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• Disease Variant Landscape of a Large Multiethnic Population of Moyamoya Patients by Exome Sequencing

  We report a significant advance in Moyamoya disease (MMD) research through our unique access to a large MMD patient population combined with high depth exome sequencing and bioinformatics. We confirm a reported RNF213 founder mutation (FM), provide evidence for its ethnic specificity and identify novel variants in other genes that associate with Caucasian and non-RNF213 FM MMD. This work has a broader impact in vascular research by highlighting novel genetic aspects of cerebrovascular disease. Moyamoya Disease (MMD) is a rare cerebrovascular disorder characterized by unilateral or bilateral progressive stenosis or occlusion of the internal carotid artery, with frequent involvement of the anterior cerebral artery and the middle cerebral artery (MCA). Fragile collateral vessels subsequently develop and are particularly prone to hemorrhage. MMD patients are usually diagnosed angiographically following presentation of developmental delays, seizures, migraines, ischemia, and/or hemorrhage. The most common approach to re-establish normal blood flow is bypass surgery. While some progress has been made in identifying disease-associated genes, the underlying disease biology is not well understood. Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a rare cerebrovascular disease. Our unique access to a large MMD patient population combined with high depth exome sequencing and bioinformatics has led to a significant advance in the field. We confirm a reported RNF213 founder mutation (FM), provide evidence for its ethnic specificity and identify novel variants in other genes that associate with Caucasian and non-RNF213 FM MMD. This work has a broader impact in vascular research by highlighting novel genetic aspects of cerebrovascular disease. The 125 ethnically diverse, unrelated MMD patients were matched based on sex and broad ethnic category to 125 controls. Control DNA from the 1000 Genomes project was used to design a control Library by Personalis. 125 controls were selected from this Personalis Control DNA Library for our study. (The 1000 Genomes Project Consortium 2012). Genomic DNA was extracted using the Gentra Puregene kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA). Libraries were prepared from approximately 3 µg of high quality genomic DNA (50-200 ng/µl) using Illumina TruSeq Genomic DNA High throughput Sample Prep Kits (Illumina, San Diego, CA) and exome enrichment (targeting 62Mb) was accomplished using the TruSeq Exome Target Enrichment kit (Illumina, San Diego, CA), all according to manufacturer's protocols. Target enrichment validation was confirmed by determining the concentration of the library by PicoGreen-based quantitation. Library yields ranged from 100-1000ng of DNA, a portion of which was run on the Bioanalyzer HS DNA chip (Agilent, Santa Clara, CA), with an average size of 300-550nt for DNA fragments. Exome Sequencing. Sequencing was performed using Illumina Hiseq2000 or HiSeq2500 sequencers with single lane, paired-end 2X100bp reads. DNA fragments were generated and amplified using Clonal Single Molecule Array technology (Illumina, San Diego, CA). The sequences were determined using the Clonal Single Molecule Array and Sequencing-by-Synthesis using Illumina's instrumentation and Reversible Terminator Chemistry. Each sequencing lane interrogated the DNA sequences of a pool of 3 individual sample libraries each carrying a unique index. Sequencing reads of at least 2x100bp in length for a total of approximately 8 Gb of sequence data were generated for each sample.

  Study phs001700

• Effect of ETS2 modulation on chromatin accessibility and enhancer activity in inflammatory (TPP) macrophages

  This dataset consists of H3K27ac ChIP-seq and ATAC-seq in primary human macrophages following modulation of ETS2 expression. There are three datasets: H3K27ac ChIP-seq in ETS2-edited and unedited inflammatory (TPP) macrophages, H3K27ac ChIP-seq in ETS2-overexpressing and control M0 macrophages, and ATAC-seq in ETS2-edited and unedited inflammatory macrophages. For editing experiments, monocytes were transfected with CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoproteins containing a gRNA that was validated to edit ETS2, or a non-targeting control gRNA. Inflammatory macrophage differentiation was performed using conditions that model chronic inflammation (TPP): 3 days GM-CSF (50ng/mL) followed by 3 days GM-CSF, TNFa (50ng/mL), PGE2 (1mg/mL), and Pam3CSK4 (1mg/mL). For overexpression experiments, controlled overexpression of ETS2 mRNA or control mRNA (an equivalent amount of mRNA encoding the reverse complement of ETS2 – thereby controlling for the quantity, length and purine/pyrimidine composition of the transfected RNA but with a transcript that would not be translated) was induced in resting, non-activated (M0) macrophages by transfecting 500ng mRNA. To minimise non-specific activation due to the transfected RNA, in vitro transcription was performed using co-transcriptional capping (to minimise uncapped products), and incorporating modified, minimally immunogenic nucleotides (replacing uridine with N1-methyl-pseudouridine and cytidine with methylcytidine). After 18 hours, transfected cells were were activated with low dose LPS and harvested 6 hours later. For H3K27ac ChIP-seq, cells were harvested, cross-linked, quenched, lysed, and sheared. Immunoprecipitation of histone-DNA complexes was performed overnight at 4C with rotation using an anti-H3K27ac antibody and the SimpleChIP Plus Sonication ChIP kit (Cell Signaling Technology). Following reverse cross-linking, 50ng of immunoprecipitated DNA or input DNA were used to prepare sequencing libraries using the iDeal Library Preparation kit (Diagenode), according to manufacturer instructions. 10 PCR cycles were used for the amplification step and size selection was not performed. The quality and molarity of all libraries was assessed using a BioAnalyzer 2100 (Agilent) and the libraries were sequenced on an Illumina NovaSeq 6000. Raw data are provided as raw and aligned sequencing reads from H3K27ac-bound DNA and the input chromatin. ATAC-seq in TPP macrophages was performed using the Omni-ATAC protocol (Corces et al 2017) with the following modifications: cell number was increased to 75,000 cells, cell lysis time was increased to 5 minutes; volume of Tn5 transposase in the transposition mixture was doubled; duration of the transposition step was extended to 40 minutes. Sequencing libraries were prepared by PCR with the NEBNext Ultra II Q5Master Mix (NEB) as described previously (Corces et al 2017). Amplified libraries were cleaned using AMPure XP beads (Beckman Coulter). Sequencing reads were trimmed using TrimGalore! (Phred score 24), filtered to remove reads < 20 bp and aligned to the human genome (hg19) using Burrows-Wheeler Aligner (BWA). Aligned reads were converted to BAM files, sorted and indexed using SAMtools (Li et al, 2009). PCR duplicates and unmapped reads were removed, and the resulting BAM files were re-sorted and indexed. Raw data are provided as 100 bp paired-end Illumina reads from n = 3 donors for each experiment. BAM files are also provided.

