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• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), Family Study of Essential Tremor (FASET), Identification of Susceptibility Genes for Essential Tremor

  The Familial Study of Essential Tremor (FASET) was designed to identify susceptibility genes for Essential Tremor. ET is among the most common neurological diseases with a prevalence (age > 40 years) estimated to be 4.0% and prevalence in advanced age (> 90 years) exceeding 20%. ET, often referred to as "familial tremor", is generally regarded as a highly genetic disorder with families, with affected members over multiple generations, and twin studies show high concordance among monozygotic twins. Probands (affected with ET) and relatives were enrolled in a family study of ET at Columbia University, New York between 2011 - 2014. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Columbia University and written informed consent was obtained from all enrollees. The criteria for enrollment were: 1) the proband had early-onset ET with age at onset < 50 years, 2) the proband had a diagnosis of definite or probable ET, 3) in addition to the proband, there were at least two affected relatives in the family, 4) additional affected and unaffected family members were willing to participate in the study, and 5) the families contained more than two affected individuals in different generations. Blood samples were also collected for genetic research. For the genetic analyses, we excluded enrollees that we or others had diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) or dystonia. The final sample includes 52 families (52 probands [affected with ET]) and 155 relatives). The number of affected individuals enrolled per family ranged from 3 - 7 (mean = 4.1). Genetic samples from FASET were analyzed with whole genome SNP genotyping (for linkage analyses) and whole exome sequencing. It is hoped that this resource will better help researchers to understand the genetic causes of ET and underlying disease pathogenesis.

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• Functional Significance of Prostate Cancer Risk-SNPs

  Prostate Cancer (PrCa), the most frequently diagnosed solid tumor in men in the U.S., results in ~192,000 new cases and ~27,000 deaths per year. Although the variation of PrCa incidence is likely to be the result of several factors, there is a large body of literature that strongly implicates a genetic etiology. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have emerged as the most widely used contemporary approach to identify genetic variants (in particular SNPs) that are associated with increased risk of human disease. For PrCa, at least five GWAS have now been performed yielding a substantial number of well-validated SNPs that are associated with an increased risk of PrCa, and that number continues to grow. A significant problem for many of the PrCa risk-SNPs identified so far, however, is that they do not lie within or near a known gene and they have no obvious functional properties. These findings suggest that many (if not most) of these risk-SNPs will be located in regulatory regions that control gene expression rather than in coding regions that may directly affect protein function. Therefore, in order to define the functional role of currently known risk-SNPs, the target genes must first be identified. A promising strategy to address this problem involves the use of expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis. Unfortunately, most of the publically available SNP-Transcript eQTL datasets utilize lymphoblastoid cells with only a handful using tissue from target organs. Although useful, these datasets alone are unlikely to be sufficient. Recent studies have demonstrated that gene expression and gene regulation occur in both a tissue-specific and tissue independent fashion and suggest that a complete repertoire of regulatory SNPs can only be uncovered in the context of cell type specificity. To date, such a tissue-specific dataset for normal prostate tissue does not exist. In this study, we have constructed a normal prostate tissue specific eQTL data set.

  Study phs000985

• ARDSnet and the iSPAAR Consortium: Genomic Basis of Susceptibility and Outcomes in Patients with the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)

  Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)/ Acute Lung Injury (ALI) is a syndrome defined by the presence of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, bilateral pulmonary infiltrates on chest radiograph, a known clinical risk factor (e.g. sepsis, pneumonia, trauma, gastric fluid aspiration, pancreatitis, massive transfusion), and the absence of physiologic or clinical evidence of congestive heart failure. The Identification of SNPs Predisposing to Altered ALI Risk (iSPAAR) study is a multi-institutional cooperative study, funded through the NHLBI Recovery Act, that assembled samples and phenotype information from existing cohorts. The consortium included samples from patients with ARDS from the NIH NHLBI ARDS Clinical Trials Network (ARDSNet). Samples were obtained from 3 interventional treatment trials in patients with ARDS, including the Fluid and Catheter Treatment Trial (FACTT), the Albuterol to Treat Acute Lung Injury (ALTA) trial, and the Omega-3 Fatty Acid/Antioxidant Supplementation for ALI trial (Omega). In addition to ARDSnet samples, samples from the other cohorts included cases of established ARDS but also controls: critically ill patients who were at-risk for ARDS but who did not develop ARDS during their hospital course. These cohorts included the Molecular Epidemiology of Acute Respiratory Distress (MEA) Study enrolled at the Harvard University/Massachusetts General Hospital, the Systemic Inflammatory Immune Response Syndrome (SIRS) Patient Database and ICU Traumatic Injury cohorts from Harborview Medical Center, and cohorts collected from the ALI research programs at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, San Francisco. The Cohort is utilized in the following dbGaP sub-studies. To view genotypes, other molecular data, and derived variables collected in these sub-studies, please click on the following sub-studies below or in the "Sub-studies" box located on the right hand side of this top-level study page phs000631 ARDSnet iSPAAR Consortium. phs000334 ESP_LungGO_ALI phs000686 ALI_GeneticRisk

  Study phs000631

• Gene Environment Association Studies (GENEVA): Genetics of Early Onset Stroke (GEOS) Study

  The Genetics of Early Onset Stroke (GEOS) Study is a population-based case-control study designed to identify genes associated with early-onset ischemic stroke and to characterize interactions of identified stroke genes and/or SNPs with environmental risk factors such as smoking and oral contraceptive use. The GEOS study consists of 921 ischemic stroke cases with age of first stroke 16-50 years and a similar number of controls, identified from the Baltimore-Washington area. Cases and controls were recruited in 3 different time periods: Stroke Prevention in Young Women-1 (SPYW-1) conducted from 1992-1996, Stroke Prevention in Young Women-2 (SPYW-2) conducted from 2001-2003, and Stroke Prevention in Young Men (SPYM) conducted from 2003-2007. The overall GEOS sample includes 477 cases who self-reported their race as "white" and 396 cases who self-reported their race as "African American." Traditional stroke risk factors and other study variables, including age, ethnicity, and history of hypertension, diabetes, myocardial infarction (MI), current smoking status, and current oral contraceptive use (both defined as use within one month prior to event for cases and at a comparable reference time for controls), were also collected during standardized interview and were included as covariates in our analyses. This study is part of the Gene Environment Association Studies initiative (GENEVA, http://www.genevastudy.org) funded by the trans-NIH Genes, Environment, and Health Initiative (GEI). The overarching goal is to identify novel genetic factors that contribute to early-onset ischemic stroke through large-scale genome-wide association studies of cases and controls of European and African descent from the Baltimore-Washington area. Genotyping was performed at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR). Data cleaning and harmonization were done at the GEI-funded GENEVA Coordinating Center at the University of Washington.

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• POPRES: Population Reference Sample

  POPRES version 1 and 2 Technological and scientific advances, stemming in large part from the Human Genome and HapMap projects, have made large-scale, genome-wide investigations feasible and cost-effective. These advances have the potential to dramatically impact drug discovery and development by identifying genetic factors that contribute to variation in disease risk as well as drug pharmacokinetics, treatment efficacy, and adverse drug reactions. In spite of the technological advancements, successful application in biomedical research would be limited without access to suitable sample collections. To facilitate exploratory genetic research, we have assembled a DNA resource from a large number of subjects participating in multiple studies throughout the world. This resource was initially genotyped using the Affymetrix 500K SNP panel. This project includes nearly 6,000 subjects of African American, East Asian, South Asian, Mexican, and European origin. POPRES version 3 The discovery and development of novel drugs is challenging and with high attrition rates. Selection of the right target and optimal indications for novel therapeutics represent key decision points in this process, and are often hampered by our limited understanding of the biology of the target in humans. Building a robust body of knowledge of variation within drug target genes has in several cases increased the probability of success for novel therapeutics. Our knowledge of variation within drug target genes and their influence on traits of medical interest is still very limited. In an effort to fill this gap, we resequenced the exons of 202 known or suspected drug target genes in over 16,000 well-phenotyped individuals. A total of 863,883 bases were targeted, including 351 kb of coding and 323 kb of untranslated exon regions. The sequenced subjects included 3,381 from two studies that were part of the Population Reference Sample (POPRES) project: CoLaus (N = 2,059) and LOLIPOP (N = 1,322). Genotyping data generated through the targeted next generation sequencing is available through the dbGaP.

  Study phs000145

• Childhood Cancer Data Initiative (CCDI): Genomic Analysis in Pediatric Malignancies

  Pediatric solid tumors are highly heterogeneous, encompassing a large number of histotypes. The genomic landscape of these diseases is characterized by few single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) compared to adult cancers. In contrast, many exhibit a high prevalence of structural or epigenetic changes that alter gene expression, underlining the need for comprehensive genomic approaches such as whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Several studies have specifically addressed the clinical utility of genomic analysis in the pediatric and AYA cancer setting. Review of these studies point to key challenges that must be addressed in order to advance the routine use of genomics in this population. We have established a large collection of solid tumor tissue samples through our biobanking efforts. Where possible, we obtain longitudinal samples from the same patient. These primary patient samples and their corresponding germline have been analyzed using whole genome and whole transcriptome sequencing methods and have been linked to clinical metadata using both manual curation and robust methods for automatic extraction from the electronic health record (EHR). Importantly, research-grade genomic analysis is performed in parallel to our CLIA-grade sequencing (“UCSF500”) efforts for some of the patients in this study cohort and have been submitted as part of the American Association for Cancer Research's project GENIE and/or the National Childhood Cancer Registry. For our sequenced tumor samples, we have retrospective clinical data and ongoing efforts to prospectively record key events throughout the patient's cancer journey. In our solid tumor program, we have developed many patient-derived xenograft models and a number of PDX-derived cell lines. These unique models have been evaluated using genomic and functional approaches including (in some cases) treatment with conventional chemotherapy or investigational agents. Lastly, these samples were collected from a population that is among the most diverse in the nation and includes significant numbers of Asian, Latino, Indigenous and African-American patients, groups that are traditionally underrepresented in many banking efforts.

