[Survey on fungi contamination and natural occurrence of mycotoxins in 94 corn feed ingredients collected from China]

Objective: To investigate fungi contamination and the natural occurrence of mycotoxins in corn feed ingredients collected from China. Methods: A total of 94 corn feed ingredient samples were collected from 8 Chinese provinces(i.e., Anhui, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, and Shandong)in February 2014. A tandem ultra-performance liquid chromatographymass spectrometry method was used for simultaneous detection of twelve kinds of mycotoxins, including aflatoxin(AF), type A and type B tricothecenes, and zearalenone(ZEN). Contaminated fungi were also identified and counted. Results: AF was detected in 36.2%(34/94)of samples; the concentration of AFB₁ was the highest in the four AFs with the range: 0.3~181.3 μg/kg; and then followed by AFB₂(range: 1.0-74.3 μg/kg). There were 7 samples(7.5%)with AFB₁ concentrations higher than the tolerance limit of 50 μg/kg. The concentration of type A tricothecenes in all samples was lower(0.1-10.5 μg/kg). DON had the most serious contamination than other kind of type B tricothecenes(range: 0.7-606.6 μg/kg; median: 66.3 μg/kg). The DON concentration in all samples was below the tolerance limit of 1 000 μg/kg. ZEN was detected in 76.6%(72/ 94)of samples(median: 36.9 μg/kg), with 3 samples having ZEN concentrations higher than the tolerance limit of 500 μg/kg. The survey on fungi contamination showed that all samples were contaminated by fungi(range: 5.0-1.4×10⁵ CFU/g). There were 18 and 3 samples with quantities of fungi higher than the tolerance and forbidden limits, respectively. The Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Trichoderma and Mucor genuses were the predominant fungi in corn feed ingredients, with detection rates of 71.3%(67), 60.6%(57), 71.3%(67), 27.7%(26), and 24.5%(23), respectively. The detection rate of Fusarium moniliforme, 73.4%(69/94)was higher than that of Aspergillus flavus, 41.5%(39/94). Conclusion: In this survey, the corn feed ingredients were not seriously contaminated by AF and type A tricothecenes but mainly contaminated by type B trichothecenes, including DON and its derivatives, as well as ZEN. They were also contaminated by fungi such as Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Fusarium.

Association between polymorphisms in the promoter region of pri-miR-34b/c and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. MicroRNA-34 (miR-34) gene plays a key role in altering the apoptotic cycle and pathways of downstream cells, and therefore influences carcinogenesis. In this case-control study, we assessed the role of the pri-miR-34b/c rs4938723 polymorphism in HCC risk. The pri-miR-34b/c polymorphic genotype was determined in 286 patients with HCC and 572 controls using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The male gender (X² = 12.95, P < 0.001), regular alcohol consumption (X² = 16.81, P < 0.001), and a family history of cancer (X² = 11.88, P = 0.001) were associated with HCC risk. However, the age (t = 1.19, P = 0.12) and tobacco smoking habit (X² = 0.64, P = 0.42) of HCC patients were comparable to those of the controls. The TC (adjusted OR = 1.46, 95%CI = 1.06-2.01) and CC (adjusted OR = 3.07, 95%CI = 1.77-5.34) genotypes of pri-miR-34b/c rs4938723 were correlated with a higher risk of HCC compared to the TT genotype. Moreover, the TC+CC genotype was correlated with an increased risk of HCC compared to the TT genotype (adjusted OR = 1.64, 95%CI = 1.21-2.22). In the recessive model, the CC genotype of pri-miR-34b/c rs4938723 was significantly correlated with an elevated risk of HCC compared to the TT+TC genotype (adjusted OR = 2.50, 95%CI = 1.49-4.22). Further large-scale and multi-center studies are required to confirm these results.

