A system of recurrent neural networks for modularising, parameterising and dynamic analysis of cell signalling networks

In this paper, we show how to extend our previously proposed novel continuous time Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN) approach that retains the advantage of continuous dynamics offered by Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE) while enabling parameter estimation through adaptation, to larger signalling networks using a modular approach. Specifically, the signalling network is decomposed into several sub-models based on important temporal events in the network. Each sub-model is represented by the proposed RNN and trained using data generated from the corresponding ODE model. Trained sub-models are assembled into a whole system RNN which is then subjected to systems dynamics and sensitivity analyses. The concept is illustrated by application to G1/S transition in cell cycle using Iwamoto et al. (2008) ODE model. We decomposed the G1/S network into 3 sub-models: (i) E2F transcription factor release; (ii) E2F and CycE positive feedback loop for elevating cyclin levels; and (iii) E2F and CycA negative feedback to degrade E2F. The trained sub-models accurately represented system dynamics and parameters were in good agreement with the ODE model. The whole system RNN however revealed couple of parameters contributing to compounding errors due to feedback and required refinement to sub-model 2. These related to the reversible reaction between CycE/CDK2 and p27, its inhibitor. The revised whole system RNN model very accurately matched dynamics of the ODE system. Local sensitivity analysis of the whole system model further revealed the most dominant influence of the above two parameters in perturbing G1/S transition, giving support to a recent hypothesis that the release of inhibitor p27 from Cyc/CDK complex triggers cell cycle stage transition. To make the model useful in a practical setting, we modified each RNN sub-model with a time relay switch to facilitate larger interval input data (≈20min) (original model used data for 30s or less) and retrained them that produced parameters and protein concentrations similar to the original RNN system. Results thus demonstrated the reliability of the proposed RNN method for modelling relatively large networks by modularisation for practical settings. Advantages of the method are its ability to represent accurate continuous system dynamics and ease of: parameter estimation through training with data from a practical setting, model analysis (40% faster than ODE), fine tuning parameters when more data are available, sub-model extension when new elements and/or interactions come to light and model expansion with addition of sub-models.

