Description: The P2RY8-CRLF2 fusion defines a particular relapse-prone subset of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in Italian Association of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster (AIEOP-BFM) 2000 protocols. To investigate whether and to what extent different clone sizes influence disease and relapse development, we quantified the genomic P2RY8-CRLF2 fusion product and correlated it with the corresponding CRLF2 expression levels in patients enrolled in the BFM-ALL 2000 protocol in Austria. Of 268 cases without recurrent chromosomal translocations and high hyperdiploidy, representing approximately 50% of all cases, 67 (25%) were P2RY8-CRLF2 positive. The respective clone sizes were ≥ 20% in 27% and 〈 20% in 73% of them. The cumulative incidence of relapse of the entire fusion-positive group was clone size independent and significantly higher than that of the fusion-negative group (35% ± 8% vs 13% ± 3%, P = .008) and primarily confined to the non–high-risk group. Of 22 P2RY8-CRLF2 –positive diagnosis/relapse pairs, only 4/8 had the fusion-positive dominant clone conserved at relapse, whereas none of the original 14 fusion-positive small clones reappeared as the dominant relapse clone. We conclude that the majority of P2RY8-CRLF2 –positive clones are small at diagnosis and virtually never generate a dominant relapse clone. Our findings therefore suggest that P2RY8-CRLF2 –positive clones do not have the necessary proliferative or selective advantage to evolve into a disease-relevant relapse clone.

Description: We report transplantation outcomes of 258 children with Hurler syndrome (HS) after a myeloablative conditioning regimen from 1995 to 2007. Median age at transplant was 16.7 months and median follow-up was 57 months. The cumulative incidence of neutrophil recovery at day 60 was 91%, acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) (grade II-IV) at day 100 was 25%, and chronic GVHD and 5 years was 16%. Overall survival and event-free survival (EFS) at 5 years were 74% and 63%, respectively. EFS after HLA-matched sibling donor (MSD) and 6/6 matched unrelated cord blood (CB) donor were similar at 81%, 66% after 10/10 HLA-matched unrelated donor (UD), and 68% after 5/6 matched CB donor. EFS was lower after transplantation in 4/6 matched unrelated CB (UCB) (57%; P = .031) and HLA-mismatched UD (41%; P = .007). Full-donor chimerism ( P = .039) and normal enzyme levels ( P = .007) were higher after CB transplantation (92% and 98%, respectively) compared with the other grafts sources (69% and 59%, respectively). In conclusion, results of allogeneic transplantation for HS are encouraging, with similar EFS rates after MSD, 6/6 matched UCB, 5/6 UCB, and 10/10 matched UD. The use of mismatched UD and 4/6 matched UCB was associated with lower EFS.

Description: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the only curative treatment of severe congenital neutropenia (SCN), but data on outcome are scarce. We report on the outcome of 136 SCN patients who underwent HSCT between 1990 and 2012 in European and Middle East centers. The 3-year overall survival (OS) was 82%, and transplant-related mortality (TRM) was 17%. In multivariate analysis, transplants performed under the age of 10 years, in recent years, and from HLA-matched related or unrelated donors were associated with a significantly better OS. Frequency of graft failure was 10%. Cumulative incidence (day +90) of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) grade 2-4 was 21%. In multivariate analysis, HLA-matched related donor and prophylaxis with cyclosporine A and methotrexate were associated with lower occurrence of acute GVHD. Cumulative incidence (1 year) of chronic GVHD was 20%. No secondary malignancies occurred after a median follow-up of 4.6 years. These data show that the outcome of HSCT for SCN from HLA-matched donors, performed in recent years, in patients younger than 10 years is acceptable. Nevertheless, given the TRM, a careful selection of HSCT candidates should be undertaken.

Description: AK2 deficiency compromises the mitochondrial energy metabolism required for differentiation of human neutrophil and lymphoid lineages Cell Death and Disease 6, e1856 (August 2015). doi:10.1038/cddis.2015.211 Authors: E Six, C Lagresle-Peyrou, S Susini, C De Chappedelaine, N Sigrist, H Sadek, M Chouteau, N Cagnard, M Fontenay, O Hermine, C Chomienne, P Reynier, A Fischer, I André-Schmutz, N Gueguen & M Cavazzana