Clinical application of whole-genome low-coverage next-generation sequencing to detect and characterize balanced chromosomal translocations

Individuals carrying balanced translocations have a high risk of birth defects, recurrent spontaneous abortions and infertility. Thus, the detection and characterization of balanced translocations is important to reveal the genetic background of the carriers and to provide proper genetic counseling. Next-generation sequencing (NGS), which has great advantages over other methods such as karyotyping and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), has been used to detect disease-associated breakpoints. Herein, to evaluate the application of this technology to detect balanced translocations in the clinic, we performed a parental study for prenatal cases with unbalanced translocations. Eight candidate families with potential balanced translocations were investigated using two strategies in parallel, low-coverage whole-genome sequencing (WGS) followed-up by Sanger sequencing and G-banding karyotype coupled with FISH. G-banding analysis revealed three balanced translocations, and FISH detected two cryptic submicroscopic balanced translocations. Consistently, WGS detected five balanced translocations and mapped all the breakpoints by Sanger sequencing. Analysis of the breakpoints revealed that six genes were disrupted in the four apparently healthy carriers. In summary, our result suggested low-coverage WGS can detect balanced translocations reliably and can map breakpoints precisely compared with conventional procedures. WGS may replace cytogenetic methods in the diagnosis of balanced translocation carriers in the clinic.

Meta-analysis of radiofrequency ablation for treating the local recurrence of thyroid cancers

OBJECTIVES

Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for localized recurrent thyroid cancers.

METHODS

We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of the scientific literature by searching the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science,Scopus and the Cochrane Library up to November 26, 2015. We assessed the pooled standard mean difference (SMD) of nodule volume, largest diameter and serum thyroglobulin (Tg) level by comparing pre-RFA with post-RFA using fixed or random-effects model. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the included studies, risk of bias in the selective populations, comparability of groups and exposure.

RESULTS

We finally identified nine articles including 189 patients (male: 54 and female: 135) with 255 tumor lesions, who underwent ultrasound (US)-guided RFA beyond the mean 6 months of follow-up. The results showed that tumor volume (SWD: 0.77, 95 % CI: 0.57-0.97, I (2) = 25.9 %, p = 0.231), largest diameter (SWD: 1.56, 95 % CI: 0.94-2.17, I (2) = 82.6 %, p < 0.001) and Tg level (SWD: 0.52, 95 % CI: 0.30-0.73, I (2) = 0 %, p = 0.493) were decreased and no significant publication bias was detectable.

CONCLUSIONS

The pooled data indicated that the prognosis improved for patients with localized recurrent thyroid cancers and RFA is a promising treatment for these patients with infeasible surgery.

Microscopic Characterization of Membrane Transporter Function by In Silico Modeling and Simulation

Membrane transporters mediate one of the most fundamental processes in biology. They are the main gatekeepers controlling active traffic of materials in a highly selective and regulated manner between different cellular compartments demarcated by biological membranes. At the heart of the mechanism of membrane transporters lie protein conformational changes of diverse forms and magnitudes, which closely mediate critical aspects of the transport process, most importantly the coordinated motions of remotely located gating elements and their tight coupling to chemical processes such as binding, unbinding and translocation of transported substrate and cotransported ions, ATP binding and hydrolysis, and other molecular events fueling uphill transport of the cargo. An increasing number of functional studies have established the active participation of lipids and other components of biological membranes in the function of transporters and other membrane proteins, often acting as major signaling and regulating elements. Understanding the mechanistic details of these molecular processes require methods that offer high spatial and temporal resolutions. Computational modeling and simulations technologies empowered by advanced sampling and free energy calculations have reached a sufficiently mature state to become an indispensable component of mechanistic studies of membrane transporters in their natural environment of the membrane. In this article, we provide an overview of a number of major computational protocols and techniques commonly used in membrane transporter modeling and simulation studies. The article also includes practical hints on effective use of these methods, critical perspectives on their strengths and weak points, and examples of their successful applications to membrane transporters, selected from the research performed in our own laboratory.

Hormonal and reproductive factors and risk of esophageal cancer in women: a meta-analysis

Currently published studies on the relationship between hormonal and reproductive factors and esophageal cancer (EC) risk in women have yielded contradictory findings. For a better understanding of this relationship, we first performed this meta-analysis by pooling all available publications. Sixteen independent studies were retrieved after a comprehensive search in PubMed and Embase databases. The pooled relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated. The pooled RRs implicated that hormone replacement therapy was negatively associated with the risk of EC (RR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.60-0.86, P < 0.001) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (RR = 0.68, 95% CI 0.48-0.97, P = 0.031). Menopausal women were at an increased risk of EC (RR = 1.47, 95% CI 1.07-2.03, P = 0.018), particularly esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (RR = 1.66, 95% CI 1.12-2.48, P = 0.012). Additionally, decreased risk of EC (RR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.68-0.92, P = 0.003) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (RR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.53-0.82, P < 0.001) was demonstrated among women with breast-feeding history. Moreover, such associations were more significant among Caucasians, but not Asians. Our study suggests that menopause is an independent risk factor for EC, while hormone replacement therapy and breast-feeding history play a protective role against EC, particularly among Caucasians. All results are consistent with the hypothesis that effects of estrogen may lower the risk of EC in women.

