Publications

1004 Publications visible to you, out of a total of 1004

Abstract (Expand)

Drug repositioning can save considerable time and resources and significantly speed up the drug development process. The increasing availability of drug action and disease-associated transcriptome data makes it an attractive source for repositioning studies. Here, we have developed a transcriptome-guided approach for drug/biologics repositioning based on multi-layer self-organizing maps (ml-SOM). It allows for analyzing multiple transcriptome datasets by segmenting them into layers of drug action- and disease-associated transcriptome data. A comparison of expression changes in clusters of functionally related genes across the layers identifies "drug target" spots in disease layers and evaluates the repositioning possibility of a drug. The repositioning potential for two approved biologics drugs (infliximab and brodalumab) confirmed the drugs' action for approved diseases (ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease for infliximab and psoriasis for brodalumab). We showed the potential efficacy of infliximab for the treatment of sarcoidosis, but not chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Brodalumab failed to affect dysregulated functional gene clusters in Crohn's disease (CD) and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA), clearly indicating that it may not be effective in the treatment of these diseases. In conclusion, ml-SOM offers a novel approach for transcriptome-guided drug repositioning that could be particularly useful for biologics drugs.

Authors: A. Arakelyan, L. Nersisyan, M. Nikoghosyan, S. Hakobyan, A. Simonyan, L. Hopp, H. Loeffler-Wirth, H. Binder

Date Published: 12th Dec 2019

Publication Type: Journal article

Abstract (Expand)

Objectives: Potential opportunities and challenges of predictive genetic risk classification of healthy persons are currently discussed. However, the budgetary impact of rising demand is uncertain. This project aims to evaluate budgetary consequences of predictive genetic risk classification for statutory health insurance in Germany. Methods: A Markov model was developed in the form of a cohort simulation. It analyzes a population of female relatives of hereditary breast cancer patients. Mutation carriers are offered intensified screening, women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation can decide on prophylactic mastectomy and/or ovarectomy. The model considers the following scenarios: (a) steady demand for predictive genetic testing, and (b) rising demand. Most input parameters are based on data of the German Consortium for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer. The model contains 49 health states, starts in 2015, and runs for 10 years. Prices were evaluated from the perspective of statutory health insurance. Results: Steady demand leads to an expenditure of \text€49.8 million during the 10-year period. Rising demands lead to additional expenses of \text€125.5 million. The model reveals the genetic analysis to be the main cost driver while cost savings in treatment costs of breast and ovarian cancer are indicated. Conclusions: The results contribute to close the knowledge gap concerning the budgetary consequences due to genetic risk classification. A rising demand leads to additional costs especially due to costs for genetic analysis. The model indicates budget shifts with cost savings due to breast and ovarian cancer treatment in the scenario of rising demands.

Authors: Silke Neusser, Beate Lux, Cordula Barth, Kathrin Pahmeier, Kerstin Rhiem, Rita Schmutzler, Christoph Engel, Jürgen Wasem, Stefan Huster, Peter Dabrock, Anja Neumann

Date Published: 2nd Dec 2019

Publication Type: Journal article

Human Diseases: hereditary breast ovarian cancer syndrome

Abstract (Expand)

BACKGROUND The role of the BARD1 gene in breast cancer (BC) and ovarian cancer (OC) predisposition remains elusive, as published case-control investigations have revealed controversial results. We aimedd to assess the role of deleterious BARD1 germline variants in BC/OC predisposition in a sample of 4920 BRCA1/2-negative female BC/OC index patients of the German Consortium for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (GC-HBOC). METHODS A total of 4469 female index patients with BC, 451 index patients with OC, and 2767 geographically matched female control individuals were screened for loss-of-function (LoF) mutations and potentially damaging rare missense variants in BARD1. All patients met the inclusion criteria of the GC-HBOC for germline testing and reported at least one relative with BC or OC. Additional control datasets (Exome Aggregation Consortium, ExAC; Fabulous Ladies Over Seventy, FLOSSIES) were included for the calculation of odds ratios (ORs). RESULTS We identified LoF variants in 23 of 4469 BC index patients (0.51%) and in 36 of 37,265 control individuals (0.10%), resulting in an OR of 5.35 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.17-9.04; P \textless 0.00001). BARD1-mutated BC index patients showed a significantly younger mean age at first diagnosis (AAD; 42.3 years, range 24-60 years) compared with the overall study sample (48.6 years, range 17-92 years; P = 0.00347). In the subgroup of BC index patients with an AAD \textless 40 years, an OR of 12.04 (95% CI = 5.78-25.08; P \textless 0.00001) was observed. An OR of 7.43 (95% CI = 4.26-12.98; P \textless 0.00001) was observed when stratified for an AAD \textless 50 years. LoF variants in BARD1 were not significantly associated with BC in the subgroup of index patients with an AAD ≥ 50 years (OR = 2.29; 95% CI = 0.82-6.45; P = 0.11217). Overall, rare and predicted damaging BARD1 missense variants were significantly more prevalent in BC index patients compared with control individuals (OR = 2.15; 95% CI = 1.26-3.67; P = 0.00723). Neither LoF variants nor predicted damaging rare missense variants in BARD1 were identified in 451 familial index patients with OC. CONCLUSIONS Due to the significant association of germline LoF variants in BARD1 with early-onset BC, we suggest that intensified BC surveillance programs should be offered to women carrying pathogenic BARD1 gene variants.

