trial component were enrolled in the observational study. For example, many potential participants to the clinical trial component of the study were already undertaking a low fat diet or were using hormone replacement therapy. The effect of the selection process was that women enrolled in the observational study tended to have healthier lifestyles compared to those enrolled in the clinical trial. In total, 93,676 subjects were enrolled in WHI OS, with over 16% being members of a racial/ethnic minority group. The first WHI Extension Study enrolled 115,407 consenting participants from all components of the original WHI study for an additional five years of follow-up, from 2005 to 2010. In 2010, 93,567 women consented to continued follow-up. Design: The clinical trial component of the WHI included three randomized comparisons: hormone therapy, dietary modification, and calcium/vitamin D supplementation. Women could have been randomized into one, two or all three trials.The hormone therapy trial enrolled women to one of two double-blinded trials: estrogen (0.625 mg of conjugated equine estrogens daily) plus progestin (2.5 mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate daily) or estrogen alone. Women with a prior hysterectomy were eligible for the trial of unopposed estrogen. Women with an intact uterus at screening were initially also eligible for unopposed estrogen, but were reassigned to the trial of combined postmenopausal hormones beginning in 1995. Both trials randomized participants 1:1 to either hormone therapy or placebo. A 3-month washout period was required before baseline evaluation of women using postmenopausal hormones at initial screening. Study participants were contacted by telephone 6 weeks after randomization to assess symptoms and reinforce adherence. Follow-up contacts by telephone or clinic visit occurred every 6 months, with clinic visits required annually. The estrogen plus progestin trial was halted in July 2002 after a mean 5.2 years of follow-up because health risks, including increased risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease, exceeded benefits. The estrogen alone trial was stopped early in March 2004, because an increased risk of stroke was found with no benefit for coronary heart disease. The primary outcome was coronary heart disease (CHD) (nonfatal myocardial infarction and CHD death), with invasive breast cancer as the primary adverse outcome. The dietary modification trial evaluated the effect of a low-fat, high fruit, vegetable, and grain diet on preventing cardiovascular disease and cancer. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention or a comparison group in the ratio of 2:3 for cost-efficiency. The intervention was an intensive behavioral modification program, using 18 group sessions in the first year and quarterly sessions thereafter, led by specially trained and certified nutritionists. The program was designed to promote dietary change with the goals of reducing total fat to 20% of energy intake, increasing vegetables and fruits to at least 5 servings daily and grains to at least 6 servings daily. The intervention did not include total energy reduction or weight loss goals. Comparison group participants received a copy of the US Department of Health and Human Services' Dietary Guidelines for Americans and other health-related materials but were not asked to make dietary changes. Dietary intake was monitored using the WHI food frequency questionnaire at 1 year and in a rotating one-third subsample every year thereafter. Women completed a medical update questionnaire every 6 months, and medical records were sought for all women reporting colorectal cancer. The primary outcome was invasive colorectal cancer incidence. Participants in the calcium/vitamin D trial were randomized 1:1 to either supplements or placebo. Active tablets contained 500 mg of elemental calcium (as calcium carbonate) and 200 IU of vitamin D3, to be taken twice daily with meals. The presence and severity of symptoms, safety concerns, and outcomes were ascertained at annual clinic visits and telephone or clinic visits at intervening six-month intervals. Risk factors for fracture were assessed by questionnaire, interview, and clinical examination. The primary outcome was incidence of hip fracture. Participants in the observational study attended a baseline examination and were re-examined three years later. Participants completed annual updates of exposures and clinical outcomes by mail. Final data were collected by mail during the close-out period in April 2004 to March 2005. The major clinical outcomes of interest were coronary heart disease, stroke, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, osteoporotic