14658 results for "PLOS+ONE+Pennsylvania+German+ACS+language+code+pdc+open+access+study"

in 34.03 milliseconds.

• The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital Genetics of Congenital Heart Disease (CHD)

  Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common type of birth defect, but the cause for the majority of cardiac birth defects remains unknown. Numerous epidemiologic studies have demonstrated evidence that genetic factors likely play a contributory, if not causative, role in CHD. A few genes have been identified by us and other investigators using traditional genetic approaches, but these genes only account for a small portion of the non-syndromic CHDs. Therefore, we are now utilizing whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), with the addition of more traditional genetic techniques such as chromosomal microarray or traditional linkage analysis, to identify genetic causes of familial and isolated CHD. With WES/WGS, we are able to sequence all of the genes of an individual and apply different data analysis techniques based on whether we are analyzing a multiplex family or a cohort of trios (mother, father and child with CHD) with a specific isolated CHD. Therefore, WES/WGS is a robust method for identification of novel genetic causes of CHD, which will have important diagnostic and therapeutic consequences for these children. Subjects provided blood samples, skin biopsy, or saliva samples for DNA extraction and creation of cell lines. Tissue remaining after surgical procedures was also collected. Medical records were searched for detailed phenotype data and subjects were followed longitudinally for outcome.

  Study phs002010

• Genomics of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

  Despite the growing incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) due to increased hepatitis C virus infection and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in Western populations, the genetic determinants of this cancer have yet to be established. A minority (15-20%) of HCC occurs in livers without cirrhosis or other chronic disease. Because the liver is functionally preserved in these patients and surgical resection of the tumor may be performed safely, and because of the scarcity of livers available for transplantation, non-cirrhotic patients undergo surgical resection for HCC treatment. These resected tumors present investigatory opportunities in two ways: First, they provide tumor specimen which have not been treated with chemotherapy and embolization. Second, the absence of cirrhosis may provide an unconfounded background from which to investigate the genetic tumorigenesis of HCC. In livers with cirrhosis, genetic instability is prevalent as assessed by assays for microsatellite instability, loss of heterozygosity and aberrant DNA methylation. In contrast, in livers without cirrhosis, the non-tumor tissue surrounding HCC have been found to have fewer genetic aberrations. It has been postulated that the pathologic process of cirrhosis may result in the accumulation of many "passenger"; as well as "driver" mutations, and that the examination of the HCC cancer genome may be facilitated in non-cirrhotic livers because of the absence of an accumulated background noise of mutations.

  Study phs001106

• Center for Common Disease Genomics [CCDG] - Cardiovascular: Genetics of Coronary Heart Disease - Characterizaton of Coronary Prone Pedigrees

  The primary cohort includes samples from 499 men and 154 women who survived a myocardial infarction, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) by age 55 years for men or age 65 years for women. Patients were seen at least six months after their acute event. Samples from another 488 men and 541 women that showed a nearly identical age, gender, and measured blood pressure distribution were collected as population-based controls. These controls tended to live in urban Salt Lake City, where the vast majority of the population is Caucasian. Blood samples were collected in the morning after 12h to 16h of fasting and prepared according to guidelines of the Lipid Research Clinic's program Manual of Laboratory Operations. All samples have serum, DNA and/or white blood cells, and a host of measurements (e.g. standard clinical chemistries, LDL and HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, HbA1C, insulin, blood pressures, anthropometric data, information on medical conditions and drug use, etc.). Additional details about the cohort or sample preparation were published previously. Here we present in total 1,475 patients that were successfully sequenced. This number includes 228 women, 419 men, and 7 of unreported gender survivors as well as 339 women and 482 men that served as population-based controls.

  Study phs001901

• Whole exome and transcriptome analysis of UV-exposed epidermis and carcinoma in situ reveals early drivers of carcinogenesis

