It has been nearly half a century since angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) was characterized in the early 1970's. Our understanding of the disease has dramatically changed due to multiple ...discoveries and insights. One of the key features of AITL is aberrant immune activity. Although AITL is now understood to be a neoplastic disease, pathologists appreciated that it was an inflammatory condition. The more we understand AITL at cellular and genetic levels, the more we view it as both a neoplastic and an inflammatory disease. Here, we review recent progress in our understanding of AITL, focusing on as yet unsolved questions.
Full text
Available for:
EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The TET dioxygenases, TET1, TET2, and TET3, catalyze transfer of an oxygen atom to the methyl group of 5-methylcytocine (5-mC), converting it to 5-hydroxymethylcytocine (5-hmC). Among the genes ...encoding these enzymes,
ten
-
eleven translocation 2
(
TET2
) is frequently mutated somatically in both myeloid and lymphoid malignancies. Because these
TET2
mutations result in the impairment of the dioxygenase activity of TET2, it is thought that these mutations interfere with 5-mC to 5-hmC conversion. There is ample evidence indicating that
TET2
mutations are a driver of tumorigenesis in blood cells and that
TET2
mutations are often acquired at the hematopoietic stem/early progenitor cell stage. In addition,
TET2
is the second-most frequently mutated gene in clonal hematopoiesis in individuals with no apparent blood cancers, suggesting that while
TET2
mutations alone are insufficient to cause hematologic malignancy, they represent an early event during tumorigenesis. A number of questions, including the precise target genome regions of TET2, and the importance of the balance of 5-mC and 5-hmC in the regulatory regions in transcriptional control, remain.
Full text
Available for:
EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Abstract
Abnormal behaviors during sleep (ABDS) exhibit a myriad of symptoms. Their underlying diseases are also diverse, which include NREM/REM-related parasomnias, epilepsy and mental disorders. ...Since ABDS may severely affect a patient’s quality of life, giving an early and accurate diagnosis of the underlying disease (by analyzing video-polysomnographic data during the manifestation of ABDS) is of great importance. However, accurate diagnosis of ABDS is rather difficult. Recently it has been suggested that the pathology of (NREM/REM-related) parasomnias and epilepsy are closely related. In order to unravel the pathophysiological substrate of ABDS, it is essential to develop a novel approach based on sleep epileptology, a field which targets the interface between sleep medicine and epileptology.
Peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (PTCL, NOS) is a diagnosis of exclusion, being the most common entity in mature T-cell neoplasms, and its molecular pathogenesis remains ...significantly understudied. Here, combining whole-exome and targeted-capture sequencing, gene-expression profiling, and immunohistochemical analysis of tumor samples from 133 cases, we have delineated the entire landscape of somatic alterations, and discovered frequently affected driver pathways in PTCL, NOS, with and without a T-follicular helper (TFH) cell phenotype. In addition to previously reported mutational targets, we identified a number of novel recurrently altered genes, such as KMT2C, SETD1B, YTHDF2, and PDCD1. We integrated these genetic drivers using hierarchical clustering and identified a previously undescribed molecular subtype characterized by TP53 and/or CDKN2A mutations and deletions in non-TFH PTCL, NOS. This subtype exhibited different prognosis and unique genetic features associated with extensive chromosomal instability, which preferentially affected molecules involved in immune escape and transcriptional regulation, such as HLA-A/B and IKZF2. Taken together, our findings provide novel insights into the molecular pathogenesis of PTCL, NOS by highlighting their genetic heterogeneity. These results should help to devise a novel molecular classification of PTCLs and to exploit a new therapeutic strategy for this group of aggressive malignancies.