[3.0 T MR diffusion tentor imaging in the differential diagnosis of breast mass lesions]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the differential diagnostic value of DTI parameters in breast mass lesions by comparing apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), fractional aniotropy (FA) and maximum eigenvalue (λ1)of normal glandular tissue, benign lesions and malignant lesions.

METHODS

A total of 71 women patients with 74 mass lesions between December 2013 and October 2015 were enrolled from Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital.MRI protocol included dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI)and diffusion tentor imaging(DTI) were executed.The ADC, λ1 and FA of lesions and normal glandular tissue were calculated.The ADC, λ1 and FA of lesions were compared by paired t test between the benign/malignant tumors and the contratlateral healthy breast tissue.ROC curve analysis was performed to compare diagnostic performance based on the area under the curve(AUC). The sensitivity and specificity of the DCE-MRI combined with ADC and DCE-MRI combined with λ1 were calculated.

RESULTS

The ADC, FA and λ1 values of malignant lesions were (1.09±0.18)×10(-3) mm(2)/s, 0.22±0.02 and(0.97±0.19)×10(-3) mm(2)/s , these values of benign lesions were (1.52±0.19)×10(-3) mm(2)/s, 0.21±0.02 and(1.79±0.19)×10(-3) mm(2)/s, there were statistically significant differences (all P<0.05). Area under the curve of ADC, FA and λ1 were 0.990, 0.605 and 0.978, respectively. The AUC of FA was lower than that of ADC and λ1(P<0.01, <0.01), but there was no difference between the AUC of ADC and that of λ1(P=0.131 6). The sensitivity DCE-MRI combined with ADC and DCE-MRI combined with λ1 was 88.6% vs 97.1%(P=0.353 3), the specificity was 84.6% vs 97.4%(P=0.113 0).

CONCLUSION

ADC and λ1 is helpful to differentiate malignant from benign in mass lesions.

Abstract S5-01: Whole exome sequencing of pre-treatment biopsies from the neoALTTO trial to identify DNA aberrations associated with response to HER2-targeted therapies

Background: We examined if alterations in nucleic acid variants, genes, pathways, and overall mutational load and clonal entropy are associated with pathologic complete response (pCR) and survival after neoadjuvant anti-HER2 therapies in the NeoALTTO trial.

Methods: Whole exome sequencing was performed of 203 baseline biopsies with outcome information. The mean nucleotide coverage was 150x with &gt;90% of target bases showing &gt; 30x coverage in &gt; 99% of samples. Somatic mutations were called by MuTect and indels by Strelka, using pooled reference normal DNA. Significantly mutated genes (FDR&lt;10%) were identified by MutSigCV. Mutations in 714 canonical biological pathways were assessed and mutational load and genome clonal entropy (MATH) were calculated. Association with pCR and survival were evaluated by logistic regression adjusted for ER status and Cox-proportional hazards regression.

Results: Only 12 genes had mutation rates significantly above background and among these only PI3KCA was associated with lower pCR rate (OR=0.42, p=0.019). Genes with somatic mutations in more than 10 patients were also assessed, but none were associated with pCR or survival. Clonal entropy or adjusted mutation load also did not correlate with response. Mutations in 33 pathways showed significant association with response in the entire cohort. In the trastuzumab arm, 23 of the 33 pathways showed an association with response but none was independent of PIK3CA mutation. We constructed "PIK3CA-gene network" that included all unique genes (n=439) from theese 23 pathways. Of the 66 patients in the trastuzumab arm, 50 carried at least one mutation in one of the 439 genes and among these only 2 achieved pCR (4%) compared to 9 of 16 pCR (56%) among the wild type (OR=0.035; p &lt; 0.001). The same genes/mutations had little impact on pCR in the lapatinib arm (pCR 20%). In the lapatinib arm, mutations in 3 pathways conferred higher probability of pCR. The "Regulation of RhoA activity" pathway, had the most significant association with pCR in the entire cohort (OR=3.77, p=0.0009) and in the lapatininb (pCR 67% vs 17%, OR=14.8, p=0.008) and lapatinib + trastuzumab (OR=3.0, p=0.06) arms, but not in the trastuzumab arm (OR=1.4, p=0.7). Event free and overall survival were also significantly higher in patients who had mutations in this pathway. Twenty seven of the 48 genes in this pathway had mutations affecting 33 patients but different genes were affected in different individuals.

