Comparison of the chromosomal pattern of primary testicular nonseminomas and residual mature teratomas after chemotherapy

About 70 to 75% of patients with nonseminomatous testicular germ cell tumors (NSs) present with metastases. When these metastases are treated with chemotherapy, often residual mature teratoma (RMT) is left. RMT is composed of fully differentiated somatic tissue. Untreated metastases of NSs rarely consist exclusively of mature somatic tissue. Apparently, after chemotherapy treatment there is a shift towards higher degrees of differentiation. Investigating tumor progression and the mechanism(s) involved in therapy-related differentiation, we compared the cytogenetically abnormal karyotypes of a series of 70 NSs with those of 31 RMTs. In NSs and RMTs, the modal total chromosome number does not differ and is in the triploid range. Both the frequency and the average copy number of i(12p) are the same, and the pattern of chromosomal over-and underrepresentation and distribution of breakpoints do not differ significantly in these series. So, we found the chromosomal pattern of RMTs as abnormal as those of primary NSs. Based on cytogenetics, we found no indication that specific chromosomal alterations parallel metastasis and therapy-related differentiation of the metastases. The cytogenetic data suggest that both induction of differentiation of (selected) cells or selection of cells with capacity to differentiate are possible mechanisms for the therapy-related differentiation of RMTs. (C) Elsevier Science Inc., 1997

Variant Location Is a Novel Risk Factor for Individuals With Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy Due to a Desmoplakin (DSP) Truncating Variant.

BACKGROUND: Truncating variants in desmoplakin (DSPtv) are an important cause of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy; however the genetic architecture and genotype-specific risk factors are incompletely understood. We evaluated phenotype, risk factors for ventricular arrhythmias, and underlying genetics of DSPtv cardiomyopathy. METHODS: Individuals with DSPtv and any cardiac phenotype, and their gene-positive family members were included from multiple international centers. Clinical data and family history information were collected. Event-free survival from ventricular arrhythmia was assessed. Variant location was compared between cases and controls, and literature review of reported DSPtv performed. RESULTS: There were 98 probands and 72 family members (mean age at diagnosis 43±8 years, 59% women) with a DSPtv, of which 146 were considered clinically affected. Ventricular arrhythmia (sudden cardiac arrest, sustained ventricular tachycardia, appropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapy) occurred in 56 (33%) individuals. DSPtv location and proband status were independent risk factors for ventricular arrhythmia. Further, gene region was important with variants in cases (cohort n=98; Clinvar n=167) more likely to occur in the regions resulting in nonsense mediated decay of both major DSP isoforms, compared with n=124 genome aggregation database control variants (148 [83.6%] versus 29 [16.4%]; P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: In the largest series of individuals with DSPtv, we demonstrate that variant location is a novel risk factor for ventricular arrhythmia, can inform variant interpretation, and provide critical insights to allow for precision-based clinical management.Edgar T. Hoorntje, Charlotte Burns, Luisa Marsili, Ben Corden, Victoria N. Parikh, Gerard J. te Meerman, Belinda Gray, Ahmet Adiyaman, Richard D. Bagnall, Daniela Q.C.M. Barge-Schaapveld, Maarten P. van den Berg, Marianne Bootsma, Laurens P. Bosman, Gemma Correnti, Johan Duflou, Ruben N. Eppinga, Diane Fatkin, Michael Fietz, Eric Haan, Jan D.H. Jongbloed, Arnaud D. Hauer, Lien Lam, Freyja H.M. van Lint, Amrit Lota, Carlo Marcelis, Hugh J. McCarthy, Anneke M. van Mil, Rogier A. Oldenburg, Nicholas Pachter, R. Nils Planken, Chloe Reuter, Christopher Semsarian, Jasper J. van der Smagt, Tina Thompson, Jitendra Vohra, Paul G.A. Volders, Jaap I. van Waning, Nicola Whiffin, Arthur van den Wijngaard, Ahmad S. Amin, Arthur A.M. Wilde, Gijs van Woerden, Laura Yeates, Dominica Zentner, Euan A. Ashley, Matthew T. Wheeler, James S. Ware, J. Peter van Tintelen, Jodie Ingle

