Expression of the human herpesvirus 6A latency-associated transcript U94A impairs cytoskeletal functions in human neural cells

Many neurodegenerative diseases have a multifactorial etiology and variable course of progression that cannot be explained by current models. Neurotropic viruses have long been suggested to play a role in these diseases, although their exact contributions remain unclear. Human herpesvirus 6A (HHV-6A) is one of the most common viruses detected in the adult brain, and has been clinically associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), and, more recently, Alzheimer's disease (AD). HHV-6A is a ubiquitous viral pathogen capable of infecting glia and neurons. Primary infection in childhood is followed by the induction of latency, characterized by expression of the U94A viral transcript in the absence of viral replication. Here we examine the effects of U94A on cells of the central nervous system. We found that U94A expression inhibits the migration and impairs cytoplasmic maturation of human oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) without affecting their viability, a phenotype that may contribute to the failure of remyelination seen in many patients with MS. A subsequent proteomics analysis of U94A expression OPCs revealed altered expression of genes involved in tubulin associated cytoskeletal regulation. As HHV-6A seems to significantly be associated with early AD pathology, we extended our initially analysis of the impact of U94A on human derived neurons. We found that U94A expression inhibits neurite outgrowth of primary human cortical neurons and impairs synapse maturation. Based on these data we suggest that U94A expression by latent HHV-6A in glial cells and neurons renders them susceptible to dysfunction and degeneration. Therefore, latent viral infections of the brain represent a unique pathological risk factor that may contribute to disease processes.

Automated subset identification and characterization pipeline for multidimensional flow and mass cytometry data clustering and visualization

When examining datasets of any dimensionality, researchers frequently aim to identify individual subsets (clusters) of objects within the dataset. The ubiquity of multidimensional data has motivated the replacement of user-guided clustering with fully automated clustering. The fully automated methods are designed to make clustering more accurate, standardized and faster. However, the adoption of these methods is still limited by the lack of intuitive visualization and cluster matching methods that would allow users to readily interpret fully automatically generated clusters. To address these issues, we developed a fully automated subset identification and characterization (SIC) pipeline providing robust cluster matching and data visualization tools for high-dimensional flow/mass cytometry (and other) data. This pipeline automatically (and intuitively) generates two-dimensional representations of high-dimensional datasets that are safe from the curse of dimensionality. This new approach allows more robust and reproducible data analysis,+ facilitating the development of new gold standard practices across laboratories and institutions.

Single-cell transcriptomics of 20 mouse organs creates a Tabula Muris

Here we present a compendium of single-cell transcriptomic data from the model organism Mus musculus that comprises more than 100,000 cells from 20 organs and tissues. These data represent a new resource for cell biology, reveal gene expression in poorly characterized cell populations and enable the direct and controlled comparison of gene expression in cell types that are shared between tissues, such as T lymphocytes and endothelial cells from different anatomical locations. Two distinct technical approaches were used for most organs: one approach, microfluidic droplet-based 3'-end counting, enabled the survey of thousands of cells at relatively low coverage, whereas the other, full-length transcript analysis based on fluorescence-activated cell sorting, enabled the characterization of cell types with high sensitivity and coverage. The cumulative data provide the foundation for an atlas of transcriptomic cell biology.

Abstract 5074: Omentum immune microenvironment: Metastatic niche for ovarian cancer

The status of the tumor-immune microenvironment plays a critical role in determining the response to immunotherapy. The omentum, a multifunctional organ that serves as the central regulator of peritoneal homeostasis and plays a central role in immune surveillance, is the most common site of metastasis in early stage ovarian cancer. We analyzed the human omental immune microenvironment that support ovarian cancer metastases.

In experimental models, ovarian cancer cells that colonize the omentum are invariably found in association with immune aggregates known as milky spots. We hypothesize that ovarian cancer cells exploit the unique environment of these omental-immune clusters to promote their own survival and growth. Thus, we formulated a systematic approach to evaluate normal and ovarian cancer-populated omental tissues to characterize the cellular components of human omental milky spots.