  Study phs002430

• Heart Failure Network - Effectiveness of Ultrafiltration in Treating People with Acute Decompensated Heart Failure and Cardiorenal Syndrome (HFN CARRESS - BioLINCC)

  ObjectiveThe CARRESS trial examined the effectiveness of ultrafiltration compared with a strategy of diuretic-based stepped pharmacologic therapy on renal function and weight loss in patients with heart failure who have worsening renal function and persistent congestion.BackgroundAcute cardiorenal syndrome is defined as worsening renal function in patients with acute decompensated heart failure. It occurs in 25 to 33% of patients and is associated with poor outcomes. Current heart failure treatments focus on removing excess fluid buildup, however administration of intravenous diuretics may contribute to worsening renal function. Venovenous ultrafiltration is one alternative therapy that may be effective in patients with acute decompensated heart failure complicated by acute cardiorenal syndrome and persistent congestionSubjectsA total of 188 patients were randomized.DesignHospitalized subjects were randomly assigned to receive either ultrafiltration therapy or pharmacologic therapy. Ultrafiltration was performed at a fluid-removal rate of 200 ml per hour and loop diuretics were discontinued for the duration of the intervention. The addition of intravenous vasodilators or positive inotropic agents was prohibited, unless they were deemed to be necessary as rescue therapy. Patients assigned to stepped pharmacologic therapy received intravenous diuretics to manage congestion and maintain a urine output of 3 to 5 liters per day. In both groups, the assigned treatment strategy was to be continued until the signs and symptoms of congestion in the patient were reduced as much as possible. The primary end points were baseline changes in serum creatinine and weight as assessed at 96 hours after treatment assignment.ConclusionsThe use of a stepped pharmacologic-therapy algorithm was superior to a strategy of ultrafiltration for the preservation of renal function, and there was a similar amount of weight loss between the two groups. Ultrafiltration was associated with a higher rate of adverse events (Bart, et al., 2012, PMID: 23131078).

  Study phs003510

• GATA2 Deficiency and the MonoMAC Syndrome

  The aim of this study was to identify the germline mutation(s) in an extended family with individuals having MonoMAC Syndrome/GATA2 deficiency but lacking a canonical GATA2 mutation. GATA2 deficiency patients develop bone marrow failure, severe immunodeficiency and may progress to myeloid malignancies, including myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). The definitive treatment for GATA2 deficiency is a bone marrow transplant. Approximately 90% of GATA2 deficiency patients have a known de novo or inherited germline mutation in the GATA2 gene, but ~10% have no identified mutation. The study was initiated with the first patient and her second cousin, both of whom were treated for MonoMAC Syndrome and received bone marrow transplants at the NIH. Pedigree analysis and clinical evaluation identified the individuals in several generations of these patients' near and distant relatives who are/were presenting or carrying the disease manifestations of GATA2 deficiency. Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) was employed on these patients' two related nuclear families to identify variants that segregated with the disease trait and carrier status of their families. Genotyping was confirmed with direct DNA sequencing of these and other family members within the extended family across generations. A single base adenine-to-thymidine change was identified in a highly conserved enhancer element ~117,000 bp upstream of the GATA2 gene. It creates a new Composite Element, a DNA motif known to be critical in the regulation of hematopoiesis. This variant is unique to this family and is not present in dbSNP or other variant databases. It segregates with the disease trait and obligate carriers throughout a large pedigree. In vitro studies show that this variant drives allele-specific overexpression of the GATA2 gene in cultured cells and luciferase assays. The WGS sequence from the nuclear families will be shared on dbGaP.

  Study phs003269

• Adult Eosinophilic Esophagitis Registry Atlas

  Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) arises in the setting of type 2 cytokine-driven inflammation, is characterized by the infiltration of eosinophils in the esophageal mucosa, and is associated with dysphagia and fibrostenotic complications. Disease development and progression involve complex interactions between epithelial cells, stromal cells and immune cells. Indeed, increased epithelial permeability is consistently found in EoE, potentially leading to increased antigen exposure and inflammation. Persistent inflammation can in turn lead to fibroblast activation and fibrosis, which, together with the mediators produced by eosinophils and mast cells, leads to dysmotility. To decipher the interactions between these cell types across distinct disease states, we obtained biopsies from 7 healthy controls and 15 EoE subjects, including both active disease and clinical remission, to perform single cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq).Each biopsy sample was enzymatically digested within 3 hours of collection with collagenase/dispase to generate a single cell suspension. Suspensions were then loaded on a 10x Chromium controller, and libraries were generated with the 3' Chemistry pipeline (v2 or v3) before sequencing on an Illumina sequencer. The resulting sequence data was demultiplexed and analyzed with the CellRanger pipeline to generate raw fastq files and processed gene-count matrices for each sample. Altogether, our study generated transcriptomic profiles from 421,312 individual cells after quality control and filtering.Our analyses reveal 60 cell subsets and functional alterations in cell states, compositions, and interactions that highlight previously unknown features of EoE. Active disease displayed enrichment of ALOX15+ macrophages, novel PRDM16+ dendritic cells expressing the EoE risk gene ATP10A, and cycling mast cells, with concomitant reduction of TH17 cells. Receptor–ligand expression uncovered eosinophil recruitment programs, increased fibroblast interactions in disease, and IL-9+IL-4+IL-13+TH2 and endothelial cells as potential mast cell interactors. Resolution of inflammation-associated signatures included mast and CD4+ Tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cell contraction and cell type-specific downregulation of eosinophil chemoattractant, growth, and survival factors.

  Study phs003574

• Genomic Basis of Phenotypic Variability of Complex Disorders

  The 520-kbp deletion on chromosome 16p12.1 is associated with multiple neurodevelopmental outcomes, including intellectual disability/developmental delay (ID/DD), schizophrenia, autism, and epilepsy. This variant is inherited in >95% of cases from carrier parents manifesting neuropsychiatric features, while affected children with the deletion were more likely to carry another large Copy Number Variation (CNV) or rare deleterious mutation elsewhere in the genome, or "second-hits", compared to carrier parents. Thus, while the 16p12.1 deletion confers significant risk for a range of disorders, the ultimate phenotypic trajectory is determined by "second-hit" variants in the genetic background. However, outstanding questions remain about the genetic background in these disorders, including the functional effects of "second-hit" variants towards gene expression or developmental phenotypes, the full spectrum of "second-hit" variants, and the mechanisms driving accumulation of these variants.In version 1, we performed deep clinical phenotyping, whole-genome sequencing (WGS), SNP microarray analysis, and RNA-sequencing of lymphoblastoid cell lines of 32 individuals in five large families with the 16p12.1 deletion. We found that specific classes of rare single-nucleotide and structural variants in coding and non-coding regions contributed towards expression changes in affected children based on their inheritance patterns, including a subset of variants that acted synergistically with the deletion to alter expression. We further found that rare variant-mediated expression changes contribute to specific developmental phenotypes in the carrier children, suggesting a potential genetic mechanism for variable expressivity of the deletion.In version 2, we additionally analyzed genetic and phenotypic data from individuals with 16p12.1 deletion and their spouses to assess the role of assortative mating modulating phenotypic outcomes of the 16p12.1 deletion. We identified significant within- and cross- disorder phenotypic correlations between spouses, but observed no significant genetic correlations between spouses, in line with expectations.

  Study phs002450

• A prospective study identifies MisMatch Repair genes as candidate predisposing genes for uveal melanoma.

  Objective: The aim of this study is to identify new predisposing genes for uveal melanoma (UM), the most common intraocular malignancy in adults. Design: Prospective cohort study from Institut Curie. Participants: 381 unselected patients diagnosed with UM between July 2021 and February 2023 at Institut Curie. Methods: All patients received genetic counseling and consented to extended genetic testing. A panel of 122 genes was analyzed by targeted sequencing on germline DNA from these patients. Main outcomes measures: UM was diagnosed by ophthalmologists at Institut Curie, and a senior pathologist confirmed the diagnosis when tumor or biopsy was available. Classification of the germline genetic variants was performed according to the ACMG guidelines. Results: We identified at least one pathogenic variant (PV) in 79 patients. Among those variants, 20 were found in clinically relevant genes for the patient’s follow-up and genetic counseling. We found a significant enrichment of germline pathogenic variants in Mismatch Repair (MMR) MLH1, MSH2 and MSH6 genes in this UM cohort, suggesting that MMR germline alterations could predispose to UM. From this cohort, one tumor was available from a patient carrying a MLH1 germline mutation. The tumor was characterized by a monosomy 3, in line with a loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of MLH1, located on chromosome 3. Loss of expression of MLH1 and PMS2 was observed by immunohistochemistry, and MMR mutational signatures SBS6, ID1 and ID2 were identified from the whole genome sequencing of the tumor. These data suggest that MLH1 is implicated in the oncogenesis of this UM. Conclusions: This study is the largest prospective constitutional study performed on UM patients, and the first demonstrating that MMR germline alterations are significantly enriched among these patients. Further analyses will be needed to estimate the risk of developing UM for patients with Lynch syndrome

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• Everything you need to know about Federated EGA Affiliates: Q&A

