Project description:Pancreatic cancer (PC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer death with an overall 5-year survival rate of < 5%, a statistic that has changed little in almost 50 years. A deeper understanding of the underlying molecular pathophysiology is expected to advance the urgent need to develop novel therapeutic and early detection strategies for this disease. Genomic characterisation of PC has previously relied on targeted PCR based exome sequencing of small cohorts of mixed primary and metastatic lesions propagated as xenografts or cell lines (Jones et al, Science 321:1801-1806), leaving the true mutational spectrum of the clinical disease largely unresolved. Here we use exome sequencing (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ega/studies/EGAS00001000154) and copy number analysis (not submitted) to define genomic aberrations in a prospectively accrued clinical cohort (n = 142) of early (Stage I and II) pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Detailed analysis of 99 informative tumours identified 1982 non-silent mutations and 1628 significant CNV events, and defined 439 significantly mutated genes based on stringent Significant Mutated Gene or GISTIC analysis. Integration with functional data from in vitro shRNA and in vivo Sleeping Beauty-mediated somatic mutagenesis screens provided supportive evidence for 184 of these as candidate driver mutations. Pathway based analysis recapitulated clustering of mutations in core signalling pathways in PC, and identified multiple new components in each, particularly in DNA damage repair mechanisms (ATM, TOP2A, TLM, RPA1). We also identified frequent somatic aberrations in genes involved in novel mechanisms including chromatin modification (SWI/SNF complex members, SETD2, EPC1), and axon guidance (Semaphorin, Slit, Netrin and Ephrin signalling), extending the number of core perturbed pathways in PC. Aberrant expression of axon guidance genes co- segregated with poor patient survival, and in animal models was associated with disease development and progression, further implicating perturbation of the axon guidance pathway as a novel mechanism important in PC. This dataset includes gene expression data from 90 primary tumour samples, 88 of which were used in this manuscript for survival analysis. Much of this data is also available through the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) Data Portal (http://dcc/icgc.org), under the project code: "Pancreatic Cancer (QCMG, AU)". Access to the strictly restricted clinical data must be made through the ICGC Data Access Compliance Office (http://www.icgc.org/daco).
Project description:Pancreatic cancer (PC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer death with an overall 5-year survival rate of < 5%, a statistic that has changed little in almost 50 years. A deeper understanding of the underlying molecular pathophysiology is expected to advance the urgent need to develop novel therapeutic and early detection strategies for this disease. Genomic characterisation of PC has previously relied on targeted PCR based exome sequencing of small cohorts of mixed primary and metastatic lesions propagated as xenografts or cell lines (Jones et al, Science 321:1801-1806), leaving the true mutational spectrum of the clinical disease largely unresolved. Here we use exome sequencing (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ega/studies/EGAS00001000154) and copy number analysis (not submitted) to define genomic aberrations in a prospectively accrued clinical cohort (n = 142) of early (Stage I and II) pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Detailed analysis of 99 informative tumours identified 1982 non-silent mutations and 1628 significant CNV events, and defined 439 significantly mutated genes based on stringent Significant Mutated Gene or GISTIC analysis. Integration with functional data from in vitro shRNA and in vivo Sleeping Beauty-mediated somatic mutagenesis screens provided supportive evidence for 184 of these as candidate driver mutations. Pathway based analysis recapitulated clustering of mutations in core signalling pathways in PC, and identified multiple new components in each, particularly in DNA damage repair mechanisms (ATM, TOP2A, TLM, RPA1). We also identified frequent somatic aberrations in genes involved in novel mechanisms including chromatin modification (SWI/SNF complex members, SETD2, EPC1), and axon guidance (Semaphorin, Slit, Netrin and Ephrin signalling), extending the number of core perturbed pathways in PC. Aberrant expression of axon guidance genes co- segregated with poor patient survival, and in animal models was associated with disease development and progression, further implicating perturbation of the axon guidance pathway as a novel mechanism important in PC. This dataset includes gene expression data from 90 primary tumour samples, 88 of which were used in this manuscript for survival analysis. Much of this data is also available through the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) Data Portal (http://dcc/icgc.org), under the project code: "Pancreatic Cancer (QCMG, AU)". Access to the strictly restricted clinical data must be made through the ICGC Data Access Compliance Office (http://www.icgc.org/daco). This dataset contains expression array data from 90 primary pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma samples. One sample is present with two biological replicates, all others have 1 biological replicate.
Project description:Reprogramming of the gamete into a developmentally competent embryo identity is a fundamental aspect of preimplantation development. One of the most important processes of this reprogramming is the transcriptional awakening during embryonic genome activation (EGA), which robustly occurs in fertilized embryos but is defective in most somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos. However, little is known about the genome-wide underlying chromatin landscape during EGA in SCNT embryos and how it differs from a fertilized embryo. By profiling open chromatin genome-wide in both types of bovine embryos, we find that SCNT embryos fail to reprogram a subset of the EGA gene targets that are normally activated in fertilized embryos. Importantly, a small number of transcription factor (TF) motifs explain most chromatin regions that fail to open in SCNT embryos suggesting that over-expression of a limited number of TFs may provide more robust reprogramming. One such TF, the zygotically-expressed bovine gene DUXC which is a homologue of EGA factors DUX/DUX4 in mouse/human, is alone capable of activating ~84% of all EGA transcripts that fail to activate normally in SCNT embryos. Additionally, single-cell chromatin profiling revealed low intra-embryo heterogeneity but high inter-embryo heterogeneity in SCNT embryos and an uncoupling of cell division and open chromatin reprogramming during EGA. Surprisingly, our data also indicate that transcriptional defects may arise downstream of promoter chromatin opening in SCNT embryos, suggesting additional mechanistic insights into how and why transcription at EGA is dysregulated. We anticipate that our work will lead to altered SCNT protocols to increase the developmental competency of bovine SCNT embryos.
