Project description:Background: Asthma is common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways with a heterogenous clinical presentation. Individual differences in asthma susceptibility remain poorly understood, although genetics is thought to play a major role. Aim: To build a polygenic risk score (PRS) for asthma and determine whether predictive genetic variants can be epigenomically linked to specific pathophysiological mechanisms. Methods: PRSs were constructed using data from genome-wide association studies and performance was validated using data generated in the Rotterdam Study, a Dutch prospective cohort of 14,926 individuals. Outcomes used were asthma, childhood-onset asthma, adulthood-onset asthma, eosinophilic asthma and exacerbations. Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-Seq) data from 14 primary cell types, including lung epithelial cells and T lymphocytes was used for epigenomic PRS partitioning. Results: All PRSs successfully predicted risk to develop asthma and related outcomes, with the strongest predictive power (2.42 odds ratios per PRS standard deviation, area under the curve of 0.736) achieved for childhood-onset asthma. PRSs allowed for stratification of the Rotterdam Study cohort into groups at low or high risk to develop asthma. PRS partitioning using genome-wide epigenomic profiles identified 5 clusters of variants within gene regulatory regions linked to specific asthma-relevant cells, genes and biological pathways. Conclusions: PRSs can predict whether individuals in a Dutch cohort developed asthma and asthma-related phenotypes, which is most effective for childhood-onset asthma. Importantly, we show that PRS partitioning based on epigenomics data dissects a genetic risk score into blocks of regulatory variants with differential predictive power, which likely represent distinct genetically driven disease pathways. These findings have potential implications for personalized risk mitigation and treatment strategies.
Project description:CTCF ChIP-seq of 39 primary samples derived from human acute leukemias, namely AML, T-ALL and mixed myeloid/lymphoid leukemias with CpG Island Methylator Phenotype (CIMP). Due to patient confidentiality considerations, the raw data files for this dataset have been deposited to the EGA controlled-access archive under the accession numbers EGAS00001007094 (study); EGAD00001011059 (dataset).
Project description:The pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS) remains to be elucidated. Pediatric-onset MS (POMS) represents the earliest stage of the disease. CSF proteins in POMS may therefore provide causal information. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to analyze CSF proteins in children with an initial CNS acquired demyelinating syndrome (ADS) and to make a comparison between POMS and monophasic ADS (mADS). Patients were selected from two prospective pediatric ADS studies. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was performed in a Dutch discovery cohort (POMS n=28; mADS n=39). Parallel reaction monitoring-mass spectrometry was performed on selected proteins more abundant in POMS with ≥ 8 unique peptides in a combined Dutch and Canadian validation cohort (POMS n=48; mADS n=106).
Project description:The pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS) remains to be elucidated. Pediatric-onset MS (POMS) represents the earliest stage of the disease. CSF proteins in POMS may therefore provide causal information. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to analyze CSF proteins in children with an initial CNS acquired demyelinating syndrome (ADS) and to make a comparison between POMS and monophasic ADS (mADS). Patients were selected from two prospective pediatric ADS studies. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was performed in a Dutch discovery cohort (POMS n=28; mADS n=39). Parallel reaction monitoring-mass spectrometry was performed on selected proteins more abundant in POMS with ≥ 8 unique peptides in a combined Dutch and Canadian validation cohort (POMS n=48; mADS n=106).
Project description:H3K27ac ChIP-seq of 79 primary samples derived from human acute leukemias, namely AML, T-ALL and mixed myeloid/lymphoid leukemias with CpG Island Methylator Phenotype (CIMP). In addition, 4 samples derived from CD34+ cord blood cells of healthy donors were included. Due to patient confidentiality considerations, the raw data files for this dataset have been deposited to the EGA controlled-access archive under the accession numbers EGAS00001007094 (study); EGAD00001011060 (dataset).
Project description:Embryonic genome activation (EGA) marks the onset of embryonic program and enables the transition toward the first lineage specification. However, the molecular features of EGA and the transcription factors (TFs) orchestrating this process remain unclear. Here, by performing single-cell RNA-seq on bovine embryos, we reveal that major EGA is asynchronously initiated among blastomeres at the 8-cell stage. Integrative analyses reveal distinctive protein accumulation compared to transcription and translation activation during bovine EGA. Furthermore, we investigate the role of SP1, a TF activated at the minor EGA stage, with motifs enriched in accessible chromatin during major EGA stage in bovine and human embryos. SP1 deficiency leads to morula arrest in bovine and impairs EGA in human embryos. Multi-omics analysis demonstrates that SP1 promotes early lineage gene expression by modulating nearby chromatin states in bovine and directly targets key EGA genes in human embryos. Together, our study delineates the dynamics of bovine EGA and uncovers the conserved and species-specific roles of SP1 in regulating EGA and early development in mammals.
Project description:Genome wide DNA methylation profiling of whole blood in schizophrenia patients and healthy subjects of different ages. The Illumina Infinium 450k Human DNA methylation Beadchip v1.2 was used to obtain DNA methylation profiles across approximately 480,000 CpGs. Dataset included 62 schizophrenia patients and 33 healthy subjects from Dutch descent.
Project description:Embryonic genome activation (EGA), a pivotal transcriptional event during preimplantation development, is accompanied by post-transcriptional regulation of maternal mRNAs. Disentangling the transcriptional output of the newly activated embryonic genome from concomitant post-transcriptional processing is important for decoding EGA dynamics.Here, using optimized low-input SLAM-seq (thiol(SH)-linked alkylation for the metabolic sequencing) in mouse embryos, we delineates the temporal hierarchy of EGA nascent transcription during mouse preimplantation embryogenesis and uncovers a mechanistic link between EGA and the first lineage specification, providing new insights into the regulatory architecture of early mammalian development.