  Addressing common questions about Federated EGA (FEGA) Affiliates and providing answers. FEGA Affiliates have recently been defined as the third tier within the newly approved “Federated EGA Structure and Organisation” document, alongside Central EGA (CEGA) and the FEGA Nodes. In this blog post, we aim to answer the questions that may arise on this topic. For more general information about FEGA Affiliates, you can refer to this blog post. Let's now start with the questions and answers! What is the difference between a FEGA Affiliate and a FEGA Node? FEGA Nodes A FEGA Node is a national-level service that accepts submissions and provides archiving and access services within a single country's jurisdiction. Nodes provide end-to-end services for submitters in that jurisdiction, including submission support, processing, permissions management, and distribution. FEGA Affiliates A FEGA Affiliate is not a national submission service. Instead, it archives data from its own legal entity and/or selected partner institutions (for example, consortium partners). Affiliates are designed for organisations and consortia that need to keep data stewardship and access decisions within their own governance model, while still enabling discovery through the broader FEGA ecosystem. What do Affiliates commit to? Here is a practical checklist of the core expectations for a FEGA Affiliate. FEGA Affiliate checklist Discovery and metadata Submit non-personal metadata to CEGA to obtain EGA accessions and enable discovery (with metadata validation handled by the CEGA Helpdesk). Operations and resilience Maintain a data storage system and a defined backup/recovery approach. Ensure operational capacity (personnel and infrastructure) to deliver Affiliate services. Maintain systems and practices that support local data security and align with EGA best-practices. Access and user support Provide data distribution or access (e.g in a trusted research environment) to authorised users to datasets hosted at the Affiliate. Provide permissions management for datasets archived by the Affiliate (the CEGA DAC (Data Access Committee) Portal is always at your disposal to use). Provide a minimal helpdesk with sufficient capacity to support relevant DACs and approved users. Membership term Commit to a minimum membership term of four years. Governance and participation (lightweight by design) Affiliates integrate into the FEGA network operationally, but without the committee obligations associated with Nodes. When is becoming an Affiliate the right fit? Consider the Affiliate tier if: You host (or plan to host) controlled-access datasets that must be managed under your organisation’s or consortium’s governance, you want studies to be discoverable through EGA, but need access control and/or distribution to remain local, and you are not aiming to operate a national submission service tier.. What if a FEGA Node already exists in my jurisdiction? We encourage any potential Affiliate to reach out to their national FEGA Node to explore collaboration at the national level. Why? Federated models within a country already exist in FEGA, where a national Node operates like a Central EGA for their country. FEGA Nodes can also represent the interests of any Affiliates within their jurisdiction at the FEGA Committees. FEGA Nodes have experience and can support you on your FEGA journey. Ready to join as a FEGA Affiliate? We’re excited to open this formally defined pathway for organisations and consortia to participate in the federation. If you think the FEGA Affiliate tier fits your needs, start by assessing: Your scope (organisation/consortium-held data rather than public external submissions), Your ability to provide the core services (permissions, distribution/access, helpdesk, monitoring), and Your readiness to submit non-personal metadata to CEGA for accessioning and discovery. To express interest, please contact us here, and we'll help you understand the onboarding steps and how Affiliates integrate into the FEGA network.

  Blog fega-affiliates-q&a

• A circulating biomarker for severity of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy

  Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is a prevalent, incurable skeletal myopathy. Clinical trials for FSHD are hindered by heterogeneous biomarkers poorly associated with clinical severity, requiring invasive muscle biopsy. Macroscopically FSHD presents with slow fatty replacement of muscle, rapidly accelerated by inflammation. Mis-expression of the transcription factor DUX4 is currently accepted to underlie FSHD pathogenesis and mechanisms including PAX7 target gene repression have been proposed. Here we perform RNA-sequencing on MRI guided inflamed (n=24) and isogenic non-inflamed (n=24) muscle biopsies from the same clinically characterised FSHD patients, alongside isogenic peripheral blood mononucleated cells from a subset of patients (n=13), and unaffected controls. We employ multivariate models to evaluate the clinical associations of 5 published FSHD transcriptomic biomarkers. We demonstrate that PAX7 target gene repression can discriminate control, inflamed and non-inflamed FSHD muscle independently of age and sex (p<0.013), while the discriminatory power of DUX4 target genes is limited to distinguishing FSHD muscle from control. Importantly, the level of PAX7 target gene repression in non-inflamed muscle associates with clinical assessments of FSHD severity (p=0.04). DUX4 target gene biomarkers in FSHD muscle show associations with lower limb fat fraction and D4Z4 array length, but not clinical assessment. Lastly, PAX7 target gene repression in FSHD muscle correlates with the level in isogenic peripheral blood mononucleated cells (p=0.002). A refined PAX7 target gene biomarker comprising 143/601 PAX7 target genes computed in peripheral blood (the FSHD muscle-blood biomarker) associates with clinical severity in FSHD patients (p<0.036). Our new circulating biomarker validates as a classifier of clinical severity in an independent data set of 54 FSHD patient blood samples, with improved power in older patients (p=0.03). In summary, we present the minimally invasive FSHD muscle-blood biomarker of FSHD clinical severity valid in patient muscle and blood, with potential utility in routine disease monitoring and clinical trials.

  Study EGAS00001007350

• In this study, blood-brain barrier (BBB)-forming brain endothelial-like cells were generated from apolipoprotein E gene allele E4 (APOE4, high AD risk) and allele E3 (APOE3, lower AD risk) carrying patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Cells were subsequently exposed to focused ultrasound and microbubbles (FUS+MB) to induce BBB opening and their transcriptome analysed. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) results demonstrated minimal changes in the gene expression following FUS+MB suggesting safety of FUS+MB application in the clinical setting.

  The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a major impediment to therapeutic intracranial drug delivery for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Focused ultrasound applied together with microbubbles (FUS+MB) is a novel technique to transiently open the BBB and increase drug delivery. Evidence suggests that FUS+MB is safe, however the effects of FUS+MB on human BBB cells, especially in relation to AD, remain sparsely investigated. Here we developed a human sporadic AD BBB cell platform to investigate the effects of FUS+MB on BBB cells and screen for the delivery of two potentially therapeutic AD antibodies. We generated BBB cells from apolipoprotein E gene allele E4 (APOE4, high AD risk) and allele E3 (APOE3, lower AD risk) carrying patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). We utilized this robust and reproducible platform to demonstrate increased delivery of potentially therapeutic antibodies across the BBB, including an analogue of Aducanumab (AduhelmTM) following FUS+MB treatment. Our results also demonstrate the safety of FUS+MB indicated by minimal changes in the cell transcriptome as well as little or no changes in cell viability and inflammatory responses within first 24 h post FUS+MB, with potentially important implications in a clinical setting. Finally, we report a more physiologically relevant hydrogel-based 2.5D BBB model as a key development for FUS+MB-mediated drug delivery screening, with potentially higher translational utility. Our results provide an important advancement for identifying FUS+MB-deliverable drugs and screening for cell- and patient-specific effects of FUS+MB, accelerating its use as a therapy in AD.

  Study EGAS00001005944

• High-throughput telomere length measurement at nucleotide resolution using the PacBio high fidelity sequencing platform

  Telomeres are specialized nucleoprotein structures at the ends of linear chromosomes that are essential for the stability as well as the complete replication of the human genome. The progressive shortening of steady-state telomere length in normal human somatic cells is a promising biomarker for age-associated diseases. However, there remain substantial challenges in quantifying telomere length in clinics and research laboratories due to the lack of accurate and high-throughput telomere length measurement method. Here, we describe a novel workflow to capture and analyze telomeres accurately at the single-nucleotide resolution. By using newly designed telobaits that are complementary to the single-stranded G-rich 3’ telomeric overhangs, we can specifically and efficiently capture full-length telomeres and subject them to single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing. We show that the telomere length can be measured at nucleotide resolution using the PacBio high fidelity (HiFi) sequencing platform, which provides the necessary accuracy and throughput to uncover the steady-state telomere length distribution in human culture cell lines as well as clinical patient samples. This new method is a valuable tool not only in population-wide epidemiology studies but also for the longitudinal assessment of telomere attrition in individuals. Our results also reveal the extreme heterogeneity of telomeric variant sequences (TVSs) that is dispersed throughout the telomere repeat region. Importantly, the unique distribution pattern and sequence of TVSs in individuals may be used as a fingerprint for sample identification. In addition, the presence of TVSs disrupts the continuity of the canonical (5’-TTAGGG-3’)n telomere repeats, which could affect the binding of shelterin complexes at the chromosomal ends. Therefore, TVSs may act as a form of genetic polymorphisms that impairs telomere protection. Together with the absolute telomere length in each individual, TVSs may have profound implications in human aging and diseases.

  Study EGAS00001006103

• Local In Time Statistics for processual research

  Background: Functional genomics in a processual analysis cover the time-dependent changes in transcriptomics and epigenetics before diagnosis of a disease, reflecting the changes in both life style and disease processes. The aim of this paper is to explore the dynamic, time-dependent mechanisms of the metastatic processes, using blood transcriptomics and including time in a continuous manner. For achieving this goal we develop new statistical methods based on statistics that are local in time. Methods: The new statistical method, Local In Time Statistics (LITS), is based on calculating statistics in moving windows and randomization. The method has been tested for the analysis of a dataset that collectively provides information on the blood transcriptome up to eight years before breast cancer diagnosis. The dataset from the NOWAC Post-genome Cohort consists of 467 case-control pairs matched on birth year and time of blood sampling. The data for a pair is the difference in log2 gene expression between the case and control. The stratified analyses are based on important biological differences like metastatic versus non-metastatic cancer, and the mode of cancer detection, i.e. screening detected versus clinically detected cancers. The dataset was used for examining whether the gene expression profile varies between cases and controls, with time, or between cases with and without metastases. Results: The null hypotheses of no differences between cases and controls, no time-dependent changes, and no differences between different strata were all rejected. For screening detected cancers the probability of correct prediction of metastasis status was best in year 1 before diagnosis compared to year 3 and 4 before diagnosis for clinically detected cancers. The predictor was not very sensitive to the number of genes included.Conclusions: Using a new statistical method, LITS, we have demonstrated time-dependent changes of the blood transcriptome up to eight years before breast cancer diagnosis.