Conclusions: There are no high frequency recurrent single mutations associated with response to HER2-targeted therapies, other than PIK3CA. We identified several biological pathways, including RhoA activity, and a network of PIK3CA associated genes that are significantly associated with response when affected by mutations, however, different genes are mutated in different individuals.

Citation Format: Pusztai L, Shi W, Jiang T, Nuciforo P, Holmes E, Harbeck N, Sotiriou C, Rimm D, Hatzis C, de la Peña L, Armour A, Piccart-Gebhart M, Baselga J. Whole exome sequencing of pre-treatment biopsies from the neoALTTO trial to identify DNA aberrations associated with response to HER2-targeted therapies. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr S5-01.

Abstract P4-04-20: Subtype specific differential expression and immunogenicity of endogenous retrovirus elements in breast cancer

Background: Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are germline encoded DNA sequences that entered the human genome millions of years ago. While they are mostly inactivated due to accumulated termination codons and deletions, previous studies have demonstrated overexpression and antibody-targeted immunotherapeutic potential, of ERV-related env proteins in breast cancer. We sought to elucidate subtype specificity, immunogenicity, and correlation with innate immunity related gene signatures of ERVs in breast cancer.

Methods: We utilized publically available RNASeq gene expression data of breast cancer samples along and corresponding matched normals from TCGA. The dataset included 191 ER-/HER2- (TN), 197 HER2+, and 627 ER+/HER2- (Luminal) breast cancers. ERV expression was obtained by mapping bowtie2-aligned reads of recently annotated to be transcriptionally active to the RNAseq bam files (Rooney et al 2015, Mayer et al 2011). ERVs preferentially expressed in tumors compared normal tissue were identified as those for which the 5th percentile of ERV expression in the tumors exceeded the 95th percentile of ERV expression in the normal samples. A gene signature involving GZMB, PRF1, CXCL13, IRF1, IKZF1, and HLA-E was used as a measure of immune activity. To assess the immunogenic potential of the tumor-specific ERVs, we compared the expression level of the ERV within the lower and higher immune signature tertiles using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. To elucidate mechanism of potential immune response, ERVs found to be significantly associated with immune response at a false discovery rate of &lt; 10% were further analyzed for association with specific toll-like receptor (TLR) gene expression.

Results: Out of the 66 original annotated ERVs, 47 were found to be expressed at significantly higher levels in breast cancer compared to normal tissue and 22 were immunogenic. Examples include members of the ERV-K family, as have also been previously detected by flow cytometry and IHC. Subtype-specific immunogenic potential was demonstrated in 4 ERVs in TNBC (ERVK10, ERVK17, ERVFRD.1, ERVPABLB.1) and in 7 ERVs in the luminal subtype (ERV3.1, ERVE.4, ERVFRD.2, ERVK.15, ERVK.19, ERVK.20, ERVK.25, ERVW.3). Twelve of the 22 immunogenic ERVs were significantly correlated with expression of all ten TLR evaluated, while four ERVs showed more specific correlation patterns with TLRs. High ERV3.1 expression was associated with high TLR3, TLR8, TLR9 that specifically target double stranded or single stranded RNA, suggesting a potential mechanism for mediation of ERV related immune response.

Conclusion: Our results suggest breast cancer subtype specific ERV dysregulation and immunogenicity. The potentially immunogenic ERVs were generally not self-correlated or located in the same amplicon as HLA genes, suggesting an independent immune response pathway. Furthermore, ERV expression correlates with specific endosomal nucleic-acid recognizing toll-like receptors, which may prompt further investigation into subtype-specific TLR-targeted therapy.

Citation Format: Safonov A, Bianchini G, Jiang T, Pusztai L, Hatzis C. Subtype specific differential expression and immunogenicity of endogenous retrovirus elements in breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-04-20.

