Search Results - EGA European Genome-Phenome Archive

A Polygenic Score for Acute Vaso-Occlusive Pain in Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease

Recurrent acute pain, or vaso-occlusive pain crisis (VOP), is the most common complication of sickle cell disease and correlates strongly with increased hospital visits and early mortality (PMID: 1710777). While the genetics of VOP in sickle cell patients has been studied (PMID: 29205277, 27883292, 25102390, 30079801, 22925497, 29531649, 29620434, 19468207, 20172753, 22576309, 30031848, 24136375, 27603703, 29559808), it is not fully understood.Using whole genome sequencing, we interrogated the α-thalassemia deletion -α3.7 and 133 candidate single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across 66 genes for associations with VOP in 327 SCCRIP participants followed longitudinally over 6 years. Twenty-one SNPs in 9 loci were associated with VOP, including 3 (BCL11A, MYB, and the β-like globin gene cluster) that regulate erythrocyte fetal hemoglobin (HbF) levels and 6 (COMT, TBC1D1, KCNJ6, FAAH, NR3C1, and IL1A) that were associated previously with various pain syndromes. An unweighted PGS integrating all 21 SNPs was associated with the VOP event rate (estimate, 0.35; standard error, 0.04; P = 5.9 × 10−14) and VOP event occurrence (estimate, 0.42; standard error, 0.06; P = 4.1 × 10−13). These associations were stronger than those of any single locus. Our findings provide insights into the genetic modulation of VOP in children with SCD. More generally, we demonstrate the utility of WGS for investigating genetic contributions to the variable expression of SCD-associated morbidities.For publications, written, and/or oral presentations resulting from use of this data, please cite the following information: "The original data description for A Polygenic Score for Acute Vaso-Occlusive Pain in Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease can be found here: (Journal Citation Blood Adv. 2021 Jul 27;5(14):2839-2851) (PMID: 34283174)."

Study phs002470

Analysis of Somatic Mutations in Pediatric AML FAB-M7 Subtype by Whole Transcriptome Sequencing

High resolution analysis of DNA copy number abnormalities and loss-of-heterozygosity on acute myeloblastic leukemia samples utilizing SNP arrays has demonstrated that in contrast to pediatric ALL, de novo AML is characterized by a very low burden of genomic alterations (Radtke, et al., PNAS, 2009). Samples for this study represented a cross-section of the different subtypes of pediatric AML. The only AML subtype that was an outlier from the above observations was acute megakaryocytic leukemia (AML FAB-M7), with the majority of these cases being characterized by complex chromosomal rearrangements and a high number of copy number alterations. To more fully define the genomic landscape of this subtype, we performed transcriptome sequence analysis on 14 pediatric FAB-M7 cases and mutation recurrence screening in a panel of 62 adult and pediatric AML FAB-M7 samples using the Illumina platform. Our results identified chromosomal rearrangements resulting in the expression of novel fusion transcripts in 11/14 cases. Remarkably, in 7/14 cases we detected an inversion on chromosome 16 that results in the juxtaposition of the CBFA2T3 gene next to the GLIS2 gene resulting in a CBFA2T3-GLIS2 chimeric gene that encoded an in frame fusion protein. This fusion led to the acquisition or preservation of self-renewal in colony forming assays, providing functional evidence for a role in leukemogenesis. In addition to novel chimeric transcripts, we found mutations in genes previously identified to play a role in megakaryoblastic leukemia that carry a proliferative advantage to the cell, such as JAK2 and MPL. These data demonstrate that AML FAB-M7 is characterized by cooperating Class I and Class II mutations leading to leukemogenesis.

Study phs000413

Genetic Analysis of Parkinson's Disease

A portion of the sample includes multiplex PD families recruited as part of a previously funded study (R01NS037167; PI: Tatiana Foroud). Families were ascertained initially through a living affected sibling pair. Subsequently, ascertainment was loosened to include PD probands having a positive family history of PD in a first degree relative, who was not required to be part of the study. All individuals completed an in-person evaluation at one of the > 65 Parkinson Study Group sites participating in this study. Individuals completed a detailed evaluation that included the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and a diagnostic checklist that implemented the UK PD Brain Bank inclusion and exclusion criteria. An autopsy program was established in this study and brain tissue for confirmation of diagnosis and further experimental study are available from over 100 participants. Autopsy confirmation of the PD diagnosis was nearly 100% for those who met UK PD Brain Bank criteria. In addition, because this was a cross sectional study and family members were often seen very early in disease course, among those who did not meet UK PD Brain Bank criteria but had a subsequent autopsy, a significant subset (>1/3) had autopsy confirmation of PD. The second source of samples is from the NINDS Human Genetics DNA and Cell Line Repository located at the Coriell Institute. Currently DNA from 4,509 PD patients is available from the Coriell Institute. We restricted the selected sample to include only Caucasians and ensured there was no overlap with samples contributed by the PROGENI Study.

Study phs001004

Genotyping NIGMS CEPH Samples from the United States, Venezuela, and France

The Human Genetic Cell Repository (HGCR) is sponsored by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) with the mission of supplying scientists with the materials for accelerating disease gene discovery and functional studies. The resources available include highly-characterized, contaminant-free fibroblast cell lines, transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs), and DNA samples derived from these cultures. While the Repository has a major emphasis on inherited diseases, it also contains large collections of cell lines gathered from populations around the world that are intended for use in facilitating the understanding of human variation. Prominent among these resources is the CEPH Reference Family collection contributed by the Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain (CEPH), Foundation Jean Dausset, Paris, France. The CEPH collection includes families collected by R. White (Utah), J. Dausset (French), J. Gusella (Venezuelan), and J. Egeland (Amish). There are a total of 809 individuals accounting for 832 pedigree positions in the reference families. Family relationships for the 61 reference families were verified at Coriell and approved by CEPH. In an effort to enhance the value of this cell culture resource available from the Repository, the Coriell Genotyping and Microarray Center used the Affymetrix Genome-Wide Human SNP Array 6.0 platform to genotype 181 samples from the NIGMS HGCR CEPH collection. Included are thirteen families from the United States (Amish Pedigree 884 and Utah Pedigrees 1331, 1356, 1400, 1416, 1424, 1427, 1477, and 1582), France (Pedigrees 35 and 66), and Venezuela (Pedigrees 102 and 104). Twelve of the families consist of 3 generations and one family consists of 2 generations. Pedigree charts and sample descriptions are available on the Repository catalog website (see below).

Study phs000268

The ClinSeq Project: Piloting Large-Scale Genome Sequencing for Research in Genomic Medicine

ClinSeq is a pilot project to investigate the use of whole-genome sequencing as a tool for clinical research. By piloting the acquisition of large amounts of DNA sequence data from individual human subjects, we are fostering the development of hypothesis-generating approaches for performing research in genomic medicine, including the exploration of issues related to the genetic architecture of disease, implementation of genomic technology, informed consent, disclosure of genetic information, and archiving, analyzing, and displaying sequence data. In the initial phase of ClinSeq, we are enrolling roughly 1000 participants; the evaluation of each includes obtaining a detailed family and medical history, as well as a clinical evaluation. The participants are being consented broadly for research on many traits and for whole-genome sequencing. Initially, Sanger-based sequencing of 300-400 genes thought to be relevant to atherosclerosis is being performed, with the resulting data analyzed for rare, high-penetrance variants associated with specific clinical traits. The participants are also being consented to allow the contact of family members for additional studies of sequence variants to explore their potential association with specific phenotypes. Here, we present the general considerations in designing ClinSeq, preliminary results based on the generation of an initial 826 Mb of sequence data, the findings for several genes that serve as positive controls for the project, and our views about the potential implications of ClinSeq. The early experiences with ClinSeq illustrate how large-scale medical sequencing can be a practical, productive, and critical component of research in genomic medicine. Reprinted from Genome Res. 2009 Sep; 19(9): 1665-1674, with permission from Genome Research, PMID: 19602640.

Study phs000971

Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) Polymorphisms and Anxiety, Depression

GDNF gene variants were studied as possible risk factors of depression or anxiety on a young sample. The association study involved eight (rs1981844, rs3812047, rs3096140, rs2973041, rs2910702, rs1549250, rs2973050 and rs11111) GDNF single nucleotide polymorphisms and anxiety and depression scores measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) on 708 Caucasian young adults with no psychiatric history. Results provided significant effects of two single nucleotide polymorphisms on anxiety scores following the Bonferroni correction for multiple testing (p=0.00070 and p=0.00138 for rs3812047 and rs3096140, respectively). Haplotype analysis confirmed the role of these SNPs (p=0.00029). A significant sex-gene interaction was also observed since the effect of the rs3812047 A allele as a risk factor of anxiety was more pronounced in males. This is the first demonstration of a significant association between the GDNF gene and mood characteristics demonstrated by the association of two SNPs of the GDNF gene (rs3812047 and rs3096140) and individual variability of anxiety using self-report data from a non-clinical sample. Reprinted from Kotyuk et. al., 2013 (Kotyuk, E., Keszler, G., Nemeth, N., Ronai, Z., Sasvari-Szekely, M., and Szekely, A. (2013). Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) as a Novel Candidate Gene of Anxiety. PLoS One,8, (12) PMID: 24324616), with permission from Publisher (All content of articles published in PLOS journals is open access. You can read about our open access license here: http://www.plos.org/about/open-access/. To summarize, this license allows you to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute, and/or copy articles or images in PLOS journals, so long as the original creators are credited (e.g., including the article's citation and/or the image credit); Laura Perry; Staff EO;PLOS ONE)

Study phs000713

Microvascular Permeability, Inflammation, and Lesion Physiology in Endometriosis: A Microphysiological Systems Approach

The goal of the study is to identify novel molecular pathways involved in the etiology of endometriosis and to develop in vitro model systems to enable the study of the mechanisms regulating reproductive function. Using a physiomimetic modeling approach, primary tissue samples of the human endometrium derived from patients diagnosed with and without endometriosis and/or endometriotic diseases (e.g. adenomyosis) were used for secondary analysis using multi-omic systems biology analysis and to build tissue engineered models. We performed single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq, N=6)) to study the cellular and transcriptomic composition of the endometrial tissue microenvironment and proteomics (LC-MS/MS) to study protein-level signaling pathways and the matrisome of the native endometrium. Systems biology analysis of these datasets helped identified a putative dysregulated inflammatory signaling pathway in endometriosis patients compared to controls. Moreover, subsets from these scRNA-Seq and proteomic datasets were used to aid the design of a synthetic extracellular matrix hydrogel as an in vitro platform for the culture of endometrial cells. Tissue-engineered synthetic PEG hydrogel enables the simultaneous co-culture of endometrial epithelial organoids and stromal fibroblasts in a fully defined, 3D, and tunable environment. We demonstrated that the in vitro co-culture model recapitulates key phenotypic processes observed across the human menstrual cycle in response to sex hormone stimulation through both biochemical and transcriptomic (bulk RNA-sequencing) analysis. This model will enable future mechanistic studies that examine origins of endometriotic disease phenotypes. The transcriptomic data generated for this study including the scRNA-Seq data from primary human endometrial tissues and the bulk RNA-Seq datasets from the experimental co-culture models is available through dbGAP.

Study phs003326

Breast Cancer in Blacks: Impact of Genomics, Healthcare Use and Lifestyle on Outcomes (BRIGHT)

Young Black females bear a disproportionate burden of breast cancer (BC) mortality compared to White females and are underrepresented in clinical studies. It remains critical to understand factors that contribute to the high mortality from BC among young Black females in order to improve outcomes. The higher BC mortality rate among young Black females with breast cancer is partially attributed to the disproportionately higher proportions who develop the aggressive triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). In addition to biologic factors, timely access to care, and lifestyle factors contribute to this disparity. Consequently, we sought to evaluate the interplay between biologic and non-biologic contributors to BC outcomes (i.e., BC disease-free survival (DFS)), and to better characterize the highly aggressive TNBC among young Black females based on distinct molecular subtypes. Ultimately, it is critical to assess both biologic and non-biologic factors to fully understand and address existing health disparities in this population. Through prior and subsequent recruitment of a population-based study of young Black females diagnosed with invasive breast cancer spanning 2009-2016, we: 1) assessed the contribution of biologic and non-biologic factors on BC-DFS observed among young Black females with BC, and 2) investigated molecular features of the subgroup with TNBC. Through this study, consented participants were asked to provide a saliva sample from which DNA was extracted for germline analyses, including germline inherited cancer genetic testing and Infinium Expanded Multi-Ethnic Genotyping Array. Breast cancer tumor specimens were also collected, and tumor RNA was extracted from viable FFPE tumor samples. Tumor RNA analyses included gene expression profiling through NanoString PAM50.Data that will be available through dbGaP for this study include SNP array data and PAM50 data.

Study phs003466

A Phase I Study With a Personalized Neoantigen Cancer Vaccine in Glioblastoma Multiforme

Neoantigens, which are derived from tumor-specific protein-coding gene mutations, are exempt from central tolerance, can generate robust immune responses and function as bona fide antigens that facilitate tumor rejection. A strategy of using multi-epitope and personalized neoantigen vaccination has previously been tested in patients with high-risk melanoma. We demonstrated that this strategy is feasible for glioblastoma (GBM) which typically has a relatively low mutation load and an immunologically 'cold' tumor microenvironment. We conducted whole exome sequencing (WES) of tumor and normal cells from individual GBM patients to identify tumor-specific mutations. We assessed the expression of mutated alleles by RNA-sequencing of tumor, and used personalized neoantigen-targeting vaccines to immunize newly diagnosed GBM patients following surgical resection and conventional radiotherapy in a phase I/Ib study. Patients who did not receive dexamethasone, a highly potent corticosteroid that is frequently prescribed to treat cerebral oedema in GBM patients, generated circulating polyfunctional neoantigen-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses that were enriched in a memory phenotype and showed an increase in the number of tumor-infiltrating T cells. Using single-cell T cell receptor analysis, we provided an evidence that neoantigen-specific T cells from the peripheral blood can migrate into an intracranial GBM tumor. Neoantigen-targeting vaccines thus have the potential to favorably alter the immune environment of GBM.In order to discover cancer antigens derived from annotated and unannotated protein-coding regions of the genome, we carried out matched ribosome profiling (Ribo-Seq) on two GBM samples. We discovered novel or unannotated open reading frames (nuORFs) and their expression levels as well as somatic mutations within the nuORFs, which could be used to predict potential neoantigens.

Study phs001519

Tourette International Collaborative Genetics (TIC Genetics) Study - NJCTS and NIMH

The Tourette International Collaborative Genetics (TIC Genetics) Study is an international collaboration of scientists and clinicians specialized in Tourette Disorder (TD) from more than 20 sites across the United States, Europe, and South Korea. The study was established to further our understanding of the genetic architecture of tic disorders by developing a large sample of genotypically and phenotypically well-characterized affected probands and their relatives. We employ state-of-the-art genetic technologies to identify major genetic variants contributing to TD and the most commonly comorbid disorders, such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). TIC Genetics is a direct result of work of the New Jersey Center for Tourette Syndrome (NJCTS) Sharing Repository (Heiman et. al., 2008; PMID: 19036136), funded by a grant from NJCTS Center of Excellence. Established in 2011 (Dietrich et. al., 2015; PMID: 24771252), the TIC Genetic study focuses on both on familial genetic variants with large effects within multiplex affected pedigrees and on de novo mutations ascertained through the analysis of apparently simplex parent-child trios with non-familial tics. In May 2017, we published a whole-exome sequencing study on apparently 311 parent-child trios (Willsey et. al., 2017; PMID: 28472652). These data, both phenotypes and sequencing data, are available through dbGaP. There were 120 subject samples included in the publication that did not have consent for sharing. These are excluded from dbGaP.In November 2021, we published a whole-exome sequencing study on 13 multiplex TD families (Cao et. al., 2021). These data, both phenotypes and sequencing data, are available through dbGaP.

Study phs001423

Blood Transcriptome Profiling Following Seizures

The retrospective diagnosis or confirmation of a seizure, after the event, is very challenging. Many times clinicians can only use a patient's self-reported history. To further complicate the diagnosis, it is known that 20-30% of patients reporting a seizure actually suffer from psychogenic non-epileptic seizure (PNES). The patient has the behavior of a seizure, but does not suffer from brain seizure activity. Considerable time and resources are used to monitor PNES, and many patients undergo unnecessary therapy with anti-epileptic drugs. These resources could be more effectively used if we could confirm a seizure after the event (retrospective diagnosis). Here we propose a novel approach to distinguish seizures from PNES after the seizure event has happened.We have developed an accurate blood biomarker technology to diagnose acute brain injury, and assess chronic progression following brain injury. Previous studies support the premise that seizures affect blood RNA expression; here we assess temporal RNA expression pattern changes following seizure. We present preliminary preclinical data showing the discrimination of electric-stimulation evoked animal seizures. Here, we validate this maturing technology to assist with the discrimination of epileptic seizures from psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. We will analyze blood samples from patients undergoing video EEG monitoring in an epilepsy monitoring unit (Emory University Hospital, Atlanta GA). We expect 20% of these patients will have PNES. Once a patient has an EEG verified seizure, we will collect blood at various time points and identify biomarker RNA molecules in the blood. Blood samples will be collected from patients with non-verified seizures as control. These RNA expression values will be used to develop a predictive test for the occurrence of seizures. A biomarker gene panel will be developed from this exploratory project for validation in a larger patient population.

