114 research outputs found

    Mutational and gene fusion analyses of primary large cell and large cell neuroendocrine lung cancer.

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    Large cell carcinoma with or without neuroendocrine features (LCNEC and LC, respectively) constitutes 3-9% of non-small cell lung cancer but is poorly characterized at the molecular level. Herein we analyzed 41 LC and 32 LCNEC (including 15 previously reported cases) tumors using massive parallel sequencing for mutations in 26 cancer-related genes and gene fusions in ALK, RET, and ROS1. LC patients were additionally subdivided into three immunohistochemistry groups based on positive expression of TTF-1/Napsin A (adenocarcinoma-like, n = 24; 59%), CK5/P40 (squamous-like, n = 5; 12%), or no marker expression (marker-negative, n = 12; 29%). Most common alterations were TP53 (83%), KRAS (22%), MET (12%) mutations in LCs, and TP53 (88%), STK11 (16%), and PTEN (13%) mutations in LCNECs. In general, LCs showed more oncogene mutations compared to LCNECs. Immunomarker stratification of LC revealed oncogene mutations in 63% of adenocarcinoma-like cases, but only in 17% of marker-negative cases. Moreover, marker-negative LCs were associated with inferior overall survival compared with adenocarcinoma-like tumors (p = 0.007). No ALK, RET or ROS1 fusions were detected in LCs or LCNECs. Together, our molecular analyses support that LC and LCNEC tumors follow different tumorigenic paths and that LC may be stratified into molecular subgroups with potential implications for diagnosis, prognostics, and therapy decisions

    Binding of Human Milk to Pathogen Receptor DC-SIGN Varies with Bile Salt-Stimulated Lipase (BSSL) Gene Polymorphism

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    OBJECTIVE: Dendritic cells bind an array of antigens and DC-SIGN has been postulated to act as a receptor for mucosal pathogen transmission. Bile salt-stimulated lipase (BSSL) from human milk potently binds DC-SIGN and blocks DC-SIGN mediated trans-infection of CD4(+) T-lymphocytes with HIV-1. Objective was to study variation in DC-SIGN binding properties and the relation between DC-SIGN binding capacity of milk and BSSL gene polymorphisms. STUDY DESIGN: ELISA and PCR were used to study DC-SIGN binding properties and BSSL exon 11 size variation for human milk derived from 269 different mothers distributed over 4 geographical regions. RESULTS: DC-SIGN binding properties were highly variable for milks derived from different mothers and between samplings from different geographical regions. Differences in DC-SIGN binding were correlated with a genetic polymorphism in BSSL which is related to the number of 11 amino acid repeats at the C-terminus of the protein. CONCLUSION: The observed variation in DC-SIGN binding properties among milk samples may have implications for the risk of mucosal transmission of pathogens during breastfeeding

    Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

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    A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

    Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

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    Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe

    HLA class I and II expression in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma in relation to tumor HPV status and clinical outcome.

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    HPV-DNA positive (HPVDNA+) oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has better clinical outcome than HPV-DNA negative (HPVDNA-) OSCC. Current treatment may be unnecessarily extensive for most HPV+ OSCC, but before de-escalation, additional markers are needed together with HPV status to better predict treatment response. Here the influence of HLA class I/HLA class II expression was explored. Pre-treatment biopsies, from 439/484 OSCC patients diagnosed 2000-2009 and treated curatively, were analyzed for HLA I and II expression, p16(INK4a) and HPV DNA. Absent/weak as compared to high HLA class I intensity correlated to a very favorable disease-free survival (DFS), disease-specific survival (DSS) and overall survival (OS) in HPVDNA+ OSCC, both in univariate and multivariate analysis, while HLA class II had no impact. Notably, HPVDNA+ OSCC with absent/weak HLA class I responded equally well when treated with induction-chemo-radiotherapy (CRT) or radiotherapy (RT) alone. In patients with HPVDNA- OSCC, high HLA class I/class II expression correlated in general to a better clinical outcome. p16(INK4a) overexpression correlated to a better clinical outcome in HPVDNA+ OSCC. Absence of HLA class I intensity in HPVDNA+ OSCC suggests a very high survival independent of treatment and could possibly be used clinically to select patients for randomized trials de-escalating therapy

    Measurement of the charge asymmetry in top-quark pair production in the lepton-plus-jets final state in pp collision data at s=8TeV\sqrt{s}=8\,\mathrm TeV{} with the ATLAS detector

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    Search for single production of vector-like quarks decaying into Wb in pp collisions at s=8\sqrt{s} = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

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