14659 results for "PLOS+ONE+Pennsylvania+German+ACS+language+code+pdc+open+access+study"

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• National Institute on Aging (NIA) SardiNIA Study

  Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean and constitutes a genetically isolated founder population. This population has aided in the identification of genes involved in several Mendelian disorders and is attractive for genetic studies due to its organization in long-established settlements that developed from an initial group of founder settlers (~1,000) thousands of years ago. The current study has recruited 6,148 Sardinians aged 14 and older, from a cluster of four towns in the Lanusei Valley in the Ogliastra region of the province of Nuoro. This sample corresponds to approximately 62% of the population eligible in the area for recruitment. Information collected during enrollment allowed the individuals to be organized into 711 complex pedigrees, each up to five generations deep, with an average kinship coefficient of 0.1628. All volunteers have been characterized for 98 quantitative traits. Traits include anthropomorphic measures, plasma and serum markers (including cholesterol and other markers of cardiovascular disease), and personality traits (using the five-factor model). The main goal of the study is to examine phenotypic similarities between relatives that yield information on the overall contributions of genes to trait variability. Data given here provide p-values for 98 traits studied in 1,412 individuals, based on genotyping with the Affymetrix 500K chip and imputed markers using the HapMap population as a reference (N=2,259,179). Sharing this genome assessment data at high level of resolution for a variety of quantitative traits will be useful for other groups to validate newly observed associations and to investigate possible pleiotropic effects. For ulterior information, and in particular for any individual genotype information, a formal request should be addressed to the Steering Committee, c/o David Schlessinger, Chief, Laboratory of Genetics, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, NIH Biomedical Research Center, 251 Bayview Blvd., Suite 100 Baltimore, MD 21224 USA and should include IRB approval of a detailed proposal, along with a signed statement guaranteeing that no attempt will be made to identify any individual participant.

  Study phs000338

• Palindromic Amplification of The ERBB2 Oncogene in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

  DNA Inverted Repeats as an At-risk Motif for Palindromic Gene Amplificatio defines oncogene amplification that is configured as a series of inverted duplications (palindromic gene amplification). There are several, recurrently amplified oncogenes throughout the human genome. However, it remains unclear whether this recurrent amplification is solely a manifestation of increased fitness resulting from random amplification mechanisms, or if genomic locus-specific amplification mechanism plays a role. In this study, we show that the ERBB2 oncogene at 17q12 is susceptible to palindromic gene amplification in HER2-positive breast tumors. We investigated eight tumors in this study, of which five tumors were HER2-positive, and three tumors were HER2-negative. HER2-status was determined by clinical FISH tests. We applied three genomic approaches to investigate the amplification mechanism: (1) copy number analysis by array-CGH on the Affymetrix SNP6.0 platform (8 files), (2) sequencing of DNA libraries enriched with tumor-derived palindromic DNA (Genome-wide Analysis of Palindrome Formation, GAPF-seq) (8 files) and (3) unbiased whole genome sequencing (WGS) (1 file). These molecular data is made available in the dbGaP. Genomic studies using tumor DNA was approved under the Internal Institutional Review Board at the Cleveland Clinic (IRB07-136: EXEMPT: Chromosome Breakage and DNA Palindrome Formation). Specimens were obtained and methods were carried out under the auspices of IRB 7881 (Evaluation of Genetic and Molecular Markers in Patients with Breast Cancer). All patients consented to allow their cancer specimens to be used by researchers in an anonymized fashion. The consent form indicates that publication will take place without identifiers to protect the identity of any specific individual. We observed significant and enrichment of palindromic DNA within amplified ERBB2 genomic segments in four out of five HER2-positive tumors. None of three HER2-negative tumors showed such enrichment. Palindromic DNA was particularly enriched at amplification peaks and boundaries between amplified and normal copy-number regions. Thus, palindromic gene amplification shaped the amplified ERBB2 locus. The moderate enrichment of palindromic DNA throughout the amplified segments leads us to propose that the ERBB2 locus is amplified through a mechanism that repeatedly generates palindromic DNA, such as Breakage-Fusion-Bridge cycles. Our results reveal a potential interaction between local genomic environments and gene amplification mechanisms. This study is published under the title "Palindromic amplification of the ERBB2 oncogene in primary HER2-positive breast tumors" (PMID:28211519).