Human genome meeting 2016 : Houston, TX, USA. 28 February - 2 March 2016

O1 The metabolomics approach to autism: identification of biomarkers for early detection of autism spectrum disorder A. K. Srivastava, Y. Wang, R. Huang, C. Skinner, T. Thompson, L. Pollard, T. Wood, F. Luo, R. Stevenson O2 Phenome-wide association study for smoking- and drinking-associated genes in 26,394 American women with African, Asian, European, and Hispanic descents R. Polimanti, J. Gelernter O3 Effects of prenatal environment, genotype and DNA methylation on birth weight and subsequent postnatal outcomes: findings from GUSTO, an Asian birth cohort X. Lin, I. Y. Lim, Y. Wu, A. L. Teh, L. Chen, I. M. Aris, S. E. Soh, M. T. Tint, J. L. MacIsaac, F. Yap, K. Kwek, S. M. Saw, M. S. Kobor, M. J. Meaney, K. M. Godfrey, Y. S. Chong, J. D. Holbrook, Y. S. Lee, P. D. Gluckman, N. Karnani, GUSTO study group O4 High-throughput identification of specific qt interval modulating enhancers at the SCN5A locus A. Kapoor, D. Lee, A. Chakravarti O5 Identification of extracellular matrix components inducing cancer cell migration in the supernatant of cultivated mesenchymal stem cells C. Maercker, F. Graf, M. Boutros O6 Single cell allele specific expression (ASE) IN T21 and common trisomies: a novel approach to understand DOWN syndrome and other aneuploidies G. Stamoulis, F. Santoni, P. Makrythanasis, A. Letourneau, M. Guipponi, N. Panousis, M. Garieri, P. Ribaux, E. Falconnet, C. Borel, S. E. Antonarakis O7 Role of microRNA in LCL to IPSC reprogramming S. Kumar, J. Curran, J. Blangero O8 Multiple enhancer variants disrupt gene regulatory network in Hirschsprung disease S. Chatterjee, A. Kapoor, J. Akiyama, D. Auer, C. Berrios, L. Pennacchio, A. Chakravarti O9 Metabolomic profiling for the diagnosis of neurometabolic disorders T. R. Donti, G. Cappuccio, M. Miller, P. Atwal, A. Kennedy, A. Cardon, C. Bacino, L. Emrick, J. Hertecant, F. Baumer, B. Porter, M. Bainbridge, P. Bonnen, B. Graham, R. Sutton, Q. Sun, S. Elsea O10 A novel causal methylation network approach to Alzheimer’s disease Z. Hu, P. Wang, Y. Zhu, J. Zhao, M. Xiong, David A Bennett O11 A microRNA signature identifies subtypes of triple-negative breast cancer and reveals MIR-342-3P as regulator of a lactate metabolic pathway A. Hidalgo-Miranda, S. Romero-Cordoba, S. Rodriguez-Cuevas, R. Rebollar-Vega, E. Tagliabue, M. Iorio, E. D’Ippolito, S. Baroni O12 Transcriptome analysis identifies genes, enhancer RNAs and repetitive elements that are recurrently deregulated across multiple cancer types B. Kaczkowski, Y. Tanaka, H. Kawaji, A. Sandelin, R. Andersson, M. Itoh, T. Lassmann, the FANTOM5 consortium, Y. Hayashizaki, P. Carninci, A. R. R. Forrest O13 Elevated mutation and widespread loss of constraint at regulatory and architectural binding sites across 11 tumour types C. A. Semple O14 Exome sequencing provides evidence of pathogenicity for genes implicated in colorectal cancer E. A. Rosenthal, B. Shirts, L. Amendola, C. Gallego, M. Horike-Pyne, A. Burt, P. Robertson, P. Beyers, C. Nefcy, D. Veenstra, F. Hisama, R. Bennett, M. Dorschner, D. Nickerson, J. Smith, K. Patterson, D. Crosslin, R. Nassir, N. Zubair, T. Harrison, U. Peters, G. Jarvik, NHLBI GO Exome Sequencing Project O15 The tandem duplicator phenotype as a distinct genomic configuration in cancer F. Menghi, K. Inaki, X. Woo, P. Kumar, K. Grzeda, A. Malhotra, H. Kim, D. Ucar, P. Shreckengast, K. Karuturi, J. Keck, J. Chuang, E. T. Liu O16 Modeling genetic interactions associated with molecular subtypes of breast cancer B. Ji, A. Tyler, G. Ananda, G. Carter O17 Recurrent somatic mutation in the MYC associated factor X in brain tumors H. Nikbakht, M. Montagne, M. Zeinieh, A. Harutyunyan, M. Mcconechy, N. Jabado, P. Lavigne, J. Majewski O18 Predictive biomarkers to metastatic pancreatic cancer treatment J. B. Goldstein, M. Overman, G. Varadhachary, R. Shroff, R. Wolff, M. Javle, A. Futreal, D. Fogelman O19 DDIT4 gene expression as a prognostic marker in several malignant tumors L. Bravo, W. Fajardo, H. Gomez, C. Castaneda, C. Rolfo, J. A. Pinto O20 Spatial organization of the genome and genomic alterations in human cancers K. C. Akdemir, L. Chin, A. Futreal, ICGC PCAWG Structural Alterations Group O21 Landscape of targeted therapies in solid tumors S. Patterson, C. Statz, S. Mockus O22 Genomic analysis reveals novel drivers and progression pathways in skin basal cell carcinoma S. N. Nikolaev, X. I. Bonilla, L. Parmentier, B. King, F. Bezrukov, G. Kaya, V. Zoete, V. Seplyarskiy, H. Sharpe, T. McKee, A. Letourneau, P. Ribaux, K. Popadin, N. Basset-Seguin, R. Ben Chaabene, F. Santoni, M. Andrianova, M. Guipponi, M. Garieri, C. Verdan, K. Grosdemange, O. Sumara, M. Eilers, I. Aifantis, O. Michielin, F. de Sauvage, S. Antonarakis O23 Identification of differential biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma via transcriptome microarray meta-analysis S. Likhitrattanapisal O24 Clinical validity and actionability of multigene tests for hereditary cancers in a large multi-center study S. Lincoln, A. Kurian, A. Desmond, S. Yang, Y. Kobayashi, J. Ford, L. Ellisen O25 Correlation with tumor ploidy status is essential for