  Study EGAS00001002520

• Genetic_Heterogeneity_of_the_familial_gastric_neuroendocrine_tumors

  Gastric neuroendocrine tumors (gNETs) occur with an estimated frequency of 2 per 100,000 in the general population. Type I gastric neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) represent the 75% of gNTEs and arise from gastric enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells. They have late age of onset and usually benigh course. Classically, hypergastrinemia in patients who have autoimmune atrophic gastritis, causes hyperplasia of gastric ECL cells that progresses into type I gastric NETs and parietal cell (PC) destruction. The genetic bases in families with this disease are unknown. We performed an exome sequencing study of an atypical aggressive familial gNETs case (with early age onset, nodal infiltrations and gastric adenocarcinomas) that followed a recessive model. We identified a deleterious mutation in homozygosis in the ATP4A gene, which encodes the proton pump responsible for acid secretion by gastric parietal cells. This mutation lead to achlorhydria first, and hypergastrinemia and gNET developing as consequence (Calvete et al. 2014). Recently, two more families with gNETs, classical clinical traits and recessive model have been studies by WES but we didn't find any mutation in the ATP4a gene. However, putative mutations affecting genes that contribute to the development and the integrity of PC have been found suggesting that genetic alterations associated to this disorder target to a unique cell type (parietal cells). In order to cinfirm this hypothesis, it is necessary the search for new genes implicated in the gNETs, more familial cases are needed to be studied. We have identified four more new familial gNETs cases. Here, we propose their study by WES. The first family is formed by thress siblings with gNETs. The other families include two siblings with gNETs. This data is part of a pre-publication release. For information on the proper use of pre-publication data shared by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (including details of any publication moratoria), please see http://www.sanger.ac.uk/datasharing/

  Study EGAS00001002273

• Copy number profiling of primary samples and cell lines of retinoblastoma

  While RB1 loss initiates retinoblastoma development, additional somatic copy number alterations (SCNAs) can drive tumor progression. Although SCNAs have been identified with good concordance between studies at a cytoband resolution, accurate identification of single genes for all recurrent SCNAs is still challenging. This study presents a comprehensive meta-analysis of genome-wide SCNAs integrated with gene expression profiling data, narrowing down the list of plausible retinoblastoma driver genes. We performed SCNA profiling of 45 primary retinoblastoma samples and 8 retinoblastoma cell lines by high-resolution microarrays. We combined our data with genomic, clinical and histopathological data of ten published genome-wide SCNA studies, which strongly enhanced the power of our analyses (N=310). Comprehensive recurrence analysis of SCNAs in all studies integrated with gene expression data allowed us to reduce candidate gene lists for 1q, 2p, 6p, 7q and 13q to a limited gene set. Besides the well-established driver genes RB1 (13q-loss) and MYCN (2p-gain) we identified CRB1 and NEK7 (1q-gain), SOX4 (6p-gain) and NUP205 (7q-gain) as novel retinoblastoma driver candidates. Depending on the sample subset and algorithms used, alternative candidates were identified including MIR181 (1q-gain) and DEK (6p gain). Remarkably, our study showed that copy number gains rarely exceeded change of one copy, even in pure tumor samples with 100% homozygosity at the RB1 locus (N=34), which is indicative for intra-tumor heterogeneity. In addition, profound between-tumor variability was observed that was associated with age at diagnosis and differentiation grades. Since focal alterations at commonly altered chromosome regions were rare except for 2p24.3 (MYCN), further functional validation of the oncogenic potential of the described candidate genes is now required. For further investigations, our study provides a refined and revised set of candidate retinoblastoma driver genes.

  Study EGAS00001001715

• Exome Sequencing to Define the Landscape of Plasma Cells in Systemic Light chain Amyloidosis

  Systemic light chain amyloidosis (AL) is characterized by the deposition of immunoglobulin light chains as amyloid fibrils in different organs, where they form toxic protein aggregates. The underlying disease is a plasma cell disorder, but limited whole exome data are available. We report the findings of an exome sequencing study in AL to define a plasma cell signature and compare this to monoclonal gammopathy of undefined significance (MGUS) and myeloma (MM). Twenty-four samples from unselected newly diagnosed untreated AL patients were analysed. CD138+ cells were isolated from bone marrow cells using MACSorting (Miltenyi Biotech, Bisley, UK). Cells were lysed in RLT+ buffer and DNA/RNA extracted using the AllPrep kit (Qiagen, Manchester, UK). Peripheral blood was isolated from patients, white blood cells purified by Ficoll-Pacque and DNA extracted using the QIAamp DNA mini kit (Qiagen). There were a median of 47 acquired nonsynonymous variants (range 4-253) per patient. Thirty percent of patients yielded a mutation in a myeloma driver gene. These mutations were either clonal or sub-clonal. There was evidence of MAPK activation with NRAS mutations, NF-κB activation and DNA repair pathway alterations. Exome data were used to determine the cytogenetic groups of AL samples and identified hyperdiploidy in 33% of cases and t(11;14) in 33% of cases. All translocations were generated via class switch recombination and breakpoints on chromosome 11 fell into the expected regions. A novel translocation, unlikely to be driving disease progression was identified involving RCC1. Finally, further analysis of the APCS gene encoding for the SAP protein did not show any biased genotype in the AL population in comparison to the general population. We conclude that exome sequencing identifies a genetic make-up of AL that is similar to other plasma cell disorders such as MM and MGUS. This not only includes copy number abnormalities and translocations but also nonsynonymous mutations.

  Study EGAS00001001418

• Liver biopsy derived induced pluripotent stem cells provide an unlimited supply for the generation of patient-specific hepatocyte-like cells

  Background: Hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have emerged as a promising cell culture model to study metabolism, biotransformation, viral infections and genetic liver diseases. However the derivation of iPSCs is restricted by ethical and procedural constraints. Furthermore, incomplete HLC differentiation remains a major challenge. iPSC may carry-on a tissue of origin dependent expression memory influencing iPSC differentiation into different cell types. If liver derived iPSCs (Li-iPSCs) maintain a liver specific gene expression profile is not known. It is also not known, if Li-iPSCs would allow the generation of more fully differentiated HLCs.Methods: Primary liver cells (PLCs) were expanded from liver needle biopsies and reprogrammed into Li-iPSCs using a non-integrative Sendai virus-based system. Li-iPSCs were differentiated into HLCs using established differentiation protocols. The HLC phenotype was characterized at the protein, functional and transcriptional level. RNA sequencing data were generated from the originating liver biopsies, the Li-iPSCs, fibroblast derived iPSCs, and differentiated HLCs, and used to characterize and compare their transcriptome profiles.Results: PLCs were obtained from small pieces of liver biopsies and could be reprogrammed into Li-iPSCs. Li-iPSCs indeed retain a liver specific transcriptional footprint. Li-iPSCs can be propagated to provide an unlimited supply of cells for differentiation into Li-HLCs. Similar to HLCs derived from fibroblasts, Li-HLCs could not be fully differentiated into hepatocytes. Relative to the originating liver, Li-HLCs showed lower expression of liver specific transcription factors and increased expression of genes involved in the differentiation of other tissues.Conclusions: PLCs and Li-iPSCs obtained from small pieces of human needle liver biopsies constitute a novel unlimited source for the production of HLCs. Despite the preservation of a liver specific gene expression footprint in Li-iPSCs, the generation of fully differentiated hepatocytes cannot be achieved with the current differentiation protocols.

  Study EGAS00001002676

• ctDNA quantification in Ewing sarcoma patients

  Background. Treatment stratification and response assessment in pediatric sarcomas has relied on imaging studies and surgical/histopathological evidence of vital tumor cells. Such studies and evidence collection processes often involve radiation and/or general anesthesia in children. Cell-free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) detection in blood plasma is one available method of so-called liquid biopsies that has been shown to correlate qualitatively and quantitatively to some extent with the existence of vital tumor cells in the body. Our clinical observational study focused on the utility and feasibility of ctDNA detection in pediatric Ewing sarcoma (EWS) as a marker of minimal residual disease (MRD). Patients and Methods. We performed whole genome sequencing to identify the exact breakpoints in tumors known to carry the EWS-FLI1 fusion gene. Patient-specific fusion breakpoints were tracked in peripheral blood plasma using digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) before, during, and after therapy in six consecutive children and young adults with EWS. Presence and levels of fusion breakpoints were correlated with clinical disease courses. The genetic changes in the tumors were defined, and inter- and intra-individual changes in the tumor DNA copy loads were observed over time. Results. We show that the detection of ctDNA in the peripheral blood of EWS patients i) is feasible in the clinical routine and ii) allows for the longitudinal real-time monitoring of MRD activity in children and young adults. Although changing ctDNA levels correlated well with clinical outcome within patients, between patients, a high variability was observed (inter-individually) for the six patients described here. Conclusions. ctDNA detection by ddPCR is a highly sensitive, specific, feasible, and highly accurate method that can be applied in EWS for follow-up assessments as an additional surrogate parameter for clinical MRD monitoring and, potentially, also for treatment stratification in the near future.

  Study EGAS00001006433

• High-throughput telomere length measurement at nucleotide resolution using the PacBio high fidelity sequencing platform, P49-P104 and run1 replicates

  Telomeres are specialized nucleoprotein structures at the ends of linear chromosomes that are essential for the stability as well as the complete replication of the human genome. The progressive shortening of steady-state telomere length in normal human somatic cells is a promising biomarker for age-associated diseases. However, there remain substantial challenges in quantifying telomere length in clinics and research laboratories due to the lack of accurate and high-throughput telomere length measurement method. Here, we describe a novel workflow to capture and analyze telomeres accurately at the single-nucleotide resolution. By using newly designed telobaits that are complementary to the single-stranded G-rich 3’ telomeric overhangs, we can specifically and efficiently capture full-length telomeres and subject them to single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing. We show that the telomere length can be measured at nucleotide resolution using the PacBio high fidelity (HiFi) sequencing platform, which provides the necessary accuracy and throughput to uncover the steady-state telomere length distribution in human culture cell lines as well as clinical patient samples. This new method is a valuable tool not only in population-wide epidemiology studies but also for the longitudinal assessment of telomere attrition in individuals. Our results also reveal the extreme heterogeneity of telomeric variant sequences (TVSs) that is dispersed throughout the telomere repeat region. Importantly, the unique distribution pattern and sequence of TVSs in individuals may be used as a fingerprint for sample identification. In addition, the presence of TVSs disrupts the continuity of the canonical (5’-TTAGGG-3’)n telomere repeats, which could affect the binding of shelterin complexes at the chromosomal ends. Therefore, TVSs may act as a form of genetic polymorphisms that impairs telomere protection. Together with the absolute telomere length in each individual, TVSs may have profound implications in human aging and diseases.