  Study phs001261

• North American Mitochondrial Disease Consortium Patient Registry and Biorepository

  Mitochondrial diseases are caused by dysfunction of the mitochondria, which are specialized compartments that are present in every cell of the body except red blood cells. Mitochondria generate more than 90% of the energy that the body needs to sustain life and support growth. When they fail, less and less energy is generated within the cell. This injures the cell and can cause its death. If this process is repeated throughout the body, whole organ systems begin to fail, and the life of the person in whom this is happening is severely compromised. Mitochondrial diseases primarily affect children, but adult onset is becoming more and more common. Mitochondrial diseases are probably the most diverse human disorders at every level: clinical, biochemical, and genetic. Some affect only the nervous system but most affect many body systems, including the brain, heart, liver, skeletal muscles, kidney, and the endocrine and respiratory systems. Although mitochondrial disorders vary in severity, they are usually progressive, and often crippling. They can cause paralysis, seizures, mental retardation, dementia, hearing loss, blindness, weakness and premature death. Because of the range of symptoms and the frequent involvement of multiple body systems, mitochondrial diseases can be a great challenge to diagnose. Even when accurately diagnosed, they pose an even more formidable challenge to treat, as there are very few therapies and most are only partially effective. About this Study The first objective of this study is to establish a clinical registry of patients with suspected or confirmed mitochondrial diseases. We are collecting medical and family history, diagnostic test results, and prospective medical information for these patients and, using agreed procedures developed by the leading research clinicians in the field, providing, for the first time, standardized diagnoses of these complex disorders for the patients. The clinical information we collect from the participants will be used to learn about the spectrum of mitochondrial disorders and their prevalence. We will also develop studies which allow us to better understand how these diseases progress, which we do not understand well enough. When we begin clinical trials for mitochondrial diseases, patients enrolled in the registry who are identified as potentially eligible will be offered enrollment. Patients will only be included in studies if they give their consent in advance. The second objective of this study is to establish a biorepository for specimens and DNA from patients with mitochondrial diseases, in order to make materials easily available to consortium researchers.

  Study phs001538

• Cystic Fibrosis Nasal Epithelium Gene Expression by RNAseq

  Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a monogenic disorder leading to multi-organ system dysfunction, with the primary cause of morbidity and mortality being lung disease. Mutations in CFTR result in defective ion channel transport leading to hyperviscous mucus, airway infection, inflammation and lung function decline. While the Phe508del mutation is the most common CFTR mutation in North American people with CF, it is well known that there is a broad range of lung disease severity even amongst Phe508del homozygotes, including twins/siblings. Heritability analyses showing the relative contribution of non-CFTR modifier genes in such differences in phenotype, have led to our genomic and transcriptomic studies of gene modifiers in CF. Complementary to two international CF GWAS studies, this study was performed to a) determine differential expression of genes relative to a quantitative lung disease severity phenotype score (KNoRMA; as used in CF GWAS studies) and b) to assess expression quantitative trait loci. To better understand genetic modification of CF lung disease severity, we analyzed gene expression (transcriptomic) profiles by mRNA sequencing from nasal mucosal biopsy specimens of 134 people with CF. Each study participants was characterized for CF lung disease severity phenotype by averaging three years of lung function data (forced expiratory volume in 1 second; FEV1), normalized to a CF-specific reference population matching for age, sex, and height. Participants completed nasal lavage and nasal curettage mucosal sampling, with directed sampling to the inferior nasal turbinate, a well validated surrogate for cellular characteristics and CFTR function of the lower CF airways. Participants were further invited to complete a second set of these sampling procedures for validation analysis. Specimen and concurrent clinical data collection occurred across four North American study sites and nasal mucosal specimens were subjected to RNASeq analysis. These data were to be made available in the dbGaP. Our association analyses of gene expression relative to quantitative CF lung disease phenotype, taken together with previously identified GWAS signals, identified biological pathways correlated with CF lung disease pathogenesis. Our further association analyses of gene expression relative to single nucleotide polymorphism variation at significant CF GWAS loci further identified potential mechanisms of genetic variants associated with CF lung disease. This resource is intended to aid researchers in characterizing airway mucosal gene expression from the CF airways for the purpose of gene expression profiling in CF and in muco-obstructive airways disease.