Study phs003460

Aberrant Activation of Wound Healing Programs within the Metastatic Niche Facilitates Lung Colonization by Osteosarcoma Cells

Lung metastasis is responsible for nearly all deaths caused by osteosarcoma, the most common pediatric bone tumor. How malignant bone cells coerce the lung microenvironment to support metastatic growth is unclear. This study delineates how osteosarcoma cells educate the lung microenvironment during metastatic progression.Using single-cell transcriptomics (scRNA-seq), we characterized genome– and tissue-wide molecular changes induced within lung tissues by disseminated osteosarcoma cells in both immunocompetent murine models of metastasis and patient samples. We confirmed transcriptomic findings at the protein level and determined spatial relationships with multi-parameter immunofluorescence. We evaluated the ability of nintedanib to impair metastatic colonization and prevent osteosarcoma-induced education of the lung microenvironment in both immunocompetent murine osteosarcoma and immunodeficient human xenograft models.Osteosarcoma cells induced acute alveolar epithelial injury upon lung dissemination. scRNA-seq demonstrated that the surrounding lung stroma adopts a chronic, non-resolving wound-healing phenotype similar to that seen in other models of lung injury. Accordingly, metastasis-associated lung demonstrated marked fibrosis, likely due to the accumulation of pathogenic, pro-fibrotic, partially-differentiated epithelial intermediates. Inhibition of fibrotic pathways with nintedanib prevented metastatic progression in multiple murine and human xenograft models. Our work demonstrates that osteosarcoma cells co-opt fibrosis to promote metastatic outgrowth. When harmonized with data from adult epithelial cancers, our results support a generalized model wherein aberrant mesenchymal-epithelial interactions are critical for promoting lung metastasis. Adult epithelial carcinomas induce fibrotic pathways in normal lung fibroblasts, whereas osteosarcoma, a pediatric mesenchymal tumor, exhibits fibrotic reprogramming in response to the aberrant wound-healing behaviors of an otherwise normal lung epithelium, which are induced by tumor cell interactions.

Study phs003569

Rapid Early Action for Coronary Treatment (REACT-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: This multicenter controlled community study developed and evaluated the impact of a community educational intervention program on participant delay time from onset of symptoms of an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) to arrival at a hospital emergency department.Background: Although early reperfusion or thrombolytic therapy can reduce morbidity and mortality following an AMI, delayed access to medical care in participants is relatively common. Mean delay times from symptom onset to hospital arrival range from more than 4 hours to 24 hours, and the largest component of prolonged delay is participant recognition and action.Participants: A total of 20 communities from 5 field centers in the U.S. were pair-matched (10 pairs) according to geographic proximity and demographic characteristics. After initiation of a 4 month baseline surveillance period, one community in each pair was randomly selected to receive the intervention. The baseline surveillance period was followed by an 18 month community intervention and surveillance period. The community surveillance captured a total of 59,944 adults aged 30 years or older presenting to hospital emergency departments with chest pain, of whom 20,364 met study criteria for suspected acute coronary heart disease (CHD) at admission and discharged with a CHD diagnosis.Conclusions: Delay times were decreased in the intervention and reference communities. The results showed that the multicomponent community intervention program did not differentially reduce delay time from onset of AMI symptoms to arrival at a hospital, but did significantly increase the use of Emergency Medical Services by these participants in the intervention communities. (PMID:10872014).

Study phs003885

Effects of Metformin on Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Profiles in Breast Cancer Survivors Enrolled in the Randomized Placebo-Controlled MetBreCS Trial

Metformin reduces the incidence of breast cancer in patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, our knowledge of the effects of metformin on breast cancer recurrence is limited. Within the randomized double-blind placebo-controlled phase II trial MetBreCS, we examined changes in breast tissue from breast cancer survivors with BMI >25 kg/m2 after treatment with metformin. To identify metformin-regulated signaling pathways, we integrated the transcriptomic, metabolomic and steroid hormone profiles using bivariate and functional analyses. We identified MS4A1, HBA2, MT-RNR1 and MT-RNR2 expression to be differentially expressed in breast tissues from metformin-treated women. We also found metformin-associated down-regulation of EGFL6 and FDCSP in postmenopausal women. The integration of transcriptomic and metabolomic profiles revealed down-regulation of immune response genes associated with reduced levels of arginine and citrulline in the metformin-treated group. The integration of transcriptomic and steroid hormone profiles showed an enrichment of steroid hormone biosynthesis and metabolism pathways with highly negatively correlated CYP11A1 and CYP1B1 expression in breast tissue from postmenopausal metformin-treated women. Our results indicate that breast cancer survivors treated with metformin have specific changes in breast tissue gene expression that may prevent the development of new tumors. Within the randomized double-blind placebo-controlled phase II trial MetBreCS, we examined changes in breast tissue from breast cancer survivors with BMI >25 kg/m2 after treatment with metformin using bulk RNAseq (total mRNA sequencing), that is deposited in Federated EGA. The steroid hormones, and metabolomics and the insulin sensitivity serum biomarker data underlying this article may be shared upon reasonable request to the PI of the MetBreCS study (Dr. Bernardo Bonanni), following approval by the Data and Safety Monitoring Board at IEO, Milan.

Study EGAS50000000874

Efficacy and Immune Effects of Anakinra Prophylaxis for Neurologic Toxicity and Cytokine Release Syndrome in Patients with Lymphoma Receiving Axicabtagene Ciloleucel

Chimeric antigen receptor T cells have transformed the treatment of multiple hematologic malignancies, but are limited in application due to treatment-related toxicities. Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurotoxicity (NT) are the primary toxicities associated with these therapies and are thought to be mediated by broad immune activation due to robust T-cell expansion. Current treatment of these toxicities utilize anti-IL-6 directed therapy and/or systemic glucocorticoids to mitigate the consequences of this complex inflammatory cascade. We sought to use anakinra, an IL-1R antagonist, as a prophylactic strategy to prevent clinically meaningful CRS/NT, defined as grade 2 or higher toxicity necessitating clinical intervention. Although our study, in line with others, demonstrated that IL-1R antagonism is insufficient to prevent such toxicities entirely, we were able to gain insight into the molecular immune signaling associated with breakthrough CRS & NT in the presence of anakinra prophylaxis using our scRNA dataset of patients treated with and without IL-1R antagonism. We demonstrate that IL-4 and IL-10 anti-inflammatory pathways in infused CAR-T products of both anakinra and non-anakinra cohorts were negatively associated with grade 2+ toxicities. We also found that expression of IFN-gamma pathways and ligand-receptor activities, as well as cytokine levels of IFN-gamma and CXCL10 in CD14+ monocytes, were significantly enriched in patients with breakthrough toxicity in the anakinra cohort. This correlated with an increase in IFN-gamma in the peripheral blood of patients with breakthrough toxicities, among other cytokines. These data identify IFN-gamma as a potential key mechanism in the development of CAR-T cell-associated toxcities and suggest that this pathway is also targetable and not inhibited by anakinra alone.

Study phs003655

Analysis of CD20 loss in patients treated with Mosunetuzumab

CD20 is an established therapeutic target in B-cell malignancies. The CD20xCD3 bispecific antibody mosunetuzumab has significant efficacy in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL). Since target antigen loss is a recognized mechanism of resistance, we evaluated the contribution of CD20 expression to clinical response in patients with relapsed and/or refractory NHL in the phase 1/2 GO29781 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02500407) investigating mosunetuzumab monotherapy. CD20 was studied using immunohistochemistry (IHC), RNA sequencing, and whole-exome sequencing performed centrally in biopsies collected prior to treatment, or as paired samples at pre-dose and on-treatment, or at-progression. Prior to treatment, most patients exhibited a high proportion of tumor cells expressing CD20; however, the proportion of CD20+ tumor cells in 14/293 (6%) patients was <10%. Analyses of paired biopsies from patients during treatment revealed that CD20 levels were maintained in 29/30 (97%), vs patients with samples at-progression, in which 11/32 (34%) showed CD20 loss. Reduced transcription or acquisition of truncating mutations explained most but not all cases of CD20 loss. In vitro modeling confirmed the effect of CD20 variants identified in clinical samples on reduction of CD20 expression and confirmed missense mutations in the extracellular domain that could block mosunetuzumab binding. This study expands knowledge about the occurrence of target antigen loss after anti-CD20 therapeutics to CD20-targeting bispecific antibodies and elucidates the underlying mechanisms for reduced CD20 expression at disease progression that may be generalizable to other anti-CD20 targeting agents. These results also establish the utility of readily-available IHC staining for CD20 as a tool to inform clinical decisions.

Study EGAS50000000151

HeLa Cell Genome Sequencing Studies

HeLa is a human epithelial adenocarcinoma cell line that was derived from biopsy specimens of a 31-year old patient named Henrietta Lacks who was being treated for cervical cancer at The Johns Hopkins University Hospital in 1951. The specimens were obtained without her knowledge or consent just before her death in 1951. HeLa is the oldest and most widely used human cell line and has been an extraordinarily important resource for researchers throughout the world. HeLa cells have served as a standard for understanding many fundamental biological processes, such as testing the polio vaccine, establishing basic techniques for cloning and in vitro fertilization, identifying the cause of cervical cancer (HPV), and advancing the development of anti-cancer drugs.This study contains all authorized whole genome sequence data of the HeLa cell line from datasets currently in dbGaP. These data have been approved for health, medical, and/or biomedical research purposes. Access to these data can be granted for one year. Accessible data will include the studies listed on this page and any additional authorized datasets that become available during this one-year period. The HeLa Genome Data Access Working Group of the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) will review requests from the research community for access to these datasets and assess whether the requests align with the terms of use defined in the HeLa Genome Data Use Agreement. The Working Group's findings will be reported to the ACD, and the ACD will make recommendations to the NIH Director about whether a request should be approved or disapproved. The NIH Director will decide whether access to the data will be granted.

Study phs000640

Research in Adaptive Interests, Skills, and Environment

The Research on Adaptive Interest, Skills, and Environments (RAISE) project is a coordinated set of pilot studies funded and otherwise supported by the Center for the Study of Adolescent Risk and Resilience (C-StARR) at Duke University. The initial data collection effort (Adolescent T1; 2015; NAHDAP 100737) was conducted by telephone and focused on self-regulation and related skills during early adolescence and their role in early instances of health risk behavior. The survey was comprised of brief measures of constructs in six areas of interest to C-StARR investigators: (1) background and home environment; (2) self-regulation and personality; (3) physical and mental health; (4) problem behaviors; (5) academics and school; and (6) technology use. The representative sample of 2104 adolescents was drawn from the population of fifth through eighth graders enrolled in North Carolina public schools during the 2014-2015 school year.In 2016, a subsample of 395 participants from the Adolescent T1 survey (selected on the basis of having resided within 100 miles of study personnel hubs in Durham, North Carolina and Sylva, North Carolina) participated in an additional home visit study that involved the collection of biological data and measures of cognitive ability and executive functioning. The molecular data made available to dbGaP were obtained from saliva samples that were collected (a) in person from 377 of 395 home visit study participants and (b) by mail from 60 participants who had participated in the Adolescent T1 survey but had not participated in the home visit study. The resulting data file was imputed to a 1000G phase 3 panel and is comprised of N = 437 individuals and 7,193,135 markers after filtering. Data were filtered with MAF ≥ 0.01, HWE p-value > 10-6, and genotype rate > 95%.

Study phs003982

IDH-wildtype untreated human glioblastoma samples (GB-UK cohort), published in Noorani & Haughey et al 2025.

Extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) oncogene amplification is associated with treatment resistance and shorter survival in cancer. Currently, the spatial dynamics of ecDNA, and their evolutionary impact, are poorly understood. Here, we investigate the spatiotemporal evolution of ecDNA by integrating computational modeling with samples from 94 treatment-naive human IDH wild-type glioblastoma patients. Random ecDNA segregation combined with ecDNA-conferred fitness advantages induce distinct spatial ecDNA copy number patterns which depend on ecDNA oncogenic makeup. EGFR-ecDNAs often reach high copy numbers and confer strong fitness advantages. In contrast, PDGFRA-ecDNAs reach lower copy numbers and confer weaker fitness advantages. EGFR structural variants occur exclusively on ecDNA, arise from and are intermixed with wild-type EGFR-ecDNAs. Computational modeling suggests wild-type and variant EGFR-ecDNAs often accumulate before clonal expansion. Using a genetically engineered mouse model, we confirm that the accumulation of oncogenic ecDNA prior to clonal expansion under strong positive selection is observable both in vivo and in vitro in mouse neural stem cells. Intermixed wild-type and variant ecDNAs remain prevalent at diagnosis, as less fit wild-type ecDNAs hitchhike on strongly selected variant EGFR-ecDNAs. A dN/dS analysis in the Genomics England cohort further suggests positive selection of variants on EGFR-ecDNAs but not PDGFRA-ecDNAs in glioblastoma. Overall, our results suggest ecDNA oncogenic makeup determines unique evolutionary trajectories in glioblastoma. New concepts like ecDNA tumor clonality, ecDNA heteroplasmy and multi-species ecDNAs require a refined evolutionary interpretation of genomic data in a large subset of glioblastoma patients and likely other solid cancers.

Study EGAS00001008126

Paediatric Hepatic International Tumour Trial (JPLT2: PHITT)

Hepatoblastoma (HBL) is the most common primary liver tumor in children. Despite their diversity in histopathological phenotype and clinical outcome, the underlying molecular aberrations have not been fully understood. Here we describe a comprehensive landscape of genomic, epigenomic, and transcriptomic heterogeneity among the 163 cases of HBLs and transitional liver cell tumors (TLCTs) collected in the multicenter clinical trial JPLT-2. The total numbers of mutational events in HBLs are very few (0.52 SNVs/Mb on exonic regions) but show a positive correlation with the age of onset. While dysregulation of Wnt-pathway related genes was observed (somatic deletion or mutations of CTNNB1 and germline or somatic mutations of APC) in 83.6% of the HBL cases, TERT promoter mutations are mainly in the elderly HBLs (> 8 years old), meeting with the proposed criteria of TLCT. These TLCT cases are clustered in the hypermethylated epigenotype in promoter and enhancer regions. Copy number analyses also revealed recurrent 11p15.5 UPD/LOHs including the IGF2/H19 region (31.6%), focal deletions in 4q35 (15.8%) and focal amplifications in 2q24.3 (7.0%) predominantly in the child and infant HBLs. Motif enrichment analysis of the specific hypomethylated enhancers in these HBL subtypes suggests specific binding of ASCL2, the regulatory transcription factor for definitive endoderm and digestive systems. Transcriptome and histochemical analysis revealed that ASCL2 is upregulated not in HCC and TLCT but in child and infant HBL, suggesting their ?cell of origin? derived from the premature hepatoblast with high proliferative potential such as intestinal epithelial cells. Systematic molecular profiling of HBL will provide a fundamental understanding of hepatoblast carcinogenesis and clues for risk stratification.

Study JGAS000236

Repotrectinib in NTRK fusion–positive advanced solid tumors: a phase 1/2 trial

Early-generation TRK tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) approved for treating NTRK fusion–positive (NTRK+) solid tumors provide clinical benefit; however, resistance emerges. Repotrectinib is a next-generation ROS1/TRK TKI with a compact macrocyclic structure designed to improve durability of response. TRIDENT-1 is a registrational phase 1/2 trial assessing repotrectinib, a next-generation ROS1/TRK TKI, in adults with advanced solid tumors, including NTRK+ disease. The primary endpoint was confirmed objective response; secondary endpoints included duration of response (DOR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival and safety. Median follow-up ranged between 21.3 months and 25.7 months. In the TKI-naive cohort (n = 51; 95% confidence interval (CI)), the response rate was 59% (44–72); the median DOR was not estimable (NE); and the median PFS was 30.3 months (9.0–NE). In the TKI-pretreated cohort (n = 69; 95% CI), the response rate was 48% (36–60); the median DOR was 9.8 months (7.4–13.0); and the median PFS was 7.4 months (3.9–9.7). Of 30 TKI-pretreated patients with NTRK solvent front mutations, 16 had a response (53%; 95% CI: 34–72). Intracranial responses were observed in two of three TKI-naive patients and in four of six TKI-pretreated patients with measurable intracranial disease at baseline. Among all treated patients (n = 565), the most common any-grade treatment-related adverse event (TRAE) was dizziness (57%); most TRAEs were low grade; and 4% discontinued repotrectinib due to a TRAE. Overall, repotrectinib demonstrated durable systemic and intracranial responses with generally low-grade adverse events in patients with NTRK+ solid tumors, including those with previous TRK TKI treatment and solvent front mutations. These results support the use repotrectinib to treat patients with NTRK+ solid tumors. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03093116 .