Abstract P4-04-04: Triple-negative (TN) and HER2+ breast cancers (BC) have different immune milieu in primary and metastatic tumors

Background: In TN and HER2+ early BCs, a high immune infiltration is linked to good prognosis and improved treatment benefit. Little is known about the characteristics of the immune milieu of BCs in metastatic disease. We aimed to investigate differences of the immune microenvironment between cohorts of primary early breast cancer (EBC) and metastatic (MBC) tumors according to molecular subtypes.

Methods: We identified publicly available gene expression profiles (GEPs) of MBCs profiled either on Agilent (n=12, cohort I) or AffymetrixU133A (n=36, cohort II). These included 21 ER-/HER2- (TN), 10 HER2+ and 17 ER+/HER2- (Luminal). From GEPs of EBC profiled on the same platforms, we randomly selected two cohorts with the same molecular subtype composition (n=65 and n=230) and compared them with MBCs. We assessed differential expression of 40 pre-selected immune genes belonging to six immune-related metagenes [CD8, IGG and MHC2, related to T cells, plasma cells and antigen presenting cells respectively; MHC1, STAT1 and IF.I related to HLA class I genes; and genes modulated by interferon (Gianni L SABCS 2012)]. We also evaluated β2-microglobulin (B2M), for its role in the MHC1 complex, and an immune signature associated with benefit from pembrolizumab in melanoma (Ribas A ASCO 2015).

Results: In cohort I (Agilent), only 33 genes were annotated. Overall, 16/33 (48.4%) genes had a significantly lower expression in MBC (p&lt;0.05). In TN and HER2+ MBCs 18 and 11 genes were significantly lower than in EBC, respectively (p&lt;0.05) (6 in both), while only one was lower in luminal MBCs (IGHM). In cohort II (Affymetrix), 26/40 genes (65%) had lower expression in MBC (p&lt;0.05). Considering molecular subtypes, 25 and 19 genes were lower in TN and HER2+, respectively (17 in both), and only one in ER+/HER2- (IL7R). In ER+/HER2- one gene was higher in MBC (IFIT2). In TN and HER2+ the genes with lower expression in MBC belong to all immune functional categories, in particular MHC1 (HLA-A, B and C), STAT1 (STAT1, CXCL10, CXCL11, GBP1), MHC2 (HLA-DQB1 and DRB4) and T cells (CD52, IL7R and TRBC1). B2M was significantly lower in all MBC patients, and in HER2+ and TN groups both in cohort I (p=0.0002; p=0.006 and p=0.0005, respectively) and in cohort II (p&lt;1E10-6; p=0.0008 and p=0.00004, respectively), while it was modestly lower in ER+/HER2- in cohort II only (p=0.027). The signature associated with benefit from pembrolizumab in melanoma was significantly lower in TN and HER2+ MBC in both cohort I (p=0.003) and cohort II (p=0.001), but not in luminal cases.

Conclusions: TN and HER2+ MBCs have a "colder" immune microenvironment than primary tumors, with significantly lower expression of genes related to immune response and to antigen presentation (B2M and MHC1). This is consistent with the lower TILs we have described in a small series of paired EBC-MBC (Ogiya R ASCO 2015), suggesting the engagement of mechanisms of immune escape during the metastatic process. However, the "cold" immune milieu observed in MBC could also result from selection of low immunogenic tumors more likely to relapse. Our findings suggest that use of immune-checkpoints inhibitors in MBCs may require the combination with agents able to turn on an immunogenic response.

Citation Format: Bianchini G, Riba M, Zambelli S, Safonov A, Ogiya R, Jiang T, Hatzis C, Niikura N, Zambetti M, Iwamoto T, Pusztai L, Gianni L. Triple-negative (TN) and HER2+ breast cancers (BC) have different immune milieu in primary and metastatic tumors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-04-04.

Abstract P4-07-01: DNA repair deficiency enhances immune response and correlates with excellent clinical outcome in triple negative breast cancer

Background: Mutations or epigenetic silencing of BRCA1/2 genes result in DNA repair deficiency in a large proportion of TNBC cases. Yet it is unclear whether this deficiency is associated with increased chemosensitivity and improved benefit from standard-of-care chemotherapy. We systematically evaluated BRCA deficiency in TNBC using integrated DNA and RNA sequencing data and its association clinical outcome, exploring the potential role of tumor immune response.