correct determination of genome-wide copy number changes by SNP array T. L. Peters, K. R. Alvarez, E. F. Hollingsworth, D. H. Lopez-Terrada O26 Nanochannel based next-generation mapping for interrogation of clinically relevant structural variation A. Hastie, Z. Dzakula, A. W. Pang, E. T. Lam, T. Anantharaman, M. Saghbini, H. Cao, BioNano Genomics O27 Mutation spectrum in a pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) cohort and identification of associated truncating mutations in TBX4 C. Gonzaga-Jauregui, L. Ma, A. King, E. Berman Rosenzweig, U. Krishnan, J. G. Reid, J. D. Overton, F. Dewey, W. K. Chung O28 NORTH CAROLINA macular dystrophy (MCDR1): mutations found affecting PRDM13 K. Small, A. DeLuca, F. Cremers, R. A. Lewis, V. Puech, B. Bakall, R. Silva-Garcia, K. Rohrschneider, M. Leys, F. S. Shaya, E. Stone O29 PhenoDB and genematcher, solving unsolved whole exome sequencing data N. L. Sobreira, F. Schiettecatte, H. Ling, E. Pugh, D. Witmer, K. Hetrick, P. Zhang, K. Doheny, D. Valle, A. Hamosh O30 Baylor-Johns Hopkins Center for Mendelian genomics: a four year review S. N. Jhangiani, Z. Coban Akdemir, M. N. Bainbridge, W. Charng, W. Wiszniewski, T. Gambin, E. Karaca, Y. Bayram, M. K. Eldomery, J. Posey, H. Doddapaneni, J. Hu, V. R. Sutton, D. M. Muzny, E. A. Boerwinkle, D. Valle, J. R. Lupski, R. A. Gibbs O31 Using read overlap assembly to accurately identify structural genetic differences in an ashkenazi jewish trio S. Shekar, W. Salerno, A. English, A. Mangubat, J. Bruestle O32 Legal interoperability: a sine qua non for international data sharing A. Thorogood, B. M. Knoppers, Global Alliance for Genomics and Health - Regulatory and Ethics Working Group O33 High throughput screening platform of competent sineups: that can enhance translation activities of therapeutic target H. Takahashi, K. R. Nitta, A. Kozhuharova, A. M. Suzuki, H. Sharma, D. Cotella, C. Santoro, S. Zucchelli, S. Gustincich, P. Carninci O34 The undiagnosed diseases network international (UDNI): clinical and laboratory research to meet patient needs J. J. Mulvihill, G. Baynam, W. Gahl, S. C. Groft, K. Kosaki, P. Lasko, B. Melegh, D. Taruscio O36 Performance of computational algorithms in pathogenicity predictions for activating variants in oncogenes versus loss of function mutations in tumor suppressor genes R. Ghosh, S. Plon O37 Identification and electronic health record incorporation of clinically actionable pharmacogenomic variants using prospective targeted sequencing S. Scherer, X. Qin, R. Sanghvi, K. Walker, T. Chiang, D. Muzny, L. Wang, J. Black, E. Boerwinkle, R. Weinshilboum, R. Gibbs O38 Melanoma reprogramming state correlates with response to CTLA-4 blockade in metastatic melanoma T. Karpinets, T. Calderone, K. Wani, X. Yu, C. Creasy, C. Haymaker, M. Forget, V. Nanda, J. Roszik, J. Wargo, L. Haydu, X. Song, A. Lazar, J. Gershenwald, M. Davies, C. Bernatchez, J. Zhang, A. Futreal, S. Woodman O39 Data-driven refinement of complex disease classification from integration of heterogeneous functional genomics data in GeneWeaver E. J. Chesler, T. Reynolds, J. A. Bubier, C. Phillips, M. A. Langston, E. J. Baker O40 A general statistic framework for genome-based disease risk prediction M. Xiong, L. Ma, N. Lin, C. Amos O41 Integrative large-scale causal network analysis of imaging and genomic data and its application in schizophrenia studies N. Lin, P. Wang, Y. Zhu, J. Zhao, V. Calhoun, M. Xiong O42 Big data and NGS data analysis: the cloud to the rescue O. Dobretsberger, M. Egger, F. Leimgruber O43 Cpipe: a convergent clinical exome pipeline specialised for targeted sequencing S. Sadedin, A. Oshlack, Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance O44 A Bayesian classification of biomedical images using feature extraction from deep neural networks implemented on lung cancer data V. A. A. Antonio, N. Ono, Clark Kendrick C. Go O45 MAV-SEQ: an interactive platform for the Management, Analysis, and Visualization of sequence data Z. Ahmed, M. Bolisetty, S. Zeeshan, E. Anguiano, D. Ucar O47 Allele specific enhancer in EPAS1 intronic regions may contribute to high altitude adaptation of Tibetans C. Zeng, J. Shao O48 Nanochannel based next-generation mapping for structural variation detection and comparison in trios and populations H. Cao, A. Hastie, A. W. Pang, E. T. Lam, T. Liang, K. Pham, M. Saghbini, Z. Dzakula O49 Archaic introgression in indigenous populations of Malaysia revealed by whole genome sequencing Y. Chee-Wei, L. Dongsheng, W. Lai-Ping, D. Lian, R. O. Twee Hee, Y. Yunus, F. Aghakhanian, S. S. Mokhtar, C. V. Lok-Yung, J. Bhak, M. Phipps, X. Shuhua, T. Yik-Ying, V. Kumar, H. Boon-Peng O50 Breast and ovarian cancer prevention: is it time for population-based mutation screening of high risk genes? I. Campbell, M.