fractures, diabetes, and total mortality. Most outcomes were initially ascertained by self-report on an annual questionnaire and documented by hospital and related records. Charts with potential cardiovascular, cancer, and fracture outcomes were sent to the local physician adjudicator for evaluation and classification. Staff at the Clinical Coordinating Center coded and adjudicated all cancers of major interest in the study using standardized SEER guidelines. In 2005, WHI participants were invited to join the Extension Study for an additional five years of follow-up in order to collect long-term outcomes. Participants completed annual data collection forms primarily by mail, similar to the OS follow-up. Women reporting study outcomes were contacted by WHI field center staff to obtain additional details and medical records, which were evaluated by physician adjudicators. In 2010, the woman remaining were invited to join the next Extension Study. In the second extension, women were divided into two groups, one of which would have outcomes documented with medical records (the Medical Records Cohort, MRC), and the other would just be followed by self-report (the Self-Report Cohort, SRC). The MRC consists of women who were in the hormone therapy trials, and all African-American and Hispanic women. In 2012-2013, a subset of the MRC was identified for a potential in-home visit to collect blood and several objective measures of physical functioning. Conclusions: Overall health risks exceeded benefits from use of combined estrogen plus progestin after an average 5.2 year follow-up among healthy postmenopausal US women (Rossouw et al., 2002, PMID:12117397). Among postmenopausal women aged 65 years or older, estrogen plus progestin did not improve cognitive function when compared with placebo (Rapp et al., 2003, PMID: 12771113), increased the risk for probable dementia, and did not prevent mild cognitive impairment (Shumaker, et al., 2003, PMID: 12771112). The use of conjugated equine estrogen increased the risk of stroke, decreased the risk of hip fracture, and did not affect CHD incidence in postmenopausal women with prior hysterectomy after an average of 6.8 years of follow-up (Anderson et al., 2004, PMID: 15082697). Over approximately 8 years of follow-up, a low-fat dietary pattern did not reduce the risk of colorectal cancer (Beresford, et al., PMID: 16467233). Calcium with vitamin D supplementation resulted in a small but significant improvement in hip bone density; however, no significant difference was observed in hip fractures (Jackson, et al., 2006, PMID: 16481635). A recent review summarizes the conclusions from the WHI clinical trials with a focus on clinical practice (Manson, et al., 2024, PMID: 38691368).Description of ECG Imaging Data: Electric cardiograms (ECGs) were given to all clinical trial participants at baseline and in years 3, 6, and 9 of the original WHI study.EKG data consist of 12 lead 10 seconds ECGS sampled at 500Hz via GE ECG machines and process via GE MUSE system. The ECG waveform were directly exported from GE MUSE using MUSE export function in XML format, which include EKG waveform data as well as other ECG characteristics. Waveform data is in base64 encoded format, when it is decoded, it is a binary data that can be used to draw waveform graph. Many programming languages and data tools have built in functions to decode base64 strings. All the other necessary information is included in the LeadData section, total byte size, total sample size etc. (usually 1 sample is 2 bytes). See example below: encoded-data (base64 encoded string) JwAoAC0AKAAiACIAJAAkACQAIwAiACIAHgAcABwAGwAZABgAGAAYABcAEwAQABAAEAAL^/AAsADAAM... decoded-binary-data (1 sample is 2 bytes) 270028002D002800220022002400240024002300220022001E001C001C001B00 1900180018001800170013001000100010000B000B000C000C000D000D000D00 0A000A000A0009000600040004000700070005000500020... These binary values are integers (Y axis data of the graph), hence it is a straightforward process to draw the waveform graph. Acquisition dates have been redacted from this ECG data to comply with WHI policy. All acquisition dates within files and in file names have been set to January 1, 1900 (19000101) to comply with this policy.
RNA sequencing of 32 primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) samples prior to treatment with neoadjuvant anti-PD-1 (n=6) or anti-PD-1 + anti-CTLA-4 (n=26) immunotherapy, and 30 paired on-treatment HNSCC samples (i.e. after neoadjuvant immunotherapy). RNA quantity used: 10ng. Library Preparation Kit: SMART Stranded Total RNA Seq Kit (Takara). Sequencing parameters: NovaSeq 6000, 2x 100 bp. File type: fastQ