  Study EGAS00001006595

• Circulating kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) and association with response to adjuvant immunotherapy in renal cell carcinoma

  Adjuvant immunotherapy is currently the standard of care for patients with resected renal cell carcinoma (RCC) at increased risk of recurrence, but there are no biomarkers available to guide treatment decisions. Kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) has previously been described as a potential circulating biomarker in renal cell carcinoma. We evaluated biomarkers and outcomes among patients who participated in a randomized phase III trial of adjuvant atezolizumab versus placebo in resected RCC (IMmotion010). This trial did not meet its primary DFS endpoint in the intention-to-treat population. An affinity-based proximity extension proteomics assay was used to compare levels of circulating proteins among baseline (post-nephrectomy) serum samples and also with samples taken at time of recurrence. We demonstrate that serum KIM-1 was the most significantly enriched protein at recurrence versus baseline. Patients with serum KIM-1high at baseline had worse disease-free survival (DFS) (hazard ratio 1.68, 95% CI 1.35-2.09), but also had improved DFS when treated with adjuvant atezolizumab versus placebo (hazard ratio 0.72, 95% CI 0.52-0.99). An increase in KIM-1 during follow-up was associated with worse DFS compared to patients with no increase in KIM-1. Comparison of transcriptomic expression profiles in paired primary and recurrent tumor samples revealed that metastatic recurrence is associated with upregulation of transcriptional programs associated with tumor proliferation and myeloid immune suppression. Downregulation of an MHC class I signature was seen among patients with recurrence after treatment with atezolizumab but not placebo, suggesting this is a mechanism of resistance to PD-L1 immunotherapy. These analyses suggest that elevated post-nephrectomy serum KIM-1 enriches for benefit from adjuvant immunotherapy in RCC, and that biomarker driven adjuvant therapy should be evaluated as a potential new paradigm in RCC trials.

  Study EGAS50000001285

• Genome-wide DNA methylation sequencing identifies epigenetic perturbations in the upper airways under long-term exposure to moderate levels of ambient air pollution

  While the link between exposure to high levels of ambient particulate matter (PM) and increased incidences of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases is widely recognized, recent epidemiological studies have shown that low PM concentrations are equally associated with adverse health effects. As DNA methylation is one of the main mechanisms by which cells regulate and stabilize gene expression, changes in the methylome could constitute early indicators of dysregulated signaling pathways. So far, little is known about PM-associated DNA methylation changes in the upper airways, the first point of contact between airborne pollutants and the human body. Here, we focused on cells of the upper respiratory tract and assessed their genome-wide DNA methylation pattern to explore exposure-associated early regulatory changes. Using a mobile epidemiological laboratory, nasal lavage samples were collected from a cohort of 60 adults that lived in districts with records of low (Simmerath) or moderate (Stuttgart) PM10 levels in Germany. PM10 concentrations were verified by particle measurements on the days of the sample collection and genome-wide DNA methylation was determined by enzymatic methyl sequencing at single-base resolution. We identified 231 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) between moderately and lowly PM10 exposed individuals. A high proportion of DMRs overlapped with regulatory elements, and DMR target genes were involved in pathways regulating cellular redox homeostasis and immune response. In addition, we found distinct changes in DNA methylation of the HOXA gene cluster whose methylation levels have previously been linked to air pollution exposure but also to carcinogenesis in several instances. The findings of this study suggest that regulatory changes in upper airway cells occur at PM10 levels below current European thresholds, some of which may be involved in the development of air pollution-related diseases.

