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• A New Pipeline to Predict and Confirm Tumor Neoantigens Predicts Better Response to Checkpoint Blockade

  Mutations that drive oncogenesis in cancer can generate neoantigens that may be recognized by the immune system. Identification of these neoantigens remains challenging due to the complexity of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigen and T-cell receptor interaction. Here we describe the development of a systematic approach to efficiently identify and validate immunogenic neoantigens. Whole exome sequencing of tissue from a melanoma patient was used to identify nonsynonymous mutations, followed by MHC binding prediction and identification of tumor clonal architecture. The top 18 putative class I neoantigens were selected for immunogenicity testing via a novel in vitro pipeline in HLA-A201 healthy donor blood. Naive CD8 T cells from donors were stimulated with allogeneic dendritic cells pulsed with peptide pools and then with individual peptides. The presence of antigen-specific T cells was determined via functional assays. We identified one putative neoantigen that expanded T cells specific to the mutant form of the peptide and validated this pipeline in a subset of patients with bladder tumors treated with durvalumab (N = 5). Within this cohort, the top predicted neoantigens from all patients were immunogenic in vitro. Finally, we looked at overall survival in the whole durvalumab-treated bladder cohort (N = 37) by stratifying patients by tertile measure of tumor mutation burden (TMB) or neoantigen load. Patients with higher neoantigen and TMB load tended to show better overall survival.

  Study phs002269

• Trisomy 21 Dosage Compensation Map (T21DoCoMap)

  Excess gene dosage from human chromosome 21 (HSA21), due to trisomy or translocation of HSA21 material, causes Down syndrome (DS). We derived trisomy 21 (T21) induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) alongside otherwise isogenic euploid controls from mosaic DS fibroblasts (GM00260, first described in Lubiniecki et al., PMID: 225951) of the NIGMS genetic cell repository, to enable analysis of whole-chromosomal and individual gene dosage imbalance in the context of in vitro models of DS development. Virtual karyotyping (by Infinium CytoSNP-850k), and phased genotyping (by linked-read whole-genome sequencing) of the resulting iPSC lines provide a deeply-characterized genomic platform for dissection of HSA21 gene dosage. We apply this highly unique resource to allelic analysis of mRNA sequencing of iPSCs and differentiated neural lineages, and demonstrate its utility in the context of inducible HSA21 dosage compensation. To this end, we equipped one distinct HSA21 copy with a doxycycline-inducible XIST transgene, which endogenously silences one X in 46,XX females. Standard and allele-specific RNA-seq analysis confirms mono-allelic T21 silencing to be virtually complete and irreversible, further supported by DNA methylation data (Infinium methylEPIC). This full-length HSA21 map of phased single-nucleotide and insertion/deletion variants enables allele-specific applications for gene-level dissection T21 dosage effects. Because our XIST remains inducible in post-mitotic T21 neurons and astrocytes, we perform single-nuclei RNA-seq to demonstrate XIST efficiently represses genes even after terminal differentiation.

  Study phs002397

• Spatio-temporal Profiling of a Rhabdoid Tumor Case Study

  Background Immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) has revolutionized oncology, offering extended survival and long-term remission in previously incurable cancers. While highly effective in tumors with high mutational burden, lowly mutated cancers, including pediatric malignancies, present low response rate and limited predictive biomarkers. Patients and methods We present a framework for the identification and validation of tumor-reactive T cells as a biomarker to quantify ICI efficacy and as candidates for a personalized TCR-T cell therapy. Therefore, we profiled a pediatric malignant rhabdoid tumor patient with complete remission after ICI therapy using deep single-cell T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire sequencing of the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the peripheral blood. Results Tracking T cell dynamics longitudinally from the tumor to cells in circulation over a time course of 12 months revealed a systemic response and durable clonal expansion of tumor-resident and ICI-induced TCR clonotypes. We functionally validated tumor reactivity of TCRs identified from the TME and the blood by co-culturing patient-derived tumor cells with TCR-engineered autologous T cells. Here, we observed unexpectedly high frequencies of tumor-reactive TCR clonotypes in the TME and confirmed T cell dynamics in the blood post-ICI to predict tumor-reactivity. Conclusion These findings strongly support spatio-temporal tracking of T cell activity in response to ICI to inform therapy efficacy and to serve as a source of tumor-reactive TCRs for personalized TCR-T designs.

  Study EGAS00001008174

• Massively parallel nanowell-based single-cell gene expression profiling

  Technological advances have enabled transcriptome characterization of cell types at the single-cell level providing new biological insights. New methods that enable simple yet high-throughput single-cell expression profiling are highly desirable. Here we report a novel nanowell-based single-cell RNA sequencing system, ICELL8, which enables processing of thousands of cells per sample. The system employs a 5184-nanowell-containing microchip to capture ~1300 single cells and process them. Each nanowell contains preprinted oligonucleotides encoding poly-d(T), a unique well barcode, and a unique molecular identifier. The ICELL8 system uses imaging software to identify nanowells containing viable single cells and only wells with single cells are processed into sequencing libraries. Here, we report the performance and utility of ICELL8 using samples of increasing complexity from cultured cells to mouse solid tissue samples. Our assessment of the system to discriminate between mixed human and mouse cells showed that ICELL8 has a low cell multiplet rate (< 3%) and low cross-cell contamination. We characterized single-cell transcriptomes of more than a thousand cultured human and mouse cells as well as 468 mouse pancreatic islets cells. We were able to identify distinct cell types in pancreatic islets, including alpha, beta, delta and gamma cells. Overall, ICELL8 provides efficient and cost-effective single-cell expression profiling of thousands of cells, allowing researchers to decipher single-cell transcriptomes within complex biological samples.

