| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Sevov, Marie, et al.
(author)
-
Longitudinal study of RNA-based prognostic markers in chronic lymphocytic leukemia reveals LPL as the most stable
-
Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Several genes display differential expression in prognostic subsets in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), including LPL, TCL1, ZAP70 and MCL1. CLL patients commonly have an indolent course with low stage disease and long survival, and in this study we aimed to investigate the stability of RNA-based prognostic markers in such an indolent cohort over time. mRNA expression of LPL, TCL1, ZAP70 and MCL1 was measured in sequential unsorted samples obtained from 96 CLL patients at both diagnosis and a median follow-up of seven years. LPL was the only RNA-based marker that did not demonstrate any significant changes in expression in diagnostic vs. follow-up samples. Furthermore, an 82% concordance between both time-points was observed when grouping cases based on high or low expression. LPL expression was not affected by treatment and in addition, LPL expression in follow-up samples could predict overall survival. In contrast, TCL1 expression was found to increase at follow-up, especially in cases displaying low expression at diagnosis. As TCL1 promotes cell survival this increase could possibly be of importance for progression of the disease. Both ZAP70 and MCL1 mRNA expression were found to vary significantly during the disease course. In summary, using unsorted CLL samples, we have demonstrated that LPL is superior to other RNA-based markers based on stability over time. These findings fully endorse the use of LPL analysis at any time point of the disease.
|
|
| 4. |
- Cozzi, Elisabetta, et al.
(author)
-
Identification of long non-coding RNAs involved in leukemogenesis and venetoclax response in acute myeloid leukemia through functional CRISPR-dCas9 interference screens
-
Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a malignant hematologic disease with poor prognosis. Increased understanding of disease biology is therefore needed to improve outcome for patients. While the protein-coding genome is well characterized in AML, knowledge about the involvement of non-coding genes is very limited in AML. Here, it was sought to investigate how long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) could contribute to disease biology and treatment resistance in AML. Three high-throughput lncRNA-CRISPR-interference screens were performed in MOLM-13 cells, knocking down about 8000 lncRNA expressed in hematopoietic cells. Effects on cell proliferation, cell differentiation and response to the anti-leukemic Bcl-2-inhibitor venetoclax were investigated upon lncRNA repression. LncRNAs most likely to positively or negatively regulate these processes were identified and top lncRNA candidates investigated with respect to expression in AML and healthy CD34+ cells and clinical AML correlations. Four lncRNAs involved in AML cell proliferation were identified (lncRNAs MIR17HG, CATG00000056335, CATG00000095269, CATG00000002239), two lncRNAs involved in differentiation (lncRNAs RP11-444A22.1, CATG00000058672) and seven lncRNAs implicated in venetoclax response. Among those, enhanced expression of proliferation-promoting lncRNA MIR17HG significantly correlated with poor outcome in AML patients (p= 0.03; p= 0.016). Further, lncRNA RP11-444A2 was identified as a predicted negative regulator of cell differentiation and was found to correlate with poor outcome (p=0.014). Further, lncRNA AC009299.3, predicted in venetoclax sensitivity, was found to be associated with poor outcome (p<0.0001), adverse risk (p=0.0014) and increased age (p=0.0045) in AML patients. Together, this study identified 14 lncRNAs proposed to be implicated in key leukemogenic events, highlighting their potential for elucidating AML biology, prognosis or treatment-response prediction and/or therapeutic use.
|
|
| 5. |
- Miliara, Sophia, et al.
