Project description:Cystic fibrosis (CF) remains a life-shortening disease without a definitive cure. Novel therapeutics targeting the causative defect in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene are now in clinical use. Lumacaftor/ivacaftor is a CFTR modulator approved for patients homozygous for the CFTR mutation p.Phe508del, but there are wide variations in treatment responses preventing prediction of patient responses. We aimed to determine changes in gene expression related to treatment initiation and response. Whole-blood transcriptomics was performed using RNA-Seq in 20 patients with CF pre- and 6 months post-lumacaftor/ivacaftor (drug) initiation and 20 non-CF healthy controls. Correlation with clinical variables was performed by stratification via clinical responses. We identified 491 genes that were differentially expressed in CF patients (pre-drug) compared with non-CF controls. In addition, 36 genes were differentially expressed when comparing pre-drug to post-drug profiles within CF patients. Transcriptomics revealed novel pathways in CF patients at baseline compared to non-CF, and in clinical responders to lumacaftor/ivacaftor. Overall changes in gene expression post-lumacaftor/ivacaftor were modest compared to pre-drug CF profiles.
Project description:Rationale: Ivacaftor is a recently FDA-approved drug for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients with at least one copy of the G511D mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. The transcriptomic effect of Ivacaftor in CF patients remains unclear. Objectives: We aim to examine if and how the transcriptome of patients is influenced by Ivacaftor treatment and to determine if these data allow prediction of Ivacaftor responsiveness. Methods: We performed RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) on PBMCs from CF patients and compared the transcriptomic changes before and after Ivacaftor treatments. Consensus clustering method is employed to stratify patients into sub-groups based on clinical responses post treatment, and determined differences in baseline gene expression. A random forest model is built to predict Ivacaftor responsiveness. Measurement and Main Results: We identified 239 genes that were significantly influenced by Ivacaftor in PBMC. The functions of these genes relate to cell differentiation, microbial infection, inflammation, Toll-like receptor signaling, and metabolism. We classified patients into “good” and “moderate” responders based on clinical response to Ivacraftor. We identified a panel of signature genes and built a statistical model for predicting CFTR modulator responsiveness. Despite a limited sample size, adequate prediction performance was achieved with an accuracy of 0.92. Conclusions: For the first time, the present study demonstrates profound transcriptomic impacts of Ivafactor in CF patients PBMCs and successfully built a statistical model for predicting the clinical responsiveness to Ivacaftor prior to treatment.
Project description:This multi-center study will compare multi-target DNA and quantitative FIT stool-based testing to colonoscopy in individuals with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) undergoing colon cancer screening with colonoscopy. The primary endpoint is detection of any adenomas, including advanced adenomas and colorectal cancer (CRC).
Project description:Background: CFTR modulators will decrease some etiologies of inflammation in the CF airway; however, current data indicate that non-resolving airway infection and inflammation will persist in individuals with CF and chronic bacterial infections. Thus, identification of therapies that diminish CF airway inflammation without allowing unrestrained bacterial growth remains a critical research goal. Novel strategies for combatting deleterious airway inflammation require a better understanding of the cellular contributions to chronic CF airway disease, and how cells change after initiation of CFTR modulator therapy. Peripheral blood monocytes, which traffic to the CF airway, can develop both pro-inflammatory and inflammation-resolving phenotypes, and represent intriguing targets for focused therapies to dampen CF airway inflammation. Material and Methods: In order to characterize the inflammatory phenotype of CF blood monocytes, and how these cells change after initiation of CFTR modulator therapy, we studied adults (n=10) with CF, chronic airway infections, and the CFTR-R117H mutations before and 7 days after initiation of ivacaftor. Transcriptomes of freshly isolated blood monocytes were interrogated by RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq). Plasma concentrations of cytokines and chemokines were evaluated by multiplex ELISA. Results: RNAseq identified approximately 50 monocyte genes for which basal expression was significantly changed in all 10 subjects after 7 days of ivacaftor. Of these, the majority were increased in expression post ivacaftor, including many genes traditionally associated with enhanced inflammation and immune responses. Pathway analyses confirmed that transcriptional pathways were overwhelmingly up-regulated in monocytes after 7 days of ivacaftor, including transcriptional modules associated with immunity, cell cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, and the unfolded protein response. Ivacaftor increased plasma concentrations of CXCL2, a neutrophil chemokine secreted by monocytes and macrophages, and CCL2, a monocyte chemokine. These results demonstrate that ivacaftor causes acute changes in blood monocytes and plasma chemokines, and suggest that increased monocyte inflammatory signals and potentially improved trafficking to the lung contribute to changes in airway inflammation in people taking CFTR modulators. To our knowledge, this is the first report investigating the transcriptomic response of isolated blood monocytes in CF subjects.