  Study phs002254

• Heart Failure Network: Diuretic Optimization Strategies Evaluation in Acute Heart Failure (HFN DOSE-BioLINCC)

  ObjectivesThe DOSE study sought to evaluate the most effective dosing (high vs. low) and administration (continuous infusion vs. intermittent boluses) combination of the diuretic Furosemide in the treatment of patients with acute decompensated heart failure.BackgroundAcute decompensated heart failure is the most common cause of hospital admissions among patients older than 65 years of age and is responsible for more than 1 million hospitalizations annually in the United States. Intravenous loop diuretics are an essential component of current treatment and are administered to approximately 90% of patients who are hospitalized with heart failure. Despite decades of clinical experience with these agents, prospective data to guide the use of loop diuretics are sparse, and current guidelines are based primarily on expert opinion. As a result, clinical practice varies widely with regard to both the mode of administration and the dosing.SubjectsA total of 308 patients were enrolled between March 2008 and November 2009 at 26 clinical sites in the United States and Canada. DesignThe DOSE study was a prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial with a 2-by-2 factorial design. Patients were randomly assigned to either a low-dose strategy (total intravenous furosemide dose equal to their total daily oral loop diuretic dose in furosemide equivalents) or a high-dose strategy (total daily intravenous furosemide dose 2.5 times their total daily oral loop diuretic dose in furosemide equivalents) and to administration of furosemide either by intravenous bolus every 12 hours or by continuous intravenous infusion.The study treatment, with group assignments concealed, was continued for up to 72 hours. At 48 hours, the treating physician had the option of adjusting the diuretic strategy on the basis of the clinical response. An assessment of biomarkers, including creatinine, cystatin C, and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, was performed at a central core laboratory at baseline, 72 hours, and 60 days. Patients were followed for clinical events to day 60. The coprimary end points were patients' global assessment of symptoms, quantified as the area under the curve (AUC) of the score on a visual-analogue scale over the course of 72 hours, and the change in the serum creatinine level from baseline to 72 hours.ConclusionsAmong patients with acute decompensated heart failure, there were no significant differences in patients' global assessment of symptoms or in the change in renal function when diuretic therapy was administered by bolus as compared with continuous infusion or at a high dose as compared with a low dose. (Felker et. al., 2011, PMID: 21366472)

  Study phs003524

• Genomics of Kidney Transplantation

  We have an established consortium consisting of 5 clinical centers which do a total of >800 kidney transplants/year. We have developed a quality-controlled multicenter database with high quality data, and obtained DNA samples and clinical data on 962 recipients and 442 donors. Using our developed infrastructure, we propose to study whether genetic variants are, in part, responsible for the differing outcomes of transplant recipients treated with contemporary immunosuppressive protocols. Our central hypotheses are that the genetic variation is associated with a) kidney transplant outcome, and b) immunosuppressive drug disposition and toxicity. Our long-term goals are to determine whether it is possible to individualize immunosuppressive therapy, based on genetics. At the same time, our studies may elicit new information on pathways important in the immune response or in immunosuppressive drug efficacy, disposition, and toxicity.Our application consists of 3 cores (Genetics Core, Clinical Core, and Administrative Core). We will do a genome wide association study (GWAS). Significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) will be identified using the GWAS.Project 1 has 2 specific aims.Aim 1: To identify recipient SNPs that are associated with kidney allograft outcomes, including acute rejection, chronic graft dysfunction, and graft failure. Aim 2: To identify living donor SNPs that are associated with kidney allograft outcomes. Project 2 has 4 specific aims. Aim 1: To identify SNPs that are associated with tacrolimus blood levels.Aim 2: To identify SNPs that are associated with early tacrolimus-related nephrotoxicity and immune suppressant-related new onset diabetes.Aim 3: To identify SNPs that are associated with mycophenolate-related toxicity. Aim 4: To establish the relationships between candidate recipient SNPs, enzyme activity and mRNA expression of the pharmacologic targets of mycophenolate and calcineurin inhibitors. The projects use the genotyping data, which were provided by the Genetics Core, and clinical information, which were collected and entered into the multicenter database by the Clinical Core. Further, biostatistical support (Clinical Core) and administrative oversight and support (Administrative Core) will facilitate data collection, data entry, and data analyses for both projects. The Administrative Core will also facilitate interaction between Sites, Cores, and Projects.Technical note: Regarding to the study design, all transplant recipients should be unrelated. Given the nature of transplantation, some donors may be related to recipients. The donor-recipient relationships are reported in the demographic file under the "related" column. As we did not collect full pedigree information for the related donor-recipient pairs, we have included a IBD file (calculated using PLINK) with the genotype data.