(author)
-
The biological and prognostic role of long non-coding RNA NEAT1 in acute myeloid leukemia
-
Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1 (NEAT1) is a long non-coding RNA localized in the cell nucleus that has been associated to promote several malignant solid tumors. Its role in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains largely elusive. Therefore, the aim of this study was to define the role of NEAT1 in AML compared to normal hematopoiesis. During normal hematopoiesis, it was identified that NEAT1 expression was low in early progenitors but increased in more differentiated cells, especially in monocytes. NEAT1 expression was increased in AML as a whole compared to normal bone marrow (NBM). It was specifically high in AML with inv(16) and t(8;21), while it was lower in patients with t(15;17). Further, NEAT1 expression correlated positively with ASXL1, KRAS and NRAS mutations and negatively with TP53 mutant AML. Higher NEAT expression was associated to better overall survival in AML, independent of other known risk factors. Antisense oligo-mediated knockdown of NEAT1 in AML cells significantly increased expression of the monocytic marker CD14 while granulocytic markers did not change. Genes affected by NEAT1-knockdown using CAGE-sequencing were significantly enriched for genes involved in glucose metabolism. By investigating genome-wide RNA and DNA interactions using RADICL-sequencing, it was revealed that NEAT1 binds to the loci of key hematopoietic regulator RUNX2 as well as the chromatin regulators KMT2A, KMT5B and CHD7. The results suggest that lncRNA NEAT1 has a potential role in hematopoietic and AML cell differentiation and could be a potential new biomarker in AML.
|
|
| 6. |
- Neddermeyer, Anne, et al.
(author)
-
A new mutant NPM1/IDH2R140- and PML-RARA-associated lncRNA MALNC plays a role in AML biology, prognosis and drug response
-
Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematopoietic malignancy characterized by poor prognosis that requires better understanding of its disease biology and new tools for suitable risk stratification and effective treatments. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in numerous molecular mechanisms, are implicated in tumor biology and can serve as clinical biomarkers, yet their role remains mostly unclear in AML. In this study, the aim was to discover and characterize lncRNAs implicated in AML and to describe their role in AML biology. Further aims were to explore their use as prognostic or predictive biomarkers. Using whole-transcriptome analysis, a novel lncRNA, here named MALNC, was identified. MALNC had elevated expression in two large AML cohorts compared to normal CD34+ cells. Clinical correlation analyses indicated that MALNC was almost uniquely expressed in patients with PML-RARA fusion gene and with co-mutated isocitrate dehydrogenase-2 R140 and nucleophosmin-1 (IDH2R140/NPM1). MALNC expression was specifically high at the promyelocytic stage and decreased with maturation in leukemic and normal cells. High MALNC expression associated independently with better overall survival. CRISPR-Cas9-knockout in promyelocytic cell lines impaired proliferation, colony formation and all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA)-induced differentiation. Also, MALNC-knockout dramatically sensitized cells to arsenic trioxide (ATO), ATO-ATRA combinatorial and Bcl-2-inhibitor venetoclax treatment as well as associated with cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk)-inhibitor resistance. In conclusion, MALNC is overexpressed in certain subgroups of AML and could play a role during normal and leukemic hematopoietic maturation. Furthermore, it correlates with response to anti-leukemic drugs, which suggests a role as a predictive marker to drug response and survival in AML.
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
| 8. |
- Thörn, Ingrid, 1957-, et al.
(author)
-
Analysis of IG/TCR gene rearrangements in Swedish childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia diagnosed 2002-2006: a multi-centre study supporting the applicability of real-time-PCR for minimal residual disease assessment
-
Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Minimal residual disease (MRD) detection during the early treatment phase has become an important stratification parameter in many childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treatment protocols. Here we aimed to address the applicability of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR) of rearranged antigen receptor genes as an MRD method in a multi-centre setting. From a Swedish population-based cohort of 334 ALL cases diagnosed during 2002-2006, we analysed 279 diagnostic samples (84%) by screening for rearranged immunoglobulin (IG) and T-cell receptor (TCR) genes. Allele-specific oligonucleotides were designed for each patient rearrangement, and the sensitivity and quantitative level was determined for each target. The analyses were performed at five different centres while interpretation of the results was performed at consensus meetings. Overall, clonal IG/TCR rearrangements were detected in 97% (236/244) of B-cell precursor ALL (BCP ALL) and 94% (33/35) of T-ALL. A sensitive RQ-PCR analysis (≤ 10-4) was obtained in 89% (216/244) of BCP ALL and in 74% (26/35) of T-ALL. With the stratification threshold of ≥10-3 for identification of high-risk patients, 93% of BCP ALL and 86% of T-ALL reached this quantitative range by at least one target gene. Taken together, this national multi-centre study supports the use of RQ-PCR analysis as a robust method for MRD detection in the majority of childhood ALL cases.
|
|
| 9. |
- Lopez de Lapuente Portilla, Aitzkoa, et al.