Description: Nature Cell Biology 17, 1523 (2015). doi:10.1038/ncb3264 Authors: Henrik Sperber, Julie Mathieu, Yuliang Wang, Amy Ferreccio, Jennifer Hesson, Zhuojin Xu, Karin A. Fischer, Arikketh Devi, Damien Detraux, Haiwei Gu, Stephanie L. Battle, Megan Showalter, Cristina Valensisi, Jason H. Bielas, Nolan G. Ericson, Lilyana Margaretha, Aaron M. Robitaille, Daciana Margineantu, Oliver Fiehn, David Hockenbery, C. Anthony Blau, Daniel Raftery, Adam A. Margolin, R. David Hawkins, Randall T. Moon, Carol B. Ware & Hannele Ruohola-Baker

Description: Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are associated with several complications including low birth weight, abnormal placentation and increased risk for rare imprinting disorders. Indeed, experimental studies demonstrate ART procedures independent of existing infertility induce epigenetic perturbations in the embryo and extraembryonic tissues. To test the hypothesis that these epigenetic perturbations persist and result in adverse outcomes at term, we assessed placental morphology and methylation profiles in E18.5 mouse concepti generated by in vitro fertilization (IVF) in two different genetic backgrounds. We also examined embryo transfer (ET) and superovulation procedures to ascertain if they contribute to developmental and epigenetic effects. Increased placental weight and reduced fetal-to-placental weight ratio were observed in all ART groups when compared with naturally conceived controls, demonstrating that non-surgical embryo transfer alone can impact placental development. Furthermore, superovulation further induced overgrowth of the placental junctional zone. Embryo transfer and superovulation defects were limited to these morphological changes, as we did not observe any differences in epigenetic profiles. IVF placentae, however, displayed hypomethylation of imprinting control regions of select imprinted genes and a global reduction in DNA methylation levels. Although we did not detect significant differences in DNA methylation in fetal brain or liver samples, rare IVF concepti displayed very low methylation and abnormal gene expression from the normally repressed allele. Our findings suggest that individual ART procedures cumulatively increase placental morphological abnormalities and epigenetic perturbations, potentially causing adverse neonatal and long-term health outcomes in offspring.

Description: Age is, by far, the greatest risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), yet few AD drug candidates have been generated that target pathways specifically associated with the aging process itself. Two ubiquitous features of the aging brain are the intracellular accumulation of aggregated proteins and inflammation. As intraneuronal amyloid protein is detected before markers of inflammation, we argue that old, age-associated, aggregated proteins in neurons can induce inflammation, resulting in multiple forms of brain toxicities. The consequence is the increased risk of old, age-associated, neurodegenerative diseases. As most of these diseases are associated with the accumulation of aggregated proteins, it is possible that any therapeutic that reduces intracellular protein aggregation will benefit all.—Currais, A., Fischer, W., Maher, P., Schubert, D. Intraneuronal protein aggregation as a trigger for inflammation and neurodegeneration in the aging brain.