Authors: Nana Weber-Lassalle, Julika Borde, Konstantin Weber-Lassalle, Judit Horváth, Dieter Niederacher, Norbert Arnold, Silke Kaulfuß, Corinna Ernst, Victoria G. Paul, Ellen Honisch, Kristina Klaschik, Alexander E. Volk, Christian Kubisch, Steffen Rapp, Nadine Lichey, Janine Altmüller, Louisa Lepkes, Esther Pohl-Rescigno, Holger Thiele, Peter Nürnberg, Mirjam Larsen, Lisa Richters, Kerstin Rhiem, Barbara Wappenschmidt, Christoph Engel, Alfons Meindl, Rita K. Schmutzler, Eric Hahnen, Jan Hauke

Date Published: 1st Dec 2019

Publication Type: Journal article

Human Diseases: hereditary breast ovarian cancer syndrome

Abstract (Expand)

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 170 breast cancer susceptibility loci. Here we hypothesize that some risk-associated variants might act in non-breast tissues, specifically adipose tissue and immune cells from blood and spleen. Using expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) reported in these tissues, we identify 26 previously unreported, likely target genes of overall breast cancer risk variants, and 17 for estrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancer, several with a known immune function. We determine the directional effect of gene expression on disease risk measured based on single and multiple eQTL. In addition, using a gene-based test of association that considers eQTL from multiple tissues, we identify seven (and four) regions with variants associated with overall (and ER-negative) breast cancer risk, which were not reported in previous GWAS. Further investigation of the function of the implicated genes in breast and immune cells may provide insights into the etiology of breast cancer.