Study EGAS50000001572

Driver mutations in histone H3.3 and chromatin remodelling genes in paediatric glioblastoma

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a lethal brain tumour in adults and children. However, DNA copy number and gene expression signatures indicate differences between adult and paediatric cases. To explore the genetic events underlying this distinction, we sequenced the exomes of 48 paediatric GBM samples. Somatic mutations in the H3.3-ATRX-DAXX chromatin remodelling pathway were identified in 44% of tumours (21/48). Recurrent mutations in H3F3A, which encodes the replication-independent histone 3 variant H3.3, were observed in 31% of tumours, and led to amino acid substitutions at two critical positions within the histone tail (K27M, G34R/G34V) involved in key regulatory post-translational modifications. Mutations in ATRX (alpha-thalassaemia/mental retardation syndrome X-linked) and DAXX (death-domain associated protein), encoding two subunits of a chromatin remodelling complex required for H3.3 incorporation at pericentric heterochromatin and telomeres, were identified in 31% of samples overall, and in 100% of tumours harbouring a G34R or G34V H3.3 mutation. Somatic TP53 mutations were identified in 54% of all cases, and in 86% of samples with H3F3A and/or ATRX mutations. Screening of a large cohort of gliomas of various grades and histologies (n=784) showed H3F3A mutations to be specific to GBM and highly prevalent in children and young adults. Furthermore, the presence of H3F3A/ATRX-DAXX/TP53 mutations was strongly associated with alternative lengthening of telomeres and specific gene expression profiles. This is, to our knowledge, the first report to highlight recurrent mutations in a regulatory histone in humans, and our data suggest that defects of the chromatin architecture underlie paediatric and young adult GBM pathogenesis.

Study EGAS00001000226

Out with the Java, in with the Python - new EGA data download client unveiled

We will shortly be deprecating the Java-based download client also known as API V2. The Java client began its life at the back end of 2014, and during its time has seen many developments that have served our users well. During its tenure, the Java client enabled distribution of over 6.5 million files totalling nearly 15 petabytes of data to researchers around the globe. Recent increases in genomic and phenotypic data file sizes, the number of datasets archived in the EGA, the number of users downloading data, and the diversity of download locations has meant that at times the Java client struggled to distribute data efficiently. In response, our team of developers have built a new download client with more robust features and better functionality and reliability. Enter stage left our shiny new API V3.1! The new API V3.1 will replace both API V2 and API V3. The download client for the new API V3.1 is written in Python, and the code is openly available on Github. This Python client makes https calls to the EGA AAI (https://ega.ebi.ac.uk:8443/) and to the EGA Data API (https://ega.ebi.ac.uk:8052), both of which must be accessible from the client location. In addition to general updates to improve performance, the API V3.1 has three new features enhancing the EGA distributions services. First, requested data are now downloaded over secure https connections rather than http, meaning that data can be delivered unencrypted. Instead of separately requesting, downloading, and decrypting data using the Java client, data can now be requested and downloaded using a single command without the need for decrypting. The API V3.1 also automatically verifies each file’s unencrypted md5 after download to ensure the file has downloaded correctly. Second, the new API supports segmenting and automatic resuming. To enable quicker download speeds, the API breaks files into up to four segments and downloads them in parallel. With the new resume feature, downloads - both segmented and continuous stream - will automatically resume if they encounter any errors or the connection is interrupted. These features result in both a faster and more reliable download experience. Finally, the new API V3.1 implements the GA4GH-compliant htsget protocol for supporting requests over genomic ranges. This exciting new feature means that for data files with accompanying index files (e.g. .crai for CRAM files) users can download specific regions of interest rather than the entire file saving both time and storage space. The new features of the Python-based API V3.1 represent significant improvements in security, speed, reliability, and flexibility that are sure to provide a better data download experience. To take full advantage of these features, users must update to Python 3.X. Considering the changes in the data structures with the new API, the upgrade to a new version of the Python client is also mandatory. Updating the client to the latest version can be achieved by running the following command: pip3 install pyega3 -U We are excited for users to try out the new features and take advantage of the multifariously growing EGA distribution services for human biomedical omics data. If you have any questions or feedback, please email the EGA Helpdesk team. We'd love to hear from you!

Blog new-ega-data-download-client

New set of services for all users unveiled at the EGA

The European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA) releases today a brand-new website as well as a set of improved services for users, comprising a revamped Submitter Portal with an improved API and data brokering functionality for submitters, as well as a new DAC Portal for Data Access Committee members to easily manage data access requests. The EGA team has been working hard over the past months on these improvements that will provide a better experience for the users. Discover them below! Visit our new EGA website and check the new functionalities and updated guides Our new website is live, with a fresh look and updated features to discover all the novelties. The homepage now includes three pathways to guide our users, depending on whether they want to deposit, download or manage data within the Archive. One of the most outstanding developments is the introduction of a streamlined process for requesting access to data: EGA Users can now directly request access to their preferred datasets through the website using their EGA accounts. Additionally, users can customise their profile, oversee active sessions, and manage the public keys, essential for our latest array of services, alongside a range of other features. Another major change is our new Help Desk contact method: a built-in website form tailored for user inquiries. This system, called "Need Help?", can be easily located on the top right-hand side of the website. It will encompass both EGA and Federated EGA node users' requests. We will detail its use soon, so stay tuned. Register your metadata to the EGA easily with our new Submitter Portal The new Submitter Portal makes the submission process quicker and more intuitive. The process is currently divided into sections that the user will know beforehand by taking the tour that the EGA team has created to guide users through the Portal before starting the first submission. Do not complete your data submissions alone! Our Submitter Portal now includes a collaboration mode so that every submission can be completed by authorised collaborators with an EGA Profile. There are a lot more features that we will be detailing from now on in incoming posts. A new platform for Data Access Committee Members The new DAC Portal brings novelties for individuals engaged in governance, legal, technical, operational roles, or those acting as data stewards. DAC members will be able to easily manage DACs, policies, and data access requests with the new Portal. Take the tour now to check them out! Help us improve the services completing the EGA Survey As part of our ongoing journey to improve your experience, we have created an EGA User Survey. This questionnaire covers a wide range of aspects such as user experience, support and data accessibility, among others. Participate now and take the opportunity to suggest your own improvements. Help us enhance your experience in this new era for the EGA. Subscribe to the EGA Mailing List and stay tuned In the next weeks we will share more information about the possibilities of the new services. You can easily join the EGA Mailing List to receive all the updates.

Blog new-set-of-services-at-EGA

Molecular evolution of metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma progressing under tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy (HIPO-045)

Background:Acquired resistance to targeted drugs is largely due to intra-tumor molecular heterogeneity and clonal selection. Objective:The objective of this study was to determine molecular alterations and mediating resistant mechanisms and to suggest additional treatment options.Design, Setting, and Participants:Four patients were enrolled into the MORE (Molecular Renal Cancer Evolution) trial. We investigated the mutational spectra of metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) at baseline and compared them to those upon clonal evolution at progression on systemic therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors.Outcome Measurements:DNA was isolated from tumor tissues after surgery, metastasis biopsies after progression on sunitinib or axitinib, and subjected to whole-exome sequencing (WES). In addition, the exomes of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) from two patients were sequenced at baseline and at progression.Results and Limitations:Our data provide evidence for clonal evolution and various acquired resistance mechanisms of ccRCC with subclonal mutations in FLT4, MTOR, ITGA3/5, SETD2, and VHL on metastatic progression. The limited number of shared mutations in tissue and plasma biopsies indicates that both sources provide complementary information, possibly due to mutations present in metastatic lesions which were not amenable to tissue sampling but are represented in the ctDNA. Conclusion:Acquired resistance to targeted therapies in metastatic ccRCC is due to intra-tumor heterogeneity and clonal evolution. Larger patient cohorts have to be studied to estimate the benefit of WES from biopsies and ctDNA for therapy decision in metastatic ccRCC.Patient Summary:We analyzed the molecular profiles of ccRCC patients in primary tissues and metastatic tissues upon progression on tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. Clinically relevant mutations upon progression were detected in the metastatic sites of all of four patients, suggesting that it might be possible to derive therapies based on sequencing the metastases.?HIPO-045

Study EGAS00001001861

Resolving the Full Spectrum of Human Genome Variation using Linked-Reads

Large-scale population based analyses coupled with advances in technology have demonstrated that the human genome is more diverse than originally thought. Standard short-read approaches, used primarily due to accuracy, throughput and costs, fail to give a complete picture of a genome. They struggle to identify large, balanced structural events, cannot access repetitive regions of the genome and fail to resolve the human genome into its two haplotypes. Here we describe an approach that retains long range information while harnessing the power of short reads. Starting from only 1ng of DNA, we produce barcoded short read libraries. The use of novel informatic approaches allows for the barcoded short reads to be associated with the long molecules of origin producing a novel datatype known as 'Linked-Reads'. This approach allows for simultaneous detection of small and large variants from a single Linked-Read library. We have previously demonstrated the utility of whole genome Linked-Reads (lrWGS) for performing diploid, de novo assembly of individual genomes. In this manuscript, we show the utility of reference based analysis using a single Linked-Read library for full spectrum genome analysis. We demonstrate the ability of Linked-Reads to reconstruct megabase scale haplotypes and to recover parts of the genome that are typically inaccessible to short reads, including phenotypically important genes such as STRC, SMN1 and SMN2. We demonstrate the ability of both lrWGS and Linked-Read Whole Exome Sequencing (lrWES) to identify complex structural variations, including balanced events, single exon deletions, and single exon duplications. The data presented here show that Linked-Reads provide a scalable approach for comprehensive genome analysis that is not possible using short reads alone.

Study EGAS00001003121

Indonesian Genome Diversity Project

Indonesia, the world’s fourth largest country by population, comprises an archipelago of about 900 permanently inhabited islands in tropical Asia, and hosts an astonishing array of human diversity that remains largely underrepresented in modern biological surveys. The region is unique for its key role in both the early and recent evolution of Homo outside of Africa. It has one of the first traces of anatomically modern humans in Eurasia, and was the focus of extensive interaction between archaic hominins and humans – both in the likely co-existence of H. floresiensis with modern humans, and in the introgression of Denisovans into the ancestors of its present inhabitants. More recently, Indonesia was a center of the spread of Neolithic culture by Austronesian speakers. Advancing maritime technologies allowed farming populations to treat this region as a springboard to reach oceanic islands as remote as Madagascar, Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand. Here we present complete human genomes from healthy individuals from multiple key islands in Indonesia and Papua. The genomes were sequenced to high depth (30x). The purpose of this dataset is to address different questions of human evolution in Island Southeast Asia and beyond, including early settlement of the area by anatomically modern humans, population structure, genetic admixture and adaptation, and contacts with archaic hominins. We employed a sampling strategy to capture a broad range of diversity across the region incorporating an average of 12 samples from each of 14 islands spanning Indonesia and Papua, from Sumatra in the west to New Britain in the east. Genomes from this dataset form part of an ongoing project to describe and understand human evolutionary history in Island Southeast Asia and Eurasia in general.

Study EGAS00001003054

Deep single-cell RNA sequencing data for 12346 T cells from tumour, adjacent normal tissue and peripheral blood of treatment-naive NSCLC patients

Cancer immunotherapies have shown sustained clinical responses in treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but efficacy varies between patients and is believed to depend in part on the amount and properties of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). To comprehensively depict and dissect the baseline landscape of the composition, lineage and functional states of TILs in lung cancer, here we generated deep single-cell RNA sequencing data for 12,346 T cells from the primary tumour, adjacent normal tissues and peripheral blood of 14 treatment-naive NSCLC patients. Combined expression and TCR-based lineage tracking revealed a significant proportion of effector T cells with common origins and similar functional states across peripheral blood and tumours pointing towards a highly migratory nature of these T cells. We also observed tumour-infiltrating CD8+ T cells undergoing extensive clonal expansion and exhaustion, with two clusters of cells exhibiting states preceding exhaustion. Survival analysis on independent datasets suggested that high ratio of pre-exhausted to exhausted T cells is associated with better prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). In addition, we observed further heterogeneity within the tumour regulatory T cells (Tregs), characterized by the bimodal distribution of TNFRSF9, an activation marker for antigen-specific Tregs. The gene signature of this group of activated tumour Tregs, which included IL1R2, correlated with poor prognosis in LUAD. The T cell clusters revealed by our single cell analyses provide a new approach for patient stratification, and the accompanying compendium of data will help the research community to gain further insight into the functional states and dynamics of T cell responses in lung cancer.

Study EGAS00001002430

UK10K NEURO FSZ

In the UK10K project we propose a series of complementary genetic approaches to find new low frequency/rare variants contributing to disease phenotypes. These will be based on obtaining the genome wide sequence of 4000 samples from the TwinsUK and ALSPAC cohorts (at 6x sequence coverage), and the exome sequence (protein coding regions and related conserved sequence) of 6000 samples selected for extreme phenotypes. Our studies will focus primarily on cardiovascular-related quantitative traits, obesity and related metabolic traits, neurodevelopmental disorders and a limited number of extreme clinical phenotypes that will provide proof-of-concept for future familial trait sequencing. We will analyse directly quantitative traits in the cohorts and the selected traits in the extreme samples, and also use imputation down to 0.1% allele frequency to extend the analyses to further sample sets with genome wide genotype data. In each case we will investigate indels and larger structural variants as well as SNPs, and use statistical methods that combine rare variants in a locus or pathway as well as single-variant approaches. These Finnish schizophrenia samples have been collected from a population cohort using national registers. The entire sample collection consists of 2756 individuals from 458 families of whom 931 are diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorder, each family having at least two affected siblings. 170 families originate from an internal isolate (Kuusamo) with a three-fold lifetime risk for the trait. The genealogy of the internal isolate is well documented and the individuals form a “megapedigree” reaching to the 17th Century. All diagnoses are based on DSM-IV and for a large fraction of cases there is cognitive data. For further details/descriptions with regard to this data set please contact Tiina Paunio (tiina.paunio@thl.fi)

Study EGAS00001000118

'Targeted High Throughput Sequencing in Clinical Cancer Settings: Formaldehyde fixed-paraffin embedded (FFPE) tumor tissues, input amount and tumor heterogeneity'

"Background: Massively parallel sequencing technologies have brought an enormous increase in sequencing throughput. However, these technologies need to be further improved with regard to reproducibility and applicability to clinical samples and settings. Methods: Using identification of genetic variations in prostate cancer as an example we address three crucial challenges in the field of targeted re-sequencing: Small nucleotide variation (SNV) detection in samples of formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue material, minimal amount of input sample and sampling in view of tissue heterogeneity.Results: We show that FFPE tissue material can supplement for fresh frozen tissues for the detection of SNVs and that solution-based enrichment experiments can be accomplished with small amounts of DNA with only minimal effects on enrichment uniformity and data variance. Finally, we address the question whether the heterogeneity of a tumor is reflected by different genetic alterations, e.g. different foci of a tumor display different genomic patterns. We show that the tumor heterogeneity plays an important role for the detection of copy number variations, but is of minor importance for the detection of somatic variations.Conclusions: The application of high throughput sequencing technologies in cancer genomics opens up a new dimension for the identification of disease mechanisms. In particular the ability to use small amounts of FFPE samples available from surgical tumor resections and histopathological examinations facilitates the collection of precious tissue materials. However, care needs to be taken in regard to the locations of the biopsies taken, which can have an influence on the prediction of copy number variations. Bearing these technological challenges in mind will significantly improve many large-scale sequencing studies and will - on a long-range - result in a more reliable prediction of individual cancer therapies."

Study EGAS00001000136

Dynamics of genomic clones in breast cancer patient xenografts at single cell resolution

Human cancers, including breast cancers, are comprised of clones differing in mutation content that evolve dynamically in space and time following principles of Darwinian evolution, underpinning important emergent features such as drug resistance and metastasis. Human breast cancer xenoengraftment is used as a means of capturing and studying tumour biology, and breast tumour xenografts are generally assumed to be reasonable models of the originating tumours. However the consequences and reproducibility of engraftment and propagation on the genomic clonal architecture of tumours has not been systematically examined at single cell resolution. Here we show by both deep genome and single cell sequencing methods, the clonal dynamics of initial engraftment and subsequent serial propagation of primary and metastatic human breast cancers in immunodeficient mice. In all cases examined, clonal selection on engraftment was observed in both primary and metastatic breast tumours, varying in degree from extreme selective engraftment of minor (<5% of starting population) clones to moderate, polyclonal engraftment. Furthermore, ongoing clonal dynamics during serial passaging is a feature of tumours experiencing modest initial selection. Through single cell sequencing, we show that major mutation clusters estimated from tumour population sequencing relate predictably to the most abundant clonal genotypes, even in clonally complex and rapidly evolving cases. Finally, we show that similar clonal expansion patterns can emerge in independent grafts of the same starting tumour population, indicating that genomic aberrations can be reproducible determinants of evolutionary trajectories. Our results show that measurement of genomically defined clonal population dynamics will be highly informative for functional studies utilizing patient-derived breast cancer xenoengraftment.