(author)
-
Genome-wide association study on 13,167 individuals identifies regulators of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell levels in human blood
- 2021
-
Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Understanding how hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) are regulated is of central importance for the development of new therapies for blood disorders and stem cell transplantation. To date, HSPC regulation has been extensively studied in vitro and in animal models, but less is known about the mechanisms in vivo in humans. Here, in a genome-wide association study on 13,167 individuals, we identify 9 significant and 2 suggestive DNA sequence variants that influence HSPC (CD34+) levels in human blood. The identified loci associate with blood disorders, harbor known and novel HSPC genes, and affect gene expression in HSPCs. Interestingly, our strongest association maps to the PPM1H gene, encoding an evolutionarily conserved serine/threonine phosphatase never previously implicated in stem cell biology. PPM1H is expressed in HSPCs, and the allele that confers higher blood CD34+ cell levels downregulates PPM1H. By functional fine-mapping, we find that this downregulation is caused by the variant rs772557-A, which abrogates a MYB transcription factor binding site in PPM1H intron 1 that is active in specific HSPC subpopulations, including hematopoietic stem cells, and interacts with the promoter by chromatin looping. Furthermore, rs772557-A selectively increases HSPC subpopulations in which the MYB site is active, and PPM1H shRNA- knockdown increased CD34+ and CD34+90+ cell proportions in umbilical cord blood cultures. Our findings represent the first large-scale association study on a stem cell trait, illuminating HSPC regulation in vivo in humans, and identifying PPM1H as a novel inhibition target that can potentially be utilized clinically to facilitate stem cell harvesting for transplantation.
|
|
| 10. |
- Scott, Aaron M., et al.
(author)
-
Population scale proteomics enables adaptive digital twin modelling in sepsis
- 2024
-
Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Sepsis is one of the leading causes of mortality in the world. Currently, the heterogeneity of sepsis makes it challenging to determine the molecular mechanisms that define the syndrome. Here, we leverage population scale proteomics to analyze a well-defined cohort of 1364 blood samples taken at time-of-admission to the emergency department from patients suspected of sepsis. We identified panels of proteins using explainable artificial intelligence that predict clinical outcomes and applied these panels to reduce high-dimensional proteomics data to a low-dimensional interpretable latent space (ILS). Using the ILS, we constructed an adaptive digital twin model that accurately predicted organ dysfunction, mortality, and early-mortality-risk patients using only data available at time-of-admission. In addition to being highly effective for investigating sepsis, this approach supports the flexible incorporation of new data and can generalize to other diseases to aid in translational research and the development of precision medicine.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.Funding StatementL.M. is funded by the Swedish Research Council (grant number VR-2020-02419), the Wallenberg foundation (grant number 2016.0023) and Alfred Österlunds Foundation. J.M. is a Wallenberg academy fellow (KAW 2017.0271) and is also funded by the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet, VR) (2019-01646 and 2018-05795), the Wallenberg foundation (KAW2016.0023, KAW2019.0353 and KAW2020.0299), and Alfred Österlunds Foundation. E.M. is funded by Wenner-Gren Foundation (FT2020-0003), the Crafoord Foundation, and the Swedish Society of Medicine (SLS-985287). F.K. is funded by Region Skåne ALF project and the Crafoord Foundation. A.L. is funded by the Swedish Research Council VR 2023-02707 and Region Skåne ALF project 2022-0146.Author DeclarationsI confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.YesThe details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Swedish National Ethics Committee (file numbers 2022-01454-01, 2014/741 and 2016/271).I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.YesI understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).YesI have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.YesData produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors
|
|
