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Gourdine JPF, Brush MH, Vasilevsky NA, Shefchek K, Köhler S, Matentzoglu N, Munoz-Torres MC, McMurry JA, Zhang XA, Robinson PN, Haendel MA. Representing glycophenotypes: semantic unification of glycobiology resources for disease discovery. Database (Oxford) 2019; 2019:baz114. [PMID: 31735951 PMCID: PMC6859258 DOI: 10.1093/database/baz114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2019] [Revised: 08/27/2019] [Accepted: 08/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
While abnormalities related to carbohydrates (glycans) are frequent for patients with rare and undiagnosed diseases as well as in many common diseases, these glycan-related phenotypes (glycophenotypes) are not well represented in knowledge bases (KBs). If glycan-related diseases were more robustly represented and curated with glycophenotypes, these could be used for molecular phenotyping to help to realize the goals of precision medicine. Diagnosis of rare diseases by computational cross-species comparison of genotype-phenotype data has been facilitated by leveraging ontological representations of clinical phenotypes, using Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO), and model organism ontologies such as Mammalian Phenotype Ontology (MP) in the context of the Monarch Initiative. In this article, we discuss the importance and complexity of glycobiology and review the structure of glycan-related content from existing KBs and biological ontologies. We show how semantically structuring knowledge about the annotation of glycophenotypes could enhance disease diagnosis, and propose a solution to integrate glycophenotypes and related diseases into the Unified Phenotype Ontology (uPheno), HPO, Monarch and other KBs. We encourage the community to practice good identifier hygiene for glycans in support of semantic analysis, and clinicians to add glycomics to their diagnostic analyses of rare diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Philippe F Gourdine
- Oregon Clinical & Translational Research Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
- OHSU Library, Oregon Health & Science University Library, Portland, OR 97239, USA
- Monarch Initiative, monarchinitiative.org
| | - Matthew H Brush
- Oregon Clinical & Translational Research Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
- Monarch Initiative, monarchinitiative.org
| | - Nicole A Vasilevsky
- Oregon Clinical & Translational Research Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
- Monarch Initiative, monarchinitiative.org
| | - Kent Shefchek
- Monarch Initiative, monarchinitiative.org
- Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
| | - Sebastian Köhler
- Monarch Initiative, monarchinitiative.org
- Charité Centrum für Therapieforschung, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin 10117, Germany
| | - Nicolas Matentzoglu
- Monarch Initiative, monarchinitiative.org
- European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Cambridge, UK
| | - Monica C Munoz-Torres
- Monarch Initiative, monarchinitiative.org
- Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
| | - Julie A McMurry
- Monarch Initiative, monarchinitiative.org
- Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
| | - Xingmin Aaron Zhang
- Monarch Initiative, monarchinitiative.org
- The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, CT 06032, USA
| | - Peter N Robinson
- Monarch Initiative, monarchinitiative.org
- The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, CT 06032, USA
| | - Melissa A Haendel
- Oregon Clinical & Translational Research Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
- Monarch Initiative, monarchinitiative.org
- Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
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Emergence of a new epidemic Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A Clone in the African meningitis belt: high-resolution picture of genomic changes that mediate immune evasion. mBio 2014; 5:e01974-14. [PMID: 25336458 PMCID: PMC4212839 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01974-14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
In the African “meningitis belt,” outbreaks of meningococcal meningitis occur in cycles, representing a model for the role of host-pathogen interactions in epidemic processes. The periodicity of the epidemics is not well understood, nor is it currently possible to predict them. In our longitudinal colonization and disease surveys, we have observed waves of clonal replacement with the same serogroup, suggesting that immunity to noncapsular antigens plays a significant role in natural herd immunity. Here, through comparative genomic analysis of 100 meningococcal isolates, we provide a high-resolution view of the evolutionary changes that occurred during clonal replacement of a hypervirulent meningococcal clone (ST-7) by a descendant clone (ST-2859). We show that the majority of genetic changes are due to homologous recombination of laterally acquired DNA, with more than 20% of these events involving acquisition of DNA from other species. Signals of adaptation to evade herd immunity were indicated by genomic hot spots of recombination. Most striking is the high frequency of changes involving the pgl locus, which determines the glycosylation patterns of major protein antigens. High-frequency changes were also observed for genes involved in the regulation of pilus expression and the synthesis of Maf3 adhesins, highlighting the importance of these surface features in host-pathogen interaction and immune evasion. While established meningococcal capsule polysaccharide vaccines are protective through the induction of anticapsular antibodies, findings of our longitudinal studies in the African meningitis belt have indicated that immunity to noncapsular antigens plays a significant role in natural herd immunity. Our results show that meningococci evade herd immunity through the rapid homologous replacement of just a few key genomic loci that affect noncapsular cell surface components. Identification of recombination hot spots thus represents an eminent approach to gain insight into targets of protective natural immune responses. Moreover, our results highlight the role of the dynamics of the protein glycosylation repertoire in immune evasion by Neisseria meningitidis. These results have major implications for the design of next-generation protein-based subunit vaccines.
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Abstract
Type IV pili (T4P) are multifunctional protein fibers produced on the surfaces of a wide variety of bacteria and archaea. The major subunit of T4P is the type IV pilin, and structurally related proteins are found as components of the type II secretion (T2S) system, where they are called pseudopilins; of DNA uptake/competence systems in both Gram-negative and Gram-positive species; and of flagella, pili, and sugar-binding systems in the archaea. This broad distribution of a single protein family implies both a common evolutionary origin and a highly adaptable functional plan. The type IV pilin is a remarkably versatile architectural module that has been adopted widely for a variety of functions, including motility, attachment to chemically diverse surfaces, electrical conductance, acquisition of DNA, and secretion of a broad range of structurally distinct protein substrates. In this review, we consider recent advances in this research area, from structural revelations to insights into diversity, posttranslational modifications, regulation, and function.
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