  Study EGAS00001002320

• A no-stop mutation in MAGEB4 is a possible cause of rare X-linked azoospermia and oligozoospermia in a consanguineous Turkish family

  Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify mutations that cause non-syndromic male infertility using whole exome sequencing of family cases.Methods: We recruited a consanguineous Turkish family comprising nine siblings with male triplets; two of the triplets were infertile as well as one younger infertile brother. Whole exome sequencing (WES) performed on two azoospermic brothers, identified a mutation in the MAGEB4 gene which was confirmed via Sanger sequencing and then screened for on control groups and unrelated infertile subjects. The effect of the mutation on mRNA and protein levels were tested after in vitro cell transfection. Structural features of MAGEB4 were predicted throughout the conserved MAGE domain.Results: The novel single base substitution (c.1041A>T) in the X-linked MAGEB4 gene was identified as a no-stop mutation. The mutation is predicted to add 24 amino acids to the C-terminus of MAGEB4. Our functional studies were unable to detect any effect either on mRNA stability, intracellular localization of the protein or the ability to homo / heterodimerize with other MAGE proteins. We thus hypothesize that these additional amino acids may affect the proper protein interactions with MAGEB4 partners. Conclusion: The whole exome analysis of a consanguineous Turkish family revealed MAGEB4 as a possible new X-linked cause of inherited male infertility. This study provides the first clue to the physiological function of a MAGE protein.

  Study EGAS00001002272

• UK10K COHORT TWINSUK

  The UK10K project proposes a series of complementary genetic approaches to find new low-frequency/rare variants contributing to disease phenotypes. These will be based on obtaining the genome-wide sequence of 4000 samples from the TwinsUK and ALSPAC cohorts (at 6x sequence coverage), and the exome sequence (protein-coding regions and related conserved sequence) of 6000 samples selected for extreme phenotypes. Our studies will focus primarily on cardiovascular-related quantitative traits, obesity and related metabolic traits, neurodevelopmental disorders and a limited number of extreme clinical phenotypes that will provide proof-of-concept for future familial trait sequencing. We will directly analyse quantitative traits in the cohorts and the selected traits in the extreme samples, and also use imputation down to 0.1% allele frequency to extend the analyses to further sample sets with genome wide genotype data. In each case we will investigate indels and larger structural variants as well as SNPs, and use statistical methods that combine rare variants in a locus or pathway as well as single-variant approaches. The TwinsUK samples will be part of the cohort study and will undergo whole genome sequencing. For further information with regard to this cohort please contact Brent Richards (brent.richards@kcl.ac.uk) or Nicole Soranzo (ns6@sanger.ac.uk).

  Study EGAS00001000108

• UK10K NEURO ASD BIONED

  In the UK10K project we propose a series of complementary genetic approaches to find new low frequency/rare variants contributing to disease phenotypes. These will be based on obtaining the genome wide sequence of 4000 samples from the TwinsUK and ALSPAC cohorts (at 6x sequence coverage), and the exome sequence (protein coding regions and related conserved sequence) of 6000 samples selected for extreme phenotypes. Our studies will focus primarily on cardiovascular-related quantitative traits, obesity and related metabolic traits, neurodevelopmental disorders and a limited number of extreme clinical phenotypes that will provide proof-of-concept for future familial trait sequencing. We will analyse directly quantitative traits in the cohorts and the selected traits in the extreme samples, and also use imputation down to 0.1% allele frequency to extend the analyses to further sample sets with genome wide genotype data. In each case we will investigate indels and larger structural variants as well as SNPs, and use statistical methods that combine rare variants in a locus or pathway as well as single-variant approaches. The BioNED (Biomarkers for Childhood onset neuropsychiatric disorders) study has been carrying out detailed phenotypic assessments evaluating children with an autism spectrum disorder. These assessments included ADI-R, ADOS, neuropsychology, EEG etc. There are 56 DNA samples from this study (25 extracted from blood). For further information with regard to this cohort please contact Patrick Bolton (patrick.bolton@kcl.ac.uk).