  Squamous cell carcinoma in situ (SCCIS) is a prevalent precancerous lesion that can progress to cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC). Although SCCIS is common, its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. To better understand SCCIS development, we performed laser-captured microdissection of human SCCIS and adjacent epidermis to isolate genomic DNA and RNA for next generation sequencing. Whole exome sequencing (WES) identified UV-signature mutations in multiple genes including Notch 1-3 (GeneID:4851, GeneID:4853, GeneID:4854) in the epidermis and SCCIS and oncogenic TP53 (GeneID:7157) mutations in SCCIS. Novel gene families, including SCHLAFEN genes, contained UV/oxidative-signature disruptive (UVD) epidermal mutations that manifested positive selection in SCCIS. The frequency and distribution of NOTCH and TP53 mutations indicate that NOTCH mutations may precede TP53 mutations. RNA sequencing identified 1166 differentially expressed genes; the top 5 enriched GO biological processes included: 1) immune response, 2) epidermal development, 3) protein phosphorylation, 4) regulation of catalytic activity, and 5) cytoskeletal regulation. The NEURL1 ubiquitin ligase, which targets Notch ligands for degradation, was upregulated in SCCIS. Neuralized 1 protein was found to be elevated in SCCIS suggesting that increased levels could represent a novel mechanism for downregulating Notch during UV-induced carcinogenesis. The data from DNA and RNA sequencing of epidermis and SCCIS provide insights regarding SCCIS formation.

  Study phs002019

• Human CD4 Memory T Cell Activation Time Course

  We performed a high-resolution time course RNA-seq experiment on CD4+ memory T cells during activation with anti-CD3/CD28 beads. We performed this in 24 adult individuals of European ancestry with no autoimmune diseases. We used 1 million cells as starting material, per time point (up to 8 time points per individual from 0 to 72 hours). We identified widespread dynamic allele-specific expression (dynASE) across the genome, i.e. ASE that changes with time after activation, which reflects cell state-dependent genetic regulatory effects. DynASE events were enriched in risk loci for multiple autoimmune diseases. This highlights the importance of studying multiple cellular states in order to elucidate the mechanisms of autoimmune disease. It also provides a successful framework to do it in other cellular systems relevant for other traits. We also showed an unprecedented amount of regulatory variation for HLA genes. HLA-DQB1 has 3 distinct regulatory haplotypes with expression profiles that could come from 3 different genes. We performed ATAC-seq in replicate for CD4+ memory T cells stimulated for 72 hours from another healthy individual. These data, together with genetic fine-mapping, CRISPR editing, EMSA and luciferase assays, helped us find a SNP in the promoter of HLA-DQB1 that causes at least part of the large cell state-dependent change in expression, at the RNA and protein levels.

  Study phs002259

• Single-cell RNA-seq of rheumatoid arthritis synovial tissue using low-cost microfluidic instrumentation

  Droplet-based single-cell RNA-seq has emerged as a powerful technique for massively parallel cellular profiling. While these approaches offer the exciting promise to deconvolute cellular heterogeneity in diseased tissues, the lack of cost-effective, reliable, and user-friendly instrumentation has hindered widespread adoption of droplet microfluidic techniques. To address this, we have developed a microfluidic control instrument that can be easily assembled from 3D printed parts and commercially available components costing approximately $575. We adapted this instrument for massively parallel scRNA-seq and deployed it in a clinical environment to perform single-cell transcriptome profiling of disaggregated synovial tissue from 5 rheumatoid arthritis patients. We sequenced 20,387 single cells from synovectomies, revealing 13 transcriptomically distinct clusters. These encompass a comprehensive and unbiased characterization of the autoimmune infiltrate, including inflammatory T and NK subsets that contribute to disease biology. Additionally, we identified fibroblast subpopulations that are demarcated via THY1 (CD90) and CD55 expression. Further experiments confirm that these represent synovial fibroblasts residing within the synovial intimal lining and subintimal lining, respectively, each under the influence of differing microenvironments. We envision that this instrument will have broad utility in basic and clinical settings, enabling low-cost and routine application of microfluidic techniques, and in particular single-cell transcriptome profiling. Reprinted from [Stephenson et al., Nature Communications, 2018], with permission from the Nature Publishing Group.

  Study phs001529

• Identification of Cancer Predisposition Genes in Breast Cancer Families

  Breast cancer has a significant genetic component. The strongest epidemiologic risk factor is family history of the disease. Familial studies have identified a number of genes contributing to increased risk. Of these, the highly penetrant BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes account for the majority of families in whom disease-causal mutations have been identified. However, mutations in other genes have been associated with predisposition to breast or breast and ovarian cancer including (CHEK2, ATM, PALB2, RAD51C, RAD51D). Together these genes account for less than 20% of excess familial breast cancer risk and do not explain ~50% of high-risk families referred for genetic testing. This significant gap in our understanding of the genetic basis of breast cancer poses a significant barrier to our ability to identify women at increased risk, who would benefit greatly from appropriate clinical management. To identify additional breast cancer predisposition genes whole exome sequencing of familial high-risk breast cancer patients was undertaken. DNA samples from 50 pairs of breast cancer patients from high-risk breast cancer families with no pathogenic mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 breast cancer predisposition genes were subjected to whole exome sequencing. The goal was to select candidate predisposition genes for further validation studies based on sharing of putative protein inactivating mutations among both members of each family and/or the frequency of inactivating mutations among the 50 families.