Authors: Manuel A. Ferreira, Eric R. Gamazon, Fares Al-Ejeh, Kristiina Aittomäki, Irene L. Andrulis, Hoda Anton-Culver, Adalgeir Arason, Volker Arndt, Kristan J. Aronson, Banu K. Arun, Ella Asseryanis, Jacopo Azzollini, Judith Balmaña, Daniel R. Barnes, Daniel Barrowdale, Matthias W. Beckmann, Sabine Behrens, Javier Benitez, Marina Bermisheva, Katarzyna Białkowska, Carl Blomqvist, Natalia V. Bogdanova, Stig E. Bojesen, Manjeet K. Bolla, Ake Borg, Hiltrud Brauch, Hermann Brenner, Annegien Broeks, Barbara Burwinkel, Trinidad Caldés, Maria A. Caligo, Daniele Campa, Ian Campbell, Federico Canzian, Jonathan Carter, Brian D. Carter, Jose E. Castelao, Jenny Chang-Claude, Stephen J. Chanock, Hans Christiansen, Wendy K. Chung, Kathleen B. M. Claes, Christine L. Clarke, Fergus J. Couch, Angela Cox, Simon S. Cross, Kamila Czene, Mary B. Daly, Miguel de La Hoya, Joe Dennis, Peter Devilee, Orland Diez, Thilo Dörk, Alison M. Dunning, Miriam Dwek, Diana M. Eccles, Bent Ejlertsen, Carolina Ellberg, Christoph Engel, Mikael Eriksson, Peter A. Fasching, Olivia Fletcher, Henrik Flyger, Eitan Friedman, Debra Frost, Marike Gabrielson, Manuela Gago-Dominguez, Patricia A. Ganz, Susan M. Gapstur, Judy Garber, Montserrat García-Closas, José A. García-Sáenz, Mia M. Gaudet, Graham G. Giles, Gord Glendon, Andrew K. Godwin, Mark S. Goldberg, David E. Goldgar, Anna González-Neira, Mark H. Greene, Jacek Gronwald, Pascal Guénel, Christopher A. Haiman, Per Hall, Ute Hamann, Wei He, Jane Heyworth, Frans B. L. Hogervorst, Antoinette Hollestelle, Robert N. Hoover, John L. Hopper, Peter J. Hulick, Keith Humphreys, Evgeny N. Imyanitov, Claudine Isaacs, Milena Jakimovska, Anna Jakubowska, Paul A. James, Ramunas Janavicius, Rachel C. Jankowitz, Esther M. John, Nichola Johnson, Vijai Joseph, Beth Y. Karlan, Elza Khusnutdinova, Johanna I. Kiiski, Yon-Dschun Ko, Michael E. Jones, Irene Konstantopoulou, Vessela N. Kristensen, Yael Laitman, Diether Lambrechts, Conxi Lazaro, Goska Leslie, Jenny Lester, Fabienne Lesueur, Sara Lindström, Jirong Long, Jennifer T. Loud, Jan Lubiński, Enes Makalic, Arto Mannermaa, Mehdi Manoochehri, Sara Margolin, Tabea Maurer, Dimitrios Mavroudis, Lesley McGuffog, Alfons Meindl, Usha Menon, Kyriaki Michailidou, Austin Miller, Marco Montagna, Fernando Moreno, Lidia Moserle, Anna Marie Mulligan, Katherine L. Nathanson, Susan L. Neuhausen, Heli Nevanlinna, Ines Nevelsteen, Finn C. Nielsen, Liene Nikitina-Zake, Robert L. Nussbaum, Kenneth Offit, Edith Olah, Olufunmilayo I. Olopade, Håkan Olsson, Ana Osorio, Janos Papp, Tjoung-Won Park-Simon, Michael T. Parsons, Inge Sokilde Pedersen, Ana Peixoto, Paolo Peterlongo, Paul D. P. Pharoah, Dijana Plaseska-Karanfilska, Bruce Poppe, Nadege Presneau, Paolo Radice, Johanna Rantala, Gad Rennert, Harvey A. Risch, Emmanouil Saloustros, Kristin Sanden, Elinor J. Sawyer, Marjanka K. Schmidt, Rita K. Schmutzler, Priyanka Sharma, Xiao-Ou Shu, Jacques Simard, Christian F. Singer, Penny Soucy, Melissa C. Southey, John J. Spinelli, Amanda B. Spurdle, Jennifer Stone, Anthony J. Swerdlow, William J. Tapper, Jack A. Taylor, Manuel R. Teixeira, Mary Beth Terry, Alex Teulé, Mads Thomassen, Kathrin Thöne, Darcy L. Thull, Marc Tischkowitz, Amanda E. Toland, Diana Torres, Thérèse Truong, Nadine Tung, Celine M. Vachon, Christi J. van Asperen, Ans M. W. van den Ouweland, Elizabeth J. van Rensburg, Ana Vega, Alessandra Viel, Qin Wang, Barbara Wappenschmidt, Jeffrey N. Weitzel, Camilla Wendt, Robert Winqvist, Xiaohong R. Yang, Drakoulis Yannoukakos, Argyrios Ziogas, Peter Kraft, Antonis C. Antoniou, Wei Zheng, Douglas F. Easton, Roger L. Milne, Jonathan Beesley, Georgia Chenevix-Trench

Date Published: 1st Dec 2019

Publication Type: Journal article

Human Diseases: hereditary breast ovarian cancer syndrome

Abstract (Expand)

Increased levels of the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) are associated with higher risk of kidney disease progression and cardiovascular events, but underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. Here, we conduct trans-ethnic (n = 564,257) and European-ancestry specific meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies of UACR, including ancestry- and diabetes-specific analyses, and identify 68 UACR-associated loci. Genetic correlation analyses and risk score associations in an independent electronic medical records database (n = 192,868) reveal connections with proteinuria, hyperlipidemia, gout, and hypertension. Fine-mapping and trans-Omics analyses with gene expression in 47 tissues and plasma protein levels implicate genes potentially operating through differential expression in kidney (including TGFB1, MUC1, PRKCI, and OAF), and allow coupling of UACR associations to altered plasma OAF concentrations. Knockdown of OAF and PRKCI orthologs in Drosophila nephrocytes reduces albumin endocytosis. Silencing fly PRKCI further impairs slit diaphragm formation. These results generate a priority list of genes and pathways for translational research to reduce albuminuria.