  Study EGAS50000000109

• Prediction of Resistance and Sensitivity to HER2 Targeted Therapy in the Neoadjuvant Setting

  Women with breast cancers that overexpress HER2 are at greater risk for disease progression and death than women whose tumors do not overexpress HER2. Trastuzumab, a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody against the extracellular domain of the HER2 protein blocks downstream signaling of HER2 and substantially improves the efficacy of chemotherapy in women with metastatic and early-stage HER2-positive breast cancers. Because resistance to trastuzumab eventually results in progressive disease in the metastatic setting and contributes to recurrence following adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy, it is important to develop agents other than trastuzumab that target HER2 signaling through different mechanisms of action. Lapatinib is an oral, small molecule, dual tyrosine kinase inhibitor of HER2 and EGFR. Lapatinib has shown a lack of cross-resistance with trastuzumab in preclinical studies and activity in women with HER2-positive, metastatic breast cancer that has progressed during trastuzumab treatment. Trastuzumab blocks the downstream signaling of HER2 by binding to the extracellular domain of the receptor. Lapatinib binds to the intracellular domains of HER2 and EGFR and prevents activation of downstream signaling pathways. Because of this different mechanism of action, lapatinib may be effective in trastuzumab-resistant disease. The study will also provide important safety information on trastuzumab and lapatinib combinations immediately following anthracycline exposure, and also provide an initial direct comparison of cardiac effects of trastuzumab and lapatinib when incorporated into a standard sequential adriamycin and cyclophosphamide (AC) followed by weekly paclitaxel neoadjuvant regimen. Availability of a second agent that can interrupt HER2-signaling pathways through completely different mechanisms than those of trastuzumab offers the potential for further improvement in the management of patients with HER2-overexpressing breast cancer in both the adjuvant and metastatic setting. Co-administration of both trastuzumab and lapatinib with chemotherapy may be important in improving outcomes in subsets of HER2-positive breast cancers. However, use of two inhibitors of the HER2 pathway will increase costs and may increase toxicity, so it will be important to identify the subsets of patients who would benefit from the dual therapy. Inhibition of HER2 with a single agent clearly is sufficient for many patients as evidenced by the results of the trastuzumab trials. Therefore, co-administration to unselected populations of women with HER2-positive breast cancers would not represent an optimal approach. Given the activity of lapatinib, it is likely that it will also be sufficiently active in inhibiting HER2-pathway activation in some patients to allow for its use as the sole inhibitor of the HER2 pathway. Different populations may also derive greater benefit from one of the HER2-blocking agents relative to the other. Identification of potential predictive factors for pathologic complete response to the combination or to either agent administered alone in neoadjuvant trials would provide important information for adjuvant trials designed to definitively address these important issues. This study will compare 3 combined chemotherapy regimens: AC followed by paclitaxel plus trastuzumab and lapatinib, AC followed by paclitaxel plus lapatinib, and AC followed by paclitaxel plus trastuzumab given before surgery to patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.Tumor samples were collected prior to and post-treatment, and RNA sequencing was performed with this version.

  Study phs003275

• National Children's Study Vanguard Study Formative Research Study (NCS)

  The National Children&#39;s Study (NCS) is a multi-year prospective epidemiological study tasked with identifying a nationally representative sample of 100,000 children and following them from pregnancy through age 21 to study environmental impacts on growth, development, and health. Determination of NCS enrollee ancestry is important for assessing the diversity of study enrollees and for examining the effect of ancestry on various health outcomes. We estimated the genetic ancestry of a convenience sample of 641 parents enrolled at the 7 original NCS Vanguard sites by analyzing 29,972 markers on exome arrays, using the participants of the 1000 Genomes Project (1KG) super populations (e.g. European, East Asian) as reference populations, and compared this to self-reported ethnicity and race. Self-reported ethnicity and race agreed with predicted super population in 98.9% of individuals. NCS individuals identified as Asian by self-report had genetic ancestry of either South Asian or Asian groups, while those reporting as either Hispanic White or Hispanic Other had similar genetic ancestry. Of the 33 individuals who self-reported as Multiracial or Non-Hispanic Other, 11 (33%) matched the South Asian and Asian groups, while these groups were less represented in the other reported categories (27/609, 4.4%). Our data suggest that self-reported ethnicity and race categories have some limitations in accurately capturing this information for Hispanic and South Asian populations. Overall, our data indicate that despite the complexity of the U.S. population, individuals know their ancestral origins and that self-reported ethnicity and race is a reliable indicator of genetic ancestry.