-A. Young, P. James, Lifepool O53 Comprehensive coverage from low DNA input using novel NGS library preparation methods for WGS and WGBS C. Schumacher, S. Sandhu, T. Harkins, V. Makarov O54 Methods for large scale construction of robust PCR-free libraries for sequencing on Illumina HiSeqX platform H. DoddapaneniR. Glenn, Z. Momin, B. Dilrukshi, H. Chao, Q. Meng, B. Gudenkauf, R. Kshitij, J. Jayaseelan, C. Nessner, S. Lee, K. Blankenberg, L. Lewis, J. Hu, Y. Han, H. Dinh, S. Jireh, K. Walker, E. Boerwinkle, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs O55 Rapid capture methods for clinical sequencing J. Hu, K. Walker, C. Buhay, X. Liu, Q. Wang, R. Sanghvi, H. Doddapaneni, Y. Ding, N. Veeraraghavan, Y. Yang, E. Boerwinkle, A. L. Beaudet, C. M. Eng, D. M. Muzny, R. A. Gibbs O56 A diploid personal human genome model for better genomes from diverse sequence data K. C. C. Worley, Y. Liu, D. S. T. Hughes, S. C. Murali, R. A. Harris, A. C. English, X. Qin, O. A. Hampton, P. Larsen, C. Beck, Y. Han, M. Wang, H. Doddapaneni, C. L. Kovar, W. J. Salerno, A. Yoder, S. Richards, J. Rogers, J. R. Lupski, D. M. Muzny, R. A. Gibbs O57 Development of PacBio long range capture for detection of pathogenic structural variants Q. Meng, M. Bainbridge, M. Wang, H. Doddapaneni, Y. Han, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs O58 Rhesus macaques exhibit more non-synonymous variation but greater impact of purifying selection than humans R. A. Harris, M. Raveenedran, C. Xue, M. Dahdouli, L. Cox, G. Fan, B. Ferguson, J. Hovarth, Z. Johnson, S. Kanthaswamy, M. Kubisch, M. Platt, D. Smith, E. Vallender, R. Wiseman, X. Liu, J. Below, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs, F. Yu, J. Rogers O59 Assessing RNA structure disruption induced by single-nucleotide variation J. Lin, Y. Zhang, Z. Ouyang P1 A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of mitochondrial dna copy number A. Moore, Z. Wang, J. Hofmann, M. Purdue, R. Stolzenberg-Solomon, S. Weinstein, D. Albanes, C.-S. Liu, W.-L. Cheng, T.-T. Lin, Q. Lan, N. Rothman, S. Berndt P2 Missense polymorphic genetic combinations underlying down syndrome susceptibility E. S. Chen P4 The evaluation of alteration of ELAM-1 expression in the endometriosis patients H. Bahrami, A. Khoshzaban, S. Heidari Keshal P5 Obesity and the incidence of apolipoprotein E polymorphisms in an assorted population from Saudi Arabia population K. K. R. Alharbi P6 Genome-associated personalized antithrombotical therapy for patients with high risk of thrombosis and bleeding M. Zhalbinova, A. Akilzhanova, S. Rakhimova, M. Bekbosynova, S. Myrzakhmetova P7 Frequency of Xmn1 polymorphism among sickle cell carrier cases in UAE population M. Matar P8 Differentiating inflammatory bowel diseases by using genomic data: dimension of the problem and network organization N. Mili, R. Molinari, Y. Ma, S. Guerrier P9 Vulnerability of genetic variants to the risk of autism among Saudi children N. Elhawary, M. Tayeb, N. Bogari, N. Qotb P10 Chromatin profiles from ex vivo purified dopaminergic neurons establish a promising model to support studies of neurological function and dysfunction S. A. McClymont, P. W. Hook, L. A. Goff, A. McCallion P11 Utilization of a sensitized chemical mutagenesis screen to identify genetic modifiers of retinal dysplasia in homozygous Nr2e3^rd7 mice Y. Kong, J. R. Charette, W. L. Hicks, J. K. Naggert, L. Zhao, P. M. Nishina P12 Ion torrent next generation sequencing of recessive polycystic kidney disease in Saudi patients B. M. Edrees, M. Athar, F. A. Al-Allaf, M. M. Taher, W. Khan, A. Bouazzaoui, N. A. Harbi, R. Safar, H. Al-Edressi, A. Anazi, N. Altayeb, M. A. Ahmed, K. Alansary, Z. Abduljaleel P13 Digital expression profiling of Purkinje neurons and dendrites in different subcellular compartments A. Kratz, P. Beguin, S. Poulain, M. Kaneko, C. Takahiko, A. Matsunaga, S. Kato, A. M. Suzuki, N. Bertin, T. Lassmann, R. Vigot, P. Carninci, C. Plessy, T. Launey P14 The evolution of imperfection and imperfection of evolution: the functional and functionless fractions of the human genome D. Graur P16 Species-independent identification of known and novel recurrent genomic entities in multiple cancer patients J. Friis-Nielsen, J. M. Izarzugaza, S. Brunak P18 Discovery of active gene modules which are densely conserved across multiple cancer types reveal their prognostic power and mutually exclusive mutation patterns B. S. Soibam P19 Whole exome sequencing of dysplastic leukoplakia tissue indicates sequential accumulation of somatic mutations from oral precancer to cancer D. Das, N. Biswas, S. Das, S. Sarkar, A. Maitra, C. Panda, P. Majumder P21 Epigenetic mechanisms of carcinogensis by hereditary breast cancer genes J. J. Gruber, N. Jaeger, M. Snyder P22 RNA direct: a novel RNA enrichment strategy applied to transcripts associated with solid tumors K. Patel, S. Bowman, T. Davis, D. Kraushaar, A. Emerman, S. Russello, N. Henig, C. Hendrickson P23 RNA sequencing identifies gene mutations for neuroblastoma K. Zhang P24 Participation of SFRP1 in the modulation of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene in prostate cancer cell lines M. Rodriguez-Dorantes, C. D. Cruz-Hernandez, C. D. P. Garcia-Tobilla, S. Solorzano-Rosales P25 Targeted Methylation Sequencing of Prostate Cancer N. Jäger, J. Chen, R. Haile, M. Hitchins, J. D. Brooks, M. Snyder P26 Mutant TPMT alleles in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia from México City and Yucatán, Mexico S. Jiménez-Morales, M. Ramírez, J. Nuñez, V. Bekker, Y. Leal, E. Jiménez, A. Medina, A. Hidalgo, J. Mejía