Study EGAS00001000952

1 Intratumoral genetic heterogeneity and clonal evolution following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) in locally advanced rectal tumors.

Purpose: Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) is the standard treatment forpatients with locally advanced rectal cancer. However, little is known about the effect of nCRT in the mutational landscape and intratumoral genetic heterogeneity (ITGH) of rectal tumors. Moreover, response to nCRT vary substantially among patients and the genetic determinants of treatment response are not fully understood. Here, we sought to determine the impact of nCRT in the mutational landscape and ITGH of rectal tumors and to identify putative drivers of therapeutic resistance. Patients and Methods: We analyzed whole-exome sequencing (WES) and clinical data from 79 primary non-treated rectal cancers obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We also compared the mutational landscape of a matched set of peripheral blood cells, irradiated tumor-adjacent colonic mucosa and pre and post-treatment tumor samples to determine the iatrogenic effects of nCRT and its impact in tissue genetic heterogeneity. Finally, we performed WES of 7 matched pre and post-treatment tumor samples to examine how nCRT affects the clonal architecture of rectal tumors. Results: We show that rectal tumors exhibit remarkable ITGH, which increases with disease progression. We also show that nCRT, per se, does not introduce novel somatic mutations, nor alters the clonal architecture of the irradiated colonic mucosa. Instead, we show that it acts as a potent selective pressure, favoring the expansion of tumor cell subpopulations more prone to resist therapy and increasing ITGH in the residual tumor. Conclusion: Our results reveal the highly heterogeneous and dynamic clonal architecture of rectal tumors undergoing nCRT. Our results also uncover putative genetic determinants of response to nCRT and a possible role for ITGH in predicting treatment outcome.

Study EGAS00001003250

THAP11 mutations in a patient with a cblX-like phenotype implicates THAP11 in the regulation of cobalamin metabolism and early vertebrate development

Mutations in HCFC1 are associated with cblX (MIM309541), an X-linked recessive disorder, characterized by defects in cobalamin metabolism and other developmental defects. HCFC1 is a transcriptional co-regulator, which interacts with transcription factors to regulate the expression of a myriad of genes. Notably, HCFC1 regulates cobalamin metabolism via the regulation of MMACHC expression through its interaction with THAP11, a THAP domain-containing transcription factor. In addition, the HCFC1/THAP11 complex potentially regulates genes involved in diverse cellular functions including cell cycle, proliferation, and transcription. Thus, it is likely that mutations in THAP11 may also result in biochemical and other phenotypes similar to those observed in patients with cblX. We report a patient who presented with phenotypic features that overlap cblX, but did not have any mutations in either MMACHC or HCFC1. We sequenced THAP11 by Sanger sequencing and discovered a potentially pathogenic, homozygous variant in THAP11, c.240C>G (p.Phe80Leu). Functional analysis in the developing zebrafish embryo, demonstrate that both THAP11 and HCFC1 regulate the proliferation and differentiation of neural precursors, suggesting important roles in normal brain development. Further, the loss of THAP11 in zebrafish embryos, results in craniofacial abnormalities including the complete loss of Meckel’s cartilage, the ceratohyal, and all of the ceratobranchial cartilages. These data are consistent with our previous work which demonstrated a role for HCFC1 in vertebrate craniofacial development. Furthermore, our high throughput RNA-sequencing analysis reveals several overlapping gene targets of HCFC1 and THAP11 that likely contribute to the phenotypes associated with cblX and related disorders. Thus, both HCFC1 and THAP11 play important roles in the regulation of cobalamin metabolism as well as other pathways involved in early vertebrate development.

Study EGAS00001002201

The Genomic Landscape of Response to EGFR Blockade in Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer world-wide with 1.2 million patients diagnosed yearly. In late stage CRC, the most commonly used targeted therapies are monoclonal antibodies cetuximab and panitumumab, which inactivate EGFR. Recent studies have identified alterations in KRAS and other genes as likely mechanisms of primary and secondary resistance to anti-EGFR antibody therapy. Despite these efforts, additional mechanisms of resistance to EGFR blockade are thought to be present in CRC and little is known about determinants of sensitivity to this therapy. To examine the effect of somatic genetic changes in CRC on response to anti-EGFR antibody therapy, we performed complete exome sequence and copy number analyses of 129 patient-derived tumorgrafts and targeted genomic analyses of 55 patient tumors, all of which were KRAS wild-type. We analyzed the response of tumors to anti-EGFR antibody blockade in tumorgraft models or in clinical settings. In addition to previously identified genes, we detected mutations in ERBB2, EGFR, FGFR1, PDGFRA, and MAP2K1 as potential mechanisms of primary resistance to this therapy. Novel alterations in the ectodomain of EGFR were identified in patients with acquired resistance to EGFR blockade. Amplifications and sequence changes in the tyrosine kinase receptor adaptor gene IRS2 were identified in tumors with increased sensitivity to anti-EGFR therapy. Therapeutic resistance to EGFR blockade could be overcome in tumorgraft models through combinatorial therapies targeting actionable genes. These analyses provide a systematic approach to evaluate response to targeted therapies in human cancer, highlight new mechanisms of responsiveness to anti-EGFR therapies, and provide new avenues for intervention in the management of CRC.

Study EGAS00001001305

Genomic landscape of oral cancers (Illumina RNA-Seq)

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a necessary but insufficient cause of a subset of oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) that is increasing markedly in frequency. To identify contributory, secondary genetic alterations in these cancers, we used comprehensive genomics methods to compare 149 HPV-positive and 335 HPV-negative OSCC tumor/normal pairs. Different behavioral risk factors underlying the two OSCC types were reflected in distinctive genomic mutational signatures. In HPV-positive OSCC, the signatures of APOBEC cytosine deaminase editing, associated with anti-viral immunity, were strongly linked to overall mutational burden. By contrast, in HPV-negative OSCC, T>C substitutions in the sequence context 5’-ATN-3’ correlated with tobacco exposure. Universal expression of HPV E6*1 and E7 oncogenes was a sine qua non of HPV-positive OSCC. Significant enrichment of somatic mutations was confirmed or newly identified in PIK3CA, KMT2D, FGFR3, FBXW7, DDX3X, PTEN, TRAF3, RB1, CYLD, RIPK4, ZNF750, EP300, CASZ1, TAF5, RBL1, IFNGR1 and NFKBIA. Of these, many affect host pathways already targeted by HPV oncoproteins, including the p53 and pRB pathways, or disrupt host defenses against viral infections, including interferon and nuclear factor-B signaling. Frequent copy number changes were associated with concordant changes in gene expression. Chr. 11q (including CCND1) and 14q (including DICER1 and AKT1) were recurrently lost in HPV-positive OSCC, in contrast to their gains in HPV-negative OSCC. High-ranking variant allele fractions implicated ZNF750, PIK3CA and EP300 mutations as candidate driver events in HPV-positive cancers. We conclude that virus-host interactions cooperatively shape the unique genetic features of these cancers, distinguishing them from their HPV-negative counterparts.

Study EGAS00001003237

Targeting the DNA Repair Pathway in Ewing Sarcoma

Ewing’s Sarcoma is a bone and soft tissue tumor that primarily affects adolescents and young adults. With current therapies, 70% of patients with localized disease survive but survival for metastatic and recurrent disease is poor. Whole genome sequencing of 19 Ewing’s Sarcoma tumors showed that STAG2 was mutated in 10% (2/19) of the tumors and STAG2 protein was absent in 14% (13/106) tumors by immunohistochemical staining. Previous studies have shown that glioblastoma cells lacking STAG2 are more sensitive to poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. We found that Ewing’s Sarcoma cell lines are sensitive to PARP inhibitors irrespective of STAG2 protein expression. Ewing Sarcoma cell lines are defective in double strand DNA break repair. PARP inhibitor cytotoxicity in Ewing’s Sarcoma cells was potentiated 10-1,000 fold by DNA damaging agents (irinotecan and temozolomide). To extend these studies in vivo, we developed an orthotopic Ewing’s Sarcoma mouse model and performed pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies with three different PARP inhibitors (BMN-673, olaparib and veliparib) in clinical development for pediatric cancer. Those data were used to design preclinical phase I studies to identify tolerable drug combinations for pilot efficacy testing (preclinical phase II). Based on the results of the preclinical phase I/II data, we performed a double blind, randomized, placebo controlled preclinical phase III trial with 274 mice in 15 treatment groups. Irinotecan administered in a low-dose protracted schedule optimized for pediatric patients was an effective DNA damaging agent to combine with olaparib and BMN-673 and was better tolerated than combinations with temozolomide. Combining olaparib or BMN-673 with irinotecan and temozolomide gave complete and durable responses in over 80% of the mice.

Study EGAS00001000839

Exome sequencing in bipolar disorder families

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a major psychiatric disorder affecting around 1% of the global population. BD is characterized by recurrent manic and depressive episodes, and has an estimated heritability of around 70% Research has identified the first BD susceptibility genes. However, the underlying pathways and regulatory networks remain largely unknown. Since research has shown that the cumulative impact of common alleles with small effect appears to explain only around 25-38% of the phenotypic variance for BD, rare variants of high penetrance may also contribute to BD risk. The present study investigated the role of rare, nonsynonymous, and potentially functional variants via whole exome sequencing in 15 BD cases from two large, multiply affected families from Cuba. The high prevalence of BD in these pedigrees renders them promising in terms of the identification of genetic risk variants with large effect sizes. In addition, SNP array data were used to calculate polygenic risk scores for affected and unaffected family members. After correction for multiple testing, polygenic risk scores for common, BD-associated genetic variants were not significantly higher in BD cases than in healthy relatives. Exome sequencing identified a total of 17 rare and potentially damaging variants in 17 genes. The identified variants were shared by all investigated BD cases in the respective pedigree. The most promising variant was located in the gene SERPING1 (p.L349F), which has been reported as a genome-wide significant risk gene for schizophrenia. A further promising variant was located in CAPN2, which has been implicated in synaptic plasticity. The present data suggest novel candidate genes for BD susceptibility, and may facilitate the discovery of disease-relevant pathways and regulatory networks.

Study EGAS00001003085

Genomic landscape of oral cancers (Complete Genomics WGS)

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a necessary but insufficient cause of a subset of oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) that is increasing markedly in frequency. To identify contributory, secondary genetic alterations in these cancers, we used comprehensive genomics methods to compare 149 HPV-positive and 335 HPV-negative OSCC tumor/normal pairs. Different behavioral risk factors underlying the two OSCC types were reflected in distinctive genomic mutational signatures. In HPV-positive OSCC, the signatures of APOBEC cytosine deaminase editing, associated with anti-viral immunity, were strongly linked to overall mutational burden. By contrast, in HPV-negative OSCC, T>C substitutions in the sequence context 5’-ATN-3’ correlated with tobacco exposure. Universal expression of HPV E6*1 and E7 oncogenes was a sine qua non of HPV-positive OSCC. Significant enrichment of somatic mutations was confirmed or newly identified in PIK3CA, KMT2D, FGFR3, FBXW7, DDX3X, PTEN, TRAF3, RB1, CYLD, RIPK4, ZNF750, EP300, CASZ1, TAF5, RBL1, IFNGR1 and NFKBIA. Of these, many affect host pathways already targeted by HPV oncoproteins, including the p53 and pRB pathways, or disrupt host defenses against viral infections, including interferon and nuclear factor-B signaling. Frequent copy number changes were associated with concordant changes in gene expression. Chr. 11q (including CCND1) and 14q (including DICER1 and AKT1) were recurrently lost in HPV-positive OSCC, in contrast to their gains in HPV-negative OSCC. High-ranking variant allele fractions implicated ZNF750, PIK3CA and EP300 mutations as candidate driver events in HPV-positive cancers. We conclude that virus-host interactions cooperatively shape the unique genetic features of these cancers, distinguishing them from their HPV-negative counterparts.

Study EGAS00001002393

Genome wide association study on coronary heart disease in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia

Mutations in the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) gene cause familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), a disorder characterized by coronary heart disease (CHD) at young age. We aimed to apply an extreme sampling method to enhance the statistical power to identify novel genetic risk variants for CHD in individuals with FH. We selected cases and controls with an extreme contrast in CHD risk from 17 000 FH patients from the Netherlands, whose functional LDLR mutation was unequivocally established. The genome-wide association (GWA) study was performed on 249 very young FH cases with CHD and 217 old FH controls without CHD (above 65 years for males and 70 years of age for females) using the Illumina HumanHap 550K chip. In the next stage, two independent samples (one from the Netherlands and one from Italy, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom) of FH patients were used as replication samples. In the initial GWA analysis we identified 29 independent single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with suggestive associations with premature CHD (p<1×10-4). We examined the association of these SNPs with CHD risk in the replication samples. After Bonferroni correction, none of the SNPs either replicated or reached genome-wide significance after combining the discovery and replication samples. Therefore, we conclude that the genetics of CHD risk in FH is complex and even applying an ‘extreme genetics’ approach we did not identify new genetic risk variants. Most likely, this method is not as effective in leveraging effect size as anticipated, and may therefore not lead to significant gains in statistical power. (NB submitten and conditionally accepted at European Journal of Human Genetics-please use abstract only for internal review until submission complete)

Study EGAS00001000734

Ischemic stroke in a Swedish case-control study.

Background. Genetic risk scores (GRS), summing up the total effect of several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes associated with either coronary risk or cardiovascular risk factors, have been tested for association with ischemic stroke with conflicting results. Recently an association was found between a GRS, based on 29 SNPs discovered by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and hypertension. The aim of our study was to investigate the possible association of the same GRS with ischemic stroke on top of other “traditional risk factors”, also testing its potential improvement in indices of discrimination and reclassification, in a Swedish case-control study. Methods and results. Twenty-nine SNPs were genotyped in 3,677 stroke cases and 2,415 controls included in the Lund Stroke Register (LSR), the Malmö Diet and Cancer (MDC) study and the Sahlgrenska Academy Study on Ischemic Stroke (SAHLSIS). The analysis was conducted in the entire material, and separately for the three samples. After adjustment for hypertension, diabetes mellitus and smoking habits, the GRS was associated with ischemic stroke in the entire material [OR (95% CI) 1.086 (1.029-1.147) per SD increase in the GRS p=0.003] with similar trends in all three samples; LSR [1.050 (0.967-1.140)]; p=0.25], MDC [1.168 (1.060-1.288); p=0.002] and SAHLSIS [1.124 (0.997-1.267); P=0.055]. Measures of discrimination and reclassification improved marginally using the GRS. Conclusions. A blood pressure GRS is independently associated with ischemic stroke risk in three Swedish case-control studies, however, the effect size is low and adds marginally to prediction of stroke on top of traditional risk factors including hypertension.

Study EGAS00001000936

A reference map of potential determinants for the human serum metabolome

The collection of metabolites circulating in the human blood, termed the serum metabolome, contains a plethora of biomarkers and causative agents. Although the origin of specific compounds is known, we have a poor understanding of the key determinants of most metabolites. Here, we measured the levels of 1251 circulating metabolites in serum samples from a healthy human cohort of 491 individuals, and devised machine learning algorithms to predict their levels in held-out subjects based on a comprehensive profile consisting of host genetics, gut microbiome, clinical parameters, diet, lifestyle, anthropometric measurements and medication data. Notably, we obtained statistically significant predictions for over 76% of the profiled metabolites. Despite using the strict out-of-sample prediction metric, which is a lower bound for the explained variance, diet and microbiome each explained hundreds of metabolites, with over 50% of the variance explained in some metabolites. We further validated the robustness of the microbiome related associations by showing a high replication rate in two geographically independent cohorts that were not available to us when developing the algorithms. We also demonstrate that some of these interactions are causal, as some metabolites we predicted to be positively associated with bread increased in level following a randomized clinical trial of bread intervention. Microbiome-explained metabolites were enriched with unnamed metabolites, and we devised an algorithm that accurately predicts their biological pathway, finding that they mainly include food components, aromatic amino acids and secondary bile acid derivatives. Overall, our results unravel potential determinants of over 800 metabolites, paving the way towards mechanistic understanding of alterations in metabolites under different conditions and to designing interventions for manipulating circulating metabolite levels.