Project description:Reprogramming of the gamete into a developmentally competent embryo identity is a fundamental aspect of preimplantation development. One of the most important processes of this reprogramming is the transcriptional awakening during embryonic genome activation (EGA), which robustly occurs in fertilized embryos but is defective in most somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos. However, little is known about the genome-wide underlying chromatin landscape during EGA in SCNT embryos and how it differs from a fertilized embryo. By profiling open chromatin genome-wide in both types of bovine embryos, we find that SCNT embryos fail to reprogram a subset of the EGA gene targets that are normally activated in fertilized embryos. Importantly, a small number of transcription factor (TF) motifs explain most chromatin regions that fail to open in SCNT embryos suggesting that over-expression of a limited number of TFs may provide more robust reprogramming. One such TF, the zygotically-expressed bovine gene DUXC which is a homologue of EGA factors DUX/DUX4 in mouse/human, is alone capable of activating ~84% of all EGA transcripts that fail to activate normally in SCNT embryos. Additionally, single-cell chromatin profiling revealed low intra-embryo heterogeneity but high inter-embryo heterogeneity in SCNT embryos and an uncoupling of cell division and open chromatin reprogramming during EGA. Surprisingly, our data also indicate that transcriptional defects may arise downstream of promoter chromatin opening in SCNT embryos, suggesting additional mechanistic insights into how and why transcription at EGA is dysregulated. We anticipate that our work will lead to altered SCNT protocols to increase the developmental competency of bovine SCNT embryos.
Project description:Reprogramming of the gamete into a developmentally competent embryo identity is a fundamental aspect of preimplantation development. One of the most important processes of this reprogramming is the transcriptional awakening during embryonic genome activation (EGA), which robustly occurs in fertilized embryos but is defective in most somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos. However, little is known about the genome-wide underlying chromatin landscape during EGA in SCNT embryos and how it differs from a fertilized embryo. By profiling open chromatin genome-wide in both types of bovine embryos, we find that SCNT embryos fail to reprogram a subset of the EGA gene targets that are normally activated in fertilized embryos. Importantly, a small number of transcription factor (TF) motifs explain most chromatin regions that fail to open in SCNT embryos suggesting that over-expression of a limited number of TFs may provide more robust reprogramming. One such TF, the zygotically-expressed bovine gene DUXC which is a homologue of EGA factors DUX/DUX4 in mouse/human, is alone capable of activating ~84% of all EGA transcripts that fail to activate normally in SCNT embryos. Additionally, single-cell chromatin profiling revealed low intra-embryo heterogeneity but high inter-embryo heterogeneity in SCNT embryos and an uncoupling of cell division and open chromatin reprogramming during EGA. Surprisingly, our data also indicate that transcriptional defects may arise downstream of promoter chromatin opening in SCNT embryos, suggesting additional mechanistic insights into how and why transcription at EGA is dysregulated. We anticipate that our work will lead to altered SCNT protocols to increase the developmental competency of bovine SCNT embryos.
Project description:Reprogramming of the gamete into a developmentally competent embryo identity is a fundamental aspect of preimplantation development. One of the most important processes of this reprogramming is the transcriptional awakening during embryonic genome activation (EGA), which robustly occurs in fertilized embryos but is defective in most somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos. However, little is known about the genome-wide underlying chromatin landscape during EGA in SCNT embryos and how it differs from a fertilized embryo. By profiling open chromatin genome-wide in both types of bovine embryos, we find that SCNT embryos fail to reprogram a subset of the EGA gene targets that are normally activated in fertilized embryos. Importantly, a small number of transcription factor (TF) motifs explain most chromatin regions that fail to open in SCNT embryos suggesting that over-expression of a limited number of TFs may provide more robust reprogramming. One such TF, the zygotically-expressed bovine gene DUXC which is a homologue of EGA factors DUX/DUX4 in mouse/human, is alone capable of activating ~84% of all EGA transcripts that fail to activate normally in SCNT embryos. Additionally, single-cell chromatin profiling revealed low intra-embryo heterogeneity but high inter-embryo heterogeneity in SCNT embryos and an uncoupling of cell division and open chromatin reprogramming during EGA. Surprisingly, our data also indicate that transcriptional defects may arise downstream of promoter chromatin opening in SCNT embryos, suggesting additional mechanistic insights into how and why transcription at EGA is dysregulated. We anticipate that our work will lead to altered SCNT protocols to increase the developmental competency of bovine SCNT embryos.