  Study phs000662

• A Phase II Neoadjuvant Study of Palbociclib in Combination with Letrozole and Trastuzumab as Neoadjuvant Treatment of Stage II-III ER+ HER2+ Breast Cancer (PALTAN)

  Women with early stage ER+/HER2+ breast cancer (BC) are less likely to achieve pathological complete response (pCR) after chemotherapy with standard of care dual HER2 blockade than patients with ER-/HER2+ BC. Additionally, the toxicity burden of standard systemic therapy is high. Thus, this single arm phase 2 clinical trial investigated a novel de-escalation regimen with trastuzumab, letrozole, and palbociclib in those with early stage ER+/HER2+ BC. The aim was to determine if this treatment regimen will achieve similar pCR rates as conventional treatment and spare women the toxicity burden of regular treatments. The primary endpoint was pCR after 16 weeks of treatment with trastuzumab, letrozole, and palbociclib. Patients with newly diagnosed ER+ HER2+ invasive BC with clinical stages II and III were eligible for this protocol. Research biopsies were performed during the treatment course for whole exome and RNA sequencing, PAM50 molecular subtyping, and Ki67 assessment using immunohistochemistry for complete cell cycle arrest (CCCA: Ki67 &#8804;2.7%). Results showed a pCR of 7.7% and a rate of residual cancer burden at 0 or I of 38.5%. CCCA was observed in 85% at Cycle 1 day 15 post palbociclib, trastuzumab, and letrozole treatment (C1D15), compared to 27% at surgery after palbociclib was discontinued. PAM50 subtyping identified 31.2% HER2-E, 43.8% Luminal B, 25% Luminal A. 161 genes were differentially expressed comparing C1D15 to baseline. Whole exome and RNA sequencing data will be available through dbGaP.

  Study phs003147

• Innate Immune Anti-Viral Deaminase Deregulation Fuels Pre-Leukemia Stem Cell Evolution

  This study evaluates the effect of Rebecsinib treatment on gene expression, isoform splicing, and ADAR1 mediated RNA editing in cells from an in vivo humanized mouse model which have been engrafted with human secondary AML cells. For analysis of cells from Rebesinib-treated animals, CD34+ cells were obtained from bone marrow and spleens of sAML-engrafted mice following once weekly treatment with 0 (Vehicle) or 5 or 10 mg/kg Rebecsinib. For analysis of cells from serial transplant recipients of cells harvested from Rebecsinib-treated mice, CD34+ cells were obtained from bone marrow and spleens of sAML-engrafted mice that were transplanted with cells from animals that received twice weekly treatment with 0 (Vehicle) or 10 mg/kg Rebecsinib. No further treatment was given to serial transplant recipients, thus allowing the analysis of molecular changes that are sustained following serial transplantation. Whole transcriptome sequencing was performed at The Scripps Research Institute Next Generation Sequencing Core on Illumina NextSeq 500 sequencers with 150bp paired-end reads.These data revealed a uniquely expressed ADAR1 splice isoform (with a retrained intronic region), global downregulation of normalized RNA editing events, and isoform switching from MCL1-L to MCL1-S in Rebecsinib-treated sAML-engrafted mice. These results demonstrate the anti-survival and anti-self-renewal effects of Rebecsinib treatment on the leukemia stem cell (LSC) population in sAML-engrafted mice as well as the reduction in the inflammation-induced, hyper-editing p150 isoform of ADAR1. Thus, Rebecsinib treatment has promise for reducing the LSC population in myeloproliferative disorders and associated cancers.

  Study phs002228

• Role of Tobacco Smoke in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

  Background. Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common histologically defined renal cancer. However, it is not a uniform disease and includes several genetic subtypes with different prognoses. ccRCC is also characterized by distinguished metabolic reprogramming. Tobacco smoking (TS) is an established risk factor for ccRCC with unknown effects on tumor pathobiology.Methods. We investigated the landscape of ccRCCs and paired normal kidney tissues (NKTs) using integrated transcriptomic, metabolomic and metallomic approaches in a cohort of never smokers (NS) and long-term current smokers (LTS) Caucasian males. Results. All three Omics domains consistently identified a distinct metabolic subtype of ccRCCs in LTS, characterized by activation of oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) coupled with reprogramming of the malate-aspartate shuttle and metabolism of aspartate, glutamate, glutamine and histidine. Cadmium, copper and inorganic arsenic accumulated in LTS tumors showing redistribution among intracellular pools, including relocation of copper into the cytochrome c oxidase complex. Gene expression signature based on the LTS metabolic subtype provided prognostic stratification of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) ccRCC tumors that was independent from genomic alterations.Conclusions. The work identified the TS related metabolic subtype of ccRCC with vulnerabilities that can be exploited for precision medicine approaches targeting metabolic pathways. The results provided rationale for the development of metabolic biomarkers with diagnostic and prognostic applications using evaluation of OxPhos status. The metallomic analysis revealed the role of disrupted metal homeostasis in ccRCC highlighting the importance of studying effects of metals from e-cigarettes and environmental exposures.