  Study EGAS00001000111

• Nanopore sequencing enables allelic phasing of FLG loss-of-function variants, intragenic copy number variation and methylation status in atopic dermatitis and ichthyosis vulgaris

  Loss-of-function (LoF) variants in the FLG gene are associated with ichthyosis vulgaris (IV) and atopic dermatitis (AD). IV and AD patients with two FLG LoF variants are reported to have a more severe disease course. However, subsets of compound heterozygous patients display phenotypic heterogeneity despite a prediction of a severe phenotype from their genotype. The underlying genetic mechanism of this phenotypic variability is unknown. One possibility is that two LoF FLG variants could be located in cis (on the same allele), thus altering the predicted gene dosage. To investigate the allelic contribution of compound heterozygous FLG LoF mutations to IV phenotypic variability, we employ long reads from Oxford Nanopore Technologies, utilising two methodologies to phase the entire coding region of FLG into parental alleles: an amplicon-sequencing approach and an adaptive-sampling strategy. We investigated the allelic phasing of FLG LoF variants and intragenic-repeat copy-number variations (CNV) of 21 subjects with known compound heterozygous genotypes and mixed IV severity. Our results suggest that IV severity is not linked to the presence of cis variants in our IV patient cohort. Nanopore reads enabled detection and accurate phasing of CNVs and LoF variants into parental alleles, providing a framework for future in-depth genetic analysis. These results highlight the usefulness of utilising long reads for interrogating the FLG gene and other highly repetitive genes for genetic stratification related to clinical phenotypes.

  Study EGAS50000000166

• RRBS sequencing of 7 tumour regions and a normal sample from a single TRACERx patient.

  Background: Epigenetic heterogeneity within a tumour can play an important role in tumour evolution and the emergence of resistance to treatment. It is increasingly recognised that the study of DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns along the genome - so-called `epialleles' - offers greater insight into epigenetic dynamics than conventional analyses which examine DNAm marks individually. Results: We have developed a Bayesian model to infer which epialleles are present in multiple regions of the same tumour. We apply our method to reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) data from multiple regions of one lung cancer tumour and a matched normal sample. The model borrows information from all tumour regions to leverage greater statistical power. The total number of epialleles, the epiallele DNAm patterns, and a noise hyperparameter are all automatically inferred from the data. Uncertainty as to which epiallele an observed sequencing read originated from is explicitly incorporated by marginalising over the appropriate posterior densities. The degree to which tumour samples are contaminated with normal tissue can be estimated and corrected for. By tracing the distribution of epialleles throughout the tumour we can infer the phylogenetic history of the tumour, identify epialleles that differ between normal and cancer tissue, and define a measure of global epigenetic disorder. Conclusions: Detection and comparison of epialleles within multiple tumour regions enables phylogenetic analyses, identification of differentially expressed epialleles, and provides a measure of epigenetic heterogeneity.

  Study EGAS00001002484

• Partner-independent fusion gene detection by multiplexed CRISPR/Cas9 enrichment and long-read Nanopore sequencing

  Fusion genes are hallmarks of various cancer types and important determinants for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment possibilities. The promiscuity of fusion genes with respect to partner choice and exact breakpoint-positions restricts their detection in the diagnostic setting, even for known and recurrent fusion gene configurations. To accurately identify these gene fusions in an unbiased manner, we developed FUDGE: a FUsion gene Detection assay from Gene Enrichment. FUDGE couples target-selected and strand-specific CRISPR/Cas9 activity for enrichment and detection of fusion gene drivers (e.g. BRAF, EWSR1, KMT2A/MLL) - without prior knowledge of fusion partner or breakpoint-location - to long-read Nanopore sequencing. FUDGE encompasses a dedicated bioinformatics approach (NanoFG) to detect fusion genes from Nanopore sequencing data. Our strategy is flexible with respect to target choice and enables multiplexed enrichment for simultaneous analysis of several genes in multiple samples in a single sequencing run. We observe on average a 508-fold on-target enrichment and identify fusion breakpoints at nucleotide resolution - all within two days. We demonstrate that FUDGE effectively identifies fusion genes in cancer cell lines, tumor samples and on whole genome amplified DNA irrespective of partner gene or breakpoint-position in 100% of cases. Furthermore, we show that FUDGE is superior to routine diagnostic methods for fusion gene detection. In summary, we have developed a rapid and versatile fusion gene detection assay, providing an unparalleled opportunity for pan-cancer detection of fusion genes in routine diagnostics.

  Study EGAS00001003964

• Mutational Signature and Transcriptomic Classification Analyses as the Decisive Diagnostic Tools for a Cancer of Unknown Primary with Neuroendocrine Differentiation

  PURPOSE: Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) is a group of metastatic tumors in which the standard diagnostic work-up fails to identify the site of origin of the tumor. The potential impact of precision oncology on this group of patients is large since their tumors might have actionable driver mutations that can provide treatment options otherwise not available for patients with these fatal cancers. This study investigated if comprehensive genomics analyses could inform on the origin of the tumor. PATIENT AND METHODS: Here we describe a patient whose tumor was misdiagnosed at least three times. Next-generation sequencing, a PDX mouse model and bioinformatics was used to identify an actionable mutation, predict resistance development to the targeted therapy, and to correctly diagnose the origin of the tumor. The Cancer Genome Atlas was used to benchmark the bioinformatics workflow. RESULTS: Despite the lack of a known primary tumor site and the absence of diagnostic immunohistochemical markers, the origin of the patient's tumor was established using the novel bioinformatics workflow. This included a mutational signature analysis of the sequenced metastases and comparison of their transcriptomic profiles to a pan-cancer panel of tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas. We further discuss the strengths and limitations of the latter approaches in the context of three potentially incorrectly diagnosed TCGA lung tumors. CONCLUSION: Comprehensive genomics analyses could inform on the origin of tumors in patients suffering from CUP.