  Study phs001667

• Immunomodulatory effects and improved outcomes with cisplatin- vs carboplatin-based chemotherapy plus atezolizumab in urothelial cancer

  In metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC), cisplatin versus carboplatin leads to durable disease control in a subset of patients. The IMvigor130 trial reveals more favorable effects with atezolizumab combined with gemcitabine and cisplatin (GemCis) versus gemcitabine and carboplatin (GemCarbo). This study investigates the immunomodulatory effects of cisplatin as a potential explanation for these observations. Our findings indicate that improved outcomes with GemCis versus GemCarbo are primarily observed in patients with pretreatment tumors exhibiting features of restrained adaptive immunity. Additionally, GemCis versus GemCarbo ± atezolizumab induces transcriptional changes in circulating immune cells, including upregulation of antigen presentation and T-cell activation programs. In vitro experiments demonstrate that cisplatin, compared with carboplatin, exerts direct immunomodulatory effects on cancer cells, promoting dendritic cell activation and antigen-specific T cell killing. These results underscore the key role of immune modulation in cisplatin's efficacy in mUC and highlight the importance of specific chemotherapy backbones in immunotherapy combination regimens.

  Study EGAS50000000104

• Exploiting New Patterns of Genome Damage in Triple Negative Breast Cancer

  Genomic instability, a feature of triple negative breast cancers (TNBC), represents an opportunity for discovery of biologic and clinically relevant subgroups of patients. Owing to TP53 mutation in the majority of cases, DNA repair deficiency through loss of BRCA1 and BRCA2, and by expression features patterning a basal cell of origin, TNBC represents a molecularly and clinically distinct group of breast cancer patients. Unfortunately, targetable molecular features of TNBC remain elusive and TNBC patients suffer the poorest outcomes amongst clinical subgroups. Within TNBC patients, responses to treatment vary and although gene expression patterns within TNBC have been identified, little progress has been made in developing biomarkers; effective stratification as a route to directing patients to more targeted therapy is lacking. In this study, we exploit mutational processes in TNBC as a new opportunity to stratify patients and to understand the evolutionary progression of TNBC cells harboring specific DNA repair properties.

  Study phs003038

• Scalable Whole-Exome Sequencing of Cell-Free DNA Reveals High Concordance with Metastatic Tumors

  We performed whole genome sequencing and whole-exome sequencing of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and whole-exome sequencing of matched tumor biopsies and germline DNA from patients with metastatic cancer. Using ichorCNA, a software tool that quantifies tumor content in ultra-low pass whole genome sequencing (~0.1x) of cfDNA without prior genomic characterization of the tumor, we show genome-wide concordance between cfDNA and tumor biopsies and detectability of high tumor fractions (>0.1) in the cfDNA of many patients with metastatic cancer. We then established that whole-exome sequencing of cfDNA can enable comprehensive profiling of tumors from blood, with high tumor-content cfDNA samples demonstrating concordance of clonal somatic mutations, copy number alterations, mutational signatures, and neoantigens with matched tumor biopsies. This study introduces a new method to identify patients that could be eligible for tumor profiling from cfDNA and sheds light on the concordance between metastatic tissue and blood biopsies.

  Study phs001417

• Mechanisms of Extreme Genomic Instability at Large Transcribed Genes

  Inhibiting DNA replication leads to copy number variant (CNV) formation throughout the genome, especially at chromosome fragile sites (CFSs). We previously showed that these hotspots for genome instability reside in late-replicating domains associated with large transcribed genes. In this study, we compared aphidicolin (APH)-induced CNV and CFS frequency between wild-type cells and isogenic cells in which FHIT gene transcription was ablated. We further examined the impact of altering RNase H1 expression on CNV or CFS induction frequency and analyzed R-loop formation genome-wide in a human fibroblast cell line. Data sets include Bru-seq nascent RNA transcription, whole genome sequencing for replication timing, SNP microarray analysis, and DRIP-seq. Results suggest that large gene transcription is a determining factor in replication stress-induced genomic instability and that CFSs mainly result from transcription-dependent passage of unreplicated DNA into mitosis with low R-loop levels observed at these loci.

  Study phs002066