  Study phs002083

• Whole Genome Bisulfite Sequencing of Circulating Cell-Free (CCF) DNA and its Cellular Contributors

  Background: Circulating cell free (ccf) fetal DNA has enabled non-invasive prenatal fetal aneuploidy testing without direct discrimination of the genetically distinct maternal and fetal DNA. Current testing may be improved by specifically enriching the sample material for fetal DNA. DNA methylation may allow for such a separation of DNA and thus support additional clinical opportunities; however, this depends on knowledge of the methylomes of ccf DNA and its cellular contributors. Results: Whole genome bisulfite sequencing was performed on a set of unmatched samples including ccf DNA from 8 non-pregnant (NP) and 7 pregnant female donors and genomic DNA from 7 buffy coat and 5 placenta samples. We found CpG cytosines within longer fragments were more likely to be methylated, linking DNA methylation and fragment size in ccf DNA. Comparison of the methylomes of placenta and NP ccf DNA revealed many of the 51,259 identified differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were located in domains exhibiting consistent placenta hypomethylation across millions of consecutive bases, regions we termed placenta hypomethylated domains. DMRs identified when comparing placenta to NP ccf DNA were recapitulated in pregnant ccf DNA, confirming the ability to detect differential methylation in ccf DNA mixtures. Conclusions: We generated methylome maps for four sample types at single base resolution, identified a link between DNA methylation and fragment length in ccf DNA, identified DMRs between sample groups, and uncovered the presence of megabase-size placenta hypomethylated domains. Furthermore, we anticipate these results to provide a foundation to which future studies using discriminatory DNA methylation may be compared.

  Study phs000846

• VCRC - Giant Cell Arteritis Longitudinal Study

  The development and validation of accurate biological markers and predictors of disease activity and outcome for Giant Cell Arteritis, a form of idiopathic vasculitis, would have a major positive impact on the clinical care of patients with this rare disease, be an important insight into the design of clinical trials and feasibility of new drug development, and provide important insight into the pathogenesis of this condition. Current measures of disease activity, including erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP), while helpful in selected settings, are mostly considered highly flawed and markers whose poor correlation with disease flares makes them inadequate to help guide therapy. Similarly, ESR and CRP are clearly unhelpful as diagnostic tests for vasculitis. The current state of clinical investigation for vasculitis relies heavily upon determination of disease status solely by clinical presentation and investigator opinion. Thus, discovery and validation of more precise markers that quantifiably measure activity, predict disease course, and correlate with an important biological process, would be of great importance. Knowledge to be gained from this study could potentially be highly important. Discovery of effective biomarkers of vasculitis and assessment of long term disease course and complications by the collection of clinical and diagnostic imaging studies proposed could lead to better care and less toxic treatment regimens. Furthermore, insight into the pathophysiology of vasculitis could be gained and this might lead to better treatments and improved outcomes in terms of reduction of vascular and treatment related complications. Ideally, excellent biomarkers reflect a sophisticated understanding of the pathophysiology of a disease.

  Study phs000588

• A Genome-Wide Association Study of Fuchs' Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy (FECD)

  Fuchs&#39; Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy (FECD) is a common disease that results in loss of vision associated with progressive corneal edema and loss of corneal transparency. In the initial stages of the disease, excrescences on Descemet&#39;s membrane with the appearance of an abnormal posterior collagenous layer, result in the clinical and pathologic appearance of guttae. Corneal edema ensues as endothelial function is compromised that may result in stromal edema, epithelial edema, and painful bullous keratopathy. Penetrating or endothelial keratoplasty is the only definitive treatment, with palliative care the only option prior to surgery. The pathophysiology underlying FECD, particularly in the common cases that affect older individuals, remains unknown, with a genetic predisposition being reported as the single best predictor of disease. Three independent groups funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), with well-established programs in the genetics of FECD, conducted a genome-wide association study of FECD. The collaboration comprised investigators from Case Western University (CWRU), Duke University (DUEC), and Johns Hopkins University (JHU). CWRU and DUEC contributed samples that were genotyped at CIDR for the GWAS. Johns Hopkins University (JHU) provided samples for the replication phase of the study, where their data are not listed in dbGaP. Cohorts of FECD cases and controls were assembled. Synchronization of clinical and coded data was performed to unify the information across centers. The family history, clinical, demographic information, and genome-wide genotype data for samples from CWRU and DUEC were deposited in dbGaP.

  Study phs000421

• The Neonatal Microbiome and Necrotizing Enterocolitis

  The Neonatal Microbiome and Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) study is a multi-centered case control study testing the hypothesis that NEC is a direct or indirect consequence of the enteric biomass, its products, or both. Very low birth weight infants (VLBW; birth weight &#8804; 1500 grams) admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit are prospectively followed over the first 5 week or until they reach 36 weeks gestation, whichever occurs later. VLBW infants with a lethal clinical condition are excluded. Over the course of the study period, prospective samples are obtained on all infants, and include all stools, and weekly blood samples, palm and oral swabs. Clinical data is collected over the course of the entire hospitalization. Cases are identified based on Bell&#39;s staging for NEC, requiring Bell&#39;s stage II (abdominal clinical signs and radiographic evidence of pneumatosis, portal venous gas or pneumoperitoneum). Controls are identified from the pool of prospectively enrolled subjects, matching for gestational age, birth weight, post-natal age and birth date. The microbial components of stool and its products before and at the onset of NEC, are then compared between cases and controls. The Aims of this proposal are to (1) conduct a case cohort study in which we compare clinical data and biological specimens from cases and well-matched controls; (2) determine if the kind and density of intestinal biomass, its gene content, and transcriptional activity are associated with, and potential determinants of, NEC; and (3) determine if host risk alleles for intestinal inflammation play a role in the development of NEC.