Authors: Alexander Teumer, Yong Li, Sahar Ghasemi, Bram P. Prins, Matthias Wuttke, Tobias Hermle, Ayush Giri, Karsten B. Sieber, Chengxiang Qiu, Holger Kirsten, Adrienne Tin, Audrey Y. Chu, Nisha Bansal, Mary F. Feitosa, Lihua Wang, Jin-Fang Chai, Massimiliano Cocca, Christian Fuchsberger, Mathias Gorski, Anselm Hoppmann, Katrin Horn, Man Li, Jonathan Marten, Damia Noce, Teresa Nutile, Sanaz Sedaghat, Gardar Sveinbjornsson, Bamidele O. Tayo, Peter J. van der Most, Yizhe Xu, Zhi Yu, Lea Gerstner, Johan Ärnlöv, Stephan J. L. Bakker, Daniela Baptista, Mary L. Biggs, Eric Boerwinkle, Hermann Brenner, Ralph Burkhardt, Robert J. Carroll, Miao-Li Chee, Miao-Ling Chee, Mengmeng Chen, Ching-Yu Cheng, James P. Cook, Josef Coresh, Tanguy Corre, John Danesh, Martin H. de Borst, Alessandro de Grandi, Renée de Mutsert, Aiko P. J. de Vries, Frauke Degenhardt, Katalin Dittrich, Jasmin Divers, Kai-Uwe Eckardt, Georg Ehret, Karlhans Endlich, Janine F. Felix, Oscar H. Franco, Andre Franke, Barry I. Freedman, Sandra Freitag-Wolf, Ron T. Gansevoort, Vilmantas Giedraitis, Martin Gögele, Franziska Grundner-Culemann, Daniel F. Gudbjartsson, Vilmundur Gudnason, Pavel Hamet, Tamara B. Harris, Andrew A. Hicks, Hilma Holm, Valencia Hui Xian Foo, Shih-Jen Hwang, M. Arfan Ikram, Erik Ingelsson, Vincent W. V. Jaddoe, Johanna Jakobsdottir, Navya Shilpa Josyula, Bettina Jung, Mika Kähönen, Chiea-Chuen Khor, Wieland Kiess, Wolfgang Koenig, Antje Körner, Peter Kovacs, Holly Kramer, Bernhard K. Krämer, Florian Kronenberg, Leslie A. Lange, Carl D. Langefeld, Jeannette Jen-Mai Lee, Terho Lehtimäki, Wolfgang Lieb, Su-Chi Lim, Lars Lind, Cecilia M. Lindgren, Jianjun Liu, Markus Loeffler, Leo-Pekka Lyytikäinen, Anubha Mahajan, Joseph C. Maranville, Deborah Mascalzoni, Barbara McMullen, Christa Meisinger, Thomas Meitinger, Kozeta Miliku, Dennis O. Mook-Kanamori, Martina Müller-Nurasyid, Josyf C. Mychaleckyj, Matthias Nauck, Kjell Nikus, Boting Ning, Raymond Noordam, Jeffrey O’ Connell, Isleifur Olafsson, Nicholette D. Palmer, Annette Peters, Anna I. Podgornaia, Belen Ponte, Tanja Poulain, Peter P. Pramstaller, Ton J. Rabelink, Laura M. Raffield, Dermot F. Reilly, Rainer Rettig, Myriam Rheinberger, Kenneth M. Rice, Fernando Rivadeneira, Heiko Runz, Kathleen A. Ryan, Charumathi Sabanayagam, Kai-Uwe Saum, Ben Schöttker, Christian M. Shaffer, Yuan Shi, Albert V. Smith, Konstantin Strauch, Michael Stumvoll, Benjamin B. Sun, Silke Szymczak, E-Shyong Tai, Nicholas Y. Q. Tan, Kent D. Taylor, Andrej Teren, Yih-Chung Tham, Joachim Thiery, Chris H. L. Thio, Hauke Thomsen, Unnur Thorsteinsdottir, Anke Tönjes, Johanne Tremblay, André G. Uitterlinden, Pim van der Harst, Niek Verweij, Suzanne Vogelezang, Uwe Völker, Melanie Waldenberger, Chaolong Wang, Otis D. Wilson, Charlene Wong, Tien-Yin Wong, Qiong Yang, Masayuki Yasuda, Shreeram Akilesh, Murielle Bochud, Carsten A. Böger, Olivier Devuyst, Todd L. Edwards, Kevin Ho, Andrew P. Morris, Afshin Parsa, Sarah A. Pendergrass, Bruce M. Psaty, Jerome I. Rotter, Kari Stefansson, James G. Wilson, Katalin Susztak, Harold Snieder, Iris M. Heid, Markus Scholz, Adam S. Butterworth, Adriana M. Hung, Cristian Pattaro, Anna Köttgen