  Study phs000480

• Uveal Melanoma Immunogenomics Predict Immunotherapy Resistance and Susceptibility

  Immunotherapy using immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) has shown success in treating metastatic cutaneous melanoma but has limited efficacy against metastatic uveal melanoma (UM), a rare variant arising from the immune privileged eye. To better understand this immune resistance, we performed comprehensive immunogenomic profiling of 100 human UM metastases using clinicogenomics, bulk and single cell transcriptomics, T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire analysis, and tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) potency assessment. We found that over half of these metastases harbored TIL with potent autologous tumor specificity, despite having low tumor mutational burden and resistance to prior immunotherapies, including ICI and the bispecific T cell engager tebentafusp. These T cell infiltrated metastases displayed activated antigen presenting cells, chronic interferon signaling, and diverse TCR repertoires. However, we observed strikingly low intratumoral TCR clonality and transcriptionally non-proliferative TIL within the tumor microenvironment even after ICI and tebentafusp therapy, demonstrating that these immunotherapies were insufficient to induce proliferation of the tumor reactive TIL. To harness the therapeutic potential of these quiescent TIL, we developed rapid tumor transcriptomic profiling to enable their selective in vivo identification and ex vivo liberation to counter their growth suppression. We demonstrate that adoptive transfer of these transcriptomic selected TIL can promote tumor immunity in patients with metastatic UM when other immunotherapies are incapable.Data that will be available through dbGaP includes raw bulk tumor transcriptomic sequencing data.

  Study phs003330

• Developing Allelic Imbalance Analysis from Single-Nucleus RNA-Seq Data

  Single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) is emerging as a powerful tool for understanding gene function across diverse cells. Recently, this has included the use of allele-specific expression (ASE) analysis to better understand how variation in the human genome affects RNA expression at the single-cell level. We reasoned that, because intronic reads are more prevalent in single-nucleus RNA-Seq (snRNA-Seq) and introns are under lower purifying selection, and are thus enriched for genetic variants, that snRNA-seq should facilitate single-cell analysis of ASE. Here we demonstrate how experimental and computational choices can improve the results of allelic imbalance analysis. We explore how experimental choices, such as RNA source, read length, sequencing depth, genotyping, etc., impact the power of ASE-based methods. We developed a new suite of computational tools to process and analyze scRNA-seq and snRNA-seq for ASE. As hypothesized, we extracted more ASE information from reads in intronic regions than those in exonic regions and show how read length can be set to increase power. Additionally, hybrid selection improved our power to detect allelic imbalance in genes of interest. We also explored methods to recover allele-specific isoform expression levels from both long- and short-read snRNA-seq. Overall, we provide an end-to-end experimental and computational approach for future studies.

  Study phs003749

• Raw sequencing files from WGS and RNA-Seq

  Acute leukemias are the most common malignancies in children with an onset of the disease among 0-6 years-old. The early development of theses malignancies has been proposed as an indicator of their prenatal origin, hypothesis that has been confirmed especially in the case of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. For acute myeloid leukemia (AML), comprising an heterogenous group of different cytogenetics subtypes, this prenatal origin has also been confirmed specially for MLL-rearranged and t(8;21) subgroups. AMLs carrying t(7;12) constitute up to 30% of cases under 2-years-old, frequently being associated with a trisomy of chromosome 19 and an overexpression of MNX1 gene. An in utero origin of this specific subgroup has been suggested but not clearly confirmed. Here, we present the case of a 5-months-old AML patient with t(7;12) in which we have fully characterized a novel breakpoint occurring among ETV6 and NOM1 genes. We demonstrate the presence of this specific ETV6-NOM1 fusion in CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells isolated from the cord blood unit from the same patient and stored at birth. Moreover, trisomy +19 present at diagnosis was not detected at birth. Together, our results demonstrate the prenatal origin of the t(7;12) in infant AML, and establish trisomy +19 as a secondary event in this leukemia.

