Project description:Canine gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV) is a common life-threatening condition occurring primarily in large and giant breeds with a 3.9% to 36.7% lifetime risk. GDV is a complex disease with risk factors including age, diet, behavior, family history, and genetics. The genetic correlates of GDV have not previously been systematically explored. We undertook multiplatform genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) of 253 dogs including 106 healthy dogs and 147 dogs with at least one GDV episode. The study included ten dog breeds enriched for Borzoi, German Shepherd (GSD), Great Dane, and Standard Poodle. SNP array genotyping was performed on constitutional DNA from all 241 samples to identify GDV-associated SNPs and CNVs. To increase the coverage of our study we performed imputation analysis of the SNP data as well as additional whole genome sequencing (WGS) on a subset of 33 dogs (15 healthy dogs and 18 GDV patients from the three most represented breeds). Twenty-one patients were genotyped by both SNP and WGS platforms. The GWAS was conducted across breeds as well as on specific breeds using a mixed linear model adjusting for relatedness, population structure and sex. After genome-wide Bonferroni correction, we identified a significant protective GDV-associated SNP, rs851737064, occurring in an intergenic region, across all breeds. The signal was most significant in Collies, German Shorthaired Pointers, and Great Danes. Subsequent focused analysis across these three breeds identified 12 additional independent, protective and deleterious SNPs with significant GDV association. Additional GWAS conducted on Borzoi, GSD and Great Dane yielded significant genome-wide GDV associations in 11 independent SNPs, while that in Borzoi alone identified 2 independent GDV-associated SNPs. We then used WGS data to validate the imputation analysis. Notable significant SNPs included genes involved in gastric tone and motility including VHL, NALCN, and PRKCZ. From the WGS data we also detected two independent GDV-associated SNPs in Borzoi, GSD and Great Dane breeds on an intergenic region on chromosome 7 not covered by previous analyses. These data provide important new information regarding canine GDV risk factors and facilitate generation of hypotheses regarding the genetic and molecular underpinnings this syndrome.
Project description:To facilitate canine proteomics research, we have generated a non-redundant canine protein sequence database, with entry name annotation based on sequence similarity to the human proteome. To evaluate the sequence-based annotation transfer, we performed a shotgun proteomics experiment on subcellular fractions of canine spleen.
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:In this study, we present the first comparison of global transcriptional changes taking place in canine lymphoma and human diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), with particular reference to the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) pathway. Microarray data generated from lymph nodes diagnosed with canine DLBCL and healthy lymph nodes were used for differential expression analysis, co-expression analysis and pathway analysis, and compared with analysis of publicly available microarray data from human healthy and DLBCL lymph nodes. The comparisons between species at gene level were performed by mapping the probesets in canine microarrays to orthologous genes in humans and vice versa. A considerable number of differentially expressed genes between canine lymphoma and healthy lymph node samples were also found differentially expressed between human DLBCL and healthy lymph node samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) using a literature derived 120 NF-κB target gene set mapped to 199 orthologous canine array probesets and 259 human array probesets clearly separated the healthy and cancer samples in both canine and human datasets. The analysis demonstrated that for both human and canine DLBCL there is activation of the NF-κB/p65 canonical pathway rather than the alternative pathway. This has therapeutic implications for the use of specific pathway inhibitors for the treatment of DLBCL for both species and also indicates that naturally occurring canine lymphoma could be used as a model to study therapeutic strategies for human lymphoma. The model was further validated by the identification of molecular signatures that could sub-classify canine DLBCL into activated B-cell-like (ABC) or germinal centre B-cell-like (GCB) types equivalent to human subtypes.
