Functional Role of the Polymorphic 647 T/C Variant of ENT1 (SLC29A1) and Its Association with Alcohol Withdrawal Seizures

Adenosine is involved in several neurological and behavioral disorders including alcoholism. In cultured cell and animal studies, type 1 equilibrative nucleoside transporter (ENT1, slc29a1), which regulates adenosine levels, is known to regulate ethanol sensitivity and preference. Interestingly, in humans, the ENT1 (SLC29A1) gene contains a non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (647 T/C; rs45573936) that might be involved in the functional change of ENT1. Our functional analysis showed that prolonged ethanol exposure increased adenosine uptake activity of mutant cells (ENT1-216Thr) compared to wild-type (ENT1-216Ile) transfected cells, which might result in reduced extracellular adenosine levels. We found that mice lacking ENT1 displayed increased propensity to ethanol withdrawal seizures compared to wild-type littermates. We further investigated a possible association of the 647C variant with alcoholism and the history of alcohol withdrawal seizures in subjects of European ancestry recruited from two independent sites. Analyses of the combined data set showed an association of the 647C variant and alcohol dependence with withdrawal seizures at the nominally significant level. Together with the functional data, our findings suggest a potential contribution of a genetic variant of ENT1 to the development of alcoholism with increased risk of alcohol withdrawal-induced seizures in humans

Mutational signatures in esophageal adenocarcinoma define etiologically distinct subgroups with therapeutic relevance.

Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) has a poor outcome, and targeted therapy trials have thus far been disappointing owing to a lack of robust stratification methods. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analysis of 129 cases demonstrated that this is a heterogeneous cancer dominated by copy number alterations with frequent large-scale rearrangements. Co-amplification of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) and/or downstream mitogenic activation is almost ubiquitous; thus tailored combination RTK inhibitor (RTKi) therapy might be required, as we demonstrate in vitro. However, mutational signatures showed three distinct molecular subtypes with potential therapeutic relevance, which we verified in an independent cohort (n = 87): (i) enrichment for BRCA signature with prevalent defects in the homologous recombination pathway; (ii) dominant T>G mutational pattern associated with a high mutational load and neoantigen burden; and (iii) C>A/T mutational pattern with evidence of an aging imprint. These subtypes could be ascertained using a clinically applicable sequencing strategy (low coverage) as a basis for therapy selection.Whole-genome sequencing of esophageal adenocarcinoma samples was performed as part of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) through the oEsophageal Cancer Clinical and Molecular Stratification (OCCAMS) Consortium and was funded by Cancer Research UK. We thank the ICGC members for their input on verification standards as part of the benchmarking exercise. We thank the Human Research Tissue Bank, which is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, from Addenbrooke’s Hospital and UCL. Also the University Hospital of Southampton Trust and the Southampton, Birmingham, Edinburgh and UCL Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres and the QEHB charities. This study was partly funded by a project grant from Cancer Research UK. R.C.F. is funded by an NIHR Professorship and receives core funding from the Medical Research Council and infrastructure support from the Biomedical Research Centre and the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre. We acknowledge the support of The University of Cambridge, Cancer Research UK (C14303/A17197) and Hutchison Whampoa Limited. We would like to thank Dr. Peter Van Loo for providing the NGS version of ASCAT for copy number calling. We are grateful to all the patients who provided written consent for participation in this study and the staff at all participating centres. Some of the work was undertaken at UCLH/UCL who received a proportion of funding from the Department of Health’s NIHR Biomedical Research Centres funding scheme. The work at UCLH/UCL was also supported by the CRUK UCL Early Cancer Medicine Centre.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.365

Effect of H. pylori infection and CagA status on leukocyte counts and liver function tests: extra-gastric manifestation of H. pylori infection

It has been suggested that H. pylori infection is associated with abnormalities in total leukocyte count as well as the number of basophils and lymphocytes. In addition, CagA seropositivity has been associated with an increase in serum transaminase (SGOT) values. The aim of this study was to confirm the findings of previous subgroup analyses in patients before and after treatment for H. pylori infection and to ascertain whether the abnormalities reversed following successful treatment. METHODS: Blood counts and serum transaminase levels were obtained prior to and following treatment of H. pylori infection of H. pylori-infected duodenal ulcer patients. CagA status was assessed by Western blot of the H. pylori isolates obtained from the patients. RESULTS: Ninety-four ulcer patients were studied, including 77 with CagA-positive H. pylori isolates (82%) and 17 with CagA-negative H. pylori isolates. All study parameters remained within normal limits both before and after therapy. There were no significant changes in any study parameter in those who failed therapy. Successful therapy resulted in a significant fall in total white cell count (7413 +/- 520 cmm to 6738 +/- 410 cmm, for pretreatment vs. cured, respectively, p = 0.04) and was almost entirely accounted for by a reduction in the number of circulating polymorphonuclear leukocytes (4595 +/- 370 cmm to 3855 +/- 270 cmm for pretreatment vs. cured, respectively, p = 0.015). The pretreatment SGOT and basophil count were significantly higher in those with CagA-positive H. pylori (SGOT = 23 +/- 1 vs. 18.5 +/- 1 U). Successful or failed therapy with follow-up for 3 months post therapy did not result in a significant change of SGOT levels. CONCLUSIONS: We confirmed an increase in total leukocyte count and number of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in those with H. pylori infection. We also confirmed higher SGOT levels with CagA-positive H. pylori infection, but the failure to resolve within 3 months of cure of the infection makes it unlikely to be a direct result of the H. pylori infection