Patients and Methods: Whole-exome, DNA methylation, copy number variation, and RNA sequencing data from 102 stage I-III TNBCs were retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Almost all patients received adjuvant taxane-anthracycline-cyclophosphamide (T-AC) chemotherapy and had &gt;30 days of follow-up. The number of predicted neoantigens and an estimate of the level of immune cell activity for 77 of these tumors were previously published. Deleterious germline or somatic BRCA1/2 mutations were identified by majority voting on predictions of 5 variant scoring algorithms. Definition of BRCA1/2 deficiency (BRCA-D) included carrier of deleterious BRCA1/2 mutations or BRACA1/2 normal (BRCA-N) with wild type BRCA1/2 expression less than the maximum observed in mutation carriers. Normalized genomic mutation rate and mutant allele tumor heterogeneity (MATH) were computed as broad measures of genomic instability. Characteristics of BRCA-D vs N tumors were compared using the Wilcoxon rank test.

Results: Twenty tumors (19.6%) had mutations in BRCA1, 6 (5.8%) in BRCA2, and 2 (1.9%) in both. Based on the expanded definition, 39 cases (38%) were characterized as BRCA1 deficient, 5 (4.9%) as BRCA2 deficient and 4 (3.9%) as deficient in both. BRCA-D tumors (47%) were associated with a significantly higher mutation rate (P=8x10-4) but had similar clonal heterogeneity (P=0.55) as BRCA-N tumors. BRCA-D tumors had excellent 4-year overall survival (100%) compared to 79.5% (95%CI: 66.6- 94.9) for BRCA-N tumors (log-rank P=0.02). BRCA-D tumors also presented a significantly higher number of predicted neoantigents (P=0.003), which resulted in increased level of immune cell activity. In contrast, low immunogenic TNBC tumors were underrepresented in BRCA-D (p=0.05) and showed potential signs of immunoediting (observed/expected number of predicted neoantigens &lt; 1; p=0.07).

Conclusions: Deleterious mutations in BRCA1/2 genes occur in 25% of TNBC tumors, but parallel quantification of wild-type BRCA1/2 expression identifies 47% of TNBC samples with double strand break DNA repair deficiency. These BRCA-D TNBC tumors are characterized by a significantly higher mutation rate and present a significantly greater number of neoantigens that result in increased immune cell activity. Our analysis suggested that enhanced immune activation could explain to a large extent the excellent clinical outcome in patients with BRCA-D tumors treated with standard-of-care T-AC chemotherapy.

Citation Format: Jiang T, Safonov A, Bianchini G, Shi W, Wali VB, Pusztai L, Hatzis C. DNA repair deficiency enhances immune response and correlates with excellent clinical outcome in triple negative breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-07-01.

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging study of schizophrenia in the context of abnormal neurodevelopment using multiple site data in a Chinese Han population

Schizophrenia has increasingly been considered a neurodevelopmental disorder, and the advancement of neuroimaging techniques and associated computational methods has enabled quantitative re-examination of this important theory on the pathogenesis of the disease. Inspired by previous findings from neonatal brains, we proposed that an increase in diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) mean diffusivity (MD) should be observed in the cerebral cortex of schizophrenia patients compared with healthy controls, corresponding to lower tissue complexity and potentially a failure to reach cortical maturation. We tested this hypothesis using dMRI data from a Chinese Han population comprising patients from four different hospital sites. Utilizing data-driven methods based on the state-of-the-art tensor-based registration algorithm, significantly increased MD measurements were consistently observed in the cortex of schizophrenia patients across all four sites, despite differences in psychopathology, exposure to antipsychotic medication and scanners used for image acquisition. Specifically, we found increased MD in the limbic system of the schizophrenic brain, mainly involving the bilateral insular and prefrontal cortices. In light of the existing literature, we speculate that this may represent a neuroanatomical signature of the disorder, reflecting microstructural deficits due to developmental abnormalities. Our findings not only provide strong support to the abnormal neurodevelopment theory of schizophrenia, but also highlight an important neuroimaging endophenotype for monitoring the developmental trajectory of high-risk subjects of the disease, thereby facilitating early detection and prevention.

Radiologic Features and Expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Stratify Survival Outcomes in Patients with Glioblastoma

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Vascular endothelial growth factor is a well-known tumor-specific biomarker that mediates angiogenesis in glioblastoma via hypoxia-dependent mechanisms. Our aim was to investigate the correlation of clinical characteristics, radiologic features, and vascular endothelial growth factor expression with survival outcomes in patients with glioblastoma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Clinical and radiologic data of 185 patients with glioblastoma were retrospectively reviewed. Vascular endothelial growth factor expression was examined in all cases via immunohistochemical analysis. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the prognostic factors of progression-free survival and overall survival.