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:In this study, we present the first comparison of global transcriptional changes taking place in canine lymphoma and human diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), with particular reference to the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-?B) pathway. Microarray data generated from lymph nodes diagnosed with canine DLBCL and healthy lymph nodes were used for differential expression analysis, co-expression analysis and pathway analysis, and compared with analysis of publicly available microarray data from human healthy and DLBCL lymph nodes. The comparisons between species at gene level were performed by mapping the probesets in canine microarrays to orthologous genes in humans and vice versa. A considerable number of differentially expressed genes between canine lymphoma and healthy lymph node samples were also found differentially expressed between human DLBCL and healthy lymph node samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) using a literature derived 120 NF-?B target gene set mapped to 199 orthologous canine array probesets and 259 human array probesets clearly separated the healthy and cancer samples in both canine and human datasets. The analysis demonstrated that for both human and canine DLBCL there is activation of the NF-?B/p65 canonical pathway rather than the alternative pathway. This has therapeutic implications for the use of specific pathway inhibitors for the treatment of DLBCL for both species and also indicates that naturally occurring canine lymphoma could be used as a model to study therapeutic strategies for human lymphoma. The model was further validated by the identification of molecular signatures that could sub-classify canine DLBCL into activated B-cell-like (ABC) or germinal centre B-cell-like (GCB) types equivalent to human subtypes. Canine DLBCL patients were recruited via the clinical oncology service of the University of Edinburgh Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies (DJA), and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine (DMV). Lymph node biopsy samples were taken, as part of normal diagnostic procedures, from dogs newly diagnosed with lymphoma (naïve) and samples from dogs that had relapsed following standard of care CHOP chemotherapy. Only dogs with confirmed DLBCL after pathological grading were used in this study. This included standard histopathological grading by two independent pathologists and CD3/PAX5 marker analysis. Normal lymph node samples were obtained from canines that were euthanized for non-lymphoma conditions. Microarray data were generated from 35 canine samples (25 DLBCL and 10 healthy) in total. However, data from 2 canine DLBCL samples did not meet our required quality and were removed from further analysis. Only data from 33 (23 DLBCL and 10 healthy) samples were used for analysis. The generated data were used for differential expression analysis, co-expression analysis and pathway analysis, and compared with analysis of publicly available microarray data (GSE12195) from human healthy and DLBCL lymph nodes. The comparisons between species at gene level were performed by mapping the probesets in canine microarrays to orthologous genes in humans and vice versa.
Project description:Remarkable progress has been achieved in understanding the mechanisms controlling sex determination, yet the cause for many Disorders of Sexual Development remains unknown. Of particular interest is a rare XX DSD subtype in which individuals are negative for SRY, the testis determining factor on the Y chromosome, yet develop testes or ovotestes, and both phenotypes occur in the same family. This is a naturally occurring disorder in humans and dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), and phenotypes in the canine XX DSD model are strikingly similar to those in this type of human XX DSD. The purposes of this study were to identify 1) a variant associated with XX DSD in the canine model and 2) gene expression alterations in canine embryonic gonads that could be informative to causation. Using a genome wide association study (GWAS) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), we identified a variant on Canis familiaris autosome 9 (CFA9) that is significantly associated with XX DSD in the canine model and in affected purebred dogs. This is the first marker and candidate mutation identified for inherited canine XX DSD, and it lies within the canine ortholog for the human disorder (OMIM 278850). Inheritance of the variant indicates that XX DSD is a complex trait in which breed genetic background affects penetrance. Furthermore, the homozygous variant genotype is associated with embryonic lethality in at least one breed. Gene expression studies (RNA-seq and PRO-seq) in embryonic gonads at risk of XX DSD from the canine model identified significant RSPO1 downregulation without significant upregulation of SOX9 or other known testis pathway genes. A novel mechanism is proposed in which the canine XX DSD mutation acts upstream of RSPO1 to induce epigenomic gonadal mosaicism.
Project description:In a rare subtype of XX Disorder of Sex Development (DSD), individuals are negative for SRY, the testis determining factor on the Y chromosome, yet develop testes or ovotestes, and both of these phenotypes occur in the same family. This is a naturally occurring disorder in humans (Homo sapiens) and dogs (C. familiaris), and phenotypes in the canine XX DSD model are strikingly similar to those in this type of human XX DSD. The purposes of this study were to identify 1) a variant associated with XX DSD in the canine model and 2) gene expression alterations in canine embryonic gonads that could be informative to causation. Using a genome wide association study (GWAS) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), we identified a variant on C. familiaris autosome 9 (CFA9) that is significantly associated with XX DSD in the canine model and in affected purebred dogs. This is the first marker and candidate causative variant identified for inherited canine XX DSD. It lies within the canine ortholog for the human disorder (OMIM 278850), which resides on 17q24, upstream of SOX9. Gene expression studies (RNA-seq and PRO-seq) in embryonic gonads at risk of XX DSD from the canine model identified significant RSPO1 downregulation in comparison to XX controls, without significant upregulation of SOX9 or other known testis pathway genes. A novel mechanism is proposed in which the canine XX DSD variant acts upstream of RSPO1 to induce epigenomic gonadal mosaicism.