  Study EGAS00001003026

• Disease and phenotype relevant genetic variants identified from histone acetylomes in human hearts

  Identifying genetic markers for heterogeneous complex diseases such as heart failure has been challenging, and may require prohibitively large cohort sizes in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in order to demonstrate statistical significance1. On the other hand, chromatin quantitative trait loci (QTL), elucidated by direct epigenetic profiling of specific human tissues, may contribute towards prioritising variants for disease-association. Here, we captured non-coding genetic variants by performing enhancer H3K27ac ChIP-seq in 70 human control and end-stage failing hearts, mapping out a comprehensive catalogue of 47,321 putative human heart enhancers. 3,897 differential acetylation peaks (FDR < 0.05) pointed to recognizable pathways altered in heart failure (HF). To identify cardiac histone acetylation QTLs (haQTLs), we regressed out confounding factors including HF disease status, and employed the G-SCI test2 to call out 1,680 haQTLs (FDR < 0.1). A subset of these showed significant association to gene expression, either in cis (180), or through long range interactions (81), identified by Hi-C and Hi-ChIP performed on a subset of hearts. Furthermore, a concordant relationship was found between the gain or disruption of specific transcription factor (TF) binding motifs, inferred from alternative alleles at the haQTLs, associated with altered H3K27ac peak heights. Finally, colocalisation of our haQTLs with heart-related GWAS datasets allowed us to identify 62 unique loci. Disease-association for these new loci may indeed be mediated through modification of H3K27-acetylation enrichment and their corresponding gene expression differences.

  Study EGAS00001003586

• PAK4 inhibition improves PD-1 blockade immunotherapy

  Introduction with rationale and aims for study Immune checkpoint blockade therapies have significantly altered the current landscape of cancer treatment. However, this immunotherapy still fails more often than it succeeds. There are now evidences that the lack of tumour infiltration by immune cells is the main mechanism of primary resistance to PD‐1 blockade therapies for cancer. It has been postulated that cancer cell‐intrinsic mechanisms may actively exclude T cells from tumours, suggesting that the finding of actionable molecules that could be inhibited to increase T cell infiltration may synergize with checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy. With the idea of finding potential drivers of immune exclusion, we performed RNA sequencing analysis of biopsies from melanoma patients and compared the transcriptomic differences of samples that where infiltrated with those that did not have immune infiltration. Methods RNAseq analysis of gene expressions on biopsies from melanoma patients treated with checkpoint blockade were analysed. We focused on the variable of "infiltration: yes or no,", e.g. tumors that were well infiltrated by immune cells with those that kept immune cells out. Sequencing revealed a list of genes whose expression differed between the infiltrated and noninfiltrated tumors. The kinase PAK4 stood out as a good candidate for inhibition treatment in the future as it was consistently enriched in the samples without immune infiltration. To test whether immunotherapy would work better if we deleted PAK4, we first knocked out PAK4, using CRISPR‐Cas9, in the ‐resistant melanoma cell line, B16. Then they injected the melanoma cells into mice and observed that PAK4 KO tumours now responded to PD‐1 blockade. In order to elucidate whether pharmacological inhibition of PAK4 could recapitulate the results observed in the B16 PAK4 KO tumours, we obtained the PAK4 inhibitor, KPT-9274, from Karyopharm Therapeutics. Indeed, inhibiting PAK4 in combination with anti‐PD‐1 immunotherapy significantly slowed the growth of the B16 melanomas more than either drug alone. Results and Conclusions Transcriptomic analysis of melanoma tumors that were well infiltrated by immune cells with those that kept immune cells out revealed a list of genes whose expression differed between the infiltrated and non-infiltrated tumours. The result suggests that p21 activated kinase 4 (PAK4) is enriched in non-responding tumour biopsies with low T cell and dendritic cell infiltration. In addition, PAK4 decreased WNT activity, a signalling pathway that has previously been involved in immune exclusion. In mouse models, genetic deletion of PAK4 increased T cell infiltration and reversed resistance to PD‐1 blockade in a CD8 T cell-dependent manner. Furthermore, combination of with the PAK4 inhibitor, KPT-9274, improved anti‐tumour responses compared to anti‐PD‐1 alone. Therefore, high PAK4 expression is correlated with low T cell and dendritic cell infiltration and lack of response to PD‐1 blockade, which could be reversed with PAK4 inhibition. The data establish a rationale for targeting this kinase with inhibitors in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors for patients. Future work and data that we can anticipate for this study Oncogenic signalling pathways and specially the WNT signalling pathway, have been associated with lack of immune infiltration and resistance to PD‐1 blockade therapies. Here, we show that PAK4 overcome resistance to PD‐1 blockade while significantly decreases WNT signalling activity. Therefore, it constitutes the first potential druggable target that is able to reverse oncogenic driven immune cell exclusion. However, the fully mechanism whereby PAK4 sensitizes tumours to immunotherapy remains to be fully elucidated. It is necessary to address whether PAK4 inhibition overcomes resistance through WNT signalling inhibition or if other signalling pathways are involved in the observed phenotype.