  Study EGAS50000000186

• DUX4 activates novel intergenic transcripts and isoforms in a tissue-specific context

  DUX4, a transcription factor driving zygotic genome activation during the embryonic cleavage stage in mammals, regulates the expression of genic and non-genic elements and modulates chromatin accessibility. Its misexpression in skeletal muscle causes Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). The sporadic expression of DUX4 in FSHD muscle and the limitations of short-read RNA sequencing challenge, however, a comprehensive grasp of its consequences on the muscle transcriptome. Here, leveraging full-length isoform RNA sequencing with short-read RNA sequencing on DUX4-inducible myoblasts, we elucidated DUX4-induced transcriptomic changes within a myogenic context. DUX4 yields a complex transcriptome featuring numerous unannotated isoforms from known and novel loci. Moreover, we observed distinct isoform usage of DUX4 target genes between myogenic and embryonic cleavage states highlighting the distinct differences between DUX4 transcription factor activity in skeletal muscle and during the cleavage stage. We also identified ~1,400 unannotated intergenic isoforms predominantly originating from repetitive elements such as LTRs, LINEs, and SINEs. Integration with available datasets delineates the transcriptional and epigenetic landscape of these loci across myogenic and embryonic backgrounds. Like the cell type-specific isoform production, the usage of DUX4 binding sites at these intergenic loci is in part cell type-specific. Collectively, these findings demonstrate substantial and context-specific transcriptomic alterations induced by DUX4 further enriching our understanding of DUX4-induced muscle pathology.

  Study EGAS50000000503

• The Haplotype-Resolved Genome and Epigenome of the Aneuploid HeLa Cancer Cell Line

  The genomic architecture of HeLa remains largely unexplored beyond its karyotype, partly because like many cancers, its extensive aneuploidy renders such analyses challenging. We carried out haplotype-resolved whole-genome sequencing of the HeLa CCL-2 strain, examined point- and indel-mutation variations, mapped copy-number variations and loss of heterozygosity regions, and phased variants across full chromosome arms. We also investigated variation and copy-number profiles for HeLa S3 and eight additional strains. We find that HeLa is relatively stable in terms of point variation, with few new mutations accumulating after early passaging. Haplotype resolution facilitated reconstruction of an amplified, highly rearranged region of chromosome 8q24.21 at which integration of the human papilloma virus type 18 (HPV-18) genome occurred and that is likely to be the event that initiated tumorigenesis. We combined these maps with RNA-seq and ENCODE Project data sets to phase the HeLa epigenome. This revealed strong, haplotype specific activation of the proto-oncogene MYC by the integrated HPV-18 genome approximately 500 kilobases upstream, and enabled global analyses of the relationship between gene dosage and expression. These data provide an extensively phased, high-quality reference genome for past and future experiments relying on HeLa, and demonstrate the value of haplotype resolution for characterizing cancer genomes and epigenomes. Reprinted from Adey et. al. 2013, Nature, with permission from Nature Publishing Group.

  Study phs000642

• A thymic ILC1-like progenitor with differentiation potential towards KIR+NKG2A- NK cells

  KIR+NKG2A- Natural Killer (NK) cells have the unique ability to detect downregulation of single HLA-I allotypes, frequently occurring in malignantly-transformed and virus-infected cells in order to escape T cell recognition. We have recently shown that circulating Innate Lymphoid Cells 1 (cILC1) have the potential to generate such KIR+NKG2A- NK cells but their developmental origin was unknown. Here we demonstrate that the development of cILC1 is thymus-dependent and identify a putative progenitor of cILC1s in the thymus, called thyILC1. Single-cell RNAseq analysis revealed a close relationship of thyILC1s to CD34+ double-negative (DN) thymocytes, but in contrast to DNs, thyILC1s had lost T cell differentiation potential. However, like cILC1s they could be efficiently differentiated into KIR+NKG2A- NK cells. thyILC1s strongly expressed RAG1/2, PTCRA (preTCR, and NOTCH1/3, but lacked expression of TCR chains, suggesting that they failed to pass the -selection checkpoint of thymocyte development. Finally, analyses of patients with FOXN1het deficiency, showing thymic hypoplasia due to lack of mature thymic epithelial cells, exhibited a profound deficiency of cILC1s but not cILC2s and cILC3s, demonstrating thymus dependency of cILC1s. Together, the data suggest that thyILC1s are the source of a novel thymus-dependent NK cell differentiation pathway that promotes generation of KIR+NKG2A- NK cells.