Genetic association studies in complex disease: Disentangling additional predisposing loci from associated neutral loci using a constrained - permutation approach

In the process of genetically mapping a complex disease, the question may arise whether a certain polymorphism is the only causal variant in a region. A number of methods can answer this question, but unfortunately these methods are optimal for bi-allelic loci only. We wanted to develop a method that is more suited for multi-allelic loci, such as microsatellite markers. We propose the Additional Disease Loci Test (ADLT): the alleles at an additional locus are permuted within the subsample of haplotypes that have identical alleles at the predisposing locus. The hypothesis being tested is, whether the predisposing locus is the sole factor predisposing to the trait that is in LD with the additional locus under study. We applied ADLT to simulated datasets and a published dataset on Type 1 Diabetes, genotyped for microsatellite markers in the HLA-region. The method showed the expected number of false-positive results in the absence of additional loci, but proved to be more powerful than existing methods in the presence of additional disease loci. ADLT was especially superior in datasets with less LD or with multiple predisposing alleles. We conclude that the ADLT can be useful in identifying additional disease loci.

Genetic association studies in complex disease: Disentangling additional predisposing loci from associated neutral loci using a constrained - permutation approach

In the process of genetically mapping a complex disease, the question may arise whether a certain polymorphism is the only causal variant in a region. A number of methods can answer this question, but unfortunately these methods are optimal for bi-allelic loci only. We wanted to develop a method that is more suited for multi-allelic loci, such as microsatellite markers. We propose the Additional Disease Loci Test (ADLT): the alleles at an additional locus are permuted within the subsample of haplotypes that have identical alleles at the predisposing locus. The hypothesis being tested is, whether the predisposing locus is the sole factor predisposing to the trait that is in LD with the additional locus under study. We applied ADLT to simulated datasets and a published dataset on Type 1 Diabetes, genotyped for microsatellite markers in the HLA-region. The method showed the expected number of false-positive results in the absence of additional loci, but proved to be more powerful than existing methods in the presence of additional disease loci. ADLT was especially superior in datasets with less LD or with multiple predisposing alleles. We conclude that the ADLT can be useful in identifying additional disease loci

An absolute procedure to test the growth potential of medium and the influence of decreased oxygen tension in primary amniotic fluid cell cultures.

Contains fulltext : 50606.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)OBJECTIVE: For prenatal cytogenetic diagnosis, cell cultures should be maximally successful. When introducing a change in conditions, e.g. a new batch of medium, the growth potential of a culture is usually compared under both the new condition and the one already in use. Such a relative test is in principle subject to drift and may over time increasingly lead to rejection of new adequate conditions, c.q. good batches of medium. We therefore wanted to design an absolute test to assess the quality of a new condition for amniotic fluid (AF) in situ cell culturing. METHODS: We tested batches of medium under sub-optimal (stress) conditions, expecting that differences in growth potential would thereby be more readily observed. In our stress test, we diluted the culture medium to the extent of achieving a 50% growth reduction. Thresholds for rejecting a new condition were empirically determined, based on the acceptance of a less than 1% probability of false rejection of a good condition. RESULTS: Testing three cultures per patient for ten patients, i.e. 30 cultures in total, in a medium diluted to 30% of the original concentration, showed that a minimal number of 23 successful cultures and an average number of three or more colonies per culture appeared as thresholds meeting our rejection criteria. Testing five different media resulted in the rejection of one. Using the same stress test to evaluate the effect of culturing under decreased oxygen tension showed that 2.5 and 5% oxygen tension caused a larger colony size. CONCLUSION: We designed a sensitive absolute test to assess the quality of culturing conditions for cells to be used in prenatal diagnosis in general and in particular to test the growth potential of different batches of culture medium

Cytogenetic Analysis of Ten Human Seminomas

A cytogenetic analysis of ten seminomas has been carried out after direct harvesting of the tumor cells. Modal chromosome numbers ranged from 63 to 112. These numbers were in agreement with flow cytometric determination of the DNA content of the tumors. Eight tumors had at least one copy of an i(12p) among other chromosomal abnormalities. Two seminomas lacked the i(12p

Mutation frequency of cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator is not increased in oligozoospermic male candidates for intracytoplasmic sperm injection

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