RESULTS

Vascular endothelial growth factor expression levels were associated with the presence of ringlike tumor contrast enhancement. Age, preoperative Karnofsky Performance Scale score, gross total resection, and adjuvant therapy were identified as prognostic factors. Among patients undergoing gross total resection, high vascular endothelial growth factor expression was associated with longer progression-free survival (P = .011) and overall survival (P = .039). For tumors with high vascular endothelial growth factor expression, both the non-contrast-enhancing tumor component and peritumoral edema could stratify overall survival (P = .039 and .018, respectively), while only the presence of the non-contrast-enhancing tumor component predicted a longer progression-free survival (P = .024).

CONCLUSIONS

Vascular endothelial growth factor expression level was not an independent prognostic factor in glioblastoma. However, high vascular endothelial growth factor expression might predict longer survival in patients in whom gross total resection was achieved. Furthermore, peritumoral edema and the non-contrast-enhancing tumor component could stratify survival outcomes in patients with high vascular endothelial growth factor tumors.

Patterns of Tumor Contrast Enhancement Predict the Prognosis of Anaplastic Gliomas with IDH1 Mutation

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It is proposed that isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutation predicts the outcome in patients with high-grade glioma. In addition, contrast enhancement on preoperative MR imaging reflects tumor biologic features. Patients with anaplastic glioma with the IDH1 mutation were evaluated by using MR imaging to determine whether tumor enhancement is a prognostic factor and can be used to predict survival.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cohort of 216 patients with histologically confirmed anaplastic glioma was reviewed retrospectively. Tumor contrast-enhancement patterns were classified on the basis of preoperative T1 contrast MR images. Tumor IDH1 status was examined by using RNA sequencing. We used univariate analysis and the multivariate Cox model to evaluate the prognostic value of the IDH1 mutation and tumor contrast-enhancement pattern for progression-free survival and overall survival.

RESULTS

In all 216 patients, IDH1 mutation was associated with longer progression-free survival (P = .004, hazard ratio = 0.439) and overall survival (P = .002, hazard ratio = 0.406). For patients with IDH1 mutant anaplastic glioma, the absence of contrast enhancement was associated with longer progression-free survival (P = .038, hazard ratio = 0.473) and overall survival (P = .043, hazard ratio = 0.436). Furthermore, we were able to stratify the progression-free survival and overall survival of patients with IDH1 mutation by using the tumor contrast-enhancement patterns (P = .022 and 0.029, respectively; log-rank).

CONCLUSIONS

Tumor enhancement on postcontrast MR imaging is a valuable prognostic factor for patients with anaplastic glioma and IDH1 mutation. Furthermore, the contrast-enhancement patterns could potentially be used to stratify the survival outcome of such patients.

Treatment and mechanism of BMMSCs on deep II degree scald of hamster skin

In this study, we examined the treatment and mechanism of BMMSC on a deep II degree scald of the hamster skin. A deep II degree scald model on the skin of 40 hamsters was duplicated and divided randomly into a stem cell plantation group (group A) and model control group (group B). Skin cells were cultured in vitro until the allogeneic BMMSCs of the 5th generation formed with a cell count of 1 x 10(7)/mL. Local injection plus liquid supernatant smearing was used to plant the cells into the position of the scald in the stem cell plantation group. The control group was given an equivalent amount of normal saline to observe the healing action, and 5 samples were taken in each group after 1, 3, 7, and 14 days for hematoxylin and eosin staining for physiological observation. Polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the amount of chymotrypsin in mast cells. The speed of healing in the stem cell transplantation group was greater than that in the control group; staining results showed that the quality of healing in the transplantation group was better than that in the control group. Chymotrypsin expression was detected in both groups, reaching a peak on day 3. BMMSCs can accelerate wound healing, and chymotrypsin in mast cells may participate in the wound healing process.