  Study EGAS50000000760

• A thymic ILC1-like progenitor with differentiation potential towards KIR+NKG2A- NK cells - sc

  KIR+NKG2A- Natural Killer (NK) cells have the unique ability to detect downregulation of single HLA-I allotypes, frequently occurring in malignantly-transformed and virus-infected cells in order to escape T cell recognition. We have recently shown that circulating Innate Lymphoid Cells 1 (cILC1) have the potential to generate such KIR+NKG2A- NK cells but their developmental origin was unknown. Here we demonstrate that the development of cILC1 is thymus-dependent and identify a putative progenitor of cILC1s in the thymus, called thyILC1. Single-cell RNAseq analysis revealed a close relationship of thyILC1s to CD34+ double-negative (DN) thymocytes, but in contrast to DNs, thyILC1s had lost T cell differentiation potential. However, like cILC1s they could be efficiently differentiated into KIR+NKG2A- NK cells. thyILC1s strongly expressed RAG1/2, PTCRA (preTCR, and NOTCH1/3, but lacked expression of TCR chains, suggesting that they failed to pass the -selection checkpoint of thymocyte development. Finally, analyses of patients with FOXN1het deficiency, showing thymic hypoplasia due to lack of mature thymic epithelial cells, exhibited a profound deficiency of cILC1s but not cILC2s and cILC3s, demonstrating thymus dependency of cILC1s. Together, the data suggest that thyILC1s are the source of a novel thymus-dependent NK cell differentiation pathway that promotes generation of KIR+NKG2A- NK cells.

  Study EGAS50000000790

• Chromatin remodeling enhances MAP3K8 expression in HAM: a key pathogenesis for therapeutic intervention

  Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-associated myelopathy (HAM) is a debilitating neuroinflammatory disease with no available effective treatments. A hallmark of HAM is the transformation of HTLV-1-infected cells into T helper type 1 (Th1)-like cells, characterized by excessive interferon (IFN)-gamma production that drives chronic inflammation. However, the molecular mechanisms fuel this aberrant Th1-like transformation and sustained inflammation remain poorly understood. We hypothesized that HAM-characteristic chromatin remodeling plays a pivotal role in the overexpression of key genes driving inflammatory pathogenesis. Using transcriptomic analysis, chromatin accessibility profiling, and biomarker evaluations across HTLV-1-related diseases, we identify MAP3K8 as a key gene that defines the unique inflammatory profile of HAM. MAP3K8 overexpression promotes Th1-like differentiation and constitutively activates the MEK-ERK signaling pathway. Furthermore, we elucidate the mechanism by which HTLV-1 Tax, Fosl2, and c-Jun collaboratively induce HAM-characteristic chromatin remodeling at the enhancer region of the MAP3K8 locus. Crucially, we demonstrate that mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) inhibitors effectively suppress the MAP3K8-MEK signaling cascade and significantly mitigated inflammatory pathogenesis in an ex vivo culture assay. Our findings provide critical insights into the virus-host interactions underpinning HAM and propose the MAP3K8-MEK-ERK axis as a promising therapeutic target for this challenging condition.

  Study JGAS000835

• MRCA and MRCE SNP genotypes

  Gene expression levels can be an important link DNA between variation and phenotypic manifestations. Our previous map of global gene expression based on approximately 400K SNPs and 50K transcripts in 400 sib pairs from the MRCA family panel has been widely used to interpret the results of GWAS. Here, we more than double the size of our initial dataset with expression data on 550 additional individuals from the MRCE family panel using the Illumina whole genome expression array. We have used new statistical methods for dimension reduction to account for non-genetic effects in estimates of expression levels and we have also included SNPs imputed from the 1000 Genomes Project. Our methods reduced false discovery rates and increased the number of eQTLs mapped either locally or at a distance (i.e. in cis or trans) from 1,534 in the MRCA dataset to 4,452 (with <5% FDR). Imputation of 1000 Genomes SNPs further increased the number of eQTLs to 7,302. Using the same methods and imputed SNPs in the newly acquired MRCE dataset we identified eQTLs for 9000 genes. The combined results identify strong local and distant effects for transcripts from 14,177 genes. Our eQTL database (http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/faculty/liming-liang/software/eqtl/) based on these results is freely available to help define the function of disease-associated variants.