P28 Genetic modifiers of Alström syndrome J. Naggert, G. B. Collin, K. DeMauro, R. Hanusek, P. M. Nishina P31 Association of genomic variants with the occurrence of angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor (ACEI)-induced coughing among Filipinos E. M. Cutiongco De La Paz, R. Sy, J. Nevado, P. Reganit, L. Santos, J. D. Magno, F. E. Punzalan , D. Ona , E. Llanes, R. L. Santos-Cortes , R. Tiongco, J. Aherrera, L. Abrahan, P. Pagauitan-Alan; Philippine Cardiogenomics Study Group P32 The use of “humanized” mouse models to validate disease association of a de novo GARS variant and to test a novel gene therapy strategy for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2D K. H. Morelli, J. S. Domire, N. Pyne, S. Harper, R. Burgess P34 Molecular regulation of chondrogenic human induced pluripotent stem cells M. A. Gari, A. Dallol, H. Alsehli, A. Gari, M. Gari, A. Abuzenadah P35 Molecular profiling of hematologic malignancies: implementation of a variant assessment algorithm for next generation sequencing data analysis and clinical reporting M. Thomas, M. Sukhai, S. Garg, M. Misyura, T. Zhang, A. Schuh, T. Stockley, S. Kamel-Reid P36 Accessing genomic evidence for clinical variants at NCBI S. Sherry, C. Xiao, D. Slotta, K. Rodarmer, M. Feolo, M. Kimelman, G. Godynskiy, C. O’Sullivan, E. Yaschenko P37 NGS-SWIFT: a cloud-based variant analysis framework using control-accessed sequencing data from DBGAP/SRA C. Xiao, E. Yaschenko, S. Sherry P38 Computational assessment of drug induced hepatotoxicity through gene expression profiling C. Rangel-Escareño, H. Rueda-Zarate P40 Flowr: robust and efficient pipelines using a simple language-agnostic approach;ultraseq; fast modular pipeline for somatic variation calling using flowr S. Seth, S. Amin, X. Song, X. Mao, H. Sun, R. G. Verhaak, A. Futreal, J. Zhang P41 Applying “Big data” technologies to the rapid analysis of heterogenous large cohort data S. J. Whiite, T. Chiang, A. English, J. Farek, Z. Kahn, W. Salerno, N. Veeraraghavan, E. Boerwinkle, R. Gibbs P42 FANTOM5 web resource for the large-scale genome-wide transcription start site activity profiles of wide-range of mammalian cells T. Kasukawa, M. Lizio, J. Harshbarger, S. Hisashi, J. Severin, A. Imad, S. Sahin, T. C. Freeman, K. Baillie, A. Sandelin, P. Carninci, A. R. R. Forrest, H. Kawaji, The FANTOM Consortium P43 Rapid and scalable typing of structural variants for disease cohorts W. Salerno, A. English, S. N. Shekar, A. Mangubat, J. Bruestle, E. Boerwinkle, R. A. Gibbs P44 Polymorphism of glutathione S-transferases and sulphotransferases genes in an Arab population A. H. Salem, M. Ali, A. Ibrahim, M. Ibrahim P46 Genetic divergence of CYP3A5*3 pharmacogenomic marker for native and admixed Mexican populations J. C. Fernandez-Lopez, V. Bonifaz-Peña, C. Rangel-Escareño, A. Hidalgo-Miranda, A. V. Contreras P47 Whole exome sequence meta-analysis of 13 white blood cell, red blood cell, and platelet traits L. Polfus, CHARGE and NHLBI Exome Sequence Project Working Groups P48 Association of adipoq gene with type 2 diabetes and related phenotypes in african american men and women: The jackson heart study S. Davis, R. Xu, S. Gebeab, P Riestra, A Gaye, R. Khan, J. Wilson, A. Bidulescu P49 Common variants in casr gene are associated with serum calcium levels in koreans S. H. Jung, N. Vinayagamoorthy, S. H. Yim, Y. J. Chung P50 Inference of multiple-wave population admixture by modeling decay of linkage disequilibrium with multiple exponential functions Y. Zhou, S. Xu P51 A Bayesian framework for generalized linear mixed models in genome-wide association studies X. Wang, V. Philip, G. Carter P52 Targeted sequencing approach for the identification of the genetic causes of hereditary hearing impairment A. A. Abuzenadah, M. Gari, R. Turki, A. Dallol P53 Identification of enhancer sequences by ATAC-seq open chromatin profiling A. Uyar, A. Kaygun, S. Zaman, E. Marquez, J. George, D. Ucar P54 Direct enrichment for the rapid preparation of targeted NGS libraries C. L. Hendrickson, A. Emerman, D. Kraushaar, S. Bowman, N. Henig, T. Davis, S. Russello, K. Patel P56 Performance of the Agilent D5000 and High Sensitivity D5000 ScreenTape assays for the Agilent 4200 Tapestation System R. Nitsche, L. Prieto-Lafuente P57 ClinVar: a multi-source archive for variant interpretation M. Landrum, J. Lee, W. Rubinstein, D. Maglott P59 Association of functional variants and protein physical interactions of human MUTY homolog linked with familial adenomatous polyposis and colorectal cancer syndrome Z. Abduljaleel, W. Khan, F. A. Al-Allaf, M. Athar , M. M. Taher, N. Shahzad P60 Modification of the microbiom constitution in the gut using chicken IgY antibodies resulted in a reduction of acute graft-versus-host disease after experimental bone marrow transplantation A. Bouazzaoui, E. Huber, A. Dan, F. A. Al-Allaf, W. Herr, G. Sprotte, J. Köstler, A. Hiergeist, A. Gessner, R. Andreesen, E. Holler P61 Compound heterozygous mutation in the LDLR gene in Saudi patients suffering severe hypercholesterolemia F. Al-Allaf, A. Alashwal, Z. Abduljaleel, M. Taher, A. Bouazzaoui, H. Abalkhail, A. Al-Allaf, R. Bamardadh, M. Athar