  Study phs000247

• Circulating tumor DNA dynamics reveal KRAS G12C mutation heterogeneity and response to treatment with the KRAS G12C inhibitor divarasib in solid tumors

  Purpose: To inform prognosis, treatment response, disease biology, and KRAS G12C mutation heterogeneity, we conducted exploratory circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) profiling on 134 patients with solid tumors harboring a KRAS G12C mutation treated with single-agent divarasib (GDC-6036) in a phase 1 study. Experimental design: Plasma samples were collected for serial ctDNA profiling at baseline (Cycle 1 Day 1 prior to treatment) and multiple on-treatment time points (Cycle 1 Day 15 and Cycle 3 Day 1). Results: KRAS G12C ctDNA was detectable from plasma samples in 72.9% (43/59) and 92.6% (50/54) of patients with non-small cell lung cancer and colorectal cancer, respectively, the majority of whom were eligible for study participation based on a local test detecting the KRAS G12C mutation in tumor tissue. Baseline ctDNA tumor fraction was associated with tumor type, disease burden, and metastatic sites. A decline in ctDNA level was observed as early as Cycle 1 Day 15. Serial assessment showed a decline in ctDNA tumor fraction associated with response and progression-free survival. Except for a few cases of KRAS G12C sub-clonality, on-treatment changes in KRAS G12C variant allele frequency mirrored changes in the overall ctDNA tumor fraction. Conclusion: Across tumor types, the KRAS G12C mutation likely represents a truncal mutation in the majority of patients. Rapid and deep decline in ctDNA tumor fraction was observed in patients responding to divarasib treatment. Early on-treatment dynamics of ctDNA were associated with patient outcomes and tumor response to divarasib treatment.

  Study EGAS50000000315

• Digitalis Investigation Group (DIG-BioLINCC)

  Data Access NOTE: Please refer to the &#8220;Authorized Access&#8221; section below for information about how access to the data from this accession differs from many other dbGaP accessions. Objectives To determine the effect of increasing age on mortality, hospitalizations, and digoxin side effects in patients with heart failure (HF), and to determine whether the effect of digoxin on clinical outcomes varies as a function of age. Background The incidence and prevalence of HF increase with advancing age, but there are limited data on the clinical course and response to specific interventions in elderly patients with HF. Participants A total of 302 centers in the United States and Canada enrolled 7,788 patients between February 1991 and September 1993. Design The Digitalis Investigation Group (DIG) study was a prospective, randomized clinical trial involving 7,788 patients with HF randomized to digoxin or placebo and followed for an average of 37 months. Interactions between age and the following clinical outcomes were examined: total mortality, all-cause hospitalizations, HF hospitalizations, the composite of HF death or HF hospitalizations, hospitalization for suspected digoxin toxicity and withdrawal from therapy because of side effects. Conclusions Increasing age is associated with progressively worse clinical outcomes in patients with HF. However, the beneficial effects of digoxin in reducing all-cause admissions, HF admissions, and HF death or hospitalization are independent of age. Thus, digoxin remains a useful agent to the adjunctive treatment of HF due to impaired left ventricular systolic function in patients of all ages.

  Study phs003872

• Genetic Modifiers of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

  The primary determinant of disease severity in patients with severe Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) or milder Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) is whether their dystrophin gene (DMD) mutation disrupts the mRNA reading frame or permits the expression of a partially functional protein. However, even in the complete absence of dystrophin, variability in disease severity is observed, with candidate gene studies implicating several genes as potential DMD modifiers. This study undertakes a comprehensive genome-wide search for modifier loci influencing disease severity in DMD patients. The availability of subjects for such studies remains limited, resulting in modest sample sizes that challenge the GWAS design. To address this, we have implemented measures to minimize heterogeneity within the dataset at the dystrophin (DMD) gene itself, adopting a conservative approach to DMD mutation classification to limit the possibility of residual dystrophin expression. Additionally, the study employed statistical methods that are well-suited to smaller sample sizes, including the use of a novel linear regression-like residual for time to ambulatory loss and the application of evidential statistics, specifically the Posterior Probability of Linkage Disequilibrium (PPLD), to assess trait-SNP associations in the GWAS framework. With a sample size of 419 patients, this study has identified multiple candidate genetic modifier loci. The molecular data available in dbGaP includes 2,562,265 directly genotyped variants in 419 people using the Illumina Infinium Omni2.5Exome-8 Beadchip assay, achieving a genotyping rate of 0.998. The phenotypic data comprises age at ambulatory loss, steroid status, DMD gene mutation, and the PPLD value from the time-to-event (TE) phenotype.

  Study phs003680

• Mutational signatures in normal tissues of patients treated with clinical stage G-quadruplex binder CX5461

  Drug induced photoreactions following exposure to UVA have been documented for several therapeutic compound classes, including psoralens and fluoroquinolones. CX5461, a quinolone-derived small molecule currently in phase 1 studies for cancer treatment, has been shown to be a clinically significant UV photosensitizer. Here we examined the mutagenic spectrum of CX5461 in normal tissues of patients undergoing treatment, by comparing deep whole genome sequencing (WGS) from skin biopsies taken from non-sun exposed areas pre and post drug exposure of patients in the Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Group (CCTG) IND.231 trial (NCT02719977). We show that a low burden of SNVs (<100) and indels (<40) mutations was detected in post CX5461 skin biopsies, with a pattern resembling background or sequencing artefact signatures. To further characterize the mutational pattern of CX5461 photoreactivity, we compared mutational profiles of human retinal pigment epithelial cells exposed to UVA, CX5461, or a combination of both UV and CX5461. Treatment with CX5461 or UVA alone, resulted in a low SNV burden. In contrast, human cells exposed to UVA and CX5461 had a two to four orders higher mutational burden, with a distinct mutational pattern characterized by T>A, T>C mutations, dissimilar to that of UV alone or CX5461 alone. Our results suggest that human exposure to CX5461 alone is not associated with high levels of single base mutagenesis. However, CX5461 is a very potent UV photosensitizer, underscoring the need for adequate UV screening and controls when studying the effects of photosensitizing small molecules on single base DNA variation.

