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| 2. |
- Baliakas, Panagiotis, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Tailored approaches grounded on immunogenetic features for refined prognostication in chronic lymphocytic leukemia
- 2019
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Ingår i: Haematologica. - : Ferrata Storti Foundation (Haematologica). - 1592-8721 .- 0390-6078. ; 104:2, s. 360-369
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients with differential somatic hypermutation status of the immunoglobulin heavy variable genes, namely mutated or unmutated, display fundamental clinico-biological differences. Considering this, we assessed prognosis separately within mutated (M-CLL) and unmutated (U-CLL) CLL in 3015 patients, hypothesizing that the relative significance of relevant indicators may differ between these two categories. Within Binet A M-CLL patients, besides TP53 abnormalities, trisomy 12 and stereotyped subset #2 membership were equivalently associated with the shortest time-to-first-treatment and a treatment probability at five and ten years after diagnosis of 40% and 55%, respectively; the remaining cases exhibited 5-year and 10-year treatment probability of 12% and 25%, respectively. Within Binet A U-CLL patients, besides TP53 abnormalities, del(11q) and/or SF3B1 mutations were associated with the shortest time-to-first-treatment (5- and 10-year treatment probability: 78% and 98%, respectively); in the remaining cases, males had a significantly worse prognosis than females. In conclusion, the relative weight of indicators that can accurately risk stratify early-stage CLL patients differs depending on the somatic hypermutation status of the immunoglobulin heavy variable genes of each patient. This finding highlights the fact that compartmentalized approaches based on immunogenetic features are necessary to refine and tailor prognostication in CLL.
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| 5. |
- Kontopoulos, Efstratios, et al.
(författare)
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Studying the Cohesion Evolution of Genes Related to Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Using Semantic Similarity in Gene Ontology and Self-Organizing Maps
- 2016
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Ingår i: Proceedings of SWAT4LS-16, 9th International Conference on Semantic Web Applications and Tools for Life Sciences.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- A significant body of work on biomedical text mining is aimed at uncovering meaningful associations between biological entities, including genes. This has the potential to offer new insights for research, uncovering hidden links between genes involved in critical pathways and processes. Recently, high-throughput studies have started to unravel the genetic landscape of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the most common adult leukemia. CLL displays remarkable clinical heterogeneity, likely reflecting its underlying biological heterogeneity which, despite all progress, still remains insufficiently characterized and understood. This paper deploys an ontology-based semantic similarity combined with self-organizing maps for studying the temporal evolution of cohesion among CLL-related genes and the extracted information. Three consecutive time periods are considered and groups of genes are derived therein. Our preliminary results indicated that our proposed gene groupings are meaningful and that the temporal dimension indeed impacted the gene cohesion, leaving a lot of room for further promising investigations.
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| 6. |
- Leeksma, Alexander C., et al.
(författare)
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Genomic arrays identify high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia with genomic complexity : A multi-center study
- 2020
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Ingår i: Haematologica. - 0390-6078. ; 105:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Complex karyotype (CK) identified by chromosome-banding analysis (CBA) has shown prognostic value in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Genomic arrays offer high-resolution genome-wide detection of copy-number alterations (CNAs) and could therefore be well equipped to detect the presence of a CK. Current knowledge on genomic arrays in CLL is based on outcomes of single center studies, in which different cutoffs for CNA calling were used. To further determine the clinical utility of genomic arrays for CNA assessment in CLL diagnostics, we retrospectively analyzed 2293 arrays from 13 diagnostic laboratories according to established standards. CNAs were found outside regions captured by CLL FISH probes in 34% of patients, and several of them including gains of 8q, deletions of 9p and 18p (p<0.01) were linked to poor outcome after correction for multiple testing. Patients (n=972) could be divided in three distinct prognostic subgroups based on the number of CNAs. Only high genomic complexity (high-GC), defined as 5 CNAs emerged as an independent adverse prognosticator on multivariable analysis for time to first treatment (Hazard ratio: 2.15, 95% CI: 1.36-3.41; p=0.001) and overall survival (Hazard ratio: 2.54, 95% CI: 1.54-4.17; p<0.001; n=528). Lowering the size cutoff to 1 Mb in 647 patients did not significantly improve risk assessment. Genomic arrays detected more chromosomal abnormalities and performed at least as well in terms of risk stratification compared to simultaneous chromosome banding analysis as determined in 122 patients. Our findings highlight genomic array as an accurate tool for CLL risk stratification.