Junk DNA and the long non-coding RNA twist in cancer genetics

The central dogma of molecular biology states that the flow of genetic information moves from DNA to RNA to protein. However, in the last decade this dogma has been challenged by new findings on non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) such as microRNAs (miRNAs). More recently, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have attracted much attention due to their large number and biological significance. Many lncRNAs have been identified as mapping to regulatory elements including gene promoters and enhancers, ultraconserved regions, and intergenic regions of protein-coding genes. Yet, the biological function and molecular mechanisms of lncRNA in human diseases in general and cancer in particular remain largely unknown. Data from the literature suggest that lncRNA, often via interaction with proteins, functions in specific genomic loci or use their own transcription loci for regulatory activity. In this review, we summarize recent findings supporting the importance of DNA loci in lncRNA function, and the underlying molecular mechanisms via cis or trans regulation, and discuss their implications in cancer. In addition, we use the 8q24 genomic locus, a region containing interactive SNPs, DNA regulatory elements and lncRNAs, as an example to illustrate how single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) located within lncRNAs may be functionally associated with the individual’s susceptibility to cancer.

Characteristics of progressive supranuclear palsy presenting with corticobasal syndrome: a cortical variant

Aims

Since the first description of the classical presentation of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) in 1963, now known as Richardson's syndrome (PSP-RS), several distinct clinical syndromes have been associated with PSP-tau pathology. Like other neurodegenerative disorders, the severity and distribution of phosphorylated tau pathology are closely associated with the clinical heterogeneity of PSP variants. PSP with corticobasal syndrome presentation (PSP-CBS) was reported to have more tau load in the mid-frontal and inferior-parietal cortices than in PSP-RS. However, it is uncertain if differences exist in the distribution of tau pathology in other brain regions or if the overall tau load is increased in the brains of PSP-CBS.

Methods

We sought to compare the clinical and pathological features of PSP-CBS and PSP-RS including quantitative assessment of tau load in 15 cortical, basal ganglia and cerebellar regions.

Results

In addition to the similar age of onset and disease duration, we demonstrated that the overall severity of tau pathology was the same between PSP-CBS and PSP-RS. We identified that there was a shift of tau burden towards the cortical regions away from the basal ganglia; supporting the notion that PSP-CBS is a ‘cortical’ PSP variant. PSP-CBS also had less severe neuronal loss in the dorsolateral and ventrolateral subregions of the substantia nigra and more severe microglial response in the corticospinal tract than in PSP-RS; however, neuronal loss in subthalamic nucleus was equally severe in both groups.

Conclusions

A better understanding of the factors that influence the selective pathological vulnerability in different PSP variants will provide further insights into the neurodegenerative process underlying tauopathies.

Cross gender-age trabecular texture analysis in cone beam CT

OBJECTIVES

To investigate whether multiple texture features in different regions of interest (ROIs) on cone beam CT (CBCT) are correlated with gender-age variation of trabecular patterns.

METHODS

CBCT volumes from 96 subjects were used. The data set was divided into four gender-age subgroups, including males younger than 40 years, males older than 40 years, females younger than 40 years and females older than 40 years. For each volume, cubes containing trabecular patterns at four ROIs in the jaws were manually cropped. 18 distinct texture features were calculated and their correlation with gender-age variations at different ROIs was studied through t-test statistical analysis.