  Study EGAS50000001145

• Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE-BioLINCC)

  Data Access NOTE: Please refer to the "Authorized Access" section below for information about how access to the data from this accession differs from many other dbGaP accessions. Objectives: This is a National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute sponsored, four-center study designed to: 1) optimize symptom evaluation and diagnostic testing for ischemic heart disease; 2) explore mechanisms for symptoms and myocardial ischemia in the absence of epicardial coronary artery stenoses, and 3) evaluate the influence of reproductive hormones on symptoms and diagnostic test response.Background: Women tend to have a higher prevalence of chest pain than men, yet a lower prevalence of epicardial coronary stenoses, and diagnostic tests such as exercise-induced ECG changes tend to have a higher false-positive rate in women than in men. Thus, accurate diagnosis of ischemic heart disease in women is a major challenge to physicians. In addition, prognosis in women with abnormal diagnostic tests is largely unknown and the role reproductive hormones play in this diagnostic uncertainty is unexplored. Moreover, the significance and pathophysiology of ischemia in the absence of significant epicardial coronary stenoses is unknown.Participants: In Phase I (1996-1997), a pilot phase, 256 women were studied. During Phase II (1997-1999) angiographic and baseline data were collected on an additional 680 women to bring total enrollment to 936. Baseline data was also collected on a reference population of 70 women.Conclusions: Among women without CAD, abnormal Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) consistent with myocardial ischemia predicted cardiovascular outcome, notably higher rates of anginal hospitalization, repeat catherization, and greater treatment costs.

  Study phs004310

• Target sequencing of 27 cancer-predisposing genes in Japanese colorectal cancer patients

  Background: National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recently recommended germline genetic testing for all pancreatic cancer patients. However, the genes targeted by genetic testing and the feasibility of selecting patients likely to carry pathogenic variants have not been sufficiently verified. The purpose of this study was to genetically characterize Japanese patients and examine whether the current guideline is applicable in this population. Methods: Using targeted sequencing, we analyzed the coding regions of 27 cancer-predisposing genes in 1,005 pancreatic cancer patients and 23,705 controls in Japan. We compared the pathogenic variant frequency between cases and controls and documented the demographic and clinical characteristics of carrier patients. We then examined if it was possible to use machine learning to predict carrier status based on those characteristics. Findings: We identified 205 pathogenic variants across the 27 genes. Pathogenic variants in BRCA2, ATM, and BRCA1 were significantly associated with pancreatic cancer. Characteristics associated with carrier status were inconsistent with previous investigations. Machine learning classifiers had a low performance in determining the carrier status of pancreatic cancer patients, while the same classifiers, when applied to breast cancer data as a positive control, had a higher performance that was comparable to that of the NCCN guideline. Interpretation: Our findings support the clinical significance of multigene panel testing for pancreatic cancer and indicate that at least 3.4% of Japanese patients may respond to poly (ADP ribose) polymerase inhibitor treatments. The difficulty in predicting carrier status suggests that offering germline genetic testing for all pancreatic cancer patients is reasonable.

  Study JGAS000346

• Target sequencing of 27 cancer-predisposing genes in Japanese pancreatic cancer patients

  Background: National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recently recommended germline genetic testing for all pancreatic cancer patients. However, the genes targeted by genetic testing and the feasibility of selecting patients likely to carry pathogenic variants have not been sufficiently verified. The purpose of this study was to genetically characterize Japanese patients and examine whether the current guideline is applicable in this population. Methods: Using targeted sequencing, we analyzed the coding regions of 27 cancer-predisposing genes in 1,005 pancreatic cancer patients and 23,705 controls in Japan. We compared the pathogenic variant frequency between cases and controls and documented the demographic and clinical characteristics of carrier patients. We then examined if it was possible to use machine learning to predict carrier status based on those characteristics. Findings: We identified 205 pathogenic variants across the 27 genes. Pathogenic variants in BRCA2, ATM, and BRCA1 were significantly associated with pancreatic cancer. Characteristics associated with carrier status were inconsistent with previous investigations. Machine learning classifiers had a low performance in determining the carrier status of pancreatic cancer patients, while the same classifiers, when applied to breast cancer data as a positive control, had a higher performance that was comparable to that of the NCCN guideline. Interpretation: Our findings support the clinical significance of multigene panel testing for pancreatic cancer and indicate that at least 3.4% of Japanese patients may respond to poly (ADP ribose) polymerase inhibitor treatments. The difficulty in predicting carrier status suggests that offering germline genetic testing for all pancreatic cancer patients is reasonable.