Study EGAS00001004512

Survival Benefit and Genetic Profile of Pemetrexed as Initial Chemotherapy in Selected Chinese Patients with Advanced Lung Adenocarcinoma

We retrospectively collected patients (n=1047) enrolled in the Chinese Patient Assistance Program from multiple centers who received pemetrexed alone or combined with platinum as initial chemotherapy and continued pemetrexed maintenance therapy for advanced lung adenocarcinoma from November 2014 to June 2017. The outcomes were duration of treatment (DOT) and overall survival (OS). Clinical features were analyzed for their influence on the treatment effect and prognosis. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed to identify genetic biomarkers associated with the efficacy of pemetrexed. The median DOT was 9.1 months (95% CI: 8.5-9.8), and the median OS was 26.2 months (95% CI: 24.2-28.1). OS was positively correlated with DOT (r=0.403, P<0.001). Multivariable analysis showed that smoking status and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) were independently associated with DOT; smoking status, ECOG PS, targeted therapy, and EGFR/ALK/ROS1 status were independently associated with OS. NGS in 22 patients with available samples showed genes with high mutation rates were: TP53 (54.5%), EGFR (50.0%), MYC (18.2%), PIK3CA (13.6%). When grouped based on progression-free survival (PFS) reported in the PARAMOUNT study, the DOT >6.9 months set was associated with PIK3CA, ALK, BRINP3, CDKN2A, CSMD3, EPHA3, KRAS, and RB1 mutations, while ERBB2 mutation was observed only in the DOT ≤6.9 months set. This study shows that initial chemotherapy with pemetrexed is an effective regimen for advanced lung adenocarcinoma in selected Chinese patients. There is no specific genetic profile predicting the benefit of pemetrexed found by NGS. Biomarkers predicting the efficacy of pemetrexed need further exploration.

Study EGAS00001004546

Spiradenocarcinoma

• Spiradenocarcinoma is a rare cutaneous sweat gland adnexal cancer with potential for aggressive behaviour. They are classified histologically into low- and high-grade tumours, with morphologically low-grade tumours thought to behave more favourably. However, limited information is available, with only 18 published cases. • We have collected morphologically low-grade spiroadenocarcinomas (one with a lung metastasis) and high-grade spiroadenocarcinomas, as well as some spiradenomas (benign lesions), cylindromas (another type of malignant cutaneous sweat gland adnexal tumour) and hybrid spiradenoma-cylindromas. • H&E-stained sections were reviewed, follow-up was obtained, and immunohistochemistry for Ki-67, p53 and, MYB has been performed. The tumours were solitary, measuring 0.8-7?cm (median: 2.7?cm), with a predilection for the head and neck of elderly patients (median age: 72 years; range 53-92) without gender bias. Histologically, the tumours were multinodular and located in deep dermis and subcutis. A pre-existing spiradenoma was present in all cases. The malignant component was characterized by expansile growth with loss of the dual cell population, up to moderate cytological atypia and increased mitotic activity (median: 10/10 HPF; range 1-28). Additional findings included squamoid differentiation (n=9), necrosis (n=7), and ulceration (n=5). P53 expression was variable and no significant differences were noted in the benign compared with the malignant parts of the tumours. In contrast, in the malignant components the Ki-67 proliferative index was slightly increased, and MYB expression was lost. Follow-up (median: 67 months; range: 13-132) available for 16 patients (84%) revealed a local recurrence rate of 19% but no metastases or disease-related mortality. • Here we wish to exome sequence these cases to define the first genomic landscape for this malignancy.

Study EGAS00001001799

Genetics and therapeutic responses to TIL therapy of pancreatic cancer PDX models

Pancreatic cancer is the 7th leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Checkpoint immunotherapy has not yet showed encouraging results in pancreatic cancer possibly owing to a poor immunogenicity and/or an immune suppressive microenvironment. The aim of this study was to develop patient-derived xenografts (PDX) models and to assess if autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) would have anti-tumoral activity in pancreatic cancer. Tumor biopsies from 29 patients were subcutaneously transplanted into NOG mice. Tumor growths were confirmed in 11 out of 29 transplantations. The PDX tumors histologically resembled their original biopsies, but since stromal cells in the PDX model tumors were from mouse, their gene expression differed from the original biopsies. Immune checkpoint ligands other than PD-L1 were expressed in pancreatic cancers but PD-L1 was rarely expressed. One of the three tumors that did express PD-L1 was an adenosquamous cancer and another had a mismatch repair deficiency. TILs were expanded from six tumors and were injected into NOG or human interleukin-2 transgenic-NOG (hIL2-NOG) mice carrying PDX tumors. Regression of tumors could be verified in hIL2-NOG mice in 3 of the 6 PDX models treated with autologous TILs, including the adenosquamous PDX model. In conclusion, PDX models of pancreatic cancer can be used to learn more about tumor characteristics and biomarkers, and to evaluate responses to ACT and combination therapies. The major benefit of the model is that modifications of T cells can be tested in an autologous humanized mouse model to gain preclinical data to support the initiation of a clinical trial.

Study EGAS00001005596

Monocyte and macrophage lipid accumulation results in downregulated type-I interferon responses

Macrophages are critical components of atherosclerotic lesions and their pro- and anti-inflammatory responses influence atherogenesis. Type-I interferons (IFNs) are cytokines that play an essential role in antiviral responses and inflammatory activation and have been shown to promote atherosclerosis. Although the impact of type-I IFNs on macrophage foam cell formation is well-documented, the effect of lipid accumulation in monocytes and macrophages on type-I IFN responses remains unknown. Here we examined IFN stimulated (ISG) and non-ISG inflammatory gene expression in mouse and human macrophages that were loaded with acetylated LDL (acLDL), as a model for foam cell formation. We found that acLDL loading in mouse and human macrophages specifically suppressed expression of ISGs and IFN-β secretion, but not other pro-inflammatory genes. The downregulation of ISGs could be rescued by exogenous IFN-β supplementation. Activation of the cholesterol-sensing nuclear liver X receptor (LXR) recapitulated the cholesterol-initiated type-I IFN suppression. Additional analyses of murine in vitro and in vivo generated foam cells confirmed the suppressed IFN signalling pathways and suggest that this phenotype is mediated via downregulation of interferon regulatory factor binding at gene promoters. Finally, RNA-seq analysis of monocytes of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) patients also showed type-I IFN suppression which was restored by lipid-lowering therapy and not present in monocytes of healthy donors. Taken together, we define type-I IFN suppression as an athero-protective characteristic of foamy macrophages. These data provide new insights into the mechanisms that control inflammatory responses in hyperlipidaemic settings and can support future therapeutic approaches focusing on reprogramming of macrophages to reduce atherosclerotic plaque progression and improve stability.

Study EGAS00001005955

Genomic landscape of oral cancers (Illumina WGS)

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a necessary but insufficient cause of a subset of oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) that is increasing markedly in frequency. To identify contributory, secondary genetic alterations in these cancers, we used comprehensive genomics methods to compare 149 HPV-positive and 335 HPV-negative OSCC tumor/normal pairs. Different behavioral risk factors underlying the two OSCC types were reflected in distinctive genomic mutational signatures. In HPV-positive OSCC, the signatures of APOBEC cytosine deaminase editing, associated with anti-viral immunity, were strongly linked to overall mutational burden. By contrast, in HPV-negative OSCC, T>C substitutions in the sequence context 5’-ATN-3’ correlated with tobacco exposure. Universal expression of HPV E6*1 and E7 oncogenes was a sine qua non of HPV-positive OSCC. Significant enrichment of somatic mutations was confirmed or newly identified in PIK3CA, KMT2D, FGFR3, FBXW7, DDX3X, PTEN, TRAF3, RB1, CYLD, RIPK4, ZNF750, EP300, CASZ1, TAF5, RBL1, IFNGR1 and NFKBIA. Of these, many affect host pathways already targeted by HPV oncoproteins, including the p53 and pRB pathways, or disrupt host defenses against viral infections, including interferon and nuclear factor-B signaling. Frequent copy number changes were associated with concordant changes in gene expression. Chr. 11q (including CCND1) and 14q (including DICER1 and AKT1) were recurrently lost in HPV-positive OSCC, in contrast to their gains in HPV-negative OSCC. High-ranking variant allele fractions implicated ZNF750, PIK3CA and EP300 mutations as candidate driver events in HPV-positive cancers. We conclude that virus-host interactions cooperatively shape the unique genetic features of these cancers, distinguishing them from their HPV-negative counterparts.

Study EGAS00001003228

The clinical utility of genomics in childhood cancer extends beyond targetable mutations

Survival of children with relapsed cancer remains unacceptably low. Cancer genomic profiling may identify new therapeutic options, enhance diagnostic accuracy, and improve understanding of tumors’ origins and continued evolution. We deeply sequenced 864 cancer-associated genes and the complete genomes and transcriptomes for 300 pediatric and adolescent/young adult (AYA) patients with poor prognosis or rare tumors. Using integrative somatic-germline analyses, we assessed the clinical utility of cancer genomics in this population. We analyzed tumor mutational signatures and burden to interrogate the relevance of germline variants in DNA repair genes and the impact of therapeutic exposures on tumor evolution. We also evaluated the frequency of changes to tumor drivers and therapeutic targets at relapse in those with serial samples. Integrative analysis yielded clinically actionable variants in a majority of patients. Improved diagnostic accuracy led to modified management in a subset. Therapeutically targetable variants were of unanticipated timing and type, with many of these derived from the germline. Enrichment in corroborating mutational signature 3 (‘BRCAness’) in patients with germline homologous recombination defects suggests they are drivers of pediatric cancers and potential targets for PARP inhibition. We show that mutation burden, which may in part be driven by prior therapeutic exposures, was significantly elevated in a minority of patients. Over one-third of patients with sequential samples analyzed showed a change in therapeutically-targetable drivers. Comprehensive somatic-germline cancer genomic profiling is useful at multiple points in the care trajectory for pediatric/AYA patients, supporting its integration into early clinical management. Re-biopsy at the time of relapse should be considered, and specific attention to mutational burden is indicated. Defective DNA repair genes in the germline may represent important targetable drivers.

Study EGAS00001006034

Profiling the unique protective properties of intracranial arterial endothelial cells

Cardiovascular disorders, like atherosclerosis and hypertension, are increasingly known to be associated with vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). In particular, intracranial atherosclerosis is one of the main causes of VCI, although plaque development occurs later in time and is structurally different compared to atherosclerosis in extracranial arteries. Recent data suggest that endothelial cells (ECs) that line the intracranial arteries may exert anti-atherosclerotic effects due to yet unidentified pathways. To gain insights into underlying mechanisms, we isolated post-mortem endothelial cells from both the intracranial basilar artery (BA) and the extracranial common carotid artery (CCA) from the same individual (total of 15 individuals) with laser capture microdissection. RNA sequencing revealed a distinct molecular signature of the two endothelial cell populations of which the most prominent ones were validated by means of qPCR. Our data reveal for the first time that intracranial artery ECs exert an immune quiescent phenotype. Secondly, genes known to be involved in the response of ECs to damage (inflammation, differentiation, adhesion, proliferation, permeability and oxidative stress) are differentially expressed in intracranial ECs compared to extracranial ECs. Finally, Desmoplakin (DSP) and Hop Homeobox (HOPX), two genes expressed at a higher level in intracranial ECs, and Sodium Voltage-Gated Channel Beta Subunit 3 (SCN3B), a gene expressed at a lower level in intracranial ECs compared to extracranial ECs, were shown to be responsive to shear stress and/or hypoxia. With our data we present a set of intracranial-specific endothelial genes that may contribute to its protective phenotype, thereby supporting proper perfusion and consequently may preserve cognitive function. Deciphering the molecular regulation of the vascular bed in the brain may lead to the identification of novel potential intervention strategies to halt vascular associated disorders, such as atherosclerosis and vascular cognitive dysfunction.

Study EGAS00001004479

Molecular and clinical diversity in primary central nervous system lymphoma: a LOC Network study

Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a distinct extranodal lymphoma presenting with limited stage disease but variable response rates to treatment despite homogenous pathological presentation. The likely underlying molecular heterogeneity and its clinical impact is poorly understood. We performed a comprehensive genome-wide analysis of 147 PCNSL from fresh-frozen tumor tissue from immunocompetent, treatment naïve PCNSL patients, employing whole-exome sequencing, assessment of somatic copy number alterations and DNA methylation, and RNA expression. These data were integrated and correlated with the clinico-radiological characteristics and outcomes of the patients. We validated our results in an independent series of 93 PCNSL formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples. Consensus clustering of multi-omics data identified four robust, non-overlapping, prognostically significant clusters (CS) within PCNSL. The CS1 group, characterized by high proliferation and Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) complex activity had an intermediate outcome between CS2/CS3 and CS4. Patients who had PCNSL with an “immune-hot” (CS4) profile had the most favorable clinical outcome. In contrast, patients with the immune-cold hypermethylated CS2 and the heterogenous-immune CS3 groups had a poor prognosis. Nearly all PCNSL patients with meningeal infiltration harbored HIST1H1E mutations, enriched in the CS3 group. The integrated analysis suggests that the CS4 group may be more susceptible to immunotherapy. The integration of genome-wide data from multi-omics data revealed four molecular patterns in PCNSL with a distinctive prognostic impact that significantly improved the current clinical stratification. This molecular classification using FFPE samples facilitates routine use in clinical practice and provides potential precision-medicine strategies in PCNSL.

Study EGAS00001006191

Analysis of error profiles in deep next-generation sequencing data

BackgroundSequencing errors are key confounding factors for detecting low-frequency genetic variants that are important for cancer molecular diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance using deep next-generation sequencing (NGS). However, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of errors introduced at various steps of a conventional NGS workflow, such as sample handling, library preparation, PCR enrichment, and sequencing. In this study, we use current NGS technology to systematically investigate these questions.ResultsBy evaluating read-specific error distributions, we discover that the substitution error rate can be computationally suppressed to 10-5 to 10-4, which is 10- to 100-fold lower than generally considered achievable (10-3) in the current literature. We then quantify substitution errors attributable to sample handling, library preparation, enrichment PCR, and sequencing by using multiple deep sequencing datasets. We find that error rates differ by nucleotide substitution types, ranging from 10-5 for A>C/T>G, C>A/G>T, and C>G/G>C changes to 10-4 for A>G/T>C changes. Furthermore, C>T/G>A errors exhibit strong sequence context dependency, sample-specific effects dominate elevated C>A/G>T errors, and target enrichment PCR led to aprox 6-fold increase of overall error rate. We also find that more than 70% of hotspot variants can be detected at 0.1% - 0.01% frequency with the current NGS technology by applying in-silico error suppression.ConclusionsWe present the first comprehensive analysis of sequencing error sources in conventional NGS workflows. The error profiles revealed by our study highlight new directions for further improving NGS analysis accuracy both experimentally and computationally, ultimately enhancing the precision of deep sequencing.

Study EGAS00001003444

BCR Signaling in human BM PC

The functions of bone marrow plasma cells (BMPC) beyond antibody production are not fully elucidated and distinct subsets of BMPC suggest potential different functions. Phenotypic differences were identified for human BMPC depending on CD19 expression. Since CD19 is a co-stimulatory molecule of the B-cell-receptor (BCR), and IgA+ and IgM+ BMPC express the BCR on their surface, we here studied whether CD19 expression affects cellular responses, such as BCR signaling and the expression of checkpoint molecules. We analyzed 132 BM samples from individuals undergoing routine total hip arthroplasty. We found that both CD19+ and CD19- BMPC expressed BCR signaling molecules. Notably, the BCR-associated kinase spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) including pSYK was higher expressed in CD19+BMPC compared to CD19- BMPC. BCR stimulation also resulted in increased kinase phosphorylation downstream of the BCR while expression of CD19 remained stable afterwards. Interestingly, the BCR response was restricted to IgA+ BMPC independently of CD19 expression. With regard to the expression of checkpoint molecules, CD19- BMPC expressed higher levels of co-inhibitory molecule programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) than CD19+ BMPC. IgA+ BMPC characteristically upregulated PD-1 upon BCR stimulation in contrast to other PC subsets and inhibition of the kinase SYK abrogated PD-1 upregulation. In contrast, expression of PD-1 ligand, B and T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) and CD28 did not change upon BCR activation of IgA+ BMPC. Here, we identify a distinct functiotype of IgA+ BMPC that is independent of the phenotypic heterogeneity of the subsets according to their CD19 expression. The data suggest that IgA+ BMPC underlie different regulatory principles and/or exert distinct regulatory functions.

