Genetic Phenomena Commons^™

Clinical And Genomic Landscape Of Ras Mutations In Gynecologic Cancers, Ji Son, Yingao Zhang, Heather Lin, Oriol Mirallas, Pablo Alvarez Ballesteros, Mirella Nardo, Natalie Clark, R Tyler Hillman, Erick Campbell, Vijaykumar Holla, Amber M Johnson, Amadeo B Biter, Ying Yuan, Lauren P Cobb, David M Gershenson, Amir A Jazaeri, Karen H Lu, Pamela T Soliman, Shannon N Westin, Elizabeth D Euscher, Barrett C Lawson, Richard K Yang, Funda Meric-Bernstam, David S Hong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: We aimed to describe RAS mutations in gynecologic cancers as they relate to clinicopathologic and genomic features, survival, and therapeutic implications.

Experimental design: Gynecologic cancers with available somatic molecular profiling data at our institution between February 2010 and August 2022 were included and grouped by RAS mutation status. Overall survival was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and multivariable analysis was performed using the Cox proportional hazard model.

Results: Of 3,328 gynecologic cancers, 523 (15.7%) showed any RAS mutation. Patients with RAS-mutated tumors were younger (57 vs. 60 years nonmutated), had a higher prevalence of endometriosis (27.3% vs. 16.9%), and …

Author Correction: Brafv600e-Mutant Metastatic Nsclc: Disease Overview And Treatment Landscape, David Planchard, Rachel E Sanborn, Marcelo V Negrao, Aria Vaishnavi, Egbert F Smit

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Trps1 Expression Is Frequently Seen In A Subset Of Cutaneous Mesenchymal Neoplasms And Tumors Of Uncertain Differentiation: A Potential Diagnostic Pitfall, Moon Joo Kim, Yi A Liu, Yunyi Wang, Jing Ning, Woo Cheal Cho

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Although extensively studied in cutaneous epithelial neoplasms, the TRPS1 immunoreactivity in cutaneous mesenchymal neoplasms and tumors of uncertain differentiation (CMNTUDs), such as atypical fibroxanthoma (AFX), remains largely unexplored. We assessed TRPS1 immunoreactivity in 135 CMNTUDs, comprising 46 fibrohistiocytic/fibroblastic tumors, 28 vascular tumors, 24 peripheral nerve sheath tumors (PNSTs), 21 tumors of uncertain differentiation, and 16 smooth muscle tumors. Additionally, we included selected cases of melanoma with spindled cell morphology or desmoplastic features (n = 9) and sarcomatoid squamous cell carcinoma (SSCC) (n = 5) to compare TRPS1 expression patterns with those of AFX. TRPS1 expression was prevalent in dermatofibromas (24/24), …

Nrg Oncology And Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group Patterns Of Practice Survey And Consensus Recommendations On Pencil-Beam Scanning Proton Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy And Hypofractionated Radiation Therapy For Thoracic Malignancies, Wei Liu, Hongying Feng, Paige A Taylor, Minglei Kang, Jiajian Shen, Jatinder Saini, Jun Zhou, Huan B Giap, Nathan Y Yu, Terence S Sio, Pranshu Mohindra, Joe Y Chang, Jeffrey D Bradley, Ying Xiao, Charles B Simone, Liyong Lin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and hypofractionation using pencil-beam scanning (PBS) proton therapy (PBSPT) is an attractive option for thoracic malignancies. Combining the advantages of target coverage conformity and critical organ sparing from both PBSPT and SBRT, this new delivery technique has great potential to improve the therapeutic ratio, particularly for tumors near critical organs. Safe and effective implementation of PBSPT SBRT/hypofractionation to treat thoracic malignancies is more challenging than the conventionally fractionated PBSPT because of concerns of amplified uncertainties at the larger dose per fraction. The NRG Oncology and Particle Therapy Cooperative Group Thoracic Subcommittee surveyed proton centers in …

Set-Based Tests For Genetic Association Studies With Interval-Censored Competing Risks Outcomes, Zhichao Xu, Jaihee Choi, Ryan Sun

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Over the past decade, massive genetic compendiums such as the UK Biobank have gathered extensive genetic and phenotypic data that hold the potential to provide unparalleled insight into the genetic etiologies of various complex diseases. However, much of the disease information is collected as time-to-event outcomes in interval-censored form, and conventional tools for genetic association analysis are often not available for this type of data. For example, set-based inference for common and rare variants analysis is a fundamental investigation in germline genetics studies, but there is a lack of approaches that can perform set-based testing when the interval-censored outcome of …

Patient-Reported Quality Of Life At Diagnosis In Adolescent And Young Adults With Cancer, Goldy C George, Clark Andersen, Xiaohui Tang, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Midhat Jafry, Maria C Swartz, Sairah Ahmed, Carlos H Barcenas, J Andrew Livingston, Michael E Roth, Michelle A T Hildebrandt

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The overall landscape of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has not been thoroughly investigated in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer. Data are also lacking on how well HRQoL at the time of cancer diagnosis can prognosticate long-term survival in AYA survivors.

Patients and methods: We included 3,497 survivors of AYA cancer (age 15-39 years at diagnosis) who completed the Short-Form 12 Health Survey (SF-12) HRQoL questionnaire at diagnosis. Physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores were generated, with scores < 50 representing poor HRQoL. Differences in HRQoL by patient characteristics and tumor type were investigated using violin plots and t tests/analysis of variance. The effect of HRQoL on overall survival was assessed using Kaplan-Meier plots and Cox proportional hazards models.

Results: Overall mean PCS and MCS scores in this racially/ethnically diverse cohort (64% White, 19% …

Chronic Eosinophilic Leukemia With A Novel Jak1 Mutation Responds Well To The Jak1/2 Inhibitor Ruxolitinib, Qing Wei, Jie Xu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Ragopathies And The Rising Influence Of Raggtpases On Human Diseases, Irene Sambri, Marco Ferniani, Andrea Ballabio

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

RagGTPases (Rags) play an essential role in the regulation of cell metabolism by controlling the activities of both mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) and Transcription factor EB (TFEB). Several diseases, herein named ragopathies, are associated to Rags dysfunction. These diseases may be caused by mutations either in genes encoding the Rags, or in their upstream regulators. The resulting phenotypes may encompass a variety of clinical features such as cataract, kidney tubulopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy and several types of cancer. In this review, we focus on the key clinical, molecular and physio-pathological features of ragopathies, aiming to shed light on …

Discordant Prenatal Cell-Free Dna Screening Vs. Diagnostic Results Of Sex Chromosome Aneuploidies: Implications For Newborn Screening And Genetic Counseling, Susan Howell, Shanlee M. Davis, Billie Carstens, Mary Haag, Judith L. Ross, Nicole R. Tartaglia

Department of Pediatrics Faculty Papers

Sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs) collectively occur in 1 in 500 livebirths, and diagnoses in the neonatal period are increasing with advancements in prenatal and early genetic testing. Inevitably, SCA will be identified on either routine prenatal or newborn screening in the near future. Tetrasomy SCAs are rare, manifesting more significant phenotypes compared to trisomies. Prenatal cell-free DNA (cfDNA) screening has been demonstrated to have relatively poor positive predictive values (PPV) in SCAs, directing genetic counseling discussions towards false-positive likelihood rather than thoroughly addressing all possible outcomes and phenotypes, respectively. The eXtraordinarY Babies study is a natural history study of children …

Radiation Therapy With Or Without Cisplatin For Local Recurrences Of Endometrial Cancer: Results From An Nrg Oncology/Gog Prospective Randomized Multicenter Clinical Trial, Ann H Klopp, Danielle Enserro, Matthew Powell, Marcus Randall, Julian C Schink, Robert S Mannel, Laura Holman, David Bender, Christina L Kushnir, Floor Backes, Susan L Zweizig, Steven Waggoner, Kristin A Bradley, Lana Desouza Lawrence, Parviz Hanjani, Christopher J Darus, William Small, Higinia R Cardenes, Jonathan M Feddock, David S Miller

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Pelvic recurrence is a frequent pattern of relapse for women with endometrial cancer. A randomized trial compared progression-free survival (PFS) after treatment with radiation therapy alone as compared with concurrent chemotherapy.

Materials and methods: Between February 2008 and August 2020, 165 patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive either radiation treatment alone or a combination of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether chemoradiation therapy was more effective than radiation therapy alone at improving PFS.

Results: The majority of patients had low-grade (1 or 2) endometrioid histology (82%) and recurrences confined to …

The Cns Relapse In T-Cell Lymphoma Index Predicts Cns Relapse In Patients With T- And Nk-Cell Lymphomas, Rahul S Bhansali, Fredrik Ellin, Thomas Relander, Miao Cao, Wenrui Li, Qi Long, Nivetha Ganesan, Robert Stuver, Steven M Horwitz, Kitsada Wudhikarn, Steven R Hwang, N Nora Bennani, Julio Chavez, Lubomir Sokol, Hayder Saeed, Frank Duan, Pierluigi Porcu, Priyanka Pullarkat, Neha Mehta-Shah, Jasmine M Zain, Miguel Ruiz, Jonathan E Brammer, Rishab Prakash, Swaminathan P Iyer, Adam J Olszewski, Ajay Major, Peter A Riedell, Sonali M Smith, Caroline Goldin, Bradley Haverkos, Bei Hu, Tony Z Zhuang, Pamela B Allen, Wael Toama, Murali Janakiram, Taylor R Brooks, Deepa Jagadeesh, Nisha Hariharan, Aaron M Goodman, Gabrielle Hartman, Paola Ghione, Fatima Fayyaz, Joanna M Rhodes, Elise A Chong, James N Gerson, Daniel J Landsburg, Sunita D Nasta, Stephen J Schuster, Jakub Svoboda, Mats Jerkeman, Stefan K Barta

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Little is known about risk factors for central nervous system (CNS) relapse in mature T-cell and natural killer cell neoplasms (MTNKNs). We aimed to describe the clinical epidemiology of CNS relapse in patients with MTNKN and developed the CNS relapse In T-cell lymphoma Index (CITI) to predict patients at the highest risk of CNS relapse. We reviewed data from 135 patients with MTNKN and CNS relapse from 19 North American institutions. After exclusion of leukemic and most cutaneous forms of MTNKNs, patients were pooled with non-CNS relapse control patients from a single institution to create a CNS relapse-enriched training set. …

Unveiling Novel Genetic Variants In 370 Challenging Medically Relevant Genes Using The Long Read Sequencing Data Of 41 Samples From 19 Global Populations, Yanfeng Ji, Junfan Zhao, Jiao Gong, Fritz J Sedlazeck, Shaohua Fan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: A large number of challenging medically relevant genes (CMRGs) are situated in complex or highly repetitive regions of the human genome, hindering comprehensive characterization of genetic variants using next-generation sequencing technologies. In this study, we employed long-read sequencing technology, extensively utilized in studying complex genomic regions, to characterize genetic alterations, including short variants (single nucleotide variants and short insertions and deletions) and copy number variations, in 370 CMRGs across 41 individuals from 19 global populations.

Results: Our analysis revealed high levels of genetic variants in CMRGs, with 68.73% exhibiting copy number variations and 65.20% containing short variants that may …

Broadcasters, Receivers, Functional Groups Of Metabolites, And The Link To Heart Failure By Revealing Metabolomic Network Connectivity, Azam Yazdani, Raul Mendez-Giraldez, Akram Yazdani, Rui-Sheng Wang, Daniel J Schaid, Sek Won Kong, M Reza Hadi, Ahmad Samiei, Esmat Samiei, Clemens Wittenbecher, Jessica Lasky-Su, Clary B Clish, Jochen D Muehlschlegel, Francesco Marotta, Joseph Loscalzo, Samia Mora, Daniel I Chasman, Martin G Larson, Sarah H Elsea

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background and objective: Blood-based small molecule metabolites offer easy accessibility and hold significant potential for insights into health processes, the impact of lifestyle, and genetic variation on disease, enabling precise risk prevention. In a prospective study with records of heart failure (HF) incidence, we present metabolite profiling data from individuals without HF at baseline.

Methods: We uncovered the interconnectivity of metabolites using data-driven and causal networks augmented with polygenic factors. Exploring the networks, we identified metabolite broadcasters, receivers, mediators, and subnetworks corresponding to functional classes of metabolites, and provided insights into the link between metabolomic architecture and regulation in health. …

Genetic Diversity Of 1,845 Rhesus Macaques Improves Genetic Variation Interpretation And Identifies Disease Models, Jun Wang, Meng Wang, Ala Moshiri, R Alan Harris, Muthuswamy Raveendran, Tracy Nguyen, Soohyun Kim, Laura Young, Keqing Wang, Roger Wiseman, David H O'Connor, Zach Johnson, Melween Martinez, Michael J Montague, Ken Sayers, Martha Lyke, Eric Vallender, Tim Stout, Yumei Li, Sara M Thomasy, Jeffrey Rogers, Rui Chen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Understanding and treating human diseases require valid animal models. Leveraging the genetic diversity in rhesus macaque populations across eight primate centers in the United States, we conduct targeted-sequencing on 1845 individuals for 374 genes linked to inherited human retinal and neurodevelopmental diseases. We identify over 47,000 single nucleotide variants, a substantial proportion of which are shared with human populations. By combining rhesus and human allele frequencies with established variant prediction methods, we develop a machine learning-based score that outperforms established methods in predicting missense variant pathogenicity. Remarkably, we find a marked number of loss-of-function variants and putative deleterious variants, which …

Hur Controls Glutaminase Rna Metabolism, Douglas Adamoski, Larissa M Dos Reis, Ana Carolina Paschoalini Mafra, Felipe Corrêa-Da-Silva, Pedro Manoel Mendes De Moraes-Vieira, Ioana Berindan-Neagoe, George A Calin, Sandra Martha Gomes Dias

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Glutaminase (GLS) is directly related to cell growth and tumor progression, making it a target for cancer treatment. The RNA-binding protein HuR (encoded by the ELAVL1 gene) influences mRNA stability and alternative splicing. Overexpression of ELAVL1 is common in several cancers, including breast cancer. Here we show that HuR regulates GLS mRNA alternative splicing and isoform translation/stability in breast cancer. Elevated ELAVL1 expression correlates with high levels of the glutaminase isoforms C (GAC) and kidney-type (KGA), which are associated with poor patient prognosis. Knocking down ELAVL1 reduces KGA and increases GAC levels, enhances glutamine anaplerosis into the TCA cycle, and …

Author Correction: Distinct Molecular And Immune Hallmarks Of Inflammatory Arthritis Induced By Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors For Cancer Therapy, Sang T Kim, Yanshuo Chu, Mercy Misoi, Maria E Suarez-Almazor, Jean H Tayar, Huifang Lu, Maryam Buni, Jordan Kramer, Emma Rodriguez, Zulekha Hussain, Sattva S Neelapu, Jennifer Wang, Amishi Y Shah, Nizar M Tannir, Matthew T Campbell, Don L Gibbons, Tina Cascone, Charles Lu, George R Blumenschein, Mehmet Altan, Bora Lim, Vincente Valero, Monica E Loghin, Janet Tu, Shannon N Westin, Aung Naing, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Noha Abdel-Wahab, Hussein A Tawbi, Patrick Hwu, Isabella C Glitza Oliva, Michael A Davies, Sapna P Patel, Jun Zou, Andrew Futreal, Adi Diab, Linghua Wang, Roza Nurieva

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Genomic Determinants Of Response And Resistance To Inotuzumab Ozogamicin In B-Cell All, Yaqi Zhao, Nicholas J Short, Hagop M Kantarjian, Ti-Cheng Chang, Pankaj S Ghate, Chunxu Qu, Walid Macaron, Nitin Jain, Beenu Thakral, Aaron H Phillips, Joseph Khoury, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Wenchao Zhang, Yiping Fan, Hui Yang, Rebecca S Garris, Lewis F Nasr, Richard W Kriwacki, Kathryn G Roberts, Marina Konopleva, Elias J Jabbour, Charles G Mullighan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Inotuzumab ozogamicin (InO) is an antibody-drug conjugate that delivers calicheamicin to CD22-expressing cells. In a retrospective cohort of InO-treated patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, we sought to understand the genomic determinants of the response and resistance to InO. Pre- and post-InO-treated patient samples were analyzed by whole genome, exome, and/or transcriptome sequencing. Acquired CD22 mutations were observed in 11% (3/27) of post-InO-relapsed tumor samples, but not in refractory samples (0/16). There were multiple CD22 mutations per sample and the mechanisms of CD22 escape included epitope loss (protein truncation and destabilization) and epitope alteration. Two CD22 mutant cases were post-InO …

What’S The N? On Sample Size Vs. Subject Number For Brain-Behavior Neurophysiology And Neuromodulation, Wael F Asaad, Sameer A Sheth

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Neurophysiology and neuromodulation strive to understand the neural basis of behavior through a one-to-one correspondence between a particular brain and its behavioral output. Within this framework, studies with few subjects but sufficient sample sizes can be both rigorous and impactful.

Controlled Delivery Of Rosuvastatin Or Rapamycin Through Electrospun Bismuth Nanoparticle-Infused Perivascular Wraps Promotes Arteriovenous Fistula Maturation, Allan John R Barcena, Joy Vanessa D Perez, Marvin R Bernardino, Erin Marie D San Valentin, Jossana A Damasco, Carleigh Klusman, Benjamin Martin, Karem A Court, Biana Godin, Gino Canlas, Natalie Fowlkes, Richard R Bouchard, Jizhong Cheng, Steven Y Huang, Marites P Melancon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In the context of arteriovenous fistula (AVF) failure, local delivery enables the release of higher concentrations of drugs that can suppress neointimal hyperplasia (NIH) while reducing systemic adverse effects. However, the radiolucency of polymeric delivery systems hinders long-term in vivo surveillance of safety and efficacy. We hypothesize that using a radiopaque perivascular wrap to deliver anti-NIH drugs could enhance AVF maturation. Through electrospinning, we fabricated multifunctional perivascular polycaprolactone (PCL) wraps loaded with bismuth nanoparticles (BiNPs) for enhanced radiologic visibility and drugs that can attenuate NIH—rosuvastatin (Rosu) and rapamycin (Rapa). The following groups were tested onto the AVFs of a total …

Improving Laboratory Animal Genetic Reporting: Lag-R Guidelines, Lydia Teboul, James Amos-Landgraf, Fernando J Benavides, Marie-Christine Birling, Steve D M Brown, Elizabeth Bryda, Rosie Bunton-Stasyshyn, Hsian-Jean Chin, Martina Crispo, Fabien Delerue, Michael Dobbie, Craig L Franklin, Ernst-Martin Fuchtbauer, Xiang Gao, Christelle Golzio, Rebecca Haffner, Yann Hérault, Martin Hrabe De Angelis, Kevin C Kent Lloyd, Terry R Magnuson, Lluis Montoliu, Stephen A Murray, Ki-Hoan Nam, Lauryl M J Nutter, Eric Pailhoux, Fernando Pardo Manuel De Villena, Kevin Peterson, Laura Reinholdt, Radislav Sedlacek, Je Kyung Seong, Toshihiko Shiroishi, Cynthia Smith, Toru Takeo, Louise Tinsley, Jean-Luc Vilotte, Søren Warming, Sara Wells, C Bruce Whitelaw, Atsushi Yoshiki, Asian Mouse Mutagenesis Resource Association, Celphedia Infrastructure, Infrafrontier Consortium, International Mammalian Genome Society, International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium, International Society For Transgenic Technologies, Mutant Mouse Resource And Research Centers, Phenomics Australia, Rrrc- Rat Resource And Research Center, Guillaume Pavlovic

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The biomedical research community addresses reproducibility challenges in animal studies through standardized nomenclature, improved experimental design, transparent reporting, data sharing, and centralized repositories. The ARRIVE guidelines outline documentation standards for laboratory animals in experiments, but genetic information is often incomplete. To remedy this, we propose the Laboratory Animal Genetic Reporting (LAG-R) framework. LAG-R aims to document animals' genetic makeup in scientific publications, providing essential details for replication and appropriate model use. While verifying complete genetic compositions may be impractical, better reporting and validation efforts enhance reliability of research. LAG-R standardization will bolster reproducibility, peer review, and overall scientific rigor.

Loss Of The Dna Repair Gene Rnase H2 Identifies A Unique Subset Of Ddr-Deficient Leiomyosarcomas, Michael S Nakazawa, Ian M Silverman, Victoria Rimkunas, Artur Veloso, Dominik Glodzik, Adrienne Johnson, Toshiro K Ohsumi, Shreyaskumar R Patel, Anthony P Conley, Christina L Roland, Pamela T Soliman, Hannah C Beird, Chia-Chin Wu, Davis R Ingram, Rossana Lazcano, Dawon Song, Khalida M Wani, Alexander J Lazar, Timothy A Yap, Wei-Lien Wang, J Andrew Livingston

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Targeting the DNA damage response (DDR) pathway is an emerging therapeutic approach for leiomyosarcoma (LMS), and loss of RNase H2, a DDR pathway member, is a potentially actionable alteration for DDR-targeted treatments. Therefore, we designed a protein- and genomic-based RNase H2 screening assay to determine its prevalence and prognostic significance. Using a selective RNase H2 antibody on a pan-tumor microarray (TMA), RNase H2 loss was more common in LMS (11.5%, 9/78) than across all tumors (3.8%, 32/843). In a separate LMS cohort, RNase H2 deficiency was confirmed in uterine LMS (U-LMS, 21%, 23/108) and soft-tissue LMS (ST-LMS; 30%, 39/102). In …

Inhibition Of Malt1 And Bcl2 Induces Synergistic Antitumor Activity In Models Of B-Cell Lymphoma, Joshua P Plotnik, Adam E Richardson, Haopeng Yang, Estela Rojas, Velitchka Bontcheva, Colleen Dowell, Sydney Parsons, Ashley Wilson, Vida Ravanmehr, Christine Will, Paul Jung, Haizhong Zhu, Sarathy Karunan Partha, Sanjay C Panchal, Raghuveer Singh Mali, Frederick J Kohlhapp, Ryan A Mcclure, Cyril Y Ramathal, Mariam D George, Manisha Jhala, Nathaniel L Elsen, Wei Qiu, Russell A Judge, Chin Pan, Anthony Mastracchio, Jared Henderson, Jonathan A Meulbroek, Michael R Green, William N Pappano

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The activated B cell (ABC) subset of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is characterized by chronic B-cell receptor signaling and associated with poor outcomes when treated with standard therapy. In ABC-DLBCL, MALT1 is a core enzyme that is constitutively activated by stimulation of the B-cell receptor or gain-of-function mutations in upstream components of the signaling pathway, making it an attractive therapeutic target. We discovered a novel small-molecule inhibitor, ABBV-MALT1, that potently shuts down B-cell signaling selectively in ABC-DLBCL preclinical models leading to potent cell growth and xenograft inhibition. We also identified a rational combination partner for ABBV-MALT1 in the BCL2 …

Distinct Genetic Liability Profiles Define Clinically Relevant Patient Strata Across Common Diseases, Lucia Trastulla, Georgii Dolgalev, Sylvain Moser, Laura T. Jiménez-Barrón, Till F. M. Andlauer, Moritz Von Scheidt, Schizophrenia Working Group Of The Psychiatric Genomics Consortium:, Douglas M. Ruderfer, Stephan Ripke, Andrew Mcquillin, Eli A. Stahl, Enrico Domenici, Rolf Adolfsson, Ingrid Agartz, Esben Agerbo, Margot Albus, Madeline Alexander, Farooq Amin, Silviu A. Bacanu, Martin Begemann, Richard A. Belliveau Jr., Judit Bene, Sarah E. Bergen, Elizabeth Bevilacqua, Tim B. Bigdeli, Donald W. Black, Douglas H. R. Blackwood, Anders D. Borglum, Nancy G. Buccola, Et Al

School of Nursing Faculty Publications

Stratified medicine holds great promise to tailor treatment to the needs of individual patients. While genetics holds great potential to aid patient stratification, it remains a major challenge to operationalize complex genetic risk factor profiles to deconstruct clinical heterogeneity. Contemporary approaches to this problem rely on polygenic risk scores (PRS), which provide only limited clinical utility and lack a clear biological foundation. To overcome these limitations, we develop the CASTom-iGEx approach to stratify individuals based on the aggregated impact of their genetic risk factor profiles on tissue specific gene expression levels. The paradigmatic application of this approach to coronary artery …

Epigenetic Regulation Of Heart Failure, Manisha Deogharia, Priyatansh Gurha

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose of review: The studies on chromatin-modifying enzymes and how they respond to different stimuli within the cell have revolutionized our understanding of epigenetics. In this review, we provide an overview of the recent studies on epigenetic mechanisms implicated in heart failure.

Recent findings: We focus on the major mechanisms and the conceptual advances in epigenetics as evidenced by studies in humans and mouse models of heart failure. The significance of epigenetic modifications and the enzymes that catalyze them is also discussed. New findings from the studies of histone lysine demethylases demonstrate their significance in regulating fetal gene expression, as …

Clinical Exome Sequencing Uncovers Genetic Disorders In Neonates With Suspected Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy: A Retrospective Analysis, Christian M Parobek, Roni Zemet, Matthew A Shanahan, Brian A Burnett, Elizabeth Mizerik, Jill A Rosenfeld, Liesbeth Vossaert, Steven L Clark, Jill V Hunter, Seema R Lalani

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) occurs in up to 7 out of 1000 births and accounts for almost a quarter of neonatal deaths worldwide. Despite the name, many newborns with HIE have little evidence of perinatal hypoxia. We hypothesized that some infants with HIE have genetic disorders that resemble encephalopathy. We reviewed genetic results for newborns with HIE undergoing exome or genome sequencing at a clinical laboratory (2014-2022). Neonates were included if they had a diagnosis of HIE and were delivered ≥35 weeks. Neonates were excluded for cardiopulmonary pathology resulting in hypoxemia or if neuroimaging suggested postnatal hypoxic-ischemic injury. Of 24 patients …

Whole-Transcriptome Sequencing-Based Profiling Of The Cutaneous Virome In Patients With Secondary Immunodeficiency, Leila Youssefian, Amir Hossein Saeidian, Zahra Saffarian, Mona Ariamanesh, Fahimeh Abdollahimajd, Sara Molkara, Mohammad Shahidi-Dadras, Reem Diab, Fatemeh Vahidnezhad, Sirous Zeinali, Vivien Béziat, Emmanuelle Jouanguy, Jean-Laurent Casanova, Jouni Uitto, Hassan Vahidnezhad

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Most viral infections can be self-limited, with no requirement for medical intervention. However, the same viruses can cause severe diseases in patients with compromised immunity due to single-gene diseases, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or hematologic malignancies or those receiving immunosuppressive drugs. Occasionally, these immunocompromised patients harbor >1 infectious agent, requiring several concomitant diagnostic tests. We have developed, to our knowledge, a previously unreported whole-transcriptome sequencing-based pipeline that allows virome profiling, quantitation, and expression pattern analysis of 926 distinct viruses by sequencing of RNA isolated from a single lesional skin biopsy. This pipeline can also explore host genetics if there is …

50-Nm Gas-Filled Protein Nanostructures To Enable The Access Of Lymphatic Cells By Ultrasound Technologies, Qionghua Shen, Zongru Li, Yixian Wang, Matthew D Meyer, Marc T De Guzman, Janie C Lim, Han Xiao, Richard R Bouchard, George J Lu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Ultrasound imaging and ultrasound-mediated gene and drug delivery are rapidly advancing diagnostic and therapeutic methods; however, their use is often limited by the need for microbubbles, which cannot transverse many biological barriers due to their large size. Here, the authors introduce 50-nm gas-filled protein nanostructures derived from genetically engineered gas vesicles(GVs) that are referred to as

Personal Light Exposure Patterns And Incidence Of Type 2 Diabetes: Analysis Of 13 Million Hours Of Light Sensor Data And 670,000 Person-Years Of Prospective Observation, Daniel P Windred, Angus C Burns, Martin K Rutter, Chris Ho Ching Yeung, Jacqueline M Lane, Qian Xiao, Richa Saxena, Sean W Cain, Andrew J K Phillips

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Light at night disrupts circadian rhythms, and circadian disruption is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Whether personal light exposure predicts diabetes risk has not been demonstrated in a large prospective cohort. We therefore assessed whether personal light exposure patterns predicted risk of incident type 2 diabetes in UK Biobank participants, using ∼13 million hours of light sensor data.

METHODS: Participants (N = 84,790, age (M ± SD) = 62.3 ± 7.9 years, 58% female) wore light sensors for one week, recording day and night light exposure. Circadian amplitude and phase were modeled from weekly light data. Incident …

Eus-Guided Hydrogel Injection To Separate Pancreatic Head Carcinoma From Duodenum For Enhanced Radiotherapy: Multi-Site Feasibility Study, Manoop S Bhutani, Amol K Narang, Kai Ding, Brenna Casey, Kumar Krishnan, Eugene J Koay, Theodore S Hong, Joseph M Herman, Kristen H Griffin, Eun Ji Shin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background and study aims The proximity of a pancreas head tumor to the duodenum often limits delivery of an ablative dose of radiation therapy. This study evaluated the feasibility and safety of using an injectable polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogel between the head of the pancreas and duodenum.

Patients and methods In a multi-site feasibility cohort study of patients with localized pancreatic cancer, PEG hydrogel was injected under endoscopic ultrasound guidance to temporarily position the duodenum away from the pancreas. Procedure characteristics were recorded, including hydrogel volume and space created. Patients were monitored for adverse events (AEs) and radiotherapy toxicity.

Results …

Sequencing Of Kaposi’S Sarcoma Herpesvirus (Kshv) Genomes From Persons Of Diverse Ethnicities And Provenances With Kshv-Associated Diseases Demonstrate Multiple Infections, Novel Polymorphisms, And Low Intra-Host Variance, Vickie A Marshall, Elena M Cornejo Castro, Charles A Goodman, Nazzarena Labo, Isabella Liu, Nicholas C Fisher, Kyle N Moore, Ananthakrishnan Nair, Taina Immonen, Brandon F Keele, Mark N Polizzotto, Thomas S Uldrick, Yunxiang Mu, Tanuja Saswat, Laurie T Krug, Kevin M Mcbride, Kathryn Lurain, Ramya Ramaswami, Robert Yarchoan, Denise Whitby

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Recently published near full-length KSHV genomes from a Cameroon Kaposi sarcoma case-control study showed strong evidence of viral recombination and mixed infections, but no sequence variations associated with disease. Using the same methodology, an additional 102 KSHV genomes from 76 individuals with KSHV-associated diseases have been sequenced. Diagnoses comprise all KSHV-associated diseases (KAD): Kaposi sarcoma (KS), primary effusion lymphoma (PEL), KSHV-associated large cell lymphoma (KSHV-LCL), a type of multicentric Castleman disease (KSHV-MCD), and KSHV inflammatory cytokine syndrome (KICS). Participants originated from 22 different countries, providing the opportunity to obtain new near full-length sequences of a wide diversity of KSHV genomes. …