  Study JGAS000327

• Gene expression of human Th17 cells before and after activation

  Although gene expression of human Th17 clones has been studies, to date, molecular mechanisms for human Th17 development remain unclear. We have analyzed gene expression of human Th17 cells before and after activation. Th17-cell clones from peripheral blood CD4 T cells cultured with LPS-stimulated dendritic cells derived from monocytes stimulated by TNF were established by a limited dilution method. One of the Th17 clones was proliferated significantly, and high percentages (>70%) of Th17 cells in the cultured cells were maintained by addition of monocytes, IL-1b, and IL-15. CD161+CXCR3- cells (CD161+Th17) in the cultures were sorted and purified up to approximately 97% of IL-17-producing cells after treatment with PMA/ionomycin. Furthermore, these cells were treated with TCR-stimuli, IL-1b, and IL-23 for 2 days, and IL-17-producing Th17 cells (active-Th17) detected by IL-17-catch-up antibodies were sorted. Total RNA sampled from 1x 106 CD161+Th17, active-Th17, na?ve CD4 T cells, or CXCR3+ Th1 cells from combined CD4 T and dendritic cell cultures was used for SAGE. SAGE was performed by using SOLID TM SAGETM kit with barcoding adaptor molecules (Applied Biosystems). DNA sequence was analyzed by using AB5500 Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems), and gene expression was analyzed by using SOLID? SAGETM software (Applied Biosystems). Our data shows high levels of IL-17A-mRNA expression by active-Th17; however, but only slight expression by CD161+Th17. Therefore, the data could provide alteration of gene expression by Th17 cells before and after stimulation.

  Study JGAS000005

• Heterogeneity of IKZF1 genomic alterations and risk of relapse in childhood B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia

  Purpose Genomic alterations of IKZF1 are common and associated with adverse clinical features in B-ALL, but the relationship between the type of IKZF1 alteration, disease subtype and outcome are incompletely understood. Patients and Methods We used transcriptome and genomic sequencing, and SNP microarray data to determine leukemia subtype and genomic alterations for 688 pediatric patients with B-ALL enrolled into St. Jude Total Therapy 15 and 16 studies. Results IKZF1 alterations were identified in 115 (16.7%) patients, commonly in BCR::ABL1 (78%) and CRLF2-rearranged, BCR::ABL1-like B-ALL (70%), and were associated with five-year cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) of 14.8 ± 3.3% compared to 5.0 ± 0.9% for patients without any IKZF1 alteration (P < 0.0001). IKZF1 deletions of exon 4-7 (P = 0.0002), genomic IKZF1plus with any IKZF1 deletion (P = 0.006) or with focal IKZF1 deletion (P = 0.0007), and unfavorable genomic subtypes (P < 0.005) were independently adversely prognostic. Patients with both IKZF1 exon 4-7 deletion and unfavorable genomic subtype had a significantly increased risk of relapse (HR = 58.3; 95% CI, 11.9 – 285.4, P < 0.0001) whereas IKZF1 sequence mutations were not independently predictive of outcome. Conclusions Genomic IKZF1plus with any IKZF1 deletion, IKZF1 deletion of exon 4-7, and unfavorable subtype confer increased risk of relapse. The combination of unfavorable genomic subtype and IKZF1 deletion of exon 4-7 identified patients at greatest risk of relapse despite MRD-directed therapy. The type of IKZF1 alteration together with subtype are informative for risk stratification and predict response in patients with B-ALL.

  Study EGAS50000000106

• DNA methylation and the adverse metabolic outcomes of adiposity

  Overweight and obesity affect ~1.5 billion people worldwide, and are major risk factors for type-2 diabetes (T2D), cardiovascular disease and related metabolic and inflammatory disturbances.1,2 Although the mechanisms linking adiposity to its clinical sequelae are poorly understood, recent studies suggest that adiposity may influence DNA methylation,3-6 a key regulator of gene expression and molecular phenotype.7 Here we use epigenome-wide association to show that body mass index (BMI, a key measure of adiposity) is associated with widespread changes in DNA methylation (187 genetic loci at P&lt;1x10-7, range P=9.2x10-8 to 6.0x10-46; N=10,261 samples). Genetic association analyses demonstrate that the alterations in DNA methylation are predominantly the consequence of adiposity, rather than the cause. We find the methylation loci are enriched for functional genomic features in multiple tissues (P&lt;0.05), and show that sentinel methylation markers identify gene expression signatures at 38 loci (P&lt;9.0x10-6, range P=5.5x10-6 to 6.1x10-35, N=1,785 samples). The methylation loci identified highlight genes involved in lipid and lipoprotein metabolism, substrate transport, and inflammatory pathways. Finally, we show that the disturbances in DNA methylation predict future type-2 diabetes (relative risk per 1SD increase in Methylation Risk Score: 2.3 [2.07-2.56]; P=1.1x10-54). Our results provide new insights into the biologic pathways influenced by adiposity, and may enable development of new strategies for prediction and prevention of type-2 diabetes and other adverse clinical consequences of obesity.