  Study phs001919

• Genes and Blood Clotting Study (GABC)

  Objectives: Use genome-wide approaches to identify genetic variants that influence common thrombosis and hemostasis factors, as well as selected common human traits. Design/Methods: The GABC study was a prospective sibling cohort design. Siblings were recruited by targeted email to the undergraduate and graduate student email lists at the University of Michigan. Healthy persons between 14 and 35 years old who had healthy siblings within the same age restriction were able to participate. Study participants agreed to an online informed consent and subsequently completed a 52-question online survey describing their specific bleeding traits as well as many common human traits. Fifty milliliters of blood was collected into a citrate-dextrose solution (ACD) from each participant. An aliquot of whole blood was used for an automated complete blood count analysis and the remainder was processed into platelet poor plasma and buffy coat portions. Plasma and buffy coat aliquots were snap frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen for future studies. 1189 individuals representing 507 sibships were collected between 06/26/2006 and 01/30/2009. Phenotyping Survey Details: To characterize individual bruising and bleeding history, the online survey recorded answers to questions based on a modified von Willebrand Disease (VWD) screening questionnaire. To characterize a collection of participant's common human traits, the survey recorded answers to questions about height, weight, presence of skin tags, history of acne, eye color, hair color, hair line characteristics, skin sunburn sensitivity, skin tanning ability, natural skin color, freckling, cheek dimpling, earlobe shape, shoe size, foot arch characteristics, hand fifth digit morphology, history of dyslexia, history of migraine headaches, history of seasonal allergies, history of apthous ulcers, tendency to sneeze while walking into a bright sunny place, history of dental caries, need for corrective eye lenses, handedness and like or dislike of strongly flavored foods. Biochemical phenotyping: Assays for plasma Von Willebrand Factor (VWF) antigen were performed using ELISA and "Alphalisa" techniques. Automated complete blood count analysis was performed on a Bayer Advia 120 on all participants (including WBC differential, RBC indices, and platelet count.) For the dbGaP v2 update, new biochemical phenotypes have been submitted and include von Willebrand Factor, von Willebrand Factor propeptide, plasminogen, gamma prime fibrinogen, ADAMTS 13, antithrombin III, protein C, and protein S. All new phenotypes were obtained using "Alphalisa" techniques. Genotyping Details: SNP genotyping was performed using genomic DNA extracted from peripheral blood at the Broad Institute, (MIT/Harvard). Genotyping was performed on the Illumina Omni-1 quad chip at the Broad Institute. For the dbGaP v2 update, genotyping data from the Illumina Human Exome was deposited. 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 blood clotting through large-scale genome-wide association studies of siblings. Genotyping was performed at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, a GENEVA genotyping center. Data cleaning and harmonization was performed by the primary investigators at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and at the GEI-funded GENEVA Coordinating Center at the University of Washington. This study serves as a resource for investigators who are interested in the genetic determinants of specific plasma proteins in a healthy population. The sibling cohort design allows for linkage analysis in addition to association studies. Analysis of thrombosis and hemostasis related traits should help elucidate specific biochemical and genetic networks that maintain hemostasis. We hope to identify specific genetic determinants of VWF levels in order to better understand the factors that influence the development of VWD.

  Study phs000304

• WGSPD Project 3 UCLA DAC

  Data Access Committee to review applications to access Whole Genome Sequencing in Psychiatric Disorders (WGSPD) Project 3 data (WGS) from Dutch cohorts.

  Dac EGAC50000000442

• U12 Spliceosome Defect Data Access Committee

  This Data Access Committee controls access to data pertaining to the study of the minor spliceosome and it's role in monogenic diabetes.

  Dac EGAC50000000892

• Brain_Disease_Wellcome_Leap_Delta_Tissue_Spatial

  Utilising Spatial Transcriptomics to investigate how the tumour microenvironment regulates glioblastoma cell states.

  Study EGAS00001005801

• Gene_Discovery_in_Age_Related_Hearing_Loss

  The aim is to find new candidate genes associated with progressive hearing loss

  Study EGAS00001000295

• Placental_mosaicism

  The aim of this study is to survey somatic mutations in human placentas.

  Study EGAS00001003549

• MPN_phylogenies_in_JAK_CALR_negative_patients_to_understand_their_clonal_basis

  MPN phylogenies in JAK/CALR negative patients to understand their clonal basis.

  Study EGAS00001005113

• Center for Craniofacial and Dental Genetics: Study of Dental Caries and Cleft Lip/Palate in Guatemala