RESULTS

For the 432 test pairs with different gender-age groups at different ROIs and texture features tested, 149 of them were shown to be statistically different at the 0.05 significance level and 60 of them at the 0.001 significance level. These features can therefore capture changes in trabecular patterns and have the potential to be used for trabecular analysis. Furthermore, fractal features were found to be better than intensity features in separating different gender-age groups. Trabecular patterns in the body of the mandible were more correlated with gender-age changes than other ROIs.

CONCLUSIONS

Multiple texture features on CBCT were found to be correlated with the cross gender-age variation of trabecular patterns. The results support the use of CBCT for advanced trabecular analysis, including osteoporosis screening tools in the jaws.

Abstract P4-07-11: Dual characteristics of microRNA-484 modulated cytidine deaminase (CDA) axis in breast cancer: Chemo-resistance and regulating cell proliferation

Acquired resistance to chemotherapy is a major clinical obstacle to achieve successful treatment in breast cancer. Cancer cells could evolve a complicated sensory network to develop resistance to chemo treatment. Recently, microRNAs modulated chemo-resistance is investigated as a new paradigm in cancer biology and some acquired mis-expression of miRs confer cancer cells to escape chemotherapy. However, it is important to address whether these miRs also play various intrinsic roles in carcinogenesis. Here, our study demonstrated that miR-484 could modulate cytidine deaminase (CDA) axis, playing various roles in chemo-resistance and cell proliferation.

We have generated a chemo-resistant breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231 Gem) which has 10 fold higher IC50 value than MDA-MB-231 cells in response to gemcitabine (dFdC) treatment through molecular evolution. Gene ontology analysis showed that cytidine degradation pathway was activated in the resistant cells, and qPCR array confirmed that cytidine deaminase (CDA), which converts dFdC to dFdU, was significantly upregulated. Interestingly, microRNA array analysis implicated that miR-484, which might target the 3’UTR region of CDA gene was down-regulated in these resistant cells. Furthermore, 3’UTR luciferase reporter assay and western blot revealed that miR-484 directly regulates CDA gene expression. Over-expression of miR-484 can sensibilize the resistant cells to dFdC treatment. Remarkably, restoration of CDA gene strongly converts miR-484–mediated dFdC sensibilization. These results implicated that miR-484/CDA axis play a pivotal role in chemo-resistance. Unexpectedly, further studies implicated that miR-484/CDA axis could also regulate cell proliferation due to disrupting cell cycle. We found that the chemo-resistant cells had deficiency in cell cycle progression at the S-phase transition, and miR-484 could significantly promote cell growth and overcome cell cycle arrest with CDA down-regulation. Moreover, reintroduction of CDA gene could abrogate miR-484-induced effects on cell proliferation via reactivating S-phase checkpoint. Importantly, the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis supported that higher expression of CDA in breast cancer patients indicates better outcome in DFS model.

In summary, this study uncovers for a previously unknown axis that cytidine deaminase was a direct downstream target for miR-484. The miR484/CDA axis could modulate cells into stagnant status for promoting cellular resistance to DNA damage agents in chemotherapy. On the other hand, as CDA gene participates in cell cycle S-phase arrest, miR484/CDA axis could also contribute to cell proliferation. Taken together, our findings provided new evidences that miR-484/CDA axis has various functions in cell proliferation and chemo-resistance and might be considered as a candidate therapeutic target in breast cancer.

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr P4-07-11.

Abstract P3-07-07: Single nucleotide polymorphisms of BRCA1-interacting genes are associated with triple-negative breast cancer in Chinese Han woman

Aims

The mutation of BRCA1 is reported to be linked to the onset of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, the incidence of mutation of BRCA1 in Chinese woman is very low. Recent studies have identified genes that encode proteins that interact with BRCA1 as modifiers of BRCA1-associated breast cancer. We evaluated a comprehensive set of genes that encode most known BRCA1 interactors to evaluate the role of these genes as modifiers of TNBC risk in Chinese Han woman.

Methods

After a proven by IRB, totally 414 patients with TNBC treated in Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center and 354 healthy women were recruited in this study. Written informed consents were obtained before their recruitment. The DNA from their peripheral blood were obtained. The single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) investigated in this study were consisted of SNPs reported in literatures, SNPs in function region (exons, intron-exon binding regions, promoters and 5’UTR) with MAF larger than 0.05 and tag SNPs in intron. In addition, SNPs that showed significant deviations (<0.05) from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium among controls or call rate less than 0.95 in the study were also excluded. Finally, 37 SNPs from 5 BRCA1-associated genes (Abraxas, BRE, Rap80, BABAM1, BRCC36) were analyzed by Massarray system.

Results

An association was observed between TNBC risk and rs7250266 at BABAM1. The allelic frequency for the G-allele of rs7250266 was 0.19 in controls compared with 0.14 in patients, with significant difference. A comparison of genotyping frequency between cases and controls indicated that GC genotype of rs7250266 were associated with significantly decreased TNBC risk (OR of GC genotype 0.70, 95% CI 0.51-0.97, OR of GG genotype 0.48, 95% CI 0.21-1.07, P = 0.03). Under a dominant model, it's shown that women with genotypes GC/GG of re7250266 conferred approximately 33% decreased risk to the development of breast cancer (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.49-0.92, P = 0.01). Another SNP at BABAM1, rs2278256 showed a borderline association with the risk of TNBC. It is also in one linkage disequilibrium (LD) block with rs7250266.