  Study EGAS00001007374

• Oncoarray Consortium - Lung Cancer Studies

  The study was conducted under the auspices of the Transdisciplinary Research In Cancer of the Lung (TRICL) Research Team, which is a part of the Genetic Associations and MEchanisms in ONcology (GAME-ON) consortium, and associated with the International Lung Cancer Consortium (ILCCO). Ethics: All participants provided written informed consent. All studies were reviewed and approved by institutional ethics review committees at the involved institutions. Sequencing data are derived from four substudies. The substudies that contributed include Harvard, Liverpool, Toronto, and IARC. The Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study is a randomized primary prevention trial including 29,133 male smokers enrolled in Finland between 1985 and 1993. Participants ranged between ages of 50 to 69 at enrollment and were randomized in a factorial design to take either 50 milligrams of d-alpha tocopheryl acetate (Vitamin E), 20 mg of all-trans-beta-carotene, both or placebo. The study continued to monitor cancer incidence through 2012 and total mortality through December 2013. The CAncer de PUlmon en Asturias Study (CAPUA) is a hospital-based case-control study conducted in Asturias, Spain by the University of Oviedo. Lung cancer cases were recruited in three main hospitals of Asturias, following an identical protocol from 2002 to 2012. Eligible cases were incident cases of histologically confirmed lung cancer between 30 and 85 years of age and residents in the geographical area of each participating hospital. Controls were selected from patients admitted to those hospitals with diagnoses unrelated to the exposures of interest and individually matched by ethnicity, gender, age (± 5 years) and hospital. Epidemiologic data were collected personally through computer-assisted questionnaires by trained interviewers during the first hospital admission. Structured questionnaires collected information on sociodemographic characteristics, recent and prior tobacco use, environmental exposure (air pollution and passive smoking), diet, personal and family history of cancer, and occupational history from each participant. Peripheral blood samples (or mouthwash samples when they refused to donate blood) were collected from all participants. Coding of histology was based on 2001 WHO/IASLC. Genomic DNA was extracted based on standard protocol. The Canadian Screening Study includes the nested case-control samples from 3 screening programs: IELCAP-Toronto: Ever smokers of more than 10 pack-years age 50 and above were eligible for the I-ELCAP screening program since 2003, and a total of 4782 individuals have been enrolled in the Greater Toronto Area. Participants were administered a LDCT scan along with a standard study questionnaire at baseline. Blood samples were systematically collected at baseline since 2006. Participants who had an abnormality in a CT scan were followed up every 1 to 2 years. The screening program was organized by the Princess Margaret Hospital. PanCan: Ever smokers between the ages of 50-75 with no previous history of invasive cancer are eligible to participate in the study. The study was carried out across Canada in Vancouver, Calgary, Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec, Halifax, and St. John's. A total of 2537 smokers have been screened from 2008 to 2011. All study participants completed a detailed questionnaire, spirometry, collection of blood specimens for biomarker measurement and LDCT at baseline. All participants are followed for a minimum of 3 years. On yearly follow up, an updated shorter questionnaire is administered, blood is collected and CT scans are performed. Blood samples are available from all 2537 individuals. BCCA Screening Program: From 1990 to 2007, 4274 smokers above 40 years old who had smoked 20 pack-years or more were enrolled at BCCA. Upon enrollment, subjects completed a questionnaire for their lifestyle and medical history. Baseline spirometry was conducted using a flow-sensitive spirometer in accordance with the American Thoracic Society recommendations. Since 2000, a LDCT was obtained in 2440 individuals. The participants were followed prospectively to determine whether they developed lung cancer. A total of 9759 individuals participated in the CT screening program in Canada from these 3 programs. The samples included in this project is based on a subset of nested lung cancer case-control pairs based on 1:2 ratio. The Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET) was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the cancer prevention efficacy and safety of a daily combination of 30 mg of beta-carotene and 25,000 IU of retinyl palmitate in 18,314 persons at high risk for lung cancer. CARET began in 1985, and the intervention was halted in January 1996, 21 months ahead of schedule, with the twin conclusions for definitive evidence of no benefit and substantial evidence of a harmful effect of the intervention on both lung cancer incidence and total mortality. CARET continued to follow and collect endpoints on their participants through 2005. Pathology reports and medical records were reviewed to confirm cancer endpoints, and death certificates obtained to capture cause of death. During the active intervention phase of CARET, serum, plasma, whole blood, and lung tissue specimens were collected on participants. These biospecimens make up the CARET Biorepository. For the OncoArray Project, CARET provided DNA extracted from whole blood of lung cancer cases and controls matched on age at baseline (± 4 years), sex, race, baseline smoking status, history of occupational asbestos exposure (asbestos vs heavy smoker), and year of enrollment (2-year intervals). The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study is a multi-center cohort study involving 521,000 study participants from 10 European countries. The current study involved EPIC participants from 7 countries (Greece, Netherlands, UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy), including 1223 incident lung cancer cases and 1249 smoking matched controls. The Kentucky Lung Cancer Research Initiative is a study conducted by the Markey Cancer Center Cancer Center and the University of Kentucky using a population-based, case-control framework to study the extraordinarily high rates of lung cancer in Southeastern, Appalachian Kentucky. Cancer cases were recruited from the Kentucky Cancer Registry at the time of diagnosis and controls were recruited from a random digit dialing process from the same region. Study accrual began in January 5, 2012 and completed on September 5, 2014 and 520 subjects were recruited in a 4:1 ratio of controls: cases from Appalachian Kentucky. Of the 520 subjects recruited, 231 are included in the OncoArray analysis, including all 93 cancer cases, and 123 controls. Newly diagnosed lung cancer cases and controls underwent blood, toenail (for trace element analysis), urine, buffy coat, water, soil, and radon collection, residence GPS mapping, as well as an extensive epidemiologic, occupational, and health history questionnaire (Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT01648166). The Harvard Lung Cancer Study (HLCS) is a case-control study based at Mass General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, Massachusetts from 1992 to 2004. Details of the study were described previously. Briefly, eligible cases included any person over the age of 18 years with a diagnosis of primary lung cancer that was further confirmed by an MGH lung pathologist. Controls were recruited from the friends or spouses of cancer patients or the friends or spouses of other surgery patients in the same hospital. Potential controls were excluded from participation if they had a diagnosis of any cancer (other than non-melanoma skin cancer). Interviewer-administered questionnaires, a modified version of the standardized American Thoracic Society respiratory questionnaire, collected information on demographics, medical history, family history of cancer, smoking history, and a detailed work history, including job titles and tasks. Genome-wide genotype data were first generated using Illumina Human 610-Quad BeadChips and then imputed by MACH against the 1000 Genome Project dataset (http://browser.1000genomes.org/index.html). The Institutional Review Board of MGH and the Human Subjects Committee of the Harvard School of Public Health approved the study. The Israel study (NICCC-LCA) is an ongoing case-control study of newly diagnosed lung cancer cases of any histology and population age/sex/ethnicity-matched "healthy" controls. All participants undergo face-to-face interviews, provide a venous blood sample (separated into DNA, Sera, lymphocytes) after signing an IRB-approved form. Histology reports, FFPE blocks and clinical follow-up are available for most cancer cases. The MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) Study. Lung cancer cases and frequency-matched controls were ascertained from a large ongoing case-control study at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (UTMDACC) since 1991. Detailed study description was provided previously (Spitz et al 2007). In brief, cases were newly-diagnosed and histologically confirmed lung cancer patients recruited from UTMDACC. Controls were healthy individuals without a history of cancer (except for nonmelanoma skin cancer) and recruited from the Kelsey-Seybold Clinics, the largest private multispecialty physician group in the Houston metropolitan area. Controls were frequency-matched to cases on age (±5 years), sex, and race/ethnicity. After providing written informed consent, each study participants completed an in-person interview by staff interviewers to collect information on demographics, smoking status, etc. Blood samples were also drawn from all the study participants. This study was approved by institutional review boards of UTMDACC and Kelsey-Seybold Clinics. The Malmö Diet and Cancer Study (MDCS) is a population-based prospective cohort study that recruited men and women aged at 44 to 74 years old of living in Malmö, Sweden between 1991 and 1996. The main goal of the MDCS is to study the impact of diet on cancer incidence and mortality. It consists of a baseline examination including dietary assessment, a self-administered questionnaire, anthropometric measurements and collection of blood samples. A total of 165 incident lung cancer cases and 174 individually smoking-matched controls were available for this analysis. The Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) Study includes 215,251 men and women aged 45-74 years at recruitment, primarily from five ethnic/racial groups - African Americans and Latinos mostly recruited from CA (mainly from Los Angeles County) and Japanese Americans, Native Hawaiians and whites (mostly recruited from HI). The cohort was assembled in 1993-1996 by mailing a self-administered questionnaire to persons identified primarily through driver's license files. The baseline questionnaire obtained information on demographics, anthropometry, smoking history, medical and reproductive histories, family history of cancer, diet and physical activity. Incident cancer cases are identified by regular linkage with the State of California Cancer Registry and the Hawaii Tumor Registry, both members of the SEER Program of the NCI. In 2001-2006, a prospective biorepository was assembled by collecting a pre-diagnostic blood specimen from 67,594 surviving MEC members. At the time of blood collection a short questionnaire was administered that included information on smoking during the previous 15 days. For this study, cases were all lung cancer cases incident to blood draw and diagnosed before December 2012. For each case, a control was selected among unaffected MEC participants who were alive at time of the case's diagnosis and matched on study site, sex, race/ethnicity, age (age at diagnosis for cases; age at blood collection for controls), and date of blood collection. The Mount-Sinai Hospital-Princess Margaret Study (MSH-PMH) was conducted in the greater Toronto area from 2008 to 2013. Lung cancer cases were recruited at the hospitals in the network of the University of Toronto. Controls were selected randomly from individuals registered in the family medicine clinics databases and were frequency matched with cases on age and sex. All subjects were interviewed, and information on lifestyle risk factors, occupational history and medical and family history was collected using a standard questionnaire. Tumors were centrally reviewed by the reference pathologist, a member of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) committee, and a second pathologist in the University Health Network. If the reviews conflicted, a consensus was arrived at after discussion. Coding of histology was based on 2001 WHO/IASLC. Genomic DNA was extracted based on standard protocol. The New England Lung Cancer Study (NELCS) is a population-based case-control study of lung cancer among residents of Northern and Central New Hampshire counties and the bordering region of Vermont. Cases with histologically confirmed primary incident lung cancer were identified from 2005 to 2007 using the New Hampshire State Cancer Registry and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) Tumor Registry. Control participants were identified using a commercial database and matched to lung cancer cases within 5-year age groups, sex and county. Genomic DNA was isolated from blood or buccal specimens provided by consenting participants. The study complied with requirements of the Dartmouth College's Committee for Protection of Human Subjects. The Nijmegen Lung Cancer Study. The Netherlands patients with lung cancer were identified through the population-based cancer registry of the Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Patients who were diagnosed in one of three hospitals (Radboud University Medical Center, Canisius Wilhelmina Hospital in Nijmegen, and Rijnstate Hospital in Arnhem) since 1989 and who were still alive at April 15th, 2008 were recruited for a study on gene-environment interactions in lung cancer. 458 patients gave informed consent and donated a blood sample. This case series was expanded with 94 patients to a total of 552 by linking three other studies to the population-based cancer registry in order to identify new occurrences of lung cancer among the participants of these other studies. All three other studies (i.e., POLYGENE, the Nijmegen Biomedical Study, and the Radboudumc Urology Outpatient Clinic Epidemiology Study) were initiated to study genetic risk factors for disease and participants to these studies gave general informed consent for DNA-related research and linkage with disease registries. Information on histology, stage of disease, and age at diagnoses was obtained through the cancer registry. Lifestyle information was collected through a structured questionnaire and whole blood for DNA isolation was collected by the regional thrombosis services. The cancer-free controls (46% males) were selected from participants of the "Nijmegen Biomedical Study" (NBS), an age- and sex-stratified random sample of the general population of the municipality of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. All participants provided extensive lifestyle information by structured questionnaires and blood samples for DNA isolation, serum and plasma. All controls are of self-reported European descent. The study protocols of the NBS were approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Radboudumc and all study subjects signed a written informed consent form. The Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study (NSHDS) encompasses several prospective cohorts. The current study involves participants from the Västerbotten Intervention Project (VIP), a sub-cohort within NSHDS. VIP is an ongoing prospective cohort and intervention study intended for health promotion of the general population of the Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. VIP was initiated in 1985 and all residents in the Västerbotten County were invited to participate by attending a health check-up at 40, 50 and 60 years of age. Participants were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire including various demographic factors such as education, smoking habits, physical activity and diet. In addition, height and weight were measured and participants were asked to donate a fasting blood sample for future research. A total of 243 incident lung cancer cases and 266 individually smoking-matched controls were available for this analysis. Norway National Institute of Occupational Health Study. Early-stage NSCLC cases and healthy controls at the time of enrollment were Caucasians of Norwegian origin and were recruited from the same geographical region (Western Norway). The patients were enrolled in the study, whenever practically feasible among patients admitted for lung cancer at the Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway. The informed written consents covering analysis of molecular and genetic markers was signed by the patients prior to surgery. Only patients with histologically confirmed early-stage NSCLC were included in our study. The subjects included in this project are a subgroup recruited into the project "lung cancer genetics" at NIOH. The controls were recruited from the same geographical region of Western Norway and frequency-matched with cases on cumulative smoking dose (pack-years). Pack-years smoked [( 20 cigarettes per day) x years smoked] were calculated to indicate the cumulative smoking dose. The Cases and controls were interviewed using similar questionnaires and were categorized as never smokers, ex-smokers or current smokers. Never smokers are subjects indicating having smoked less than 100 cigarettes in their life time. Ex-smokers were defined as those having quitted at least 1 year before sampling, and current smokers were those indicating that they were smokers at the time of sampling. The project has been approved by the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics in Southern Norway in accordance with the WMA Declaration of Helsinki. The ethical approval covered access to the NSCLC databank. The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) Study, a randomized trial aimed at evaluating the efficacy of screening in reducing cancer mortality, recruited approximately 155,000 men and women age 55 to 74 years from 1992 to 20014. Screening for lung cancer among participants in the intervention arm included a chest x-ray at baseline followed by either three annual x-rays (for current or former smokers at enrollment) or two annual x-rays (for never smokers); participants in the control arm received routine health care. Screening-arm participants provided data on sociodemographic factors, smoking behavior, anthropometric characteristics, medical history, and family history of cancer, as well as blood samples annually for the first 6 years of the study (baseline T0 and T1 through T5). Lung cancers were ascertained through annual questionnaires mailed to the participants, and positive reports were followed up by abstracting medical records or death certificates. Follow-up in the trial as of July 2009 was 96.7%. Patients were excluded because of missing baseline questionnaire, previous history of any cancer, diagnosis of multiple cancers during follow-up, missing smoking information at baseline, missing consent for utilization of biologic specimens for etiologic studies, or unavailability/insufficient quantity of serum or DNA specimens. The Resource for the Study of Lung Cancer Epidemiology in North Trent (ReSoLuCENT) is an ongoing study conducted in Sheffield from 2006 and due to complete recruitment in 2016. The study recruited pathologically confirmed lung cancer cases diagnosed at age 60 years or younger and family matched controls. Lung cancer cases diagnosed at ages older than 60 years were recruited if they reported a family history of lung cancer. The cases and matched controls were recruited through several major cancer treatment centers, however, the majority were recruited in North Trent. All participants completed a detailed lifestyle questionnaire which included questions about occupational exposures, education, medical history and family history of cancer and lung disease. Participants also donated blood samples for DNA extraction. The ReSoLuCENT study has been funded by the Sheffield Hospitals Charity, Sheffield ECMC and Weston Park Hospital Cancer Charity. First degree relatives were removed from the sample deposited to dbGaP. The Roy Castle Lung Study of Liverpool Lung Project (LLP) is a case-control and cohort study which has recruited over 11,500 individuals since 1996 from the Liverpool region in the UK. Detailed epidemiological and clinical data is collected with associated specimens (i.e. tumor tissue, blood, plasma, sputum, bronchial lavage and oral brushings). The participants have completed a detailed lifestyle questionnaire at recruitment, with repeat questionnaires at intervals; updated data on clinical outcome and hospital events are collected through the Health and Social Care Information Center (including Office of National Statistics mortality data, Cancer Registry and Health Episode Statistics). The project is registered on the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) lung cancer portfolio and has all the required ethical approvals and sponsorship arrangements in place. The lung tumors were reviewed by the reference pathologist. The Seoul Bundang Lung Cancer Study was conducted between 2005 and 2010 to discover genetic and environmental factors related with lung cancer development. Lung cancer cases were recruited at the Seoul National University Hospital in Bundang. Controls were selected randomly from individuals participated in health check-up program and were frequency matched with cases on age and sex. All subjects were interviewed, and information on lifestyle risk factors, occupational history and medical and family history was collected using a standard questionnaire. Tumors were reviewed by the pathologists in the hospital. If the reviews conflicted, a consensus was arrived at after discussion. Coding of histology was based on 2001 WHO/IASLC. Genomic DNA was extracted based on standard protocol. The Shanghai Cohort Study (SCS) consisted of 18,244 men in Shanghai, China, who were 45-64 years old at the time of enrollment during 1986-1989. Approximately 80% of eligible men participated in the study. At the time of recruitment, each cohort subject was interviewed in-person by a trained nurse interviewer using a structured questionnaire that included background information, history of tobacco and alcohol use, current diet, and medical history. At the completion of the interview, the nurse collected a 10 ml blood and a single void urine specimen from the study participant. The buccal cell samples were collected from all surviving cohort members (~15,000) in the 2001-2002 follow-up interviews. The cohort has been followed for the occurrence of cancer and death through routine ascertainment of new cases from the population-based Shanghai Cancer Registry and Shanghai Vital Statistics Units. To maximize the cancer findings and minimize the loss of follow-up, we contacted each surviving cohort member annually. Retired nurses visit the last known address of each living cohort member and record details of the interim health history of the cohort member. As of December 31, 2014, cumulatively 612 (3.4%) original subjects were lost to follow-up, and 574 (3.1%) refused to our continued follow-up interview. A nested case-control study of incident lung cancer cases within the Shanghai Cohort Study was used to examine the association between serum levels of vitamin B6 and other compounds in the one-carbon metabolism pathway and risk of lung cancer. Briefly, 516 lung cancer cases were identified among cohort participants with available serum samples as of 12/31/2006. For each case, we randomly selected one control subject from all cohort members who were free of cancer and alive at the time of cancer diagnosis of the index case. Controls were matched to the index case by age at enrollment (±2 years), date of biospecimen collection (±1 month) and neighborhood of residence at recruitment, and smoking status (current, former and never smokers) as established previously for other studies. For former smokers, cases and controls were further matched by years since quitting smoking (<10 vs ≥10 years). One serum vial per subject was retrieved from biorepository and all serum samples were sent to the laboratory (B-vital) for measurements. DNA samples of 250 lung cancer cases and 250 matched controls were available for the present study. The Singapore Chinese Health Study (SCHS) cohort consisted of 63,257 Chinese men and women in Singapore when they were 45-74 years old at the time of enrollment between April 1993 and December 1998. At recruitment, each study subject was interviewed in person by a trained interviewer using a structured questionnaire that emphasized current diet assessed via a validated, 165-item food frequency questionnaire. The questionnaire also requested information on demographics, lifetime use of tobacco, incense use, current physical activity, usual sleep duration, reproductive history (women only), occupational exposure, medical history, and family history of cancer. Blood or buccal cell, and spot urine samples were collected first from a random 3% sample of cohort participants in April 1994, and extended to all surviving cohort participants starting in January 2000. Overall approximately 60% of eligible cohort participants donated biospecimens. The cohort has been passively followed for death and cancer occurrence through regular record linkage with the population-based Singapore Cancer Registry and the Singapore Registry of Births and Deaths. Migration out of Singapore, especially among housing estate residents, was negligible. As of latest update, only 55 individuals from this cohort were known to be lost to follow-up due to migration and other reason. A nested case-control study of incident lung cancer cases within the Singapore Chinese Health Study was used to examine the association between serum levels of vitamin B6 and other compounds in the one-carbon metabolism pathway and risk of lung cancer. As of 12/31/2011, 422 lung cancer cases were identified among cohort participants with available prediagnostic plasma samples. For each case, one control subject was randomly selected from all eligible cohort members who were alive and free of cancer on the date of cancer diagnosis of the index case. The control subject was individually matched to the index case by gender, dialect group (Hokkien, Cantonese), age at enrollment (±3 years), date of baseline interview (±2 year), date of biospecimen collection (±6 months), and smoking status (current, former, and never smokers). For current smokers, cases and controls were further matched by number of cigarettes per day (<15, ≥15 cigarettes/day). For former smokers, cases and controls were further matched by years since quitting smoking (<10, ≥10 years). One plasma aliquot per subject was retrieved from the biorepository and all plasma samples were sent to the laboratory (B-vital) for measurements, and one aliquot of DNA per subject for the present study. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) L2 Study. Lung cancer cases and controls were recruited through a multicentric case-control study coordinated by the IARC in Russia, Poland, Serbia, Czech Republic, and Romania from 2005 to 2013. Cases were incident cancer patients collected from general hospitals. Controls were recruited from individuals visiting general hospitals and out-patient clinics for disorders unrelated to lung cancer and/or its associated risk factors, or from the general population. Information on lifestyle risk factors, medical and family history was collected from subjects by interview using a standard questionnaire. All study participants provided written informed consent. The current study included 1,133 lung cancer cases and 1,117 controls genotyped on the Oncoarray. The Washington State University Lung Cancer Study is a hospital case-control study of 511 subjects with newly-diagnosed (within 1 year of diagnosis) lung cancer and 820 race-, sex- and age-matched controls. Lung cancer cases were recruited from lung cancer clinics within the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center while controls were recruited from the Lifetime Cancer Screening Center, a H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center affiliate. None of the controls were diagnosed with any form of cancer at the time of screening. Detailed questionnaire data and oral buccal cells were collected for all subjects. The Total Lung Cancer (TLC) Study is a hospital-based study that included 458 lung cancer patients recruited for Moffitt Cancer Center's Total Cancer Care™ protocol between April 2006 and August 2010. Total Cancer Care™ is a multi-institutional observational study of cancer patients that prospectively collects self-reported demographic and clinical data, medical record information and blood samples for research purposes. All patients used in this cohort were recruited from the Thoracic Oncology Clinic at the Moffitt Cancer Center. The Vanderbilt Lung Cancer Study (BioVU) is a case-control study nested within the Vanderbilt University Medical Center biobank, BioVU. BioVU is a biorepository of DNA extracted from blood drawn from patients seeking routine clinical care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and linked to de-identified electronic health records for research purposes. Lung cancer cases and controls were identified from BioVU participants in February 2014. Lung cancer cases were identified from the Vanderbilt tumor registry. All specimens undergo pathologic review for determination of morphology. Coding of histology was based on SEER Program Coding Guidelines. Controls were randomly selected from BioVU participants, excluding cancer patients, and were matched to cases on age (± 5 years), sex, and race. Relevant covariates were identified from electronic health records using natural language processing. Genomic DNA was extracted based on a standard protocol.