  This study provides an opportunity to investigate the genetics of both dental caries and orofacial clefts (OFCs) in one set of families ascertained in Guatemala. This study is part of the Gene Environment Association Studies initiative (GENEVA, http://www.genevastudy.org), which was developed through the trans-NIH Genes, Environment, and Health Initiative (GEI). Furthermore this study brings together multiple research priorities of the University of Pittsburgh Center for Craniofacial and Dental Genetics (www.ccdg.pitt.edu). A genome-wide panel of 610,000 SNPs was genotyped at the Broad Institute to be comparable to our other pertinent GENEVA studies that are also part of dbGaP (dbGaP accession number phs000095, "Dental Caries: Whole Genome Association and Gene x Environment Studies" and dbGaP accession number phs000094, "International Consortium to Identify Genes and Interactions Controlling Oral Clefts"). The goal of this study is to investigate genetic determinants to dental caries and to OFCs in a novel study population. To date, most genetic studies of dental caries have been conducted in Caucasians, and of OFCs in Caucasians and Asians. The Guatemalan population under study is rural and ethnically mixed with a high proportion of Native-South-Americans. Thirty-six Guatemalans from this dataset were also part of the recent GWAS studies of cleft lip and cleft palate (Beaty et al., 2010 and 2011, dbGaP Study Accession: phs000094, "International Consortium to Identify Genes and Interactions Controlling Oral Clefts"). In addition to the families ascertained in Guatemala, some subjects were genotyped with this cohort to augment the data in the parent GENEVA study (Dental Caries: Whole Genome Association and Gene x Environment Studies, dbGaP accession number phs000095), in particular individuals from the IOWA and PITT GENEVA study sites. Their data are available with the parent study. Dental caries (also known as tooth decay) remains the most common chronic disease of childhood, five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than environmental allergies, with more than 40% of children exhibiting caries when they enter kindergarten. In 2005, it was estimated that dental health care costs were approximately $84 billion, of which 60% or about $50 billion were related to treatment of dental caries. The etiology of dental caries has been studied for many years. Multiple factors contribute to a person's risk for caries, including: 1) environmental factors such as diet, oral hygiene, fluoride exposure and the level of colonization of cariogenic bacteria and 2) host factors such as salivary flow, salivary buffering capacity, position of teeth relative to each other, surface characteristics of tooth enamel and depth of occlusal fissures on posterior teeth. In spite of all that is known about this disease, there are still individuals who appear to be more susceptible to caries and those who are extremely resistant, regardless of the environmental risk factors to which they are exposed, implying that genetic factors also play an important role in caries etiology. This conclusion is supported by studies in both humans and animals, with the most compelling evidence coming from studies of twins reared apart in which investigators found significant resemblance within monozygotic (MZ) but not dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs for percentage of teeth and surfaces restored or carious and estimated the genetic contribution to caries as 40%. Other recent studies of twins reared together estimated the heritability for caries, adjusted for age and gender, as ranging from 45-64%. In our study populations of families, we also estimated caries heritability as approximately 54%-70% of variation in primary dentition caries scores and 35%-55% in the permanent dentition (Wang et al., 2010). Orofacial clefts (OFCs), particularly cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) and isolated cleft palate (CP) are a major public health problem, affecting one in every 500-1000 births worldwide thus representing the most common facial birth defect and one of the most common of all congenital anomalies. CL/P is a major structural birth defect that is notable for significant lifelong morbidity and complex etiology. The extensive psychological, surgical, speech and dental involvement emphasize the importance of understanding the underlying causes of CL/P. Therefore, many research groups have attempted to elucidate the etiology of CL/P, with some recent success by our research group and others (see Beaty et al., 2010, 2011; Dixon et al., 2011). It is clear that CL/P can occur as part of Mendelian syndromes, that certain chromosomal abnormalities include CL/P in the phenotype, and that certain teratogens can increase the risk of having an offspring with CL/P. However, phenotypes of known etiology comprise only a small portion of all individuals with a CL/P or CP, and the major focus of research into OFCs is to develop an understanding of the etiology of nonsyndromic (NS) forms of clefting. A major focus of the University of Pittsburgh CCDG has been to study additional phenotypes within nonsyndromic OFC families in order to identify sub-clinical expressions of OFC risk genes or risk variants, e.g. SNPs (see Weinberg et al., 2006). A detailed oral exam is conducted as part of these extended phenotypic studies, including a dental caries exam. Note that although there are some reports in the literature of higher caries experience in individuals with clefts, the most recent meta-analysis of those literature reports concluded that individuals born with these defects do not have a higher frequency of caries (Hasslöf and Twetman, 2007). Notably, we investigated the association of CL/P and caries in three of our study populations (including part of the Guatemalan population in this GWAS study) and also found no increase in caries rates of CL/P cases versus controls (Jindal et al., 2011). This study is part of the Gene Environment Association Studies initiative (GENEVA, http://www.genevastudy.org), which was developed through the trans-NIH Genes, Environment, and Health Initiative (GEI). The overarching goal is to identify novel genetic factors that contribute to dental caries and oral clefts through large-scale genome-wide association studies of well-characterized Guatemalan families and individuals. Genotyping was performed at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. The study was supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR, U01-DE018903). Data cleaning and harmonization were done at the GEI-funded GENEVA Coordinating Center at the University of Washington.