The mitochondrial thioredoxin is required for liver development in zebrafish

Thioredoxins (Trxs) are a class of small molecular redox proteins that play an important role in scavenging abnormally accumulated reactive oxygen species (ROS). Thioredoxin 2 (Trx2) is one member of this family located in mitochondria. Trx2 protects cells from increased oxidative stress and has anti-apoptosis function. Knockout of Trx2 in mice led to early embryonic lethality. However, the essential role of Trx2 during embryogenesis remains unclear. To further investigate the role of Trx2 during embryonic development, we performed Trx2 knockdown in zebrafish and investigated the regulation role of Trx2 during embryonic development. Our results indicate that Trx2 had a high expression in early zebrafish embryos and its knockdown in zebrafish led to defective liver development mainly due to increased hepatic cell death. The increased ROS and the imbalance of members of the Bcl-2 family were involved in cell death induced by Trx2 suppression in zebrafish. The dysregulation of Bax, puma and Bcl-xl promoted the reduction of mitochondrial trans-membrane potential and the mitochondria membrane permeabilization (MMP), which initiated the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway. Additionally, we found that the increase of relocated GAPDH in mitochondria may be another factor responsible for the mitochondrial catastrophe.

An association analysis between psychophysical characteristics and genome-wide gene expression changes in human adaptation to the extreme climate at the Antarctic Dome Argus

Genome-wide gene expression measurements have enabled comprehensive studies that integrate the changes of gene expression and phenotypic information to uncover their novel associations. Here we reported the association analysis between psychophysical phenotypes and genome-wide gene expression changes in human adaptation to one of the most extreme climates on Earth, the Antarctic Dome Argus. Dome A is the highest ice feature in Antarctica, and may be the coldest, driest and windiest location on earth. It is considered unapproachable due to its hostile environment. In 2007, a Chinese team of 17 male explorers made the expedition to Dome A for scientific investigation. Overall, 133 psychophysical phenotypes were recorded, and genome-wide gene expression profiles from the blood samples of the explorers were measured before their departure and upon their arrival at Dome A. We found that mood disturbances, including tension (anxiety), depression, anger and fatigue, had a strong, positive, linear relationship with the level of a male sex hormone, testosterone, using the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) analysis. We also demonstrated that significantly lowest-level Gene Ontology groups in changes of gene expression in blood cells with erythrocyte removal were consistent with the adaptation of the psychophysical characteristics. Interestingly, we discovered a list of genes that were strongly related to significant phenotypes using phenotype and gene expression PCC analysis. Importantly, among the 70 genes that were identified, most were significantly related to mood disturbances, where 42 genes have been reported in the literature mining, suggesting that the other 28 genes were likely novel genes involved in the mood disturbance mechanism. Taken together, our association analysis provides a reliable method to uncover novel genes and mechanisms related to phenotypes, although further studies are needed.

Association of compartment defects in anorectal and pelvic floor dysfunction with female outlet obstruction constipation (OOC) by dynamic MR defecography

OBJECTIVE

Chronic constipation affects more than 17% of the global population worldwide, and up to 50% of patients were outlet obstruction constipation (OOC). Women and the elderly are most likely to be affected, due to female-specific risk factors, such as menopause, parity and multiparity. The aim of our study was to investigate the association of compartment defects in anorectal and pelvic floor dysfunction with female outlet obstruction constipation (OOC) by MR defecography.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Fifty-six consecutive women diagnosed with outlet obstruction constipation from October 2009 to July 2011 were included. They were categorized into the following groups: anorectal disorder only group (27 patients) and anorectal disorder plus multi-compartment pelvic disorder group (29 patients). Relevant measurements were taken at rest, during squeezing and straining.

RESULTS

Anismus was significantly more common in the anorectal disorder group compared to the multi-compartment pelvic disorder group. Conversely, rectocele, rectal prolapse, and descending perineum were significantly more common in the multi-compartment pelvic disorder group compared to the anorectal disorder group. Of the total 56 OOC patients, 34 (60.7%) exhibited anismus and 38 (67.9%) rectocele. Among the anismus patients, there were 8 patients (23.5%) with combined cystocele, and 6 patients (17.6%) with combined vaginal/cervical prolapse. Among the rectocele patients, there were 23 patients (60.5%) with combined cystocele and 18 patients (47.4%) with combined vaginal/cervical prolapse. With respect to anorectal defects, 13 anismus patients (38.2%) were with signal posterior pelvic defects, 4 rectocele patients (10.5%) presented with signal posterior pelvic defects.

CONCLUSIONS

Inadequate defecatory propulsion due to outlet obstruction constipation is often associated with multi-compartment pelvic floor disorders, whereas not about dyssynergic defecation.