  Study phs001273

• Exploring_the_landscape_of_somatic_mutations_in_normal_tissue___GI___WGS

  The aim of this project is to investiagte somatic mutations, including rates of mutations and signatures, and clonal dynamics in normal (non-cancerous) human tissues from the gastrointestinal tract. The project will involve the studyof normal tissues from healthy individuals and those with specific candidate diseases. We are utilising laser capture microscopy to idnetifiy and isolate specific cell populations which are then subjected to whole genome sequencing to estimate mutational burdens and begin to understand clonal structures across the normal tissues.

  Study EGAS00001003012

• Combination therapies for personalized cancer medicine

  It is the ambition of the team formed by members of the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) and the Cancer Genome Project at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (WTSI) to unravel the genomic and phenotypic complexity of human cancers in order to identify optimal drug combinations for personalized cancer therapy. Our integrated approach will entail (i) deep sequencing of human tumours and cognate mouse tumours; (ii) drug screens in a 1000+ fully characterized tumour cell line panel; (iii) high-throughput in vitro and in vivo shRNA and cDNA drug resistance and enhancement screens; (iv) computational analysis of the acquired data, leading to significant response predictions; (v) rigorous validation of these predictions in genetically engineered mouse models and patient-derived xenografts. This integrated effort is expected to yield a number of combination therapies and companion-diagnostics biomarkers that will be further explored in our existing clinical trial networks.

  Dataset EGAD00001000869

• Immune Profiling in Patients with High-Risk Smoldering Myeloma

  Single-cell RNA-sequencing identifies immune biomarkers of response to immunotherapy in patients with high-risk Smoldering Multiple Myeloma (SMM). We conducted a Phase II trial of the immunotherapeutic anti-SLAMF7 antibody, Elotuzumab, in combination with Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone (E-PRISM study), to determine the utility and safety of early immunotherapy in patients with high-risk SMM and develop biomarkers for optimal patient selection and monitoring of response to treatment.There is an overlap in subjects between this study and dbGaP accession phs001323.

  Study phs002476

• Next Generation Mendelian Genetics: Kabuki Syndrome

  The ultimate purpose of this research is to identify genes causing hereditary disorders. We are scaling a new approach to identify the candidate genes and gene mutations that underlie rare human Mendelian (a set of primary tenets relating to the transmission of hereditary characteristics from parent to child) diseases by using exome (protein coding segments of DNA) resequencing. The exome sequences of ten unrelated individuals with a diagnosis of Kabuki Syndrome (OMIM: 147920) were obtained by massively parallel DNA sequencing.

  Study phs000295

• Disease Severity in Familial Dysautonomia

  Familial Dysautonomia (FD) is a developmental and degenerative genetic disease that manifests in the neural crest cells and peripheral nervous system (PNS). Despite all FD patients having the same mutation in IKBKAP, patients present with varying disease severity, ranging from mild to severe. We used the human pluripotent stem cell technology to recapitulate this varying disease severity in the dish. Further, we found that severe, but not mild patients harbor mutations in candidate modifier genes that may contribute to severe disease presentation.

  Study phs001233

• Comprehensive Analysis of Structural Variants in Breast Cancer Genomes Using Single Molecule Sequencing

  This study used the SKBR3 breast cell line and tumor/normal organoids derived from breast tissue to explore the utility of long read sequencing for detecting structural variants in complex samples. Three technologies were used to characterize the samples: Illumina/10X, Pacific Biosciences, and Oxford Nanopore. Methylation results were derived from the Oxford Nanopore data. It is hoped that this resource will better help researchers better understand the utility of long read sequencing in cancer samples.