  Study EGAS00000000137

• Organoid BulkRNAseq

  Here, we aim to understand early determinants of brain organoid quality and generated a set of brain organoids from 12 different hPSC lines using an adaptation of the unguided Lancaster protocol (Lancaster & Knoblich, 2014). All cell lines were obtained from healthy donors. 12 donor hPSC lines were differentiated into brain organoids and a set of 72 individual organoids (6 per line) were randomly selected morphologically diverse organoids and subjected to bulk RNA sequencing for gene expression analysis. RNA was extracted using the RNeasy kit (Qiagen, Germany) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. A total of 1000 ng per sample was sent for RNA sequencing to Azenta Life Sciences (Genewiz Leipzig, Germany) for sequencing. Library preparation was performed using the NEBNext Ultra II RNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina following manufacturer’s instructions (NEB, Ipswich, MA, USA). mRNAs were first enriched with Oligo(dT) beads. The samples were sequenced using a 2x150 Pair-End (PE) configuration v1.5 at a depth of >20 million reads in each sample. Raw sequence data (.bcl files) generated from Illumina NovaSeq6000 was converted into fastq files and de-multiplexed using Illumina bcl2fastq program version 2.20. The raw sequence reads were aligned to the human reference genome GRCh38 using the STAR aligner (Dobin et al., 2013). Gene expression levels were quantified using the FeatureCounts tool (Liao et al., 2014).

  Study EGAS50000000659

• Somatic rearrangements causing oncogenic ectodomain deletions of FGFR1 in squamous cell lung cancer

  The discovery of frequent 8p11-p12 amplifications in squamous cell lung cancer (SQLC) has fueled hopes that FGFR1, located inside this amplicon, might be a therapeutic target. In a clinical trial, only 11% of patients with 8p11 amplification (detected by FISH) responded to FGFR kinase inhibitor treatment. To understand the mechanism of FGFR1 dependency, we performed deep genomic characterization of 52 SQLCs with 8p11-p12 amplification, including 10 tumors obtained from patients who had been treated with FGFR inhibitors. We discovered somatically altered variants of FGFR1 with deletion of exons 1-8 that resulted from intragenic tail-to-tail rearrangements. These ectodomain-deficient FGFR1 variants (ΔEC-FGFR1) were expressed in the affected tumors and were tumorigenic in both in vitro and in vivo models of lung cancer. Mechanistically, breakage-fusion-bridges were the source of 8p11-p12 amplification, resulting from frequent head-to-head and tail-to-tail rearrangements. Generally, tail-to-tail rearrangements within or in close proximity upstream of FGFR1 were associated with FGFR1 dependency. Thus, the genomic events shaping the architecture of the 8p11-p12 amplicon provide a mechanistic explanation for the emergence of FGFR1-driven SQLC. Specifically, we believe that FGFR1 ectodomain-deficient and FGFR1-centered amplifications caused by tail-to-tail rearrangements are a novel somatic genomic event that might be predictive of therapeutically relevant FGFR1 dependency.

  Study EGAS50000001368

• Transposable Elements Shape Stemness in Normal and Leukemic Hematopoiesis

  Despite most acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients achieving complete remission after induction chemotherapy, two-thirds will relapse with fatal disease within five years. AML is organized as a cellular hierarchy sustained by leukemia stem cells (LSC) at the apex, with LSC properties directly linked to tumor progression, therapy failure, and disease relapse 1–5. Despite the central role of LSC in poor patient outcomes, little is known about the genetic determinants driving their stemness properties. As LSCs share many functional and molecular properties with normal hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) 6, we investigated accessible chromatin unique across normal hematopoietic and cancer cell states and identified transposable elements (TEs) as genetic determinants of both primitive populations in comparison with their downstream mature progeny. A clinically-relevant TE chromatin accessibility-based LSCTE121 signature was developed that enabled patient classification based on survival outcomes. Through functional assays, primitive cell specific-TE subfamilies were found to serve as docking sites for stem cell-associated regulators of genome topology or lineage-specific transcription factors, including LYL1 in LSCs. Finally, using chromatin editing tools, we establish that chromatin accessibility at LTR12C elements in LSCs are necessary to maintain stemness properties. Our work identifies TEs as genetic drivers of primitive versus mature cell states, where distinct TE subfamilies account for stemness properties in normal versus leukemic hematopoietic stem cells.