Description: 〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4138491/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4138491/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉H3Africa Consortium -- Rotimi, Charles -- Abayomi, Akin -- Abimiku, Alash'le -- Adabayeri, Victoria May -- Adebamowo, Clement -- Adebiyi, Ezekiel -- Ademola, Adebowale D -- Adeyemo, Adebowale -- Adu, Dwomoa -- Affolabi, Dissou -- Agongo, Godfred -- Ajayi, Samuel -- Akarolo-Anthony, Sally -- Akinyemi, Rufus -- Akpalu, Albert -- Alberts, Marianne -- Alonso Betancourt, Orlando -- Alzohairy, Ahmed Mansour -- Ameni, Gobena -- Amodu, Olukemi -- Anabwani, Gabriel -- Andersen, Kristian -- Arogundade, Fatiu -- Arulogun, Oyedunni -- Asogun, Danny -- Bakare, Rasheed -- Balde, Naby -- Baniecki, Mary Lynn -- Beiswanger, Christine -- Benkahla, Alia -- Bethke, Lara -- Boehnke, Micheal -- Boima, Vincent -- Brandful, James -- Brooks, Andrew I -- Brosius, Frank C -- Brown, Chester -- Bucheton, Bruno -- Burke, David T -- Burnett, Barrington G -- Carrington-Lawrence, Stacy -- Carstens, Nadia -- Chisi, John -- Christoffels, Alan -- Cooper, Richard -- Cordell, Heather -- Crowther, Nigel -- Croxton, Talishiea -- de Vries, Jantina -- Derr, Leslie -- Donkor, Peter -- Doumbia, Seydou -- Duncanson, Audrey -- Ekem, Ivy -- El Sayed, Ahmed -- Engel, Mark E -- Enyaru, John C K -- Everett, Dean -- Fadlelmola, Faisal M -- Fakunle, Eyitayo -- Fischbeck, Kenneth H -- Fischer, Anne -- Folarin, Onikepe -- Gamieldien, Junaid -- Garry, Robert F -- Gaseitsiwe, Simani -- Gbadegesin, Rasheed -- Ghansah, Anita -- Giovanni, Maria -- Goesbeck, Parham -- Gomez-Olive, F Xavier -- Grant, Donald S -- Grewal, Ravnit -- Guyer, Mark -- Hanchard, Neil A -- Happi, Christian T -- Hazelhurst, Scott -- Hennig, Branwen J -- Hertz-, Christiane -- Fowler -- Hide, Winston -- Hilderbrandt, Friedhelm -- Hugo-Hamman, Christopher -- Ibrahim, Muntaser E -- James, Regina -- Jaufeerally-Fakim, Yasmina -- Jenkins, Carolyn -- Jentsch, Ute -- Jiang, Pan-Pan -- Joloba, Moses -- Jongeneel, Victor -- Joubert, Fourie -- Kader, Mukthar -- Kahn, Kathleen -- Kaleebu, Pontiano -- Kapiga, Saidi H -- Kassim, Samar Kamal -- Kasvosve, Ishmael -- Kayondo, Jonathan -- Keavney, Bernard -- Kekitiinwa, Adeodata -- Khan, Sheik Humarr -- Kimmel, Paul -- King, Mary-Claire -- Kleta, Robert -- Koffi, Mathurin -- Kopp, Jeffrey -- Kretzler, Matthias -- Kumuthini, Judit -- Kyobe, Samuel -- Kyobutungi, Catherine -- Lackland, Daniel T -- Lacourciere, Karen A -- Landoure, Guida -- Lawlor, Rita -- Lehner, Thomas -- Lesosky, Maia -- Levitt, Naomi -- Littler, Katherine -- Lombard, Zane -- Loring, Jeanne F -- Lyantagaye, Sylvester -- Macleod, Annette -- Madden, Ebony B -- Mahomva, Chengetai R -- Makani, Julie -- Mamven, Manmak -- Marape, Marape -- Mardon, Graeme -- Marshall, Patricia -- Martin, Darren P -- Masiga, Daniel -- Mason, Robin -- Mate-Kole, Michael -- Matovu, Enock -- Mayige, Mary -- Mayosi, Bongani M -- Mbanya, Jean Claude -- McCurdy, Sheryl A -- McCarthy, Mark I -- McIlleron, Helen -- Mc'Ligeyo, S O -- Merle, Corrine -- Mocumbi, Ana Olga -- Mondo, Charles -- Moran, John V -- Motala, Ayesha -- Moxey-Mims, Marva -- Mpoloka, Wata Sununguko -- Msefula, Chisomo L -- Mthiyane, Thuli -- Mulder, Nicola -- Mulugeta, Gebregziab her -- Mumba, Dieuodonne -- Musuku, John -- Nagdee, Mo -- Nash, Oyekanmi -- Ndiaye, Daouda -- Nguyen, Anh Quynh -- Nicol, Mark -- Nkomazana, Oathokwa -- Norris, Shane -- Nsangi, Betty -- Nyarko, Alexander -- Nyirenda, Moffat -- Obe, Eileen -- Obiakor, Reginald -- Oduro, Abraham -- Ofori-Acquah, Solomon F -- Ogah, Okechukwu -- Ogendo, Stephen -- Ohene-Frempong, Kwaku -- Ojo, Akinlolu -- Olanrewaju, Timothy -- Oli, John -- Osafo, Charlotte -- Ouwe Missi Oukem-Boyer, Odile -- Ovbiagele, Bruce -- Owen, Andrew -- Owolabi, Mayowa Ojo -- Owolabi, Lukman -- Owusu-Dabo, Ellis -- Pare, Guillaume -- Parekh, Rulan -- Patterton, Hugh G -- Penno, Margaret B -- Peterson, Jane -- Pieper, Rembert -- Plange-Rhule, Jacob -- Pollak, Martin -- Puzak, Julia -- Ramesar, Rajkumar S -- Ramsay, Michele -- Rasooly, Rebekah -- Reddy, Shiksha -- Sabeti, Pardis C -- Sagoe, Kwamena -- Salako, Tunde -- Samassekou, Oumar -- Sandhu, Manjinder S -- Sankoh, Osman -- Sarfo, Fred Stephen -- Sarr, Marie -- Shaboodien, Gasnat -- Sidibe, Issa -- Simo, Gustave -- Simuunza, Martin -- Smeeth, Liam -- Sobngwi, Eugene -- Soodyall, Himla -- Sorgho, Hermann -- Sow Bah, Oumou -- Srinivasan, Sudha -- Stein, Dan J -- Susser, Ezra S -- Swanepoel, Carmen -- Tangwa, Godfred -- Tareila, Andrew -- Tastan Bishop, Ozlem -- Tayo, Bamidele -- Tiffin, Nicki -- Tinto, Halidou -- Tobin, Ekaete -- Tollman, Stephen Meir -- Traore, Mahamadou -- Treadwell, Marsha J -- Troyer, Jennifer -- Tsimako-Johnstone, Masego -- Tukei, Vincent -- Ulasi, Ifeoma -- Ulenga, Nzovu -- van Rooyen, Beverley -- Wachinou, Ablo Prudence -- Waddy, Salina P -- Wade, Alisha -- Wayengera, Misaki -- Whitworth, James -- Wideroff, Louise -- Winkler, Cheryl A -- Winnicki, Sarah -- Wonkam, Ambroise -- Yewondwos, Mengistu -- sen, Tadase -- Yozwiak, Nathan -- Zar, Heather -- 085349/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 095009/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 095201/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 098504/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 104111/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- MC_U123292700/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- P20 MD006899/MD/NIMHD NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI104621/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- RG/08/012/25941/British Heart Foundation/United Kingdom -- U01 HG007044/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- U41 HG006941/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- U54 AI110398/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- U54 HG006938/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- U54 HG006939/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- U54 HG007479/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- UH2 HG007051/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Jun 20;344(6190):1346-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1251546.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24948725" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The genetics of renal cancer is dominated by inactivation of the VHL tumour suppressor gene in clear cell carcinoma (ccRCC), the commonest histological subtype. A recent large-scale screen of approximately 3,500 genes by PCR-based exon re-sequencing identified several new cancer genes in ccRCC including UTX (also known as KDM6A), JARID1C (also known as KDM5C) and SETD2 (ref. 2). These genes encode enzymes that demethylate (UTX, JARID1C) or methylate (SETD2) key lysine residues of histone H3. Modification of the methylation state of these lysine residues of histone H3 regulates chromatin structure and is implicated in transcriptional control. However, together these mutations are present in fewer than 15% of ccRCC, suggesting the existence of additional, currently unidentified cancer genes. Here, we have sequenced the protein coding exome in a series of primary ccRCC and report the identification of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodelling complex gene PBRM1 (ref. 4) as a second major ccRCC cancer gene, with truncating mutations in 41% (92/227) of cases. These data further elucidate the somatic genetic architecture of ccRCC and emphasize the marked contribution of aberrant chromatin biology.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3030920/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3030920/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Varela, Ignacio -- Tarpey, Patrick -- Raine, Keiran -- Huang, Dachuan -- Ong, Choon Kiat -- Stephens, Philip -- Davies, Helen -- Jones, David -- Lin, Meng-Lay -- Teague, Jon -- Bignell, Graham -- Butler, Adam -- Cho, Juok -- Dalgliesh, Gillian L -- Galappaththige, Danushka -- Greenman, Chris -- Hardy, Claire -- Jia, Mingming -- Latimer, Calli -- Lau, King Wai -- Marshall, John -- McLaren, Stuart -- Menzies, Andrew -- Mudie, Laura -- Stebbings, Lucy -- Largaespada, David A -- Wessels, L F A -- Richard, Stephane -- Kahnoski, Richard J -- Anema, John -- Tuveson, David A -- Perez-Mancera, Pedro A -- Mustonen, Ville -- Fischer, Andrej -- Adams, David J -- Rust, Alistair -- Chan-on, Waraporn -- Subimerb, Chutima -- Dykema, Karl -- Furge, Kyle -- Campbell, Peter J -- Teh, Bin Tean -- Stratton, Michael R -- Futreal, P Andrew -- 077012/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 077012/Z/05/Z/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 088340/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 093867/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- R01 CA113636/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA134759/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- Cancer Research UK/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2011 Jan 27;469(7331):539-42. doi: 10.1038/nature09639. Epub 2011 Jan 19.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Cancer Genome Project, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton CB10 1SA, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21248752" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