Two haplotypes at BABAM1 were demonstrated to be associated with a decrease risk of TNBC.

Haplotype Analysis to BABAM1SNPs    Frequency*OR (95%CI)Prs7250266rs2278256rs144376330rs10403581rs3745185   CACAG0.5281.00 CGCAG0.1720.99 (0.75-1.32)0.97GGCCG0.1490.75 (0.56-0.99)0.04CACCA0.1221.14 (0.83-1.57)0.41GGCAG0.0150.34 (0.14-0.85)0.02CATAG0.0121.00 (0.38-2.58)0.99*Haplotypes with frequency <1% were not analyzed

Conclusions

We investigated 37 SNPs in 5 BRCA1-associated genes and demonstrated the mutation of rs7250266 was associated with a decrease risk of developing TNBC in Chinese women. It's the first time this SNP was reported to be associated with breast cancer. Further analysis confirmed haplotypes with mutation of rs7250266 and rs2278256 had a lower risk of developing TNBC than other haplotypes.

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr P3-07-07.

Abstract P6-07-42: Patients with Nipple-areola Paget's Disease and Underlying Invasive Breast Carcinoma had a Very Poor Survival: a Matched Cohort Study

Purpose: Nipple-areola Paget's disease together with invasive breast cancer is a rare kind of disease. This study is to investigate the characteristic and survival of it.

Patients: From 2001 to 2005, all patients diagnosed as nipple-areola Paget's disease with underlying invasive breast carcinoma in Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (FUSCC) were recruited in this study (PD group).

Patients diagnosed as invasive breast cancer without Paget's disease were recruited in control group for clinical and pathologic features comparison.

Since tumors in PD group expressed more high risk factors (see results), a matched study was done to investigate whether the poor survival of PD group was by nature or due to the overexpression of high risk factors. The matched group was derived from all the patients who received mastectomy for invasive breast cancer (with no Paget's disease) during 2001 to 2005 in FUSCC. The match was conducted according to four variables: dimension of tumor, lymph node status, hormone receptor status and Her2 status. After matching, patients were randomly selected in a 3:1 ratio to patients in PD group.

Results: 52 patients were recruited in PD group. 22 (42.3%) patients' primary symptom were nipple change, 25 (48.1%) patients' primary symptom were mass in breast. Physical examination found no nipple-areola change in 24 patients at diagnosis, their Paget's disease were found unexpectedly by routine nipple-areola section examination after mastectomy.

More than 8000 invasive breast cancers were diagnosed during 2001 to 2005. 700 patients (140 consecutive patients per year, average monthly patient amount) were recruited in control group. Compared with control group, tumors in PD group had larger size, more axillary lymph node involvement, lower hormone receptor expression, higher HER2 expression and worse survival.

P5-14-09: Malignant Calcification Is an Important Prognostic Factor in Women with Invasive Breast Cancer – Suggestion for Regarding It as High-Risk Factor in Current Staging and Adjuvant Treatment Guidelines

Purpose: To investigate whether calcification is a prognostic factor for breast cancer.

Methods: A total of 804 patients with invasive breast cancer diagnosed between 2001 and 2003 were recruited and divided into two groups based on whether they had malignant calcification on mammogram. The association of calcification with lymph node status, grade, tumor size, ER, PR and Her2 status, 8-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) was evaluated. Survival difference was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier technique. The relative importance of each of the potentially prognostic variables was tested using Cox regression analysis.

Results: The incidence of malignant calcification in all breast cancer was 41.5%. Compared with tumor without calcification, those with calcification had a larger size (2.6cm vs 2.1cm, P=0.000), higher axillary lymph node (LN) positive rate (40.1% vs 31.5%, P=0.012), more LN involvement (14.8% vs 9.2%, P=0.000), lower ER (54.3% vs 65.1%, P=0.002) and PR (42.7% vs 60.6%, P=0.000) expression and higher Her2 expression (27.3% vs 14.7%, P=0.000).

The 8-year DFS was lower for patients with calcification than those without (89.9% vs. 76.8%, P=0.000). The 8-year OS for tumor with calcification was 82.2%, compared with 92.8% for those without (P=0.000).

Subgroup analysis showed that the shorter survival and higher relapse rate for tumors with calcification could be found in both LN- and LN+ patients, also could be found in T1, T2, Grade II, ER+, PR+ and Her2- patients.

The existence of calcification, LN stage, tumor size, ER status, and grade were significantly associated with survival in univariate analysis. Further Cox regression analysis demonstrated that calcification and LN stage maintained their prognostic significance in both DFS and OS. The hazard ratios of these factors are listed in Table 1.