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| 8. |
- Papakonstantinou, Nikos, et al.
(författare)
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Integrated epigenomic and transcriptomic analysis reveals TP63 as a novel player in clinically aggressive chronic lymphocytic leukemia
- 2019
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Ingår i: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 144:11, s. 2695-2706
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) stereotyped subsets #6 and #8 include cases expressing unmutated B cell receptor immunoglobulin (BcR IG) (U-CLL). Subset #6 (IGHV1-69/IGKV3-20) is less aggressive compared to subset #8 (IGHV4-39/IGKV1(D)-39) which has the highest risk for Richter's transformation among all CLL. The underlying reasons for this divergent clinical behavior are not fully elucidated. To gain insight into this issue, here we focused on epigenomic signatures and their links with gene expression, particularly investigating genome-wide DNA methylation profiles in subsets #6 and #8 as well as other U-CLL cases not expressing stereotyped BcR IG. We found that subset #8 showed a distinctive DNA methylation profile compared to all other U-CLL cases, including subset #6. Integrated analysis of DNA methylation and gene expression revealed significant correlation for several genes, particularly highlighting a relevant role for the TP63 gene which was hypomethylated and overexpressed in subset #8. This observation was validated by quantitative PCR, which also revealed TP63 mRNA overexpression in additional nonsubset U-CLL cases. BcR stimulation had distinct effects on p63 protein expression, particularly leading to induction in subset #8, accompanied by increased CLL cell survival. This pro-survival effect was also supported by siRNA-mediated downregulation of p63 expression resulting in increased apoptosis. In conclusion, we report that DNA methylation profiles may vary even among CLL patients with similar somatic hypermutation status, supporting a compartmentalized approach to dissecting CLL biology. Furthermore, we highlight p63 as a novel prosurvival factor in CLL, thus identifying another piece of the complex puzzle of clinical aggressiveness. What's new? In chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), cases with unmutated immunoglobulin receptors (U-CLL) are generally associated with inferior outcome, albeit still displaying considerable heterogeneity. Might such differences in CLL progression be explained by epigenetics? In this study, the authors found that an unusually aggressive subset of CLLs called subset #8 has a distinctive DNA-methylation profile. They also found that p63 is a novel pro-survival factor for CLL cells. These molecular studies may lead to new prognostic biomarkers, and possibly new therapeutic targets, for CLL.
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| 9. |
- Papakonstantinou, Nikos, et al.
(författare)
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The histone methyltransferase EZH2 as a novel prosurvival factor in clinically aggressive chronic lymphocytic leukemia
- 2016
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Ingår i: Oncotarget. - : Impact Journals, LLC. - 1949-2553. ; 7:24, s. 35946-35959
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The histone methyltransferase EZH2 induces gene repression through trimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 27 (H3K27me3). EZH2 overexpression has been reported in many types of cancer and associated with poor prognosis. Here we investigated the expression and functionality of EZH2 in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Aggressive cases with unmutated IGHV genes (U-CLL) displayed significantly higher EZH2 expression compared to indolent CLL cases with mutated IGHV genes (M-CLL); furthermore, in U-CLL EZH2 expression was upregulated with disease progression. Within U-CLL, EZH2(high) cases harbored significantly fewer (p = 0.033) TP53 gene abnormalities compared to EZH2(low) cases. EZH2(high) cases displayed high H3K27me3 levels and increased viability suggesting that EZH2 is functional and likely confers a survival advantage to CLL cells. This argument was further supported by siRNA-mediated downmodulation of EZH2 which resulted in increased apoptosis. Notably, at the intraclonal level, cell proliferation was significantly associated with EZH2 expression. Treatment of primary CLL cells with EZH2 inhibitors induced downregulation of H3K27me3 levels leading to increased cell apoptosis. In conclusion, EZH2 is overexpressed in adverse-prognosis CLL and associated with increased cell survival and proliferation. Pharmacologic inhibition of EZH2 catalytic activity promotes apoptosis, highlighting EZH2 as a novel potential therapeutic target for specific subgroups of patients with CLL.