Study EGAS00001004948

Multi-omic analysis of the tumor microenvironment shows clinical correlations in Ph1 study of atezolizumab +/- SoC in MM

Multiple myeloma (MM) remains incurable, and treatment of relapsed/refractory (R/R) disease is challenging. There is an unmet need for more targeted therapies in this setting; deep cellular and molecular phenotyping of the tumor and microenvironment in MM could help guide such therapies. This phase 1b study (NCT02431208) evaluated the safety and efficacy of the anti-programmed death-ligand 1 monoclonal antibody atezolizumab (Atezo) alone or in combination with the standard of care (SoC) treatments lenalidomide (Len) or pomalidomide (Pom) and/or daratumumab (Dara) in patients with R/R MM. Study endpoints included incidence of adverse events (AEs) and overall response rate (ORR). A novel unsupervised integrative multi-omic analysis was performed using RNA sequencing, mass cytometry immunophenotyping, and proteomic profiling of baseline and on-treatment bone marrow samples from patients receiving Atezo monotherapy or Atezo+Dara. A similarity network fusion (SNF) algorithm was applied to preprocessed data. Eighty-five patients were enrolled. Treatment-emergent deaths occurred in 2 patients; both deaths were considered unrelated to study treatment. ORRs ranged from 11.1% (Atezo+Len cohorts, n=18) to 83.3% (Atezo+Dara+Pom cohort, n=6). High-dimensional multi-omic profiling of the tumor microenvironment and integrative SNF analysis revealed novel correlations between cellular and molecular features of the tumor and immune microenvironment, patient selection criteria, and clinical outcome. Atezo monotherapy and SoC combinations were safe in this patient population and demonstrated some evidence of clinical efficacy. Integrative analysis of high dimensional genomics and immune data identified novel clinical correlations that may inform patient selection criteria and outcome assessment in future immunotherapy studies for myeloma.

Study EGAS00001007286

Ultra-fast deep-learned pediatric CNS tumor classification.

The primary treatment of CNS tumors starts with a neurosurgical resection in order to obtain tumor tissue for diagnosis and to reduce tumor load and mass effect. The neurosurgeon has to decide between radical resection versus a more conservative strategy to prevent surgical morbidity. The prognostic impact of a radical resection varies between tumor types. However due to a lack of pre-operative tissue-based diagnostics, limited knowledge of the precise tumor type is available at the time of surgery. Current standard practice includes preoperative imaging and intraoperative histological analysis, but these are not always conclusive. After surgery, histopathological and molecular tests are performed to diagnose the precise tumor type. The results may indicate that an additional surgery is needed or that the initial surgery could have been less radical. Using rapid Nanopore sequencing, a sparse methylation profile can be directly obtained during surgery, making it ideally suited to enable intraoperative diagnostics. We developed a state-of-the-art neural-network approach called Sturgeon, to deliver trained models that are lightweight and universally applicable across patients and sequencing depths. We demonstrate our method to be accurate and fast enough to provide a correct diagnosis with as little as 20 to 40 minutes of sequencing data in 45 out of 49 pediatric samples, and inconclusive results in the other four. In four intraoperative cases we achieved a turnaround time of 60-90 minutes from sample biopsy to result; well in time to impact surgical decision making. We conclude that machine-learned diagnosis based on intraoperative sequencing can assist neurosurgical decision making, allowing neurological comorbidity to be avoided or preventing additional surgeries.

Study EGAS00001007475

Transcriptomics-driven classification of ALAL

Acute leukemia of ambiguous lineage (ALAL) is a rare, poor-prognosis subtype of acute leukemia that cannot be assigned to a single hematopoietic lineage. Although ALAL patients are typically treated with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) regimens, optimal treatment choice is hindered by their lineage ambiguity. Therefore, we investigated the added value of transcriptomics for improving lineage assignment, currently based mainly on surface markers. First, we used an in-house pipeline to comprehensively detect genetic lesions in RNA-sequencing data (n=23) with a sensitivity >90%, as confirmed by targeted DNA sequencing. Second, we compared ALAL gene expression profiles (GEPs) with representative AML (n=145), B-ALL (n=223) and T-ALL (n=85) cases. In a principal component analysis, ALALs did not form a separate group, but clustered with AML, B-ALL or T-ALL. Accordingly, a machine learning classifier trained with GEPs of acute leukemias segregated 20/23 ALALs into myeloid-, B- or T-lymphoid leukemia. These 20 cases harbored genetic abnormalities consistent with the classifier-assigned leukemia. Furthermore, ALAL GEPs were deconvoluted with single-cell transcriptional profiles of normal hematopoietic cells using CIBERSORTx, revealing enrichment for signatures of lineages corresponding to the leukemic type predicted by our algorithm. The classifier was validated on an external ALAL cohort (n=24), assigning 75% of the patients to a lineage matching their immunophenotypic and methylation profiles. In conclusion, integrative analysis of RNA-sequencing data can accurately classify most ALAL cases. The pipeline and classifier developed in our study are valuable tools to improve ALAL diagnosis and guide therapeutic decisions.

Study EGAS00001007967

H3Africa - Genomic Characterization and Surveillance of Microbial Threats in West Africa

Viral diseases are remarkably heterogeneous in their presentation and clinical course. Although diseases such as Lassa Fever and Ebola Virus Disease are thought to be severe and rapidly fatal, they can often present with mild symptoms or remain asymptomatic. Host genetic variability is likely an important mediator of this heterogeneity. Complete characterization of the clinical, laboratory, and host genetic features of these illnesses is not only imperative to rapid diagnosis and effective clinical care, but also important for further scientific study. In this project, we propose to address this need through deep characterization of the clinical and laboratory features of viral disease and through study of genetic mediators of resistance to Lassa Fever and Ebola Virus Disease. Will carry out deep clinical characterization and laboratory assessment of viral febrile cases at two West African Collaborative Centers, and will use this data to develop prognostic models using cutting-edge tools in exploratory data visualization and machine learning. Investigate host genetic factors of Lassa Fever and Ebola Virus Disease through genome-wide association studies. We will then develop field-deployable genotyping assays for the top-associated variants, and apply them in new cohorts to replicate our findings and investigate patterns of genetic resistance in clinical subgroups. This project can shed light on the clinical manifestations of viral illness and their host genetic mediators, leading to potential new insights in disease biology and pathophysiology. We will also create a rich resource of clinical, laboratory, and genetic data for these illnesses in two countries in West Africa, which will serve as a foundation for advancing the clinical care and scientific study of viral disease in the region.

Study EGAS00001007250

How to use the EGA search box

Tips on how to search Tip 1: Use simple and clear keywords No matter what you are searching: a study, a dataset or a committee; the search will look recursively in all the fields of all the entities in the database. Thus, there is no need to specify which type of data you are looking for. Try to use single and specific words and avoid long and complex expressions. Try it out: cancer rna-seq instead of cancer studies using RNA-seq. Tip 2: Narrow your results using search operators Search operators give you more control over the results. They manage the way keywords are used to restrict the search. By default, the search engine applies an OR operator when a space is inserted between two words. Include AND (capitalised) between the keywords in your search in order to show only pages containing both terms. Try it out: Search all the studies based on transcriptomic data, including those ones that use RNA sequencing to obtain this data. Tip 3: Do not worry about details The search engine automatically checks for the most common spelling mistakes of given words and suggests the use of the correct version. It also ignores capital letters and most punctuation so none of these mistakes will hamper the accuracy of your search. Besides, when using a combination of words, the search engine will suggest similar combinations with a higher number of results. Tip 4: Use words that are likely to appear within the text Unfortunately, our search engine is not able to interpret words yet. Therefore, words which do not appear in the body text will not return any result despite them denoting a group of present terms. For instance, if we are looking for studies focused on neurological diseases, using neurological as a keyword would not be the best option. Instead, you should use the name of each neurological disease such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or depression. In the same fashion, incomplete words do not return any result. Please include an asterisk (*) before and/or after the incomplete word in order to allow for partial matching. Try it out: canc* instead of canc(without wildcard). Also you can try out *oma, or even *geneti* Tip 5: Narrow down your search by filtering the results You can filter the results by the following options: general, study, and dataset. Under these categories, you will find more sub-filters to refine your search. Make sure that you click on Apply in order to filter the results. You can clear the filtering anytime. Advanced Searches Additional example queries: Search for DUO:0000005 and word lung example query Or write: DUO:0000005 AND lung Search for an exome sequencing study in dbGaP example query Or write: study_type: "exome sequencing" AND repository:dbGaP Search for an exome sequencing study in EGA example query Or write: study_type: "exome sequencing" AND repository:ega Search for a dataset that is at the EGA beacon and with type "Whole genome sequencing" and with number of samples between 100 and 2000 and with technology "Illumina HiSeq 2000" example query Or write: is_in_beacon:true AND dataset_types:"Whole genome sequencing" AND samples:[100 TO 2000] AND dataset_technologies:"Illumina HiSeq 2000" Search for PMIDS example query Or write: pmids:32025007

Documentation discovery/metadata/search-box

EGA account management

How to manage your EGA account Welcome to the documentation page for creating an EGA user. The European Genome-Phenome Archive (EGA) is a platform for archiving, managing, and sharing human genomic and phenotypic data. To submit, access, and manage requests for the data hosted on the EGA platform, users are required to register for an account. This documentation page provides step-by-step instructions for creating an EGA user account, as well as information on the different types of EGA user accounts and their associated privileges. You can check the EGA data flow for a better understanding. Manage EGA account step-by-step guide Contact Information Public Keys Password Authenticator Federated Identity Sessions Request an EGA account step-by-step guide Fill in this form.You cannot use a generic email account (e.g., Gmail). Make sure you use your institutional email account.Your email is by default your username.The criteria for a strong password is: It should contain between 8 and 32 charactersIt should contain at least one uppercase letterIt should contain at least one numberIt should contain at least one special characterYou will need to wait for the Helpdesk team to check your identity. Please allow two business days for this step.After the Helpdesk validation step, you will receive an email with a link to validate your institutional email.Click the link to verify your email. It will redirect you to the EGA website.As soon as your account has been validated, you will be able to start adding more information to your EGA profile. For that, you first need to log in using your credentials from step 1. Manage EGA account step-by-step guide As a logged-in user, go to your profile by clicking on Welcome > My Profile. To modify it, click the Edit button.You will see the following options: Contact Information In this section, you can modify the personal information of your EGA account. Public Keys Adding a public key is necessary for downloading data via Live Outbox distribution. If you don’t know how to generate your key, you can follow the instructions available on How do I create a key? Password In the Password tab, you can change your password anytime to ensure the security of your account. However, if you receive an email notifying you that your password was modified and you did not initiate the change, it could be a sign that your account has been compromised. In this case, you should immediately contact our Helpdesk team to report the issue and receive assistance in restoring your account security. Authenticator You can set your two-factor authentication (2FA) system for your EGA account as an identity and access management security method that requires two forms of identification to access resources and data. To obtain your code, please follow the instructions below, also available in the Authenticator tab in your profile. Sessions The Sessions tab displays a list of all devices where you are currently logged in as an EGA user. This includes any open sessions you have on your computer, phone, or other devices. By reviewing the list of active sessions, you can monitor the devices that have access to your account and ensure that there are no unauthorised logins. If you notice any suspicious activity, you can close the sessions from this page to immediately terminate access to your account from the unauthorised device.

Documentation how-to-manage-your-account

National Cancer Institute (NCI) Biospecimen Pre-analytical Variables (BPV) Analysis

The Biospecimen Pre-analytical Variables (BPV) Program is a National Cancer Institute-sponsored study to systematically assess the effects of pre-analytical factors on the molecular profile of biospecimens. A robust biospecimen collection infrastructure was established to prospectively collect biospecimens using rigorous standard operating procedures to control for most variables while introducing experimental conditions to study specific biospecimen handling issues, including the cold ischemic time (delay to formalin fixation), time in formalin, freezing methods, and storage temperatures and durations. RNA and DNA from biospecimens collected under these conditions was analyzed on multiple molecular platforms. The potential effects of these pre-analytical conditions on protein integrity and detection of metabolites were also examined. Data from this study will be used to develop evidence-based biospecimen standard operating procedures and best practices for fit-for-purpose collection, processing, and storage of biospecimens. The BPV Cohort is utilized in the following dbGaP substudies. To view genotypes, analysis, expression data, other molecular data, and derived variables collected in these substudies, please click on the following sub-studies below or in the "Substudies" box located on the right hand side of this top-level study page phs001304 BPV Cohort. The substudy links will be active once they are released by dbGaP. Preanalytical Impacts on Global Metabolite Profiling - plasma (MassSpec by Metabolon) This study was to evaluate the impact of the storage temperature (s) (-80°C and LN2 vapor) and the length of storage on human plasma quality using LC-MS/MS (liquid-chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry) based global metabolite profiling. The study includes 240 plasma samples collected from 40 donors. Investigate the effect of the delay to fixation on the proteome and phosphoproteome -FFPE (MassSpec by Caprion). The study is to do proteome and phosphoproteome analysis on Delay to fixation was carried out using FFPE tumor samples from colon and ovarian cancer patients comparing 2, 3, and 12hr delay to fixation to the 1hr time point. The study includes 100 samples 20 donors. Investigate the effect of storage conditions of tumor specimens on the proteome and phosphoproteome profiling- Frozen tissue and plasma (MassSpec by Caprion). The study was to evaluate the effects of storage conditions on tumor specimens. Plasma samples from 40 cancer patients stored at two different temperatures (-80°C and LN2) for a given period (0-2, 6-8, and 12-14 months) were evaluated. Frozen kidney tumor samples from 20 patients were compared for effects of different snap frozen (dry ice vs. LN2) and storage temperatures (-80°C and LN2). The study includes 100 tissue and 240 plasma samples from 60 donors. Preanalytical Impacts on Genomic Sequencing by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology (mRNA/miRNA and WES by Expression Analysis). The goal of the study is to determine the effects of cold ischemic delay-to-fixation (4 time points) and formalin preservation (FFPE) on the nature and quality of genomic profiles using the matched freshly frozen sample as the gold standard, which including WES, RNAseq. The study includes 395 samples from 37 donors. Preanalytical Impacts on Copy Number Variation (CNV) Detection by aCGH technology (aCGH by Georgetown University). This study was to use aCGH to evaluate the effect of variation in cold ischemia time and time in formalin fixation on CNV in DNA extracted from kidney cancer specimens. The study includes 235 samples from 40 donors. Evaluation of frozen conditions on mRNA profiling by TaqMan assay (mRNA expression by Georgetown University). This study was to utilize gene expression profiling, using custom TaqMan arrays, to compare the molecular profiles of RNA from frozen tumor samples collected using two freezing methods (dry ice or LN2), two storage temperatures (-80°C or LN2 vapor), as well as Optimal Cutting Temperature (OCT) compound and non-OCT embedded. The study includes 100 samples from 20 donors. mRNA signature for stratification by cold ischemia time (mRNA expression by IBBL). The study was to determine the effects of cold ischemic time (delay-to-fixation) and formalin preservation (FFPE) on mRNA detection by Taqman assay using tumor tissue specimens from kidney, colon and ovarian cancer patients. There are160 samples from 40 donors. The Biospecimen PV cohort is utilized in the following dbGaP individual studies. To view molecular data, and derived variables collected in these individual studies, please click on the following individual studies below or in the "Sub-studies" box located on the right hand side of this top-level study page phs001304 Biospecimen PV cohort. phs001634 CIT mRNA phs001635 CNV aCGH phs001636 Fixation Delay phs001637 Global Metabolite Profiling phs001638 mRNA TaqMan phs001639 NGS phs001640 Tumor Storage

Study phs001304

Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (ROC) Prehospital Resuscitation Using an Impedance Valve and Early Versus Delayed Analysis (PRIMED) (ROC-PRIMED-BioLINCC)

Accessing Data: Please refer to “Authorized Access” below regarding accessing data through the BioData Catalyst ecosystem. The data from this accession is not available for download through dbGaP.Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine two different treatments during a cardiac arrest that occurs outside of the hospital and whether either or both treatments would increase the number of people who lived to hospital discharge with satisfactory functional status. The first treatment involved using a device called the Impedance Threshold Device (ITD). The other treatment involved the amount of CPR given before the emergency medical services (EMS) providers first looked at the heart rhythm to determine if a shock is needed.Background: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is a common and lethal problem with a low survival rate, leading to an estimated 330,000 deaths each year in the United States and Canada. The traditional approach to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest has been to emphasize early analysis of cardiac rhythm, with delivery of defibrillatory shocks, if indicated, as quickly as possible. It has been suggested, however, that many participants may benefit from a period of CPR before the first analysis of rhythm.The impedance threshold device (ITD) is designed to enhance venous return and cardiac output during CPR by increasing the degree of negative intrathoracic pressure. Previous studies have suggested that the use of an ITD during CPR may improve survival rates after cardiac arrest. This effect is achieved by preventing the passive inflow of air into the chest during chest recoil between chest compressions without impeding active ventilation. The ITD has been found to improve hemodynamics, the perfusion of vital organs, and neurologically intact survival in studies in animals. The results of small, short-term clinical trials have suggested that the ITD can increase systolic blood pressure during resuscitation and improve short-term survival rates. Participants: In the ITD study, 4,345 participants were assigned to sham ITD and 4,373 to active ITD, while in the early versus later rhythm analysis, 5,290 participants were assigned to early cardiac rhythm analysis, and 4,643 were assigned to later cardiac rhythm analysis. This study qualified for exception from informed consent required for emergency research.Design: Most participants were enrolled simultaneously in both the early analysis versus later analysis component and the active ITD versus sham ITD component of the trial.The use of an active ITD was compared with that of a sham ITD in participants at 10 ROC sites in the United States and Canada. Participants, investigators, study coordinators, and all care providers were unaware of the treatment assignments. EMS personnel were trained in ITD function, proper use of the ITD, and all aspects of protocol implementation, with an emphasis on the optimal performance of CPR according to local guidelines. The first EMS responders to arrive at the scene of the arrest who were equipped with a randomly assigned ITD (active or sham) attached the device between the ventilation bag and face mask or between the bag and an advanced airway. Responders were encouraged to implement use of the device within 5 minutes after their arrival or as soon as clinically possible. Each of the 10 participating ROC centers was also divided into approximately 20 clusters. All episodes of cardiac arrest in a cluster were randomly assigned to one CPR strategy; after a set period of time, ranging from 3 to 12 months, all episodes in that cluster were then assigned to the other strategy. Participants in the early-analysis group were assigned to receive 30 to 60 seconds of chest compressions and ventilations (sufficient time to place defibrillator electrodes) before electrocardiographic (ECG) analysis, and those in the late-analysis group were assigned to receive 3 minutes of chest compressions and ventilations before ECG analysis. The start and stop times for CPR were recorded by the responders, and the information was supplemented by the recording of defibrillator time. Conclusions: All 10 sites halted enrollment in November 2009 when the data and safety monitoring board recommended termination because interim analysis showed that the findings were not likely to change with continuation of the study. Neither use of the ITD nor the amount of CPR given before cardiac rhythm analysis significantly improved survival with satisfactory function (i.e., a score of ≤3 on the modified Rankin scale) among participants with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest receiving standard CPR. There were also no significant differences in the secondary outcomes, including rates of return of spontaneous circulation on arrival at the emergency department, survival to hospital admission, and survival to hospital discharge.