  Study phs002210

• Genetic Study of Present-Day Populations of Northern Kenya

  Human populations in Africa are the most genetically diverse in the world, having a rich history, and yet are severely understudied. The purpose of this study is to understand the population history of the Turkana. This study aims to measure the extent of genetic variation using whole genome and whole exome sequencing in this population, with the goal to better understand the broader evolutionary history of these populations and to add to the current knowledge of population genetics in Africa.

  Study phs002219

• Enrichment of PTPRT and JAK2 mutations in lung cancer from African Americans and evidence for increased GI and HRD in LUSC

  The goal of this study is to compare the somatic mutation landscape between European Americans and African Americans. It includes various histological forms of lung cancer. In LUAD, we find increased prevalence of PTPRT and JAK2 mutations among African Americans. These proteins function in the same pathway and as such, this may be a new actionable target for lung cancer. We have also examined the landscape of copy number profiles in African Americans and European Americans.

  Study phs001895

• Pharmacogenomics of Mercaptopurine Intolerance in Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (AALL03N1)

  Mercaptopurine (MP) is the mainstay of curative therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to comprehensively identify the genetic basis of MP intolerance in children with ALL in AALL03N1. MP dose intensity was defined as prescribed dose divided by the planned protocol dose during maintenance therapy.  Germline variants in NUDT15 and TPMT were found to be strongly associated with MP intolerance in childhood ALL, which may have implications for treatment individualization in this disease.

  Study phs002846

• DNA and RNA Profiling Using Simultaneous Sequencing (Simul-seq)

  Paired DNA and RNA profiling is increasingly employed in genomics research to uncover molecular mechanisms of disease and to explore personal genotype and phenotype correlations. We developed a novel simultaneous DNA and RNA sequencing approach (Simul-seq) that enables comprehensive genomic and transcriptomic profiles from small quantities of cells or tissues. In this study, Simul-seq was performed on patient-derived fibroblast cells as well as an esophageal adenocarcinoma tumor sample and compared with standard DNA and RNA-sequencing approaches.

  Study phs001214

• A National Translational Science Network of Precision-Based Immunotherapy for Primary Liver Cancer (PLC)

  The primary objective of the NCI-CLARITY study is to establish a biospecimen repository for genomic, genetic and epigenetic analysis to study the biology of primary liver cancer (PLC) development and progression. Secondary objectives include predicting overall and progression-free survival following immunotherapy. In the retrospective phase, anonymous archival tissue from PLC patients was obtained from five participating sites. Whole exome and transcriptome sequencing was generated and used to predict overall survival in response to immunotherapy.

  Study phs003074

• The Nephrotic Syndrome Study Network (NEPTUNE)

  The Nephrotic Syndrome Study Network (NEPTUNE) is a collaborative investigational infrastructure of 40 North American sites for conducting clinical and translational research in Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), Membranous Nephropathy (MN), and Minimal Change Disease (MCD). NEPTUNE provides prospective, un-blinded, standardized evaluation of clinical and molecular outcomes in two cohorts: A) adults and children with incident or prevalent, biopsy-proven FSGS, MN, or MCD, recruited at the time of first biopsy, and B) children with incident Nephrotic Syndrome without a diagnostic kidney biopsy.

  Study phs003210

• Circulating Tumor DNA Sequencing Provides Comprehensive Mutation Profiling for Pediatric Central Nervous System Tumors

  Tumor molecular profiling is increasingly important for the diagnosis and clinical management of childhood brain tumors, including diffuse midline glioma (DMG). We established a targeted deep sequencing approach using the TruSight Oncology 500 ctDNA exome panel to detect tumor genomic mutations and copy number variations in circulating tumor DNA from children diagnosed with DMG. In this study, we present the sensitivity, specificity, and clinical implications of our liquid biopsy sequencing approach for tumor genome profiling in children with DMG.

  Study phs003022

• A Phenotypic and Genomics Approach in a Multi-Ethnic Cohort to Subtype Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

  Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease that affects multiple organ systems and varies in severity across different populations. To examine the clinical heterogeneity of SLE, we sought to identify different lupus subtypes within our multi-ethnic cohort using a clustering approach. Additionally, with genome-wide methylation and genotype data generated for our cohort, we applied integrative methods to investigate genetic and epigenetic risk factors. This integrative and computational approach revealed molecular differences associated with phenotypic clusters.

  Study phs001850

• Genetic Study of Northern Kenya Pastoral Populations

  Human populations in Africa are the most genetically diverse in the world, having a rich history, and yet are severely understudied. The purpose of this study is to understand the population history of four ethnolinguistic groups in northern Kenya - the Turkana, Samburu, Rendille, and Borana. This study aims to measure the extent of variation among several genetic systems in these populations, with the goal to better understand the broader population history in northern Kenya and to add to the current knowledge of population genetics in Africa.

  Study phs002654

• Breast Cancer Genome Guided Therapy Study (BEAUTY)

  The Breast Cancer Genome Guided Therapy Study (BEAUTY) is a prospective neoadjuvant clinical study enrolling 140 women with Stage I-III breast cancer. The goals of this study were to 1) perform comprehensive sequencing of germline and tumor tissues (exome and RNA seq), 2) identify genomic alterations and perturbed pathways associated with response/resistance to standard chemotherapy, and 3) develop patient-derived xenograft (PDX) for testing of therapeutic regimens chosen on the basis of alterations identified by genetic sequencing.

  Study phs001050

• Whole exome sequencing and methylation profiling of uveal melanoma

  Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary cancer of the eye and frequently leads to metastatic death. Metastatic risk can be stratified into low, intermediate and high based on the presence of mutually exclusive mutations in EIF1AX, SF3B1 and BAP1, respectively. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively profile the genetic aberrations in a set of primary uveal melanomas using whole exome sequencing, as well as DNA methylation profiling of selected samples, to improve understanding of its pathogenesis.

  Study phs001421

• Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics - Digital Health Technologies (RADx-DHT): ILI Labels and Longitudinal Novel Engagement with Symptom Surveillance (ILLNESS) Study

  This study is a prospective observational study, approximately seven months in duration. Participants were asked to complete a weekly survey online asking about their ILI (influenza-like illness) experience over the past seven days. The primary objective of this study was to collect a population-wide, longitudinal dataset of ILI events (with onset and recovery dates) and the associated symptoms, behaviors, and medical information associated with each event.DOI: https://rapids.ll.mit.edu/10.57895/4vfb-4z30

  Study phs002538

• Human Vaccines Project: scRNAseq Characterization of HepB Vaccine Response

  In adult systems vaccinology studies, baseline immune status (i.e. pre-vaccine) of vaccine recipients was highly predictive of vaccine immunogenicity. The aim of this study is to characterize pre-vaccine immune signatures that predict immunogenicity of HBV in humans using single cell transcriptomics. To investigate the pre-vaccine status of these patients, we characterized transcriptomic responses in 5 FACS sorted populations of circulating immune cells, mDCs, monocytes, pDCs, natural killer cells and neutrophils, sample at baseline, 3, 7 and 14 days after vaccination.

  Study phs002508

• Myocardial Infarction Genetics Exome Sequencing Consortium: BioImage Study

  The BioImage Study (BioImage Study: A Clinical Study of Burden of Atherosclerotic Disease in an At-Risk Population, NCT00738725), is a prospective, observational study aimed at characterizing subclinical atherosclerosis in U.S. adults (55 to 80 years old) at risk for clinical atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (PMID: 25790876). All exome sequencing was performed at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT; samples sequence capture was performed using Illumina's ICE Capture reagent and sequencing was performed on an Illumina HiSeq 2000 or 2500.

  Study phs001058

• A Pilot Study to Evaluate Tissue- and Plasma-based DNA Driver Mutations in a Cohort of Patients with Pancreatic Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms

  This is a retrospective study aimed at evaluating concordance between intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) tissue and patient-matched plasma circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) using a targeted sequencing approach. Archival solid tissue genomic DNA was available for 46 patient FFPE blocks patient-matched plasma ctDNA was available from 15 of those patients. All tissues were obtained pre-treatment from patients with an IPMN diagnosis and subjected to Qiagen custom next generation sequencing panel.

  Study phs003043

• Germline genome-wide association studies in women receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab on NSABP B-40

  Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for breast cancer is widely employed. We performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to determine if germline genetic variability was associated with benefits, in terms of pathological complete response (pCR), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS), in patients entered on the NSABP B-40 NAC (National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project, B-40, Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy) trial where some patients were randomized to receive bevacizumab, in addition to chemotherapy.

  Study phs001365

• Therapeutic Genetics and Disease Modeling in LAMA2-CMD

  Merosin-deficient congenital muscular dystrophy (MDC1A) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the LAMA2 gene, resulting in a defective form of the extracellular matrix protein laminin-α2 (LAMA2). Individuals diagnosed with MDC1A exhibit progressive muscle wasting and declining neuromuscular functions. No treatments for this disorder are currently available. This study involves transcriptomic comparison analysis between MDC1A patient fibroblasts and healthy control fibroblasts to reveal changes in gene expression that contribute to LAMA2 congenital muscular dystrophy (LAMA2-CMD).

  Study phs003250

• APOLLO1: Proteogenomic Analysis of Lung Adenocarcinoma

  APOLLO is a proteogenomic study seeking to describe the major genome, transcriptome, proteome and phosphoproteome alterations, subtypes, and molecular predictors of patient outcomes. This study includes 87 lung adenocarcinomas and matched normal tissues from the Lung Cancer Biospecimen Resource Network (https://lungbio.sites.virginia.edu/). Tumor tissues were profiled by whole genome sequencing, transcriptome sequencing, MS-based proteomics and phosphoproteomics, and reverse phase protein arrays. Matched normal tissues were profiled by whole genome sequencing. Clinical and sample data include survival times, patient features, and tumor characteristics.

  Study phs003011

• Pharmacogenomics of Rheumatoid Arthritis Therapy

  Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common autoimmune inflammatory arthritis worldwide and affects 1.3 million adults in the USA. It has previously been studied using phenotype algorithms to identify electronic health records (EHR) case cohorts. Early genetic studies of EHR-linked cohorts of RA patients have been replicated in known associations. Further development of collections of EHR-linked cohorts for RA and other phenotypes may enable not only enhanced understanding of disease risks but also the investigation of outcomes and treatment responses.

  Study phs000983