Date Published: 1st Dec 2019

Publication Type: Journal article

Abstract (Expand)

Background: Activation of telomere maintenance mechanisms (TMMs) is a hallmark of most cancers, and is required to prevent genome instability and to establish cellular immortality through reconstitution of capping of chromosome ends. TMM depends on the cancer type. Comparative studies linking tumor biology and TMM have potential impact for evaluating cancer onset and development. Methods: We have studied alterations of telomere length, their sequence composition and transcriptional regulation in mismatch repair deficient colorectal cancers arising in Lynch syndrome (LS-CRC) and microsatellite instable (MSI) sporadic CRC (MSI s-CRC), and for comparison, in microsatellite stable (MSS) s-CRC and in benign colon mucosa. Our study applied bioinformatics analysis of whole genome DNA and RNA sequencing data and a pathway model to study telomere length alterations and the potential effect of the "classical" telomerase (TEL-) and alternative (ALT-) TMM using transcriptomic signatures. Results: We have found progressive decrease of mean telomere length in all cancer subtypes compared with reference systems. Our results support the view that telomere attrition is an early event in tumorigenesis. TMM gets activated in all tumors studied due to concerted overexpression of a large fraction of genes with direct relation to telomere function, where only a very small fraction of them showed recurrent mutations. TEL-related transcriptional state was dominating in all CRC subtypes, showing, however, subtype-specific activation patterns; while contribution of the ALT-TMM was slightly more prominent in the hypermutated MSI s-CRC and LS-CRC. TEL-TMM is mainly activated by over-expression of DKC1 and/or TERT genes and their interaction partners, where DKC1 is more prominent in MSS than in MSI s-CRC and can serve as a transcriptomic marker of TMM activity. Conclusions: Our results suggest that transcriptional patterns are indicative for TMM pathway activation with subtle differences between TEL and ALT mechanisms in a CRC subtype-specific fashion. Sequencing data potentially provide a suited measure to study alterations of telomere length and of underlying transcriptional regulation. Further studies are needed to improve this method.

Authors: L. Nersisyan, L. Hopp, H. Loeffler-Wirth, J. Galle, M. Loeffler, A. Arakelyan, H. Binder

Date Published: 22nd Nov 2019

Publication Type: Not specified

Human Diseases: cancer

Abstract (Expand)

PURPOSE: To investigate the role of sex on retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness at 768 circumpapillary locations based on OCT findings. DESIGN: Population-based cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS: We investigated 5646 eyes of 5646 healthy participants from the Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases (LIFE)-Adult Study of a predominantly white population. METHODS: All participants underwent standardized systemic assessments and ocular imaging. Circumpapillary RNFL (cRNFL) thickness was measured at 768 points equidistant from the optic nerve head using spectral-domain OCT (Spectralis; Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany). To control ocular magnification effects, the true scanning radius was estimated by scanning focus. Student t test was used to evaluate sex differences in cRNFL thickness globally and at each of the 768 locations. Multivariable linear regression and analysis of variance were used to evaluate individual contributions of various factors to cRNFL thickness variance. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Difference in cRNFL thickness between males and females. RESULTS: Our population consisted of 54.8% females. The global cRNFL thickness was 1 mum thicker in females (P < 0.001). However, detailed analysis at each of the 768 locations revealed substantial location specificity of the sex effects, with RNFL thickness difference ranging from -9.98 to +8.00 mum. Females showed significantly thicker RNFLs in the temporal, superotemporal, nasal, inferonasal, and inferotemporal regions (43.6% of 768 locations), whereas males showed significantly thicker RNFLs in the superior region (13.2%). The results were similar after adjusting for age, body height, and scanning radius. The superotemporal and inferotemporal RNFL peaks shifted temporally in females by 2.4 degrees and 1.9 degrees , respectively. On regions with significant sex effects, sex explained more RNFL thickness variance than age, whereas the major peak locations and interpeak angle explained most of the RNFL thickness variance unexplained by sex. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial sex effects on cRNFL thickness were found at 56.8% of all 768 circumpapillary locations, with specific patterns for different sectors. Over large regions, sex was at least as important in explaining the cRNFL thickness variance as was age, which is well established to have a substantial impact on cRNFL thickness. Including sex in the cRNFL thickness norm could therefore improve glaucoma diagnosis and monitoring.

Authors: D. Li, F. G. Rauscher, E. Y. Choi, M. Wang, N. Baniasadi, K. Wirkner, T. Kirsten, J. Thiery, C. Engel, M. Loeffler, T. Elze

Date Published: 17th Nov 2019

Publication Type: Journal article

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