Study phs003825

Study of 5'UTR Mutations in Prostate Cancer

The 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) of mRNA controls the translation of specific transcripts through encoded cis-regulatory elements. Yet exceedingly little is known about the prevalence and function of 5' UTR mutations in cancer. We have uncovered many 5' UTR mutations in our analysis of localized and castration resistant prostate cancer patients, and hypothesize that systematic mutations in critical 5' UTR regulatory regions perturb gene expression to drive prostate cancer progression. To elucidate the functional 5' UTR regulatory landscape of prostate cancer, we have taken a multi-faceted approach including ribosome profiling, in vitro reporter assays and the development of a novel high throughput method to functionally access the impact of recurrent 5' UTR mutations on both transcription and translation.

Study phs001825

Predicting Chemotherapy-Induced Mucositis with Genetic and Clinical Factors

We hypothesized that genetic variability in the enzymes/proteins involved in drug metabolism, inflammation, and immune function is a major underlying contributor to mucositis incidence and progression and that, based on this variability we can identify variants that influence risk, and develop a mucositis progression prediction model that improves on existing models by incorporating genetic variability along with clinical factors. Using genome wide association study (GWAS) combined with a pathway candidate gene approach and a modified case-control study method, we investigated the hypothesis in a sample of 1092 patients who received a myeloablative dose of melphalan (MEL) followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell (ASCT) transplantation as treatment for multiple myeloma and for whom banked blood stem cell samples and clinical data were available.

Study phs000545

Cerebrospinal Fluid Analysis of HIV-1 Viral Burden in HIV-1 Infected Subjects: Response to Antiretroviral Therapy

The purpose of this study is to provide a reference profile of small extracellular RNAs in body fluids. These samples were originally obtained in a study that had a different purpose. The purpose of the original study was to collect information on the changes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) related to HIV infection, including the viral burden (amount of virus) and the body responses of the infected individual, such as the number and types of lymphocytes in the CSF. In addition to looking at the number and types of lymphocytes in the CSF, this original study also examined the presence of markers of inflammation and other chemical changes, and the relationship of those changes to nervous system dysfunction in AIDS.

Study phs001694

SNP array analysis of spondylocostal dysostosis patient iPSCs and gene edited isogenic controls

This study, "SNP Array Analysis of Gene Edited SDV Patient iPSCs" is part of a larger study where we applied our recently established experimental in vitro model system of the human segmentation clock, for the analysis of human segmentation defects of the vertebrae (SDV) including spondylocostal dysostosis (SCD). To this end we generated patient-derived iPSC lines, identified putative disease-causing mutations and corrected these mutations using CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing technology. We identified in the patient-sample originally obtained from the NIGMS Human Genetic Cell Repository at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research (#: GM13539) heterozygous compound mutations in MESP2. These mutations were corrected accordingly and the resulting clones were genotyped by SNP array analysis.

Study phs001975

A Phase I/II Trial of T Cell Receptor Gene Therapy Targeting HPV-16 E7 for HPV-Associated Cancers

This is a phase I clinical trial testing the safety and efficacy of gene-engineered T cells expressing a T-cell receptor targeting an HLA-A*02:01-restricted epitope of HPV-16 E7 (E7 TCR T cells) in patients with metastatic HPV-16+ epithelial cancers. A total of 12 patients were treated. The maximum tested dose was tolerated. Side effects were most consistent with the expected toxicities of the lymphocyte-depleting conditioning regimen and high-dose aldesleukin. Six of the 12 patients demonstrated objective clinical responses. Translational studies of the infused T cell characteristics did not correlate strongly with clinical response. Genomic defects in the targeted peptide-HLA complex did demonstrate definitive mechanisms of resistance in some patients.

Study phs002286

Translational Research Investigating Underlying disparities in acute Myocardial infarction Patients' Health status (TRIUMPH)

The Translational Research Investigating Underlying disparities in acute Myocardial infarction Patients' Health status (TRIUMPH) cohort is a cohort of 4340 patients prospectively enrolled after hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) between June 1, 2005, and December 31, 2008 from 24 U.S. hospitals. Consenting patients had detailed chart abstractions of their medical history and processes of inpatient care, supplemented with a detailed baseline interview. Detailed genetic and metabolic data were obtained at hospital discharge in 2979 (69%) and 3013 patients (69%), respectively. Centralized follow-up interviews sought to quantify patients' post-discharge care and outcomes, with a focus on their health status (symptoms, function, and quality of life). Reprinted from [Article Citation], with permission from [Publisher].

Study phs001518

RNA Splicing Dysregulation in the Pathogenesis of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

RNA splicing dysregulation is a hallmark of cancers, promoting the onset and progression of disease. In chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), spliceosome mutations leading to aberrant splicing occurs in approximately 20% of patients. However, the underlying mechanism for splicing defects in spliceosome unmutated CLL cases remains elusive. To discover posttranscriptional regulation of RNA splicing, we performed RNA sequencing using RNA derived from B cells from 6 healthy donors and 36 CLL patients, along with MAZTER sequencing from 9 CLL patients (8 matched with RNA sequencing cohort) and B cells from 5 healthy donors. We found that CLL cells have dysregulated m6A modification sites on transcripts from splicing factors, suggesting a critical role of m6A modification in RNA splicing dysregulation.

Study phs003191

Genomic Regions Associated with Susceptibility to Barrett's Esophagus and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma in African Americans: The Cross BETRNet Admixture Study

Differences in rates of diseases between different populations with similar environments are presumed to be secondary to variability in population frequencies of disease causing alleles. Recently admixed populations such as African Americans (AAs) provide a natural opportunity to identify disease-causing variants by examining the ancestry of long chromosomal haplotypes. Admixture mapping approach can be successful in locating genes for diseases such as EAC whose rates varies markedly between the ancestral populations. This is a case only study with 54 African American cases and also on a subset of 28 cases with high genotyping quality. We seek to identify chromosome regions that have excess European ancestry and contrasting it to excess African ancestry.

Study phs001454

NIDDK IBD Genetics Consortium Repository Exome Chip

The Illumina Infinium HumanExome+ BeadChip contains putative functional exonic variants selected from individual exome and whole-genome sequences from diverse populations. It includes nonsynonymous variants, splice variants and stop-altering variants. It also includes tags for previous GWAS-identified loci, ancestry informative markers, markers designed for identity by descent analyses, synonymous variants, fingerprint SNPs common to major genotyping platforms, mitochondrial SNPs, chromosome Y SNPs, and HLA tag SNPs. For more information as well as a detailed description of the variant calling and QC procedures, see Li et al. (2016). Li, D., et al. (2016) A pleiotropic missense variant in SLC39A8 is associated with Crohn's disease and human gut microbiome composition. Gastroenterology, 151, 1-9. PMID: 27492617.

Study phs001723

Episodic Ataxia Syndrome: Longitudinal Study

Individuals with episodic ataxia experience recurrent attacks of dizziness and incoordination; between attacks patients are typically normal. The majority of cases are likely caused by an inherited genetic mutation. However, in some patients we are unable to identify the mutation. So far, 2 genes have been identified which cause different types of episodic ataxia. Ultimately, when the actual mutation is identified the protein product of the gene can be studied and specific medications can be designed. During this study, we will clinically evaluate patients with EA and follow them over time to help us better characterize the disease. We will also obtain blood samples to test for the known genetic mutations. In the future, we plan to coordinate trials of medications for the treatment of these disorders.

Study phs000521

Inhibition of CDK4/6 Promotes CD8 T Cell Memory

Inhibitors of Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) have been recently deployed for the treatment of advanced breast cancer. Despite their success, the mechanism of action of these drugs is unclear. In mice, treatment with a CDK4/6 inhibitor improve T cell memory responses and protect mice against tumor rechallenge. We aimed to identify the correlates of this finding in human subjects. In this study, blood was collected from 5 breast cancer patients before and during treatment with the CDK4/6 inhibitors abemaciclib or palbociclib. Blood was also collected from 2 breast cancer patients who did not receive a CDK4/6 inhibitor. Recently activated CD8 T cells (CD45RO+ CD45RA+) were sorted and subjected to single-cell RNA sequencing.

Study phs002448

Transcriptome and Epigenome of TIL Infusion for Cancer Immunotherapy

Adoptive T cell therapy (ACT) using ex vivo–expanded autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) can mediate complete regression of certain human cancers. The impact of TIL phenotypes on clinical success of TIL-ACT is currently unclear. Samples were analyzed from TIL infusion products from metastatic melanoma human patients who responded to TIL-ACT (responders) and patients who did not (non-responders). Single cell transcriptome of TIL infusion products were analyzed for CD8 TIL phenotype and function. In patients with available neoantigen reactive TIL, single cell TCR clonotyping was performed to study anti-tumor TIL states between responders and non-responders. Epigenetic studies on TIL infusion products were performed using ATAC sequencing between paired CD39- C69- and CD39+ CD69+ CD8+ TILs.

Study phs002436

De Novo Characterization of Cell-Free DNA Fragmentation Hotspots in Plasma Whole-Genome Sequencing

The raw sequencing data deposited here are low-coverage (~1X) whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA). The purpose is to validate the performance of early-stage cancer diagnosis in the Zhou et al. 2020 BioRxiv paper, mainly for two types of cancer: early-stage liver cancer and breast cancer. The cases and controls are matched with age, gender, smoking history, and alcohol usage. We developed a computational method to identify the cfDNA fragmentation hotspots from pooled low-coverage cfDNA WGS data. We found the cfDNA fragmentation hotspots are highly enriched in regulatory regions, such as open chromatin regions. The signals from these regions can help the diagnosis of early-stage cancers and their tissues-of-origin.

Study phs003062

Urothelial Cancer - Genomic Analysis to Improve Patient Outcomes and Research (UC-GENOME): a Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN)-Led Collaborative Research Pilot Study - for Samples Collected at Johns Hopkins

UC-GENOME is a real-world cohort of patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC). The study consisted of two co-equal aims: 1) to provide targeted DNA sequencing for clinical decision making at no cost to patients; and 2) to create a resource for collaborative translational science including a clinically annotated biobank. The submitted data represents the foundational analysis of 218 patients accrued at 7 academic medical centers. The analysis includes 176 patients with both targeted DNA sequencing and RNA sequencing. The genomic data was combined with clinical variables to model response to chemotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI).The larger dataset for this study can be found in dbGaP study phs003066.

Study phs003094

Screening Cases of Isolated Dystonia for Variants in CIZ1

Recently, we have identified that variants in CIZ1 gene is associated with dystonia. To identify the prevalence of CIZ1 mutations in dystonia population, we use High resolution melting (HRM) to examine all the coding sequence in 3976 subjects with primary dystonia as well as 1819 subjects of normal controls. Indels in Q rich region of exon 2 in CIZ1 were identified in 21 subjects with dystonia but only 3 controls (P<0.05). Other single nucleotide change variants were also found in some of the patients which include a novel missense mutation (c.787A>G, p.R263G) found in a female patient with apparently familial dystonia. We confirmed that mutations in CIZ1 could be associated with dystonia but in rare cases.

Study phs001455

Genentech whole genome and transcriptome sequencing of four hepatocellular carcinoma patients

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study we sequenced the whole genome (~80X) and transcriptome of tumor and non-tumor samples from four HCC patients and identified over two hundred HBV integration sites. We found significant clonal expansion of HBV-integrated hepatocytes specifically in the tumor samples. We observed a diverse collection of genomic perturbations near viral integration sites, including gene disruption, viral promoter-driven human transcription, viral-human transcript fusion and DNA copy number alteration. We also sequenced one patient at ultra-high coverage (~240X) to build the most comprehensive HBV-integration landscape yet attempted. Our data suggest that the viral integration significantly expands carcinogenic opportunities in HBV-infected individuals.

Study phs000384

Exome Sequencing of Schizophrenia Cases and Controls in the South African Xhosa Population

The goal of this international collaborative project is to identify genes responsible for Schizophrenia in the Xhosa population of South Africa. The vast majority of the genetic basis for Schizophrenia has yet to be explained. We hypothesize that genes and pathways important to Schizophrenia will harbor different, severe disease-causing mutations in different affected individuals. Given the genetic diversity of African populations, we expect to find genes for Schizophrenia that have not yet emerged from studies of other populations. This project will also foster the development of gene discovery research for neuropsychiatric disorders in Africa. Our approach will identify genes important for the disorder in populations worldwide. These genes will stimulate future efforts to develop more effective treatment and prevention strategies.

Study phs000959

Genomics of Brain Metastases

Brain metastases are the most frequently occurring intracranial tumors in adults. Median survival after the diagnosis of a brain metastasis is in the order of a few months. Despite its large burden of disease and devastating clinical sequelae, we continue to have a limited understanding of the molecular mechanisms driving brain metastasis. We subjected 86 trios consisting of primary tumor, brain metastasis, and matched normal tissue to whole exome sequencing (WES). To analyze the data, we developed novel computational tools to perform an integrative analysis of somatic single nucleotide variants (SSNVs) and somatic copy-number alterations (SCNAs). This analysis allowed us to estimate the clonal architecture of the primary and metastatic samples of each patient, and to reconstruct a phylogenetic tree relating all of the subclones.

Study phs000730

Whole-Exome Sequencing and Targeted DNA Sequencing of Matched Ocular Melanocytosis and Uveal Melanoma

Ocular melanocytosis is the most important predisposing condition for the eye cancer uveal melanoma (UM). Here we used whole-exome and deep targeted sequencing to identify for the first time a clonal Gq pathway mutation in ocular melanocytosis, which gave rise to UM. Additionally, we elucidated the order in which canonical genetic aberrations were acquired during tumor evolution. These findings provide a mechanistic explanation for the well-known clinical association of ocular melanocytosis with UM, and they provide new insights into UM tumor evolution. Reprinted from: Durante MA, Field MG, Sanchez MI, Covington KR, Decatur CL, Dubovy SR, Harbour JW. Genomic evolution of uveal melanoma arising in ocular melanocytosis, with permission from Cold Spring Harbor Molecular Case Studies.

Study phs001835

CAGE Profiling of ncRNAs in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Reveals a Strong Activation of Retroviral LTR Promoters in Virus-Induced Tumors

The ncRNA transcriptome of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is largely unexplored. We used CAGE to characterize transcription start sites across different etiologies of human HCCs with emphasis on ncRNAs. Here we report that retroviral LTR promoters, expressed in healthy tissues such as testis and placenta but not liver, are widely activated in HCC. Despite HCC heterogeneity, a subset of LTR-derived ncRNAs were more than 10-fold up-regulated in the vast majority of samples. HCCs with a high LTR activity mostly had a viral etiology, were less differentiated and showed higher risk of recurrence. CAGE enabled us to build a promoter map for HCC, which uncovers a new layer of complexity in HCC genomics.