Full text
Available for:
EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are a rare cell type that reconstitute the entire blood and immune systems after transplantation and can be used as a curative cell therapy for a variety of ...haematological diseases
. However, the low number of HSCs in the body makes both biological analyses and clinical application difficult, and the limited extent to which human HSCs can be expanded ex vivo remains a substantial barrier to the wider and safer therapeutic use of HSC transplantation
. Although various reagents have been tested in attempts to stimulate the expansion of human HSCs, cytokines have long been thought to be essential for supporting HSCs ex vivo
. Here we report the establishment of a culture system that allows the long-term ex vivo expansion of human HSCs, achieved through the complete replacement of exogenous cytokines and albumin with chemical agonists and a caprolactam-based polymer. A phosphoinositide 3-kinase activator, in combination with a thrombopoietin-receptor agonist and the pyrimidoindole derivative UM171, were sufficient to stimulate the expansion of umbilical cord blood HSCs that are capable of serial engraftment in xenotransplantation assays. Ex vivo HSC expansion was further supported by split-clone transplantation assays and single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis. Our chemically defined expansion culture system will help to advance clinical HSC therapies.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK, ZAGLJ
Myelodysplastic syndromes and related disorders (myelodysplasia) are a heterogeneous group of myeloid neoplasms showing deregulated blood cell production with evidence of myeloid dysplasia and a ...predisposition to acute myeloid leukaemia, whose pathogenesis is only incompletely understood. Here we report whole-exome sequencing of 29 myelodysplasia specimens, which unexpectedly revealed novel pathway mutations involving multiple components of the RNA splicing machinery, including U2AF35, ZRSR2, SRSF2 and SF3B1. In a large series analysis, these splicing pathway mutations were frequent (∼45 to ∼85%) in, and highly specific to, myeloid neoplasms showing features of myelodysplasia. Conspicuously, most of the mutations, which occurred in a mutually exclusive manner, affected genes involved in the 3'-splice site recognition during pre-mRNA processing, inducing abnormal RNA splicing and compromised haematopoiesis. Our results provide the first evidence indicating that genetic alterations of the major splicing components could be involved in human pathogenesis, also implicating a novel therapeutic possibility for myelodysplasia.
Immune cells harboring somatic mutations reportedly infiltrate cancer tissues in patients with solid cancers and accompanying clonal hematopoiesis. Loss‐of‐function TET2 mutations are frequently ...observed in clonal hematopoiesis in solid cancers. Here, using a mouse lung cancer model, we evaluated the activity of Tet2‐deficient immune cells in tumor tissues. Myeloid‐specific Tet2 deficiency enhanced tumor growth in mice relative to that seen in controls. Single‐cell sequencing analysis of immune cells infiltrating tumors showed relatively high expression of S100a8/S100a9 in Tet2‐deficient myeloid subclusters. In turn, treatment with S100a8/S100a9 promoted Vegfa production by cancer cells, leading to a marked increase in the tumor vasculature in Tet2‐deficient mice relative to controls. Finally, treatment of Tet2‐deficient mice with an antibody against Emmprin, a known S100a8/S100a9 receptor, suppressed tumor growth. These data suggest that immune cells derived from TET2‐mutated clonal hematopoiesis exacerbate lung cancer progression by promoting tumor angiogenesis and may provide a novel therapeutic target for lung cancer patients with TET2‐mutated clonal hematopoiesis.
Our study suggests that immune cells derived from TET2‐mutated clonal hematopoiesis exacerbate lung cancer progression by promoting tumor angiogenesis. We present evidence that signaling through the S100a8/S100a9‐Emmprin‐Vegfa axis is essential for progression of a lung cancer model established in a microenvironment of Tet2‐deficient immune cells. Furthermore, we provide a novel target for lung cancer patients with accompanying TET2‐mutated clonal hematopoiesis.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Because adult cardiomyocytes have little regenerative capacity, resident cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) synthesize extracellular matrix after myocardial infarction (MI) to form fibrosis, leading to ...cardiac dysfunction and heart failure. Therapies that can regenerate the myocardium and reverse fibrosis in chronic MI are lacking. The overexpression of cardiac transcription factors, including
(MGTH), can directly reprogram CFs into induced cardiomyocytes (iCMs) and improve cardiac function under acute MI. However, the ability of in vivo cardiac reprogramming to repair chronic MI with established scars is undetermined.
We generated a novel Tcf21
/reporter/MGTH2A transgenic mouse system in which tamoxifen treatment could induce both MGTH and reporter expression in the resident CFs for cardiac reprogramming and fibroblast lineage tracing. We first tested the efficacy of this transgenic system in vitro and in vivo for acute MI. Next, we analyzed in vivo cardiac reprogramming and fusion events under chronic MI using Tcf21
/Tomato/MGTH2A and Tcf21
/mTmG/MGTH2A mice, respectively. Microarray and single-cell RNA sequencing were performed to determine the mechanism of cardiac repair by in vivo reprogramming.