  Study phs000440

• Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS)

  Background and Rationale for the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) Over the last several decades, advances in treatments for childhood and adolescent cancer have substantially improved survival following diagnosis. These improvements gave rise to the responsibility for investigating long-term treatment-associated morbidity and mortality. Early efforts to describe late effects were largely conducted through single-institution and limited consortia studies. However, by the mid-1980s, it became increasingly clear that these approaches had inherent limitations, including small sample size, convenience sampling, incompletely characterized populations, and limited length of follow-up. To overcome these limitations, the CCSS was proposed and funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as a U01 grant in 1994. Subsequently, the strengths of the CCSS, including an efficient and extensive infrastructure, plus expanding database and biorepository, were recognized and appreciated. Thus, in consultation with the NCI, the CCSS was converted to a U24 (resource grant) funding mechanism to serve the scientific community in 2000. The overarching goal of the CCSS resource is to increase the conduct of innovative and high impact research related to pediatric cancer survivorship. CCSS has been used extensively by researchers from a wide range of disciplines to address a broad spectrum of topics. Strengths of the resource include its large size, comprehensive annotation of treatment exposures, ongoing longitudinal follow-up with characterization of a wide array of participant characteristics and outcomes, and an established biorepository. Design of the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) is a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary collaborative research resource comprised of a retrospective hospital-based cohort of survivors of childhood cancer and a comparison sibling cohort. Eligible survivors from 31 participating institutions were diagnosed between 1970 and 1999, prior to age 21 years, with selected common pediatric cancers (leukemia, central nervous system tumors, Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, kidney tumors, neuroblastoma, soft tissue sarcoma, or bone tumors). All patients who survived five years from the date of diagnosis were eligible, regardless of disease or treatment status. The baseline questionnaire was completed by 24,368 survivors and 5,039 siblings recruited to serve as a comparison group. To date, participants have completed three general follow-up surveys, as well as a number of specialized surveys on specific topics (e.g. health care, insurance, screening practices, men's and women's health issues, adolescent health, sleep and fatigue). In addition, biological samples (buccal cells, saliva and/or blood) have been collected for over 11,000 participants. Full descriptions of the design and characteristics of the CCSS have been previously published (Robison et al; Leisenring et al.), and available data and samples are described at https://ccss.stjude.org/develop-a-study/gwas-data-resource.html. Treatment Data in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study A key feature of CCSS is the availability of detailed treatment data, which were collected by abstraction of medical records for each individual member of the cohort. Detailed abstraction included dates of therapy, protocol information, and specific details regarding surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Quantitative dose details were collected for 22 specific chemotherapeutic agents, including alkylating agents, anthracyclines, platinum compounds and epipodophyllotoxins. In addition to individual agent doses, algorithms have been created to calculate cumulative doses of all drugs in a specific class, such as anthracyclines (doxorubicin, daunomycin and idarubicin) or platinum agents (cisplatinum and carboplatinum). Data abstracted for surgeries included dates and both the names and corresponding International Classification of Diseases (9th revision) code. For radiation treatment data, all relevant records were sent to the Radiation Physics Center at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for detailed abstraction and dosimetry. Initial body region dosimetry was performed for all participants, followed by more detailed dosimetry as needed for specific studies. Genomics Data in the Childhood Cancer Survivor StudyThe NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics and CCSS investigators collaborated to conduct genomics studies (SNP array genotyping and whole exome sequencing) using samples from the CCSS Biorepository. Studies included all cohort participants with available DNA regardless of sex or ancestry when the genomics studies were initiated. Phenotype Data in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study Vital status and cause of death for both participants and non-participants is determined via linkage with the National Death Index (NDI). Identification of subsequent neoplasms is based on self-report, followed by validation using medical records, or via NDI. A wide array of additional health outcomes have been ascertained via a comprehensive set of questions on the CCSS questionnaires, covering potential adverse events across a range of organ systems (hearing/vision/speech, urinary, hormonal, heart and circulatory, respiratory, digestive, brain and nervous systems). In addition to health outcomes, longitudinal data have been collected on demographics, health behaviors, family history, screening practices, insurance status, and a range of psychosocial and neurocognitive factors. A full listing of available variables and copies of the CCSS questionnaires are available at http://ccss.stjude.org. Research Areas in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study Extensive use by the research community has resulted in over 265 published manuscripts on a wide range of topics, including associations between treatment factors and mortality, subsequent neoplasms, chronic health conditions, cardiac events, neurocognitive sequelae, psychosocial factors, fertility, and health status. Additional topics have included health behaviors, screening practices, health care access and utilization, statistical and exposure assessment methodology, and development of risk prediction models. A full listing of published manuscripts using CCSS data is available on the CCSS website at https://ccss.stjude.org/published-research/publications.html. The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study as a Resource for Investigators The CCSS is an NCI-funded resource (U24 CA55727) to promote and facilitate research among long-term survivors of cancer diagnosed during childhood and adolescence. Interested investigators are encouraged to develop research ideas and propose projects within CCSS, whether or not they are from a participating CCSS institution. The CCSS is now accepting proposals to collaborate with CCSS and NCI investigators in the use of genomics data and corresponding outcomes-related data to address innovative research questions relating to potential genetic contributions to risk for treatment-related outcomes. Any researcher, or group of researchers, qualified to conduct genetic research can submit a proposal. There are no restrictions relative to country, institution, or prior involvement in CCSS. A full description of the process for developing a proposal for genetic research in CCSS can be found at https://ccss.stjude.org/develop-a-study/gwas-data-resource.html, along with listings of approved proposals.