We performed immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry to profile immune cell populations present in omental immune clusters. To facilitate the quantitation of immunohistochemical staining, we developed a computational image processing workflow that enables quantitation of multiple immune-biomarkers from serial sections of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue. In a complementary approach, we used comprehensive multi-color flow cytometry staining panels detecting 28 markers that collectively encompass all innate and adaptive immune cell populations.

We analyzed eight human omental samples (four omenta involved with serous carcinomas and four omenta from benign disease) by immunohistochemistry and found that M2-subtype macrophage (CD163+CD68+) infiltration predominate in high-grade cancer-involved omentum. Conversely, T-regulatory cells (CD25+) predominate cell type in the uninvolved omentum. Hi-D flow cytometry of three cancer-involved omentum samples revealed tumor-associated macrophages (20-40%), PMN myeloid-derived suppressor cells (2-3%), “double positive” CD3+CD4+CD8+ T-cells (3-4%), and “double negative” CD3+CD4-CD8- T-cells (0.9-1%). In addition, we found omental T-cells (Th, Tc, Treg) express immune checkpoint receptors CTLA4 and PD-1, and that omental B-cells express IgD, IgA, and/or IgM, and may be enriched for Ig lambda light chain expression.

As this study is ongoing, we expect to present data for omenta from a larger cohort of patients with either benign or neoplastic disease. However, our findings are already sufficient to show that activated T cells, B cells and macrophages infiltrate omental milky spots in patients with high grade serous ovarian cancers.

Citation Format: Venkatesh Krishnan, Paul A. Raju, Koah Vierkoetter, Sonia Patel, Justin Youngyunpipatkul, Supreeti Tallapragada, Bruce Schaar, Ann K. Folkins, Leonore A. Herzenberg, Oliver Dorigo. Omentum immune microenvironment: Metastatic niche for ovarian cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5074.

Screening for Victims of Sex Trafficking in the Emergency Department: A Pilot Program

Introduction

Estimates suggest that hundreds of thousands of sex trafficking victims live in the United States. Several screening tools for healthcare professionals to identify sex trafficking victims have been proposed, but the effectiveness of these tools in the emergency department (ED) remains unclear. Our primary objective in this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a screening survey to identify adult victims of sex trafficking in the ED. We also compared the sensitivity of emergency physician concern and a screening survey for identifying sex trafficking victims in the ED and determined the most effective question(s) for identifying adult victims of sex trafficking.

Methods

We enrolled a convenience sample of medically stable female ED patients, age 18–40 years. Patients completed a 14-question survey. Physician concern for sex trafficking was documented prior to informing the physician of the survey results. A “yes” answer to any question or physician concern was considered a positive screen, and the patient was offered social work consultation. We defined a “true positive” as a patient admission for or social work documentation of sex trafficking. Demographic and clinical information were collected from the electronic medical record.

Results

We enrolled 143 patients, and of those 39 (27%, 95% confidence interval [CI] [20%–35%]) screened positive, including 10 (25%, 95% CI [13%–41%]) ultimately identified as victims of sex trafficking. Sensitivity of the screening survey (100%, 95% CI [74%–100%]) was better than physician concern (40%, 95% CI [12%–74%]) for identifying victims of sex trafficking, difference 60%, 95% CI [30%–90%]. Physician specificity (91%, 95% CI [85%–95%]), however, was slightly better than the screening survey (78%, 95% CI [70%–85%]), difference 13%, 95% CI [4%–21%]. All 10 (100%, 95%CI [74%–100%]) “true positive” cases answered “yes” to the screening question regarding abuse.

Conclusion

Identifying adult victims of sex trafficking in the ED is feasible. A screening survey appears to have greater sensitivity than physician concern, and a single screening question may be sufficient to identify all adult victims of sex trafficking in the ED.