Project description:Single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in regulatory DNA are linked to inherited cancer risk. Massively parallel reporter assays (MPRA) of 5,031 SNVs linked to 14 neoplasms comprising >90% of human malignancies were performed in pertinent diploid cell types then integrated with matching chromatin accessibility, looping, and eQTL data to identify 411 regulatory SNVs and their putative target eGenes. The latter highlighted specific protein networks in lifetime cancer risk, including mitochondrial translation, proliferation, signaling, adhesion, and immunity. This cancer SNV compendium underscores the importance of studying pathogenic variants in disease-relevant cells and implicates specific dysregulated gene networks in cancer predisposition. It also indicates that inherited cancer risk can impact the same gene via orthogonal genetic mechanisms of dysregulated expression as well as protein coding sequence alteration and demonstrates that a subset of germline-encoded risk genes also enable tumor growth of established cancers.
Project description:Single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in regulatory DNA are linked to inherited cancer risk. Massively parallel reporter assays (MPRA) of 5,031 SNVs linked to 14 neoplasms comprising >90% of human malignancies were performed in pertinent diploid cell types then integrated with matching chromatin accessibility, looping, and eQTL data to identify 411 regulatory SNVs and their putative target eGenes. The latter highlighted specific protein networks in lifetime cancer risk, including mitochondrial translation, proliferation, signaling, adhesion, and immunity. This cancer SNV compendium underscores the importance of studying pathogenic variants in disease-relevant cells and implicates specific dysregulated gene networks in cancer predisposition. It also indicates that inherited cancer risk can impact the same gene via orthogonal genetic mechanisms of dysregulated expression as well as protein coding sequence alteration and demonstrates that a subset of germline-encoded risk genes also enable tumor growth of established cancers.
Project description:Raw data of manuscript titled "Salivary Metabolomic Identification of Biomarker Candidates for Canine Oral Cancers Using Chemical Isotope Labeling Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry"
Project description:Spontaneously occurring canine mammary cancer (MC) represents an excellent model of human breast cancer, but is greatly understudied. We performed high density arrays on 12 canine MC cases, including 7 simple carcinomas and four complex carcinomas. Simple carcinomas, which histologically match human breast carcinomas, harbor extensive genomic aberrations, many faithfully recapitulating key features of human breast cancer. Complex carcinomas, with luminal and myoepithelial cells both proliferating (which is rare in human breast cancer), appear to lack genomic abnormalities. Comparison of CNAs from canine mammary simple carcinomas and complex carcinomas
Project description:Human colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the better-understood systems for studying the genetics of cancer initiation and progression. To develop a cross-species comparison strategy for identifying CRC causative gene or genomic alterations, we performed array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) to investigate copy number abnormalities (CNAs), one of the most prominent lesion types reported for human CRCs, in 10 spontaneously occurring canine CRCs. The results revealed for the first time a strong degree of genetic homology between sporadic canine and human CRCs. First, we saw that between 5 and 22% of the canine genome was amplified/deleted in these tumors, and that, reminiscent of human CRCs, the total altered sequences directly correlated to the tumor’s progression stage, origin, and likely microsatellite instability status. Second, when mapping the identified CNAs onto syntenic regions of the human genome, we noted that the canine orthologs of genes participating in known human CRC pathways were recurrently disrupted, indicating that these pathways might be altered in the canine CRCs as well. Lastly, we observed a significant overlapping of CNAs between human and canine tumors, and tumors from the two species were clustered according to the tumor subtypes but not the species. Significantly, compared with the shared CNAs, we found that species-specific (especially human-specific) CNAs localize to evolutionarily unstable regions that harbor more segmental duplications and interspecies genomic rearrangement breakpoints. These findings indicate that CNAs recurrent between human and dog CRCs may have a higher probability of being cancer-causative, compared with CNAs found in one species only
Project description:Human colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the better-understood systems for studying the genetics of cancer initiation and progression. To develop a cross-species comparison strategy for identifying CRC causative gene or genomic alterations, we performed array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) to investigate copy number abnormalities (CNAs), one of the most prominent lesion types reported for human CRCs, in 10 spontaneously occurring canine CRCs. The results revealed for the first time a strong degree of genetic homology between sporadic canine and human CRCs. First, we saw that between 5 and 22% of the canine genome was amplified/deleted in these tumors, and that, reminiscent of human CRCs, the total altered sequences directly correlated to the tumorâs progression stage, origin, and likely microsatellite instability status. Second, when mapping the identified CNAs onto syntenic regions of the human genome, we noted that the canine orthologs of genes participating in known human CRC pathways were recurrently disrupted, indicating that these pathways might be altered in the canine CRCs as well. Lastly, we observed a significant overlapping of CNAs between human and canine tumors, and tumors from the two species were clustered according to the tumor subtypes but not the species. Significantly, compared with the shared CNAs, we found that species-specific (especially human-specific) CNAs localize to evolutionarily unstable regions that harbor more segmental duplications and interspecies genomic rearrangement breakpoints. These findings indicate that CNAs recurrent between human and dog CRCs may have a higher probability of being cancer-causative, compared with CNAs found in one species only Comparison of human and dog colon cancer CNAs
Project description:Human genetic variants are classified based on potential pathogenicity to guide clinical decisions. However, mechanistic uncertainties often preclude definitive categorization. Germline coding and enhancer variants within the hematopoietic regulator GATA2 create a bone marrow failure and leukemia predisposition. The conserved murine enhancer promotes hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) genesis, and a single-nucleotide human variant in an Ets motif attenuates chemotherapy-induced hematopoietic regeneration. We describe “conditionally pathogenic” (CP) enhancer motif variants that differentially impact hematopoietic development and regeneration. The Ets motif variant functioned cell-autonomously in hematopoietic cells to disrupt hematopoiesis. Since an epigenetically-silenced normal allele can exacerbate phenotypes of a pathogenic heterozygous variant, we engineered a bone marrow failure model harboring the Ets motif variant and a severe enhancer mutation on the second allele. Despite normal developmental hematopoiesis, regeneration in response to chemotherapy, inflammation, and a therapeutic HSC mobilizer was compromised. The CP paradigm informs mechanisms underlying phenotypic plasticity and clinical genetics.