Project description:Mounting evidence suggests that copy number variations (CNVs) can contribute to cancer susceptibility. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the role of germline CNVs in melanoma predisposition in high-risk melanoma families. We used genome-wide tiling comparative genomic hybridization and SNP arrays to characterize CNVs in 335 individuals (240 melanoma cases) from American melanoma-prone families (22 with germline CDKN2A or CDK4 mutations). We found that the global burden of overall CNVs (or deletions or duplications separately) was not significantly associated with case-control or CDKN2A/CDK4 mutation status after accounting for the familial dependence. However, we identified several rare CNVs that either involved known melanoma genes (e.g. PARP1, CDKN2A) or co-segregated with melanoma (duplication on 10q23.23, 3p12.2 and deletions on 8q424.3, 2q22.1) in families without mutations in known melanoma high-risk genes. Some of these CNVs were correlated with expression changes in disrupted genes based on RNASeq data from a subset of melanoma cases included in the CNV study. These results suggest that rare co-segregating CNVs may influence melanoma susceptibility in some melanoma-prone families and genes found in our study warrant further evaluation in future genetic analyses of melanoma.
Project description:The association between endometriosis, genomic copy number variant polymorphisms and differential gene expression is still unclear. The rationale of this study was to identify regions of copy number change in familial endometriosis, which could contain genes that may be involved with the susceptibility and progression of this disease.
Project description:<p>Mounting evidence suggests that copy number variations (CNVs) can contribute to cancer susceptibility. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the role of germline CNVs in melanoma predisposition in high-risk melanoma families. We used genome-wide tiling comparative genomic hybridization and SNP arrays to characterize CNVs in 113 individuals (105 melanoma cases) from American melanoma-prone families. We found that the global burden of overall CNVs (or deletions or duplications separately) was not significantly associated with case-control or CDKN2A/CDK4 mutation status after accounting for the familial dependence. However, we identified several rare CNVs that either involved known melanoma genes (e.g. PARP1, CDKN2A) or co-segregated with melanoma (duplication on 10q23.23, 3p12.2 and deletions on 8q424.3, 2q22.1) in families without mutations in known melanoma high-risk genes. Some of these CNVs were correlated with expression changes in disrupted genes based on RNASeq data from a subset of melanoma cases included in the CNV study. These results suggest that rare co-segregating CNVs may influence melanoma susceptibility in some melanoma-prone families and genes found in our study warrant further evaluation in future genetic analyses of melanoma.</p>
Project description:Uveal melanoma (UM) is a rare form of melanoma with a genetics and immunology that is different from skin melanoma. Previous studies have identified genetic driver events of early stage disease when the tumor is confined to the eye. In this study, we have characterized genomic events in UM metastases using whole-genome and RNA sequencing from thirty-two and twenty-eight patients, respectively, and profiled individual tumor infiltrating lymphocytes in a number of the metastases. We find that 91% of the patients have metastases carrying inactivating events in the tumor suppressor BAP1 and this coincided with somatic alterations in GNAQ, GNA11, CYSLTR2, PLCB4, SF3B1 and/or CDKN2A. Mutational signature analysis revealed a rare subset of tumors with prominent signs of UV damage, associated with outlier mutational burden. We study copy number variations (CNV) and find overrepresented events, some of which were not altered in matched primary eye tumors. A focused siRNA screen identified functionally significant genes of some of the segments recurrently gained. We reintroduced a functional copy of BAP1 into a patient-derived BAP1 deficient tumor cell line and found broad transcriptomic changes of genes associated with subtype distinction and prognosis in primary UM. Lastly, our analysis of the immune microenvironments of metastases revealed a presence of tumor-reactive T cells. However, a large fraction expressed the immune checkpoint receptors such as TIM-3, TIGIT and LAG3. These results provide an updated view of genomic events represented in metastatic UM and immune interactions in advanced lesions.