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| 10. |
- Sutton, Lesley-Ann, et al.
(författare)
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Different spectra of recurrent gene mutations in subsets of chronic lymphocytic leukemia harboring stereotyped B-cell receptors
- 2016
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Ingår i: Haematologica. - : Ferrata Storti Foundation (Haematologica). - 0390-6078 .- 1592-8721. ; 101:8, s. 959-967
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on markedly different frequencies of genetic lesions within subsets of chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients carrying mutated or unmutated stereotyped B-cell receptor immunoglobulins in the largest cohort (n=565) studied for this purpose. By combining data on recurrent gene mutations (BIRC3, MYD88, NOTCH1, SF3B1 and TP53) and cytogenetic aberrations, we reveal a subset-biased acquisition of gene mutations. More specifically, the frequency of NOTCH1 mutations was found to be enriched in subsets expressing unmutated immunoglobulin genes, i.e. #1, #6, #8 and #59 (22-34%), often in association with trisomy 12, and was significantly different (P<0.001) to the frequency observed in subset #2 (4%, aggressive disease, variable somatic hypermutation status) and subset #4 (1%, indolent disease, mutated immunoglobulin genes). Interestingly, subsets harboring a high frequency of NOTCH1 mutations were found to carry few (if any) SF3B1 mutations. This starkly contrasts with subsets #2 and #3 where, despite their immunogenetic differences, SF3B1 mutations occurred in 45% and 46% of cases, respectively. In addition, mutations within TP53, whilst enriched in subset #1 (16%), were rare in subsets# 2 and #8 (both 2%), despite all being clinically aggressive. All subsets were negative for MYD88 mutations, whereas BIRC3 mutations were infrequent. Collectively, this striking bias and skewed distribution of mutations and cytogenetic aberrations within specific chronic lymphocytic leukemia subsets implies that the mechanisms underlying clinical aggressiveness are not uniform, but rather support the existence of distinct genetic pathways of clonal evolution governed by a particular stereotyped B-cell receptor selecting a certain molecular lesion(s).
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| 11. |
- Tsagiopoulou, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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DNA methylation profiles in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients treated with chemoimmunotherapy
- 2019
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Ingår i: Clinical Epigenetics. - : BMC. - 1868-7083 .- 1868-7075. ; 11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: In order to gain insight into the contribution of DNA methylation to disease progression of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), using 450K Illumina arrays, we determined the DNA methylation profiles in paired pre-treatment/relapse samples from 34 CLL patients treated with chemoimmunotherapy, mostly (n = 31) with the fludarabine-cyclophosphamide-rituximab (FCR) regimen.Results: The extent of identified changes in CLL cells versus memory B cells from healthy donors was termed "epigenetic burden" (EB) whereas the number of changes between the pre-treatment versus the relapse sample was termed "relapse changes" (RC). Significant (p < 0.05) associations were identified between (i) high EB and short time-to-first-treatment (TTFT); and, (ii) few RCs and short time-to-relapse. Both the EB and the RC clustered in specific genomic regions and chromatin states, including regulatory regions containing binding sites of transcription factors implicated in B cell and CLL biology.Conclusions: Overall, we show that DNA methylation in CLL follows different dynamics in response to chemoimmunotherapy. These epigenetic alterations were linked with specific clinical and biological features.
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