  Study EGAS00001001922

• High-throughput Detection of Clinically Relevant Mutations in Archived Tumor Samples By Multiplexed PCR and Next Generation Sequencing

  PURPOSE: Tailoring cancer treatment to tumor molecular characteristics promises to make personalized medicine a reality. However, reliable genetic profiling of archived clinical specimens has been hindered by limited sensitivity and high false positive rates. Here, we describe a novel methodology, MMP-seq, which enables sensitive and specific high-throughput, high content genetic profiling in archived clinical samples. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We first validated MMP-seq’s technical performance in 66 cancer cell lines and a Latin square cross-dilution of known somatic mutations. We next characterized the performance of MMP-seq in 17 formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) clinical samples using matched fresh frozen (FF) tissue from the same tumors as benchmarks. To demonstrate the potential clinical utility of our methodology, we profiled FFPE tumor samples from 73 endometrial cancer patients. RESULTS: We demonstrated that MMP-seq enabled rapid and simultaneous profiling of a panel of 88 cancer genes in 48 samples, and detected variants at frequencies as low as 0.4%. We identified DNA degradation and deamination as the main error sources and developed practical and robust strategies for mitigating these issues, and dramatically reduced the false positive rate. Applying MMP-seq to a cohort of endometrial tumor samples identified extensive, potentially actionable alterations in the PI3K and RAS pathways, including novel PIK3R1 hotspot mutations that may disrupt negative regulation of PIK3CA. CONCLUSIONS: MMP-seq provides a robust solution for comprehensive, reliable and high- throughput genetic profiling of clinical tumor samples, paving the way for the incorporation of genomic-based testing into clinical investigation and practice.

  Study EGAS00001000674

• Spatiotemporal evolution and inter-patient heterogeneity in primary and recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

  Head and neck cancer squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) are heterogeneous in terms of origin and aetiology. In addition, there is uncertainty about the spatiotemporal genetic evolution from initial diagnosis to recurrence/metastasis (R/M) after primary treatments and further disease progression following systemic treatment. Changes in the genetic profile have implications on the selection of appropriate treatments for patients, especially in the era of targeted therapies and immunotherapies. Here, we analysed a cohort of 11 HNSCC patients with metachronous R/M, among whom nine had paired primary and R/M samples suitable for next-generation sequencing (multiple R/M samples collected at different time points were available for some of the patients). At the genomic level, the R/M samples shared a fraction of the somatic single nucleotide variants (SNVs) with the index primary tumours, but they also acquired many additional mutations, while losing only a few others. A similar behaviour was also observed when examining the changes of mutational signatures between primary and R/M samples. Overall, R/M appeared thus more genetically diverse than the respective primary tumours. The transcriptomic analysis showed that R/M samples had lower immune cell infiltration and several genes related to immune response were significantly downregulated compared to the primary samples. Our results underline the importance of analysing multiple samples per patient to obtain a more complete picture of the patient’s tumour and advocates a re-biopsy in the event of R/M and treatment failure, in order to select the most appropriate therapeutic strategy.

  Study EGAS00001007464

• pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma exomes in study: Pro-immunogenic Impact of MEK inhibition combined with an anti-CD40 immunostimulatory antibody

  Cancer types with lower mutational load and a non-permissive tumor microenvironment are intrinsically resistant to immune checkpoint blockade. While the combination of cytostatic drugs and immunostimulatory antibodies constitutes an attractive concept for overcoming this refractoriness, suppression of immune cell function by cytostatic drugs may limit therapeutic efficacy. Here we show that targeted inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase (MEK) does not impair dendritic cell-mediated T-cell priming and activation. Accordingly, combining MEK inhibitors (MEKi) with agonist antibodies (Abs) targeting the immunostimulatory CD40 receptor resulted in potent synergistic anti-tumor efficacy. Detailed analysis of the mechanism of action of MEKi GDC-0623 by means of flow cytometric analysis of the tumor immune infiltrate and whole tumor transcriptomics showed that, in addition to its cytostatic impact on tumor cells, this drug exerts multiple pro-immunogenic effects, including the suppression of M2-type macrophages, myeloid derived suppressor cells and CD4+ T-regulatory cells. In addition, MEKi was found to induce tumor-cell intrinsic interferon signaling, which contributed to antigen presentation by tumor cells. Finally, the tumoridical impact of MEKi involves the activation of multiple pro-inflammatory pathways involved in immune cell effector function in the tumor microenvironment. Our data therefore indicate that the combination of MEK inhibition with agonist anti-CD40 Ab is a promising therapeutic concept, especially for the treatment of mutant Kras-driven tumors such as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma exomes were generated in the context of the Heidelberg Center for Personalized Oncology project HIPO-K28E.

  Study EGAS00001004196

• A Functional Network of Gastric-Cancer-Associated Splicing Events Controlled by Dysregulated Splicing Factors

  Except for a few genes known to have oncogenic spliceforms in gastric cancer, the full scope of aberrant splicing in gastric oncogenesis remains unclear. In this study, we elucidated the alternative splicing events associated with gastric carcinogenesis and identified upstream regulators governing these events. We performed RNA-seq on 19 matched tumor/normal pairs and a panel of gastric cancer cell lines, and identified 361 tumor associated (TA) alternative splicing events (ASEs), which included known oncogenic ASEs in genes such as INSR, FGFR2, CD44 and KRAS. We further identified 8 splicing factors dysregulated in gastric tumors, the expression of which are correlated to the splice ratio of the TA ASEs. We thereby constructed a dysregulated splicing network in gastric cancer, consisting of alternative splicing changes correlated to their potential regulators. This network featured three potential regulatory modules centered around the splicing factors ESRP2, MBNL1 and PTPB1. Knockdown of each splicing factor led to the expected changes in splicing of approximately half of the ASEs assayed. Thus, dysregulation of the splicing factors indeed was the cause of many of the TA ASEs. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that genes affected by tumor associated splicing were pre-dominantly involved in cytoskeletal organization. Concordant with this, knockdown of the splicing factors regulating the TA ASEs led to the expected changes in trans-well migration activity. Thus, we have established for the first time a comprehensive splicing network that likely drives gastric tumor progression, based on which novel therapeutic targets can be identified for further evaluation.

  Study EGAS00001002256