  Study EGAS50000001141

• Transposable Elements Shape Stemness in Normal and Leukemic Hematopoiesis

  Despite most acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients achieving complete remission after induction chemotherapy, two-thirds will relapse with fatal disease within five years. AML is organized as a cellular hierarchy sustained by leukemia stem cells (LSC) at the apex, with LSC properties directly linked to tumor progression, therapy failure, and disease relapse 1–5. Despite the central role of LSC in poor patient outcomes, little is known about the genetic determinants driving their stemness properties. As LSCs share many functional and molecular properties with normal hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) 6, we investigated accessible chromatin unique across normal hematopoietic and cancer cell states and identified transposable elements (TEs) as genetic determinants of both primitive populations in comparison with their downstream mature progeny. A clinically-relevant TE chromatin accessibility-based LSCTE121 signature was developed that enabled patient classification based on survival outcomes. Through functional assays, primitive cell specific-TE subfamilies were found to serve as docking sites for stem cell-associated regulators of genome topology or lineage-specific transcription factors, including LYL1 in LSCs. Finally, using chromatin editing tools, we establish that chromatin accessibility at LTR12C elements in LSCs are necessary to maintain stemness properties. Our work identifies TEs as genetic drivers of primitive versus mature cell states, where distinct TE subfamilies account for stemness properties in normal versus leukemic hematopoietic stem cells.

  Study EGAS50000001147

• Inherited chromosomally-integrated human herpesvirus 6A/B (HHV-6A/B) genome sequences in the Japanese population

  The deposited sequences represent inherited chromosomally-integrated human herpesvirus 6 (iciHHV-6) genomes identified from 10 BioBank Japan (BBJ) subjects based on the analysis of the whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data. In brief, we re-aligned unmapped reads from the WGS to HHV-6A genome (Genbank accession number: KJ123690.1) using BWA-MEM algorithm. Ten out of 3,256 subjects were identified with high depth of coverage of HHV-6. We further distinguished subjects with integrated HHV-6A subtypes from those with integrated HHV-6B based on phylogenetic analysis of concatenated sequences of three viral genes (U27/U43/U83, which show high divergence between viral species). We reconstructed the HHV-6 viral genome of 10 subjects. First, reads that mapped to a reference HHV-6A genome (KJ123690.1) were further aligned against the integrated HHV-6A genome derived from a Japanese individual NA18999 (GenBank Accession number: KY316047.1) using BWA-MEM. Based on the alignment, variant calling was performed using freebayes (version: v1.2.0-2-g29c4002) with parameters ploidy = 1 and min-alternate-fraction = 0.8 {Garrison, 2012}. We generated subject-specific iciHHV-6 viral sequences by applying the resulting variants to the KY316047.1 reference genome using the FastaAlternateReferenceMaker function in the Genome Analysis Toolkit (GATK) v3.7. Please note that HHV-6B-specific variants are unlikely to be sensitively reconstructed using this method.

  Study JGAS000240

• Treg cell subset-specific gene expression patterns in human head and neck cancer

  Backgrand: The occurrence of head and neck cancer has been increased all over the world. Although the prognosis has been improved by using several treatment modalities including immunotherapy, it is still unsatisfying. It is still unclear why the immunotherapy is effective only for partial amount of patients. To resolve this problem and to make a new treatment strategy based on human immune system, further investigation of antitumor immunity is required. Regulatory T (Treg) cells play critical roles in human immune responses including antitumor immunity. Therefore, the research to elucidate Treg function is strongly urged to clarify the mechanisms of antitumor immunity. Methods: We performed RNA-seuencing analysis of regulatory T cells infiltrating head and neck cancer. We devided into four populations, DP, CD25+, CTLA4+, DN and analyzed gene expressions. Results: The gene expression patterns of Treg-related genes were different between CD25+ cells and CD25- cells. Furthermore, DP cells had unique gene expression pattern compared to other populations. Conclusions: We found Treg cells infiltrating head and neck cancer had high expression levels of Treg-related genes and DP cells had unique gene expression pattern that may become a target of new treatment strategy. Regulatory T (Treg) cells play critical roles in human immune responses including antitumor immunity. Therefore, the research to elucidate Treg function is strongly urged to clarify the mechanisms of antitumor immunity.

