Browsing by Author "Schinke, Carolina"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Epigenomic translocation of H3K4me3 broad domains over oncogenes following hijacking of super-enhancers
    (CSH Press, 2021-12) Mikulasova, Aneta; Kent, Daniel; Trevisan-Herraz, Marco; Karataraki, Nefeli; Fung, Kent T. M.; Ashby, Cody; Cieslak, Agata; Yaccoby, Shmuel; Rhee, Frits van; Zangari, Maurizio; Thanendrarajan, Sharmilan; Schinke, Carolina; Morgan, Gareth J.; Asnafi, Vahid; Spicuglia, Salvatore; Brackley, Chris A.; Corcoran, Anne E.; Hambleton, Sophie; Walker, Brian A.; Rico, Daniel; Russell, Lisa J.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Chromosomal translocations are important drivers of hematological malignancies whereby proto-oncogenes are activated by juxtaposition with super-enhancers, often called enhancer hijacking. We analysed the epigenomic consequences of rearrangements between the super-enhancers of the immunoglobulin heavy locus (IGH) and proto-oncogene CCND1 that are common in B cell malignancies. By integrating BLUEPRINT epigenomic data with DNA breakpoint detection, we characterised the normal chromatin landscape of the human IGH locus and its dynamics after pathological genomic rearrangement. We detected an H3K4me3 broad domain (BD) within the IGH locus of healthy B cells that was absent in samples with IGH-CCND1 translocations. The appearance of H3K4me3-BD over CCND1 in the latter was associated with overexpression and extensive chromatin accessibility of its gene body. We observed similar cancer-specific H3K4me3-BDs associated with super-enhancer hijacking of other common oncogenes in B cell (MAF, MYC and FGFR3/NSD2) and in T-cell malignancies (LMO2, TLX3 and TAL1). Our analysis suggests that H3K4me3-BDs can be created by super-enhancers and supports the new concept of epigenomic translocation, where the relocation of H3K4me3-BDs from cell identity genes to oncogenes accompanies the translocation of super-enhancers.
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    The functional epigenetic landscape of aberrant gene expression in molecular subgroups of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma
    (BMC, 2020-08-06) Choudhury, Samrat Roy; Ashby, Cody; Tytarenko, Ruslana; Bauer, Michael; Wang, Yan; Deshpande, Shayu; Den, Judith; Schinke, Carolina; Zangari, Maurizio; Thanendrarajan, Sharmilan; Davies, Faith E.; van Rhee, Frits; Morgan, Gareth J.; Walker, Brian A.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a hematological malignancy with genomic heterogeneity and poor survival outcome. Apart from the central role of genetic lesions, epigenetic anomalies have been identified as drivers in the development of the disease. Methods Alterations in the DNA methylome were mapped in 52 newly diagnosed MM (NDMM) patients of six molecular subgroups and matched with loci-specific chromatin marks to define their impact on gene expression. Differential DNA methylation analysis was performed using DMAP with a ≥10% increase (hypermethylation) or decrease (hypomethylation) in NDMM subgroups, compared to control samples, considered significant for all the subsequent analyses with p<0.05 after adjusting for a false discovery rate. Results We identified differentially methylated regions (DMRs) within the etiological cytogenetic subgroups of myeloma, compared to control plasma cells. Using gene expression data we identified genes that are dysregulated and correlate with DNA methylation levels, indicating a role for DNA methylation in their transcriptional control. We demonstrated that 70% of DMRs in the MM epigenome were hypomethylated and overlapped with repressive H3K27me3. In contrast, differentially expressed genes containing hypermethylated DMRs within the gene body or hypomethylated DMRs at the promoters overlapped with H3K4me1, H3K4me3, or H3K36me3 marks. Additionally, enrichment of BRD4 or MED1 at the H3K27ac enriched DMRs functioned as super-enhancers (SE), controlling the overexpression of genes or gene-cassettes. Conclusions Therefore, this study presents the underlying epigenetic regulatory networks of gene expression dysregulation in NDMM patients and identifies potential targets for future therapies.
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    Plasma cells expression from smouldering myeloma to myeloma reveals the importance of the PRC2 complex, cell cycle progression, and the divergent evolutionary pathways within the different molecular subgroups
    (Springer, 2022-02) Boyle, Eileen M.; Rosenthal, Adam; Ghamlouch, Hussein; Wang, Yan; Farmer, Phillip; Rutherford, Michael; Ashby, Cody; Bauer, Michael; Johnson, Sarah K.; Wardell, Christopher P.; Wang, Yubao; Hoering, Antje; Schinke, Carolina; Thanendrarajan, Sharmilan; Zangari, Maurizio; Barlogie, Bart; Dhodapkar, