9295 results for "cancer rna-seq"

in 54.63 milliseconds.

• Androgen deprivation therapy promotes an inflammatory and obesity-like microenvironment in periprostatic fat

  Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death and morbidity worldwide. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is the cornerstone of management for advanced disease. The use of androgen deprivation therapies is associated with multiple side effects, including metabolic syndrome and truncal obesity. At the same time, obesity has been associated with both prostate cancer development and disease progression, linked to its effects on chronic inflammation at a tissue level. The connection between androgen deprivation therapy, obesity, inflammation, and prostate cancer progression is well-established in clinical settings; however, an understanding of the changes in adipose tissue at the molecular level induced by castrating therapies is missing. Here we investigated the transcriptional changes in periprostatic fat tissue induced by profound androgen deprivation therapy in a group of patients with high-risk tumours compared to a matching untreated cohort. We find that androgen deprivation therapy is associated with a pro-inflammatory and obesity-like adipose tissue microenvironment. This study suggests that the beneficial effect of androgen deprivation therapy may be partially counteracted by metabolic and inflammatory side effects in the adipose tissue surrounding the prostate.

  Study EGAS00001003286

• Genetic immune escape landscape in primary and metastatic cancer

  Immune surveillance escape is a hallmark of tumorigenesis1. Multiple studies have characterized the immune escape landscape across several untreated early-stage primary cancer types2–4. However, whether late-stage treated metastatic tumors present differences in genetic immune escape (GIE) prevalence and dynamics remains unclear. Here, we performed a pan-cancer characterization of GIE prevalence across six immune escape pathways in 6,457 uniformly processed Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) tumor samples including 58 cancer types from 1,943 primary untreated patients and 4,514 metastatic patients. To effectively address the complexity of the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA-I) locus and to characterize its tumor status, we developed LILAC, an open-source integrative framework. We demonstrate that one in four tumors harbor GIE alterations, with high mechanistic and frequency variability across cancer types. GIE prevalence is highly consistent between primary and metastatic tumors for most cancer types with few exceptions such as prostate and thyroid carcinomas that have increased immune evasion frequencies in metastatic tumors. Positive selection analysis revealed that GIE alterations are frequently selected for in tumor evolution and that focal LOH of HLA-I, unlike non-focal LOH of HLA-I, tends to lose the HLA allele that presents the largest neoepitope repertoire. We also unraveled tumor genomic features contributing to immune escape incidence, including DNA repair deficiency, APOBEC activity, tobacco associated mutation load and viral DNA integration. Finally, there is a strong tendency for mid and high tumor mutation burden (TMB) tumors to preferentially select LOH of HLA-I for GIE whereas hypermutated samples favor global immune evasion strategies. Our results indicate that genetic immune escape is generally a pre-metastatic event during tumor evolution and that tumors adapt different strategies depending on their neoepitope burden.

  Study EGAS00001006123

• Analysis of T-cell receptor clonotypes in tumor micro-environment identifies shared cancer type-specific signatures

  Despite the conventional view that a truly random V(D)J recombination process should generate a highly diverse immune repertoire, emerging reports suggest that there is a certain bias towards the generation of shared/public immune receptor chains. These studies were performed in viral diseases where public T-cell receptors (TCR) appear to confer better protective responses. Selective pressures generating common TCR clonotypes are currently not well understood but it is believed that they confer a growth advantage. As very little is known about public TCR clonotypes in cancer, here we set out to determine the extent of shared TCR clonotypes in the intra-tumor microenvironments of virus- and non-virus- driven head and neck cancers using TCR sequencing. We report that tumor-infiltrating T-cell clonotypes were indeed shared across individuals with the same cancer type, where the majority of shared sequences were specific to the cancer type (ie viral versus non-viral). These shared clonotypes were not particularly enriched in EBV-associated nasopharynx cancer, but in both cancers, exhibited distinct characteristics, namely shorter CDR3 lengths, restricted V- and J-gene usages and also demonstrated convergent V(D)J recombination. Many of these shared TCRs were expressed in patients with a shared HLA background. Pattern recognition of CDR3 amino acid sequences revealed strong convergence to specific motifs that were unique to each cancer type, suggesting they may be enriched for specificity to common antigens found in the tumor microenvironment. The identification of shared TCRs in infiltrating tumor T-cells not only adds to our understanding of the tumor adaptive immune recognition but could also serve as disease-specific biomarkers and guide the development of future immunotherapies.

  Study EGAS00001005480

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

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

  Study EGAS00001006034

• Copy numbers in resectable gastric cancer treated with surgery alone

  Purpose: Gastric cancer is a heterogeneous disease requiring stratification to recognize its underlying biology and variable clinical outcome. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) recognizes four molecular subgroups: Epstein-Barr virus positive (EBV+) and microsatellite instable (MSI) with superior survival compared to genomically stable (GS) and chromosomal instable (CIN). Since classification criteria to distinguish GS from CIN were not defined, alternative markers such as Lauren’s histopathology or CDH1/p53 immunohistochemistry are commonly applied. Here we compared survival of gastric cancer subgroups determined by four methods. Experimental Design: EBV- and microsatellite stable tumors from a total of 309 patients treated with surgery alone were assigned to subgroups by: (i) specific copy number aberrations as determined by TCGA (GS or CIN), (ii) genome instability index (GII; high or low), (iii) Lauren’s classification (diffuse or intestinal), and (iv) CDH1/p53 immunohistochemistry (IHC; aberrant CDH1, normal-, or aberrant p53 expression). Subgroups were associated with cancer-related survival (CRS). Results: Five-year CRS was 42.0% for diffuse and 49.5% for intestinal type tumors, and 57.8% for GS and 41.6% for CIN tumors. Classification by GII or CDH1/p53 IHC did not correlate with CRS. The combination of TCGA and Lauren classifications resulted in four distinct subgroups. Five-year CRS for GS-intestinal (n=24), GS-diffuse (n=57), CIN-intestinal (n=142) and CIN-diffuse (n=86) was 61.4%, 56.5%, 47.6%, and 31.5%, respectively. Conclusions: TCGA’s GS and CIN have additional prognostic value to Lauren’s diffuse and intestinal subgroups in gastric cancer. GS-intestinal, GS-diffuse, CIN-intestinal and CIN-diffuse constitute biologically distinct entities and are suggested as stratification variables for future studies.

  Study EGAS00001007394

• Epigenetic Profiling of Human Colorectal Cancer

  DNA methylation, together with chromatin modifications, constitute the epigenome that functions to regulate gene expression and genome integrity. DNA methylation alterations are ubiquitous in human cancers, as many genes acquire DNA methylation in a cancer-specific manner. DNA methylation at these sites in the genome of cancer cells not only serves as a marker for tumor identification, but together with gene mutation and gene expression data, can also be used to describe subsets of tumors of the same organ source. We have previously shown distinct human colorectal cancer subtypes based on DNA methylation differences. Correlating these DNA methylation differences with clinical co-variates will serve to further understand how these distinct subtypes are generated. We have collected 100 colorectal tumor tissues (for which clinical information is known) and have obtained (unprotected) genome-wide DNA methylation and chromatin modification information for each sample for the purposes of identifying and classifying unique tumor subtypes of colorectal cancers. In addition, we have determined mutations of key genes relevant to colorectal cancer as well as gene expression profiles. We will use the clinical data for each de-identified sample to correlate with the DNA methylation, mutation and gene expression information so as to understand the driving forces behind these distinct colorectal subtypes. We have selected the most promising tumors for whole-genome bisulfite sequencing using next-generation sequencing technology to obtain complete maps of colon cancer methylomes. Researchers will be unable to identify the subjects because the samples and associated information have been de-identified and anonymized by the tissue source site. In addition, upon receipt by the USC Epigenome Center, we have assigned new random identifiers for each sample. The data generated using these new codes are not traceable to the patient identity.

  Study phs000385

• Bladder Cancer Organoids as a Functional System to Model Different Disease Stages and Therapy Response

  The study 'Bladder Cancer Organoids as a Functional System to Model Different Disease Stages and Therapy Response' reports the genomic characterization at the single allele level upon Whole Exome Sequencing of Bladder Cancer (BLCa) Patient Tumor (PT) samples obtained from 18 patients and corresponding Patient Derived Organoids (PDOs), implementing the SPICE pipeline (Ciani Y et al). Our cohort included 21 PTs and 22 PDOs. In this study, we generated a unique biobank resource of BLCa organoids that encompasses a broad spectrum of disease stages. We demonstrated that PDOs retain cancer heterogeneity and mutational burden. Furthermore, we observed that BLCa PDO can have different morphologies which may reflect tumor-specific features. Indeed, a solid morphology may be associated with more advanced tumors, as supported by the high PDO genomic burden and high primary tumor stage. Moreover, with our drug screening pipeline, we demonstrated the clinical relevance and feasibility of using a BLCa PDO-based drug assay for comparing the standard of care (SOC) drugs with compounds not currently in use for BLCa. Response to SOC was highly heterogeneous with approximately 50% of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer and 33% of muscle invasive bladder cancer PDOs showing no or minimal response. The most effective targeted therapy was lapatinib. We used an integrative analysis of drug response profiles with matched PDO genomic analysis to determine enrichment thresholds for candidate markers of therapy resistance and sensitivity. Importantly, by assessing the clinical history of longitudinally sampled cases, the clonal evolution of the disease could be determined and matched with PDO drug response profiles.

  Study phs003149

• A Multiethnic Genome-wide Scan of Prostate Cancer

  Multiple GWA studies of prostate cancer conducted in European White populations are ongoing. These studies will continue to have a dramatic impact on our understanding of the contribution of common genetic variation on inter-individual susceptibility to this common cancer. Important questions that will remain unanswered, however, are whether all common risk alleles for prostate cancer will be revealed in studies limited to populations of European ancestry. A comprehensive examination of common genetic variation in men of Japanese, Latino, and African ancestry will be required to understand population differences in disease risk and to reveal the full spectrum of causal alleles that exist in these populations. Further, genetic and environmental diversity is likely to contribute to ethnic heterogeneity of genetic effects. Elucidating gene x gene and gene x environment interactions is also likely to provide knowledge that may be critical for understanding the contribution of genetic susceptibility to racial/ethnic disparities in prostate cancer incidence and for translating the findings from GWA studies into interventions. In this study we plan to undertake a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of prostate cancer in the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) Study. We propose the following hypotheses: (a) that inherited DNA variation influences risk of prostate cancer; (b) that many of the causal alleles will be outside known "candidate genes" requiring an agnostic, comprehensive search; and (c) that performing this search in a multi-ethnic cohort is more powerful than a study limited to a single population to reveal the full range of causal alleles relevant to the U.S. population. The version 1 release of this dataset will include genotype data for the Japanese and Latino populations in the study. The version 2 release will include data for the African ancestry population along with the Japanese and Latino subjects. The version 3 release will include fully-cleaned genotype data for all three populations. 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 prostate cancer through large-scale genome-wide association studies of a well-characterized multi-ethnic cohort. Genotyping was performed at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, a GENEVA genotyping center and at the University of Southern California. Data cleaning and harmonization were performed at the GEI-funded GENEVA Coordinating Center at the University of Washington. As an add-on to this GWAS we performed a targeted re-sequencing of all known prostate cancer risk loci in the samples from the MEC. Sequencing was performed in Dr. Reich's lab at Harvard Medical School.

  Study phs000306

• National Cancer Institute (NCI) TARGET: Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments

  The Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET) Initiative seeks to accelerate research in novel marker and drug development, along with understanding the molecular basis of pediatric malignancy, through identification of genomic changes associated with the following childhood cancers: Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) - A fast-growing type of blood cancer in which too many immature white blood cells are found in the blood and bone marrow. Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), including AML Induction Failure cases (AML-IF) - Another type of blood cancer marked by too many myeloblasts, an alternate type of immature white blood cell, are found in the blood and bone marrow. Upon diagnosis, AML patients without high-risk genetic markers undergo standard chemotherapy regimen, called the primary induction phase, to eliminate most cancer cells and induce a remission state. Clear Cell Sarcoma of the Kidney (CCSK) - A rare type of kidney cancer, in which the inside of the cells looks clear when viewed under a microscope. Clear cell sarcoma can spread from the kidney to other organs, most commonly the bone, but also including the lungs, brain, and soft tissues of the body. Neuroblastoma (NBL) - Cancer of cells of the sympathetic nervous system. Cancer Model Systems (MDLS), including PPTP - MDLS includes acute leukemia cell lines and xenografts with matched primary and/or relapsed tumor information, NBL cell lines and xenografts with matched controls, kidney tumor cell lines, normal brain tissues, and embryonic stem cell lines that were sequenced for some TARGET disease projects. Osteosarcoma (OS) - A cancer of the bone that primarily affects children and adolescents. Rhabdoid Tumor (RT) - A rare, fast-growing cancer that usually forms in the kidney or central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) but can also form in soft tissues in other areas of the body. Rhabdoid tumors tend to spread quickly, are hard to treat, and have a poor prognosis. Wilms' Tumor (WT) - A cancer of cells in the kidney that can spread to the liver, lung and lymph nodes. More information can be found about each TARGET subproject by following the links on the top of this page. Together these cancers account for the majority of the more than 10,000 childhood cancer cases diagnosed in the United States each year. TARGET has employed a set of advanced and complementary genome analysis technologies, including large scale 2nd and 3rd generation genome sequencing, to strategically characterize alterations in both gene expression and in genomic structure (such as deletions and amplification) that are involved in childhood cancers. The goal of this coordinated effort has been to create a comprehensive genomic and transcriptomic profile of each cancer. Integrated analysis of the TARGET data has identified those genes that are either altered in their expression level or mapped to the chromosome regions of deletion/amplification/translocation, as these genes represent strong candidates for therapeutic targeting. To learn more about the TARGET project, which is now completed, visit the website at https://www.cancer.gov/ccg/research/genome-sequencing/target. TARGET data is accessible at the NCI's Genomic Data Commons (GDC) via the GDC's Data Portal and from each of the TARGET Publication Pages at the GDC (Please see the "Supplemental Links" section of any TARGET publication's "Publication Information and Associated Data Files page" at the GDC.). Available datasets include raw sequencing data, datasets generated by the original TARGET research teams (fully annotated clinical information and higher-level/analyzed molecular characterization data - gene expression, copy number variation, epigenetics, targeted sequencing), as well as higher level data generated by the GDC. Please see the TARGET Use and Publication Guidelines for updated details on the sharing of any TARGET substudy data, including how to cite TARGET.

  Study phs000218

• Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumoroids reveal subgroup-specific drug vulnerabilities RNA-Seq

  Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors (ATRTs) represent a rare, but aggressive pediatric brain tumor entity. They are genetically uniquely defined by alterations in the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex members SMARCB1 or SMARCA4. ATRTs can be further classified in different molecular subgroups based on their epigenetic profiles. Although recent studies suggest that the different subgroups have distinct clinical features, subgroup-specific treatment regimens have not been developed thus far. This is hampered by the lack of pre-clinical in vitro models representative of the different molecular subgroups. Here, we describe the establishment of ATRT tumoroid models from the ATRT-MYC and ATRT-SHH subgroups. We demonstrate that ATRT tumoroids retain subgroup-specific epigenetic and gene expression profiles. High throughput drug screens on our ATRT tumoroids revealed distinct drug sensitivities between and within ATRT-MYC and ATRT-SHH subgroups. Whereas ATRT-MYC universally displayed high sensitivity to multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors, ATRT-SHH showed a more heterogeneous response with a subset showing high sensitivity to Notch inhibitors, which corresponded to high expression of Notch receptors. Our ATRT tumoroids represent the first pediatric brain tumor organoid model, providing a representative pre-clinical model which enables the development of subgroup-specific therapies.

  Study EGAS00001006866

• ATAC-Seq of CD4 T cell subsets

  Blood samples were taken from 4 age-matched healthy volunteers (two males and two females), and naïve CD4 T cells were isolated using the naïve CD4+ T Cell Isolation Kit II, human (Miltenyi Biotec). Two hundred thousand cells were plated in a 96-well plate, activated with Dynabeads Human T-activator CD3/CD28 (bead-to-cell ratio of 1:1, as recommended by the manufacturer) (ThermoFisher Scientific) and polarized towards CD4 T cell subtypes (Teff, Th1, Th2, rTh17, pTh17, and Treg cells) with specific cocktails of recombinant cytokines and neutralizing antibodies (see details in the material and methods) for each subset. At day 4 post-stimulation, forty thousand cells were used to perform ATAC-Seq on CD4 T cell subtypes. Again, crude nuclei of live CD4+ T cell subsets were treated with Tagment DNA buffer and Tagment DNA Enzyme (Nextera DNA Library Prep Kit, Illumina), and then the DNA was purified by MinElute PCR Purification Kit (Qiagen). Transposed DNA fragments were amplified using specific adapters followed by purification with MinElute PCR Purification Kit (Qiagen). Fragments from 240-360pb were selected in the PippinHT system (Sage Science). The quality of the library and its DNA concentration were assessed by Bioanalyzer instruments (Agilent Technologies) and ultimately submitted for sequencing using Illumina HiSeq 2500 sequencer, V4 chemistry.

  Study EGAS00001007345

• The_life_history_of_colorectal_cancer_metastases_study_WGS_X10

  Whole genome sequencing of a series of metastasis collected from 2 patients at autopsy will be used to construct a life history of the cancer, including phylogenetic relationship between the different metastases an also whether there is evidence of convergence towards common biological processes that underpin the metastatic process but though different mutational events

  Study EGAS00001000864

• Meningioma_Exome

  Agilent whole exome hybridisation capture will be performed on genomic DNA derived from Meningioma tumour samples and matched normal DNA from the same patients. Three lanes of Illumina GA sequencing will be performed on the resulting exome libraries and mapped build 37 of the human reference genome to facilitate the identification of novel cancer genes.

  Study EGAS00001000177

• Breast_Cancer_Sequential_Sampling_Targeted_Capture

  This study aims to target capture sequence regions of interest from DNA derived from breast cancer patients who received neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. All patients had multiple biopsies performed before chemotherapy. Patients who had residual disease after the course of treatment underwent a further biopsy. We aim to characterise the mutations involved.

  Study EGAS00001000596

• Chordoma_Exome_Sequencing

  Agilent whole exome hybridisation capture will be performed on genomic DNA derived from Chordoma cancers and matched normal DNA from the same patients. Three lanes of Illumina GA sequencing will be performed on the resulting exome libraries and mapped to build 37 of the human reference genome to facilitate the identification of novel cancer genes.

  Study EGAS00001000188

• MicroRNA profiling by next-generation sequencing for colorectal cancer screening

  The study was conducted as the marker discovery phase to identify potential microRNA (miRNA) candidates for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Genome-wide profiling with next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed using plasma samples from 20 newly diagnosed CRC cases and 20 controls free of colorectal neoplasms matched by age and sex.

  Study EGAS00001005030

• sWGS on cfDNA and matching tumor DNA in pediatric cancer

  This dataset contains shallow whole genome sequencing data from paired cfDNA - tumor DNA samples of various pediatric cancer entities. Files are provided in fastq format. Samples were sequenced on an Ion Proton sequencer (Thermo Fisher Scientific) or a Hiseq3000 (Illumina). Data analysis is available at https://github.com/rmvpaeme/sWGS_pediatric_cancer.

  Study EGAS00001005198

• Intractable Cancer Therapy Development through a New Target Identification by Molecular Profiling

  We collected the cancerous tissues of the primary and recurrence tumors from the same patient with recurrent / metastatic breast cancer, and the purpose of this study is to find the characteristics of recurrent / metastatic breast cancers by carrying out a "molecular profiling", mainly the exome sequence analysis of these tissues.

  Study JGAS000075

• Identification of genetic mutations characteristic for recurrence and metastasis of gastric cancer.

  We collected the cancerous tissues of the primary and recurrence tumors from the same patient with recurrent / metastatic gastric cancer, and the purpose of this study is to find the characteristics of recurrent / metastatic gastric cancers by carrying out a "molecular profiling", mainly the exome sequence analysis of these tissues.

  Study JGAS000086

• Oesophageal_Adenocarcinoma_Organoid_10x

  10x Sequencing of 6 patient derived organoid cell models. Each model was derived from a piece of patient tumour taken following surgical rescetion of the tumour. All model derivations took place with the CGaP facility in Sanger. This 10x data will be combined with other sequencing data in order to generate accurate reference cancer genomes.

  Study EGAS00001003191

• X10_sequencing_of_Oesophageal_Adenocarcinoma_Organoids

  X10 Sequencing of 5 patient derived organoid cell models. Each model was derived from a piece of patient tumour taken following surgical resection of the tumour. All model derivations took place with the CGaP facility in Sanger. This PacBio data will be combined with other sequencing data in order to generate accurate reference cancer genomes.

  Study EGAS00001003264

• Oesophageal_Adenocarcinoma_Organoid_PacBio

  PacBio Sequencing of 6 patient derived organoid cell models. Each model was derived from a piece of patient tumour taken following surgical resection of the tumour. All model derivations took place with the CGaP facility in Sanger. This PacBio data will be combined with other sequencing data in order to generate accurate reference cancer genomes.

  Study EGAS00001007163

• Genomic and transcriptomic landscape of aggressive thyroid cancer

  Molecular characteristics of anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) and advanced differentiated thyroid cancers (DTCs) have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we applied various types of massively-parallel sequencing technology to 113 advanced TCs, including 27 ATCs and 86 advanced DTCs, to reveal their genomic and transcriptomic characteristics.

  Study EGAS00001003540

• Advancing Precision Oncology in a Humanized, Fully Autologous Mouse Model

  Progress in the early detection and treatment of cancer requires accurate model systems to further evaluate new, promising discoveries. Small animal and, in particular, mouse model systems are attractive to researchers for numerous reasons, including their ease of use and well-described platforms. The ability to grow human tumors in immune-deficient mice (so-called patient-derived xenografts, or PDXs) allows researchers to work directly with human cancer tissue in a controlled setting. However, PDX models are limited by their lack of an intact immune system. Immunotherapy has revolutionized clinical oncology, but lacks pre-clinical models of the human immune system and human cancer to investigate new modalities and limitations/toxicities of treatment regimens. The broad objective of this study is to validate an in vivo model to evaluate human tumors in the context of a complete and intact human immune system in a completely personalized and autologous fashion to study cancer immunotherapy. Herein, we will: (1) validate the ability of our humanized system to serve as a model for cancer immunotherapy treatment response and toxicity in patients with melanoma, including immunotherapy checkpoint blockade and vaccine strategies, and (2) extend our current work in melanoma by validating the ability to establish humanized mice and evaluate tumor growth and leukocyte development in autologous human pancreatic and colorectal tumors established in humanized mice. In each of these areas, we will leverage our multi-institutional team's individual expertise along with our institutional infrastructure to maximize the success of the experimental aims. The results from this project will be widely available to the general research community for future, hypothesis-driven research. Taken together, our study will meet multiple goals and address several unmet needs in cancer immunotherapy, thus significantly enhancing the applicability of a fully autologous and immunocompetent precision model system for use in translational oncology research.

  Study phs003090

• Multiple Sclerosis risk variants regulate gene expression in innate and adaptive immune cells

  Each of at least 200 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been confirmed to be associated with individually small increases in the risk of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). A key function that could mediate SNP encoded MS risk is their regulatory effects on gene expression or splicing. Transcriptomic profiling was performed using Affymetrix gene-expression microarrays, using RNA extracted from purified human peripheral blood monocytes, CD4 and CD8 positive lymphocyte cells, B-lymphocyte cells and Natural Killer cells from 73 untreated MS cases and 97 healthy controls. Cis expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) mapping studies were performed in each cell type separately to characterize MS risk loci associated with gene expression change.

  Study EGAS00001004087