  Study JGAS000135

• Phenotypic characterization and prognostic impact of CD103+ tissue-resident memory T cells in diffuse large B cell lymphoma

  Tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cells are a population of memory T cells that stably occupy tissues and play a key role in immunosurveillance, having been linked to favorable survival outcomes in various solid tumors. While TRM cells have been identified in lymph nodes, their phenotype and prognostic significance in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL), including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), remains poorly characterized. The frequency of CD103 expressing T cells in patient samples with DLCBL was quantified by immunofluorescence (IF) staining of tissue biopsies (n=306) and flow cytometry (n=252) of cell disaggregates, and linked with clinical outcome. The phenotype of TRM cells was characterized by spectral flow cytometry (n=10 DLBCL and 2 reactive lymph node (rLN) samples) and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) (n=12 aggressive B cell lymphomas and 4 rLN samples). An additional 51 samples from an external dataset were included to verify the single cell transcriptome findings. The flow cytometry and scRNAseq findings in DLBCL were extrapolated to additional B-NHL entities. Through analysis of these datasets we were able to characterize CD103+ TRM-like cells in DLBCL and other B-NHL entities and identified them to represent a prognostically favorable population with an activated/cytotoxic T cell phenotype.

  Study EGAS50000000943

• Similarity and diversity of the tumor microenvironment in multiple metastases: critical implications for overall and progression-free survival of high-grade serous ovarian cancer.

  The tumor microenvironment is pivotal in influencing cancer progression and metastasis. Different cells co-exist with high spatial diversity within a patient, yet their combinatorial effects are poorly understood. We investigate the similarity of the tumor microenvironment of 192 local metastatic lesions in 61 ovarian cancer patients. An ecologically inspired measure of microenvironmental diversity derived from multiple metastasis sites is correlated with clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic outcome. We demonstrate a high accuracy of our automated analysis across multiple sites. A low level of similarity in microenvironmental composition is observed between ovary tumor and corresponding local metastases (stromal ratio r = 0.30, lymphocyte ratio r = 0.37). We identify a new measure of microenvironmental diversity derived from Shannon entropy that is highly predictive of poor overall (p = 0.002, HR = 3.18, 95% CI = 1.51-6.68) and progression-free survival (p = 0.0036, HR = 2.83, 95% CI = 1.41-5.7), independent of and stronger than clinical variables, subtype stratifications based on single cell types alone and number of sites. Although stromal influence in ovary tumors is known to have significant clinical implications, our findings reveal an even stronger impact orchestrated by diverse cell types. Quantitative histology-based measures can further enable objective selection of patients who are in urgent need of new therapeutic strategies such as combinatorial treatments targeting heterogeneous tumor microenvironment.

  Study EGAS00001002065

• JMML targeted sequencing (2013)

  Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) is a rare myelodysplastic myeloproliferative neoplasm of early childhood initiated by germline or somatic RAS-activating mutations (Chang, Dvorak et al. 2014). Clinical evolution is heterogeneous, with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) transformation in 1/3 of cases and frequent relapses after hematopoietic-stem-cell transplantation (HSCT), although some patients experience spontaneous remission (Locatelli, Nollke et al. 2005; Matsuda, Shimada et al. 2007; Takagi, Piao et al. 2013; Locatelli and Niemeyer 2015). The initiating lesion incompletely predicts outcome, suggesting the involvement of additional mutations. Genetic profiling of a large JMML cohort (n=118), including whole-exome sequencing (WES) in 30 cases, uncovered additional genetic abnormalities in 56 cases (47%). Somatic events were rare (0.38/case/Mb) and restricted to sporadic (47/78; 60%) or NF1-associated (8/8; 100%) JMML. Multiple concomitant genetic hits were identified targeting the RAS pathway in 13/78 (17%), RAC2D63V, which activates the PI3K/PDK1/AKT and the mTORC2 pathways, and a novel pathway for JMML, the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), in 26/78 (33%) of the sporadic JMML cases. Interestingly, PRC2 imbalance was recently shown to synergize with RAS activation (De Raedt, Beert et al. 2014). JMML outcome was associated to the mutational profile, suggesting a dose-dependent effect for RAS-pathway activation, distinguishing very aggressive JMML rapidly progressing to AML.

  Study EGAS00001001324