Study phs000885

Center for Common Disease Genomics (CCDG) - Cardiovascular: BioImage Cohort

The genetic basis of cardiovascular disease in individuals of non-European ancestry remains largely unknown. Availability of ethnically diverse study populations is essential to fully investigate the underlying causes of disease. The BioImage Study enrolled adults aged 55-80 in a prospective observational study. Subjects had no prior history of cardiovascular disease, but were identified to be at intermediate to high risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular events (PMID: 25790876). The recruiting target was a cohort with similar demographics to the US population in terms of race and ethnicity. Produced as part of the NHGRI Centers for Common Disease Genomics, this study contains whole genome sequence data and variant calls from 922 African American participants of the BioImage Study.

Study phs002325

VCRC Genetic Repository One Time DNA Protocol

The purpose of this study is to identify genes that increase the risk of developing vasculitis, a group of severe diseases that feature inflammation of blood vessels. Better methods are needed to recruit patients with these rare diseases into cohorts of adequate size for high-quality genetics studies, and the existing infrastructure of the Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium (VCRC) provides the means for such recruitment. Results of these studies will provide vasculitis researchers with insight into the causes of these diseases and generate new ideas for diagnostic tests and therapies, and will be of great interest to the larger communities of researchers investigating vasculitis and other autoimmune, inflammatory, and vascular diseases. This study will enhance the VCRC Data and Specimen Repository.

Study phs001712

Lifestyle, Infertility, Fertility, and Evaluation (LIFE) Study

The purpose of this study is to provide a reference profile of small extracellular RNAs in body fluids. These samples were originally obtained in a study that had a different purpose. The purpose of the original study was to establish a data and biological specimen repository to advance future research into male reproductive health and urologic health. Semen from semen analyses, as part of standard of care at the Center for Reproductive Health, was collected and stored in a tissue bank for future research purposes. These samples and associated clinical data (including age, race, education level, medical history and diet, environmental exposures and laboratory values, fertility diagnosis and infertility treatments) will help researchers understand any urological disorders and male reproductive health issues.

Study phs001692

Low Density Genotyping from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study

The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) is based on a stratified, multistage sample of 4898 children born in large U.S. cities (population over 200,000) between 1998 and 2000, where births to unmarried mothers were oversampled by a ratio of 3 to 1. This sampling strategy resulted in the inclusion of a large number of Black, Hispanic, and low-income families. The project “Low Density Genotyping from the Fragile Families & Child Wellbeing Study” uses saliva collected from a subset of FFCWS children at Year 9 and from teens at Year 15 to examine genetic variation using a genome-wide assay (Illumina PsychChip). In addition to the genotype data, a limited set of self reported and anthropomorphic measures are included.

Study phs002417

Multicenter International Cross-Sectional Evaluation of Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis (MICEPAP) Trial

The purpose of this study is to (1) compare a technically improved assay with an existing assay used to measure serum anti-GM-CSF antibodies in stored serum samples previously obtained from patients diagnosed with either primary, secondary, congenital or idiopathic pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP), other chronic diseases or disease-free, healthy individuals; (2) determine the prevalence and levels of anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies and (3) define the breadth of the autoimmune antibody responses in primary PAP patients from the United States, Japan, Australia, and Europe using previously collected serum samples; and (4) using a chart review approach, compare the clinical, radiologic and laboratory features of primary PAP patients to determine if differences exist among patients in these globally geographically distributed regions.

Study phs001309

Whole Exome Sequencing for Familial Intracranial Aneurysm (FIA I-II) Study

The goal of this study is to identify the genes underlying the risk of intracranial aneurysm (IA). The FIA Study initially recruited families appropriate for linkage analysis. Therefore, the recruitment focus was not only on probands with a family history of IA but also required that biological samples be obtained for at least two affected family members. Family members underwent detailed interviews for medical, social and family history, and provided blood samples for DNA extraction. Over 400 multiplex IA families were recruited and enrolled. The whole exome sequencing project aims to identify novel and rare (in the general population) genetic variants that are enriched in seven extended multiplex families with a strong familial aggregation of intracranial aneurysms.

Study phs000636

Analysis of Recurrently Protected Genomic Regions in Urine Cell-Free DNA

This study investigated fragmentation patterns in urine and plasma cell-free DNA and evaluated the relevance of such analysis for cancer diagnostics using urine samples. Specifically, we performed whole-genome sequencing at variable depths and evaluated genome-wide coverage in urine and plasma samples, relative to known genome annotation features. Tumor/germline exome sequencing data included was used to identify genome-wide copy number changes and their effect on cfDNA fragmentation in corresponding genomic regions in urine samples. Data included in this submission is whole-genome sequencing of urine and/or plasma cell-free DNA from healthy volunteers and/or cancer patients, and whole-exome sequencing of tumor DNA and germline DNA (peripheral blood cells) from cancer patients. 

Study phs002273

Capmatinib shows superior efficacy for MET-fusion driven pediatric high-grade glioma and synergizes with radiotherapy

Pediatric high-grade glioma (pHGG) is the most frequent malignant brain tumor in children and can be subclassified into multiple entities. Fusion genes activating the MET receptor tyrosine kinase often occur in infant-type hemispheric glioma (IHG) but also in other pHGGs, and are associated with devastating morbidity and mortality. To identify new treatment options, we established and characterized two novel orthotopic mouse models harboring distinct MET fusions. These included an immunocompetent, murine allograft model and patient-derived orthotopic xenografts (PDOX) from a MET-fusion iHG patient who failed conventional therapy and targeted therapy with cabozantinib. With these models, we analyzed the efficacy and pharmacokinetic properties of three MET inhibitors, capmatinib, crizotinib and cabozantinib, alone or combined with radiotherapy (RT).

Study EGAS50000000137

NGS-based monitoring of the T cell receptor repertoire in living donor kidney transplant patients undergoing combination cell therapy

Tolerance induction through mixed chimerism is a promising approach to achieve long term graft patency without or only low dose maintenance immunosuppression. In this phase I/IIa academic trial kidney transplant recipients in the case group were co-transplanted with bone marrow from the same donor and received an autologous cell product. The control group did not receive donor bone marrow or an autologous cell product. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were collected at multiple timepoints before and after transplantation and the recipients native T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire at time points 0, 1, 3 and 6 months after transplantation as well as their donor reactive TCR repertoire were analysed using NGS-based TCR sequencing.

Study EGAS50000000210

Combined single-cell transcriptomics and T-cell receptor sequencing reveal heterogeneity of mycosis fungoides between and within patients and identify a CD4+ cytotoxic subtype

Comprehensive analysis of the malignant cells present in the skin lesions of Mycosis fungoides, the most common subtype of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, is complicated by the fact that malignant from reactive T cells are challenging to distinguish with certainty. To this end, combined single-cell RNA and TCR sequencing allows unambiguous identification of MF cells, thereby revealing a marked heterogeneity between and within patients with unexpected functional phenotypes. It should be further noted, that mRNA expression of established CTCL protein markers in single-cell transcriptomics to identify MF cells should be used with caution; however, our study uncovered an exciting gene expression pattern that serves as a beacon separating malignant from reactive T cells.

Study EGAS50000000226

DAC for Early detection of ovarian cancer using cell-free DNA fragmentomes and protein biomarkers

Ovarian cancer is a leading cause of death from gynecological malignancies worldwide. No effective screening methods exist resulting in tumor detection at advanced stages where treatment is less effective. In this study, we used whole-genome cell-free DNA (cfDNA) fragmentome and protein biomarker (CA-125 and HE4) analyses to evaluate 591 women, mostly post-menopausal, from the European Union or the United States with ovarian cancer, benign adnexal masses, or without ovarian lesions. Using a machine learning model that incorporated multi-analyte fragmentome data and protein measurements, we evaluated the detection of ovarian cancer in two clinical settings, detection of ovarian cancers among a healthy population, and classification of adnexal masses as benign or malignant. The combined approach detected ovarian cancer with specificity >99% and sensitivity of 72%, 69%, 87%, and 100% for stages I–IV, respectively (AUC=0.96, 95% CI: 0.94-0.99), including 90% of high grade serous ovarian cancers. At the same specificity, CA-125 alone detected 34%, 62%, 63%, and 100% of ovarian cancers for stages I–IV (p=0.001, two-sided test of equal proportions). Additionally, our approach differentiated benign masses from ovarian cancers with high accuracy (AUC of 0.88, 95% CI=0.83-0.92). These results were validated in an independent population. These findings show that integrated cfDNA fragmentome and protein analyses detect ovarian cancers with high performance, enabling a new accessible approach for noninvasive ovarian cancer screening and diagnostic evaluation.

Dac EGAC50000000332

Transcriptome analysis of human longitudinal whole blood samples from PCR-positive and PCR-negative adults following controlled inoculation with Influenza A (H3N2) virus.

Transcriptome analysis of influenza A (H3N2) human challenge samples. Understanding of the transcriptomic profile of individuals in early influenza infection is limited. To investigate this, longitudinal whole-blood samples (n=178) were taken from adult participants following controlled inoculation with Influenza A H3N2 virus (sampling at baseline (0) and days 1, 2, 3, 7, 10 and 14 post-challenge). Most participants became influenza PCR-positive; a minority remained PCR-negative. Total RNA was extracted from PAXgene tubes before undergoing globin and rRNA depletion. DNA libraries were constructed using the NEBNext® Ultra™ II Directional RNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina. All samples were then sequenced using Illumina NovaSeq 6000.

Study EGAS50000000679

AYA glioma NGS

Gliomas are a major cause of cancer-related death in adolescents and young adults (AYA, ages 15-39 years). Different molecular alterations drive gliomas in children and adults leading to distinct biology and clinical consequences. At the convergence of these age groups - the AYA population – little is known about the implications of pediatric vs adult-type alterations. To address this, we analyzed a population-based cohort of 1456 clinically and molecularly characterized gliomas aged 0-39 years. Potentially targetable pediatric-type alterations were found in 31% of AYA gliomas and conferred superior outcomes compared to adult-type alterations. This submission includes the generated NGS data for children, adolescent, and young adults with gliomas. Data includes targeted panel of glioma genes and low-pass WGS (1x coverage).

Study EGAS50000000383

Mapping Genotypes to Chromatin Accessibility Profiles in Single Cells

In somatic tissue differentiation, chromatin accessibility changes govern priming and precursor commitment towards cellular fates1–3. Therefore, somatic mutations likely alter chromatin accessibility patterns, as they disrupt differentiation topologies leading to abnormal clonal outgrowth. However, defining the impact of somatic mutations on the epigenome in human samples is challenging due to admixed mutated and wild-type cells. To chart how somatic mutations disrupt epigenetic landscapes in human clonal outgrowths, we developed Genotyping of Targeted loci with single-cell Chromatin Accessibility (GoT-ChA). This high-throughput platform links genotypes to chromatin accessibility at single-cell resolution, across thousands of cells within a single assay. We applied GoT-ChA to CD34+ cells from myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) patients with JAK2V617F-mutated hematopoiesis.

Study EGAS50000000164

The Cancer Dependency Map (DepMap)

The Cancer Dependency Map (DepMap) aims to accelerate precision cancer medicine by creating a comprehensive map of tumor vulnerabilities. The DepMap project genomically profiles a wide range of cancer models and characterizes them for their sensitivity to genetic and compound perturbations. The data is computationally analyzed to create a systematic overview of the genetic dependencies and compound sensitivities of cancer types and the predictive biomarkers that point to patient populations most likely to benefit from targeting of these vulnerabilities. The DepMap public portal has become a comprehensive resource to identify cancer vulnerabilities by providing datasets at scale, cutting-edge computational tools, and sophisticated visualization tools that together have accelerated the discovery of novel targets and biomarkers. Please visit Depmap.org to access the public portal.

Study phs003444

Fragmentomic features of individuals with different cfDNA concentrations

The goal of this study is to explore fragmentomic patterns that vary between individuals of different concentrations of total cell-free DNA in plasma. We have selected a large cohort of individuals (ethnically Chinese men with a median age of 54 years, IQR 49-57) who were part of a screening of a large-scale clinical study to screen for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Differences in fragmentomic features provided insights into the modulation of cfDNA levels in blood circulation. Fragmentomic and machine learning systems adopted in this study have also been applied to assess the quantity of cfDNA species of clinical interest, including the fraction of circulating fetal and tumor DNA, from pregnancy cases and individuals with hepatocellular carcinoma, respectively.

Study EGAS50000000692

Genomics of Glomerular Disorders

The purpose of the "Genomics of Glomerular Disorders" study is to identify genetic contributions to primary glomerulopathies. This repository includes a total of N = 4,238 patients with a kidney biopsy diagnosis of a primary glomerular disorder across the following categories: focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS, N = 583), Henoch-Schönlein purpura nephritis (HSPN, N = 403), IgA nephropathy (IgAN, N = 1,555), membranous nephropathy (MN, N = 1,003), and minimal change disease (MCD, N = 694). The dataset includes a total of 2,290 patients recruited into the Cure Glomerulonephropathy (CureGN) study and another 1,948 patients from the Columbia University CKD Biobank (i.e., non-CureGN patients). The sample sizes by phenotype are counted based on enrollment diagnoses. The repository includes 3,958 WGS samples and 2,129 RNA-seq samples.

Study phs002480

RNAseq samples of patients with anti-PD-1 resistant HNSCC from a non-randomized, open-label phase 1b clinical trial

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) is an effective treatment for a subset of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC); however, the majority remain refractory. In a nonrandomized, open-label Phase 1b clinical trial, participants with recurrent and/or metastatic (R/M) HNSCC who had progressed on ICB were treated with low-dose 5-azacytidine (5-aza) daily for either 5 or 10 days, in combination with durvalumab and tremelimumab. The primary objective was to determine the biologically effective dose of 5-aza. In this study, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed on baseline and on-treatment samples from eight participants, and transcriptomic changes were analyzed to assess the impact of low-dose 5-aza treatment.

Study EGAS50000000728

WES samples of patients with anti-PD-1 resistant HNSCC from a non-randomized, open-label phase 1b clinical trial

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) is an effective treatment for a subset of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC); however, the majority remain refractory. In a nonrandomized, open-label Phase 1b clinical trial, participants with recurrent and/or metastatic (R/M) HNSCC who had progressed on ICB were treated with low-dose 5-azacytidine (5-aza) daily for either 5 or 10 days, in combination with durvalumab and tremelimumab. The primary objective was to determine the biologically effective dose of 5-aza. In this study, whole exome sequencing (WES) was performed on baseline samples from 12 participants, and genomic alterations were analyzed to access the genetic background of these participants.

Study EGAS50000000729

Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study

The Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study (HEALS), a multidisciplinary and large prospective cohort study in Araihazar, Bangladesh, was established to evaluate the effects of full-dose range arsenic (As) exposure on various health outcomes. We applied array-based genotyping technologies to baseline DNA samples from a subset of the HEALS study and linked those genotypes to data on arsenic species measured in urine. We used these data to identify regions influencing arsenic metabolism (AS3MT and FTCD). We also applied array-based DNA methylation technologies to baseline DNA samples from a subset of individuals from HEALS. These data were linked to data on arsenic concentration (in both urine and drinking water) to identify regions of the genome where DNA methylation is impacted by arsenic exposure.

Study phs003839

Multi-omics profiling identifies two epithelioid sarcoma molecular subtypes with distinct signaling and immune characteristics

Epithelioid sarcoma (EpS) is an aggressive sarcoma, characterized by the loss of SMARCB1 expression. EpS is traditionally classified as distal or proximal according to clinicopathological features, but its molecular characteristics remain largely unknown. To establish an EpS molecular classification and uncover determinants of inter- and intra-patient heterogeneity in EpS, we used multi-omics profiling and integrated the genomic, transcriptional and methylome landscapes with single-cell RNA sequencing on fresh samples as well as spatial transcriptomics. We identified two molecular subtypes of EpS: “distal-like” and “proximal-like”, which were distinct from the histological subtypes. Distal-like tumors include all morphological distal subtypes and a subset of proximal and hybrid EpS. They express a specific molecular single-cell derived epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition signature, which associates with improved patient survival and includes Desmoglein 2 (DSG2), which we identify as a potential routine immunohistochemical biomarker to improve diagnosis. Distal-like EpS also display increased peri-tumoral CD8+ T cell infiltrates and specific tumor-immune cell interactions. Conversely, proximal-like EpS harbor a higher inter-tumoral molecular heterogeneity with some cases resembling other SMARCB1-deficient tumors by DNA methylation profiling, and increased intra-tumoral pro-tumoral macrophage infiltrates. Our study introduces a novel molecular classification of EpS with prognostic value, associated diagnostic biomarkers and distinct tumor immune microenvironments, which extends beyond traditional clinicopathological classification. This paves the way for precision medicine-based therapeutic strategies for patients with EpS.

Dac EGAC50000000552

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