  Study phs001327

• Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE)

  PAGE II (2013-2017) seeks to expand understanding gained during PAGE I and similar studies of how ancestry-specific differences in allele frequencies and LD may explain differences in risks of common traits and conditions. Recent studies have identified rare genetic variants that are likely to contribute to common diseases and traits and observed that rare variants likely to be functional, such as those in coding and regulatory regions, tend to be population-specific. PAGE II has genotyped over 50,000 samples using MEGA, an Illumina high density custom exomechip array. The MEGA data is being imputed in PAGE to the 1000 Genomes panel. PAGE also sequenced 1,000 samples representative of 21 populations from the Americas. PAGE has harmonized phenotype data for ~300 trait variables. These datasets will be analyzed to continue emphasis on characterizing population-level disease risks in non-European-descent individuals. Cohorts in PAGE II are: CALiCo (Causal Variants Across the Life Course, a consortium of ARIC, CARDIA, HCHS/SOL, Strong Heart Studies), ISMMS (Mount Sinai BioMe Biobank), MEC (Multiethnic Cohort), WHI (Women's Health Initiative), and Stanford University (PAGE Global Reference Panel). Genotyping services were provided by the Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR) and sequence data were provided by the McDonnell Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine. PAGE I (2008-2013): The first phase of PAGE examined putative causal genetic variants across approximately 100,000 African Americans, Asian Americans, American Indians, European Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Hawaiians from four groups representing nine large U.S.-based cohorts. Two genotyping approaches were employed - targeted genotyping of selected SNPs identified in genome-wide association studies of common disease, and a large-scale effort focused on the Metabochip array, which facilitated trans-ethnic fine mapping of several diseases of public health importance. Cohorts in PAGE I were: CALiCo (Causal Variants Across the Life Course, a consortium of ARIC, CARDIA, CHS, HCHS/SOL, Strong Heart Cohort Study, Strong Heart Family Study), EAGLE (Epidemiologic Architecture for Genes Linked to Environment, based on 3 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES)), MEC (Multiethnic Cohort) and WHI (Women's Health Initiative). Logistical and scientific support is provided by the PAGE Coordinating Center and the NHGRI Division of Genomic Medicine. PAGE II is funded by the NHGRI and the NIMHD. To access PAGE studies currently available in dbGaP, please click on the links below.Please note that some PAGE studies belong to larger cohorts and have been included as PAGE substudies. For those studies, there is an additional link to the parent study. phs000223 PAGE-ARIC and phs000280 ARIC Cohort phs000236 PAGE-CARDIA and phs000285 CARDIA Cohort phs000301 PAGE-CHS and phs000287 CHS Cohort phs000559 PAGE-EAGLE-BioVu phs000208 PAGE-EAGLE-NHANES phs000555 PAGE-HCHS/SOL and phs000810 HCHS/SOL Cohort phs000220 PAGE-MEC phs000580 PAGE-SHS and SHFS phs001033 PAGE Global Reference Panel phs000227 PAGE-WHI and phs000200 WHI Cohort

  Study phs000356

• A Pilot Trial of Complement Inhibition Using Eculizumab to Overcome Platelet Transfusion Refractoriness in HLA Allo-Immunized Patients

  Platelet transfusion can be a life-saving procedure in preventing or treating serious bleeding in patients who have low and/or dysfunctional platelets. Heavily transfused patients frequently develop human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allo-immunization resulting in platelet transfusion refractoriness and a high risk for life-threatening thrombocytopenia. Data suggest complement activation leading to the destruction of platelets bound by HLA allo-antibodies may play a pathophysiologic role in platelet refractoriness. We conducted a pilot trial to investigate the use of eculizumab to treat platelet transfusion refractoriness in allo-immunized patients with severe thrombocytopenia. We hypothesized that when we treated patients having platelet refractoriness with eculizumab, platelet counts would increase to higher numbers after platelet transfusions, decreasing the risk of bleeding complications associated with having a low platelet count. The response of the treatment was assessed by the corrected platelet count increment (CCI) 10 - 60 min and 18 - 24 h post transfusion, and any requirement for subsequent platelet transfusions following eculizumab. Reference 1 (PMID: 32086819) contains the main results for this trial.

  Study phs003212

• TGF-β signaling mediates microglial resilience to spatiotemporally restricted myelin degeneration

  Microglia survey and regulate central nervous system myelination during embryonic development and adult homeostasis. However, whether microglia-myelin interactions are spatiotemporally regulated remains unexplored. By examining spinal cord white matter tracts, we found that myelin degeneration was particularly prominent in the dorsal column (DC) during normal aging. This was accompanied by molecular and functional changes in DC microglia as well as an upregulation of TGF-β signaling. Disrupting TGF-β signaling in microglia led to unchecked microglial responses and myelin loss in the DC, accompanied by neurological deficits exacerbated with aging. snRNA-seq revealed the emergence of a TGF-β signaling-sensitive microglial subset and a disease-associated oligodendrocyte subset, both spatially restricted to the DC. We further discovered that microglia rely on a TGFβ autocrine mechanism to prevent damage of myelin in the DC. These findings demonstrate that TGF-β signaling is indispensable for maintaining microglial resilience to myelin degeneration in the DC during the aging process. This highlights a previously unresolved checkpoint mechanism of TGF-β signaling with regional specificity and spatially restricted microglia-oligodendrocyte interactions.

  Study EGAS50000001413