Project description:Wild-type KATOIII cells and their derived mutant clones B3 and B4 harboring biallelic deletions of the +22.6-kb site, located 22.6 kb downstream from the ABO translation start site
Project description:NF-kB pathway activation is the hallmark of hematological malignancies. In multiple myeloma (MM), a large variety of genomic alterations leading to either inactivation of repressor such as TRAF3, CYLD or cIAP1/2 or amplification of activators such as CD40 or NIK collectively contribute to frequently deregulate NF-kB signaling. In order to evaluate the prognostic impact of NF-kB mutations in MM, we performed a comprehensive analysis of a panel of newly diagnosed patients with cIAP1/2 biallelic deletion. We found that all patients have dysregulated NF-kB pathway and the majority of them presented t(4;14). Then we analyzed clinical outcome of 37 MM at presentation with t(4;14) and treated with bortezomib according to their NF-kB status. We showed that increase of NF-kB activity confers prolonged event-free survival. Altogether, our data suggest that NF-kB activation resulting from NF-kB mutations (ie cIAP1/2 deletion) or other mechanisms improves outcome of t(4;14)-positive MM treated with bortezomib.
Project description:Purpose: This study uses a high-throughput glycan microarray to develop a novel method to assign ABO blood type. The method will then be applied to samples from patients treated with PROSTVAC to determine if blood type correlates with survival Results: Many blood group A and B antigens correlate with blood type. Blood typing is best achieved using a combination of 10 signals Conclusion: ABO blood type can be determined with greater than 97% accuracy using only 4 microliters of serum.
Project description:Background: Plasmapheresis/rituximab-based desensitization therapy has successfully reduced anti-ABO antibody levels and suppressed antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) in ABO-incompatible (ABOi) kidney transplantation (KT). However, high titers of anti-ABO antibodies in some patients are refractory to standard desensitization, leading to loss of KT opportunities or AMR. Methods: Eculizumab-based desensitization was used to rescue high-titer ABOi KT patients refractory to plasmapheresis/rituximab-based desensitization. Results: The initial titers of anti-ABO IgG antibodies in the two patients were 1:512 and >1:1024; the final pre-transplant titers after desensitization were 1:128 and 1:64. Both patients received eculizumab from the day of KT to two or four weeks post-KT and maintained stable renal function up to one-year post-transplantation without overt infectious complications, despite early episodes of suspicious AMR or borderline T cell-mediated rejection. Molecular phenotype analysis of allograft biopsies using the Banff Human Organ Transplant gene panel revealed that gene expression patterns in the ABOi KT with eculizumab group overlapped with those in the ABOi KT with AMR group more than in the ABOi KT without AMR group, except for complement pathway-related gene expression. Anti-ABO antibody titers decreased to low levels 1–3 months post-transplant in the eculizumab group in parallel with decreasing anti-B-specific B cells at this time point. Conclusions: Short-term eculizumab-based desensitization therapy is promising for rescuing ABOi KT recipients with unacceptably high anti-ABO antibody titers refractory to plasmapheresis-based desensitization therapy.
Project description:Inactivation of Pten occurs by multiple mechanisms including epigenetic silencing, point mutations, insertion, and deletion, which are tissue dependent. Although frequent loss of heterozygosity around Pten locus and plausible involvement of epigenetic silencing have been reported in radiation-induced thymic lymphomas, the frequency of Pten inactivation and the spectrum of causal aberrations have not yet been extensively characterized. Here, we assessed the principal mode of inactivation by comprehensively analyzing expression and alterations of Pten gene in 23 radiation-induced thymic lymphomas developed in B6C3F1 mice. We found no evidence for methylation-associated silencing of Pten gene. Instead, we found complex structural abnormalities in 8 lymphomas (35%) that included missense and nonsense mutations, 1- and 3-bp insertions, and focal deletions. Sequencing of deletion breakpoints suggested that illegitimate V(D)J recombination and microhomology-mediated rearrangement were responsible for the focal deletions. Seven out of these 8 lymphomas had biallelic alterations, and 4 of them did not express any Pten protein. These aberrations of Pten were well coincided with downstream Akt phosphorylation on Ser473. In conclusion, Pten inactivation, which is frequently biallelic and is caused by a variety of structural abnormalities but not by epigenetic silencing, is involved in radiation-induced lymphomagenesis. Three thymic lymphomas were analyzed by array-CGH method.