We confirmed the efficacy of transgenic in vitro and in vivo cardiac reprogramming for acute MI. In chronic MI, in vivo cardiac reprogramming converted ≈2% of resident CFs into iCMs, in which a majority of iCMs were generated by means of bona fide cardiac reprogramming rather than by fusion with cardiomyocytes. Cardiac reprogramming significantly improved myocardial contraction and reduced fibrosis in chronic MI. Microarray analyses revealed that the overexpression of MGTH activated cardiac program and concomitantly suppressed fibroblast and inflammatory signatures in chronic MI. Single-cell RNA sequencing demonstrated that resident CFs consisted of 7 subclusters, in which the profibrotic CF population increased under chronic MI. Cardiac reprogramming suppressed fibroblastic gene expression in chronic MI by means of conversion of profibrotic CFs to a quiescent antifibrotic state. MGTH overexpression induced antifibrotic effects partly by suppression of Meox1, a central regulator of fibroblast activation.
These results demonstrate that cardiac reprogramming could repair chronic MI by means of myocardial regeneration and reduction of fibrosis. These findings present opportunities for the development of new therapies for chronic MI and heart failure.
Background: In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether early cardiac biomarker alterations and echocardiographic parameters, including left atrial (LA) strain, can predict ...anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity (AIC) and thus develop a predictive risk score.Methods and Results: The AIC registry is a prospective, observational cohort study designed to gather serial echocardiographic and biomarker data before and after anthracycline chemotherapy. Cardiotoxicity was defined as a reduction in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥10 percentage points from baseline and <55%. In total, 383 patients (93% women; median age, 57 46–66 years) completed the 2-year follow-up; 42 (11.0%) patients developed cardiotoxicity (median time to onset, 292 175–440 days). Increases in cardiac troponin T (TnT) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and relative reductions in the left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LV GLS) and LA reservoir strain LASr at 3 months after anthracycline administration were independently associated with subsequent cardiotoxicity. A risk score containing 2 clinical variables (smoking and prior cardiovascular disease), 2 cardiac biomarkers at 3 months (TnT ≥0.019 ng/mL and BNP ≥31.1 pg/mL), 2 echocardiographic variables at 3 months (relative declines in LV GLS ≥6.5%, and LASr ≥7.5%) was generated.Conclusions: Early decline in LASr was independently associated with subsequent cardiotoxicity. The AIC risk score may provide useful prognostication in patients receiving anthracyclines.
Recent sequencing studies demonstrated the MYD88 L265P mutation in more than 70% of primary central nervous system lymphomas (PCNSL), and the clinical significance of this mutation has been proposed ...as diagnostic and prognostic markers in PCNSL. In contrast, mutational analyses using cell‐free DNAs have been reported in a variety of systemic lymphomas. To investigate how sensitively the MYD88 L265P mutation can be identified in cell‐free DNA from PCNSL patients, we carried out droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) and targeted deep sequencing (TDS) in 14 consecutive PCNSL patients from whom paired tumor‐derived DNA and cell‐free DNA was available at diagnosis. The MYD88 L265P mutation was found in tumor‐derived DNA from all 14 patients (14/14, 100%). In contrast, among 14 cell‐free DNAs evaluated by ddPCR (14/14) and TDS (13/14), the MYD88 L265P mutation was detected in eight out of 14 (ddPCR) and in 0 out of 13 (TDS) samples, implying dependence on the detection method. After chemotherapy, the MYD88 L265P mutation in cell‐free DNAs was traced in five patients; unexpectedly, the mutations disappeared after chemotherapy was given, and they remained undetectable in all patients. These observations suggest that ddPCR can sensitively detect the MYD88 L265P mutation in cell‐free DNA and could be used as non‐invasive diagnostics, but may not be applicable for monitoring minimal residual diseases in PCNSL.
Our findings might provide new perspectives on the utility of ddPCR‐based detection of L265P MyD88 mutations in cell‐free DNAs as a non‐invasive diagnostic marker of PCNSL.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
PDF