Project description:Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited, multi-system disease caused by dysfunction of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein, a ubiquitous ion channel important for epithelial hydration. A direct consequence of this dysfunction is impaired mucociliary clearance, chronic airway infection and a persistent neutrophilic inflammatory response that results in progressive loss of lung function, development of respiratory failure and premature death. Partial restoration of CFTR function is now possible for most CF patients through mutation specific CFTR modulators. Ivacaftor monotherapy produces significant clinical improvement in CF patients with the G511D mutation. Dual therapy, combining ivacaftor with lumacaftor or tezacaftor, results in modest clinical improvements in patients homozygous for F508del. More recently, triple therapy with elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor (ETI) has led to dramatic improvements in lung function and quality of life in patients homozygous and heterozygous for F508del. Sputum proteomics is a powerful research technique capable of identifying important airway disease mechanisms by interrogating the proteome, an entire set of proteins within biological samples. It has confirmed the central role of neutrophilic immune dysregulation in CF and non-CF bronchiectasis, particularly involving the release of antimicrobial proteins and neutrophil-extracellular traps (NETs), and through impaired anti-inflammatory mechanisms. These processes produce distinct molecular signatures within the sputum proteome that become increasingly abnormal with chronic airway infection and progressive lung disease severity. In CF patients, airway and systemic inflammatory cytokines potentially related to these signatures reduce with the various forms of CFTR modulation. To date, no studies of ETI therapy in CF lung disease have assessed large-scale change in protein expression using untargeted proteomics. We hypothesised that ETI therapy would shift the sputum proteome toward health, potentially normalising airway biology in people with CF. The objectives of this study were to investigate changes in the CF sputum proteome with the introduction of ETI, correlate these with changes in clinical markers of disease severity, and make comparisons with the sputum proteome in healthy controls and in repeat samples from CF patients not suitable for ETI therapy. We also explored which molecular pathways associated with CF lung disease did not change with ETI.
Project description:In cystic fibrosis (CF), loss of CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR)-dependent bicarbonate secretion precipitates the accumulation of viscous mucus in the lumen of respiratory and gastrointestinal epithelial tissues. We investigated whether the combination of elexacaftor (ELX), ivacaftor (IVA) and tezacaftor (TEZ), apart from its well-documented effect on Phe508del-CFTR-mediated chloride transport, also restores bicarbonate transport.
Project description:We have compared gene expression in human nasal brushing cells from 19 cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and 19 healthy controls using a 5.2K cDNA microarray. Our aim is to identify new disease biomarkers for the Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Consortium. These markers will be used to report more effectively on the response to the administration of gene therapy in vivo. Cystic Fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease caused by mutations in the cystic fibrosis conductance regulator (CFTR) gene which encodes a chloride ion channel. The most common mutation is the ∆F508 mutation, present on 70% of CF chromosomes in Caucasian populations. The disease affects many organs in the body such as the pancreas, liver, sweat glands, small intestine and reproductive tracts but is most commonly associated with progressive, inflammatory lung disease. The current average life expectancy of CF patients is 35 years. Gene therapy is being developed as a treatment for CF airway disease, however, means of measuring the efficiency and efficacy of gene therapy in vivo are lacking. This is mainly due to the difficulty in measuring the chloride conductance of CFTR in cells and tissues. Furthermore, clinical assays for measuring improvements in lung function are insensitive. Surrogate markers of inflammation and CFTR function will therefore be important for the effective assessment of gene therapy in vivo. We have analysed gene expression in human nasal epithelium as this is considered an accessible surrogate for the conducting airways where disease manifests in the majority of patients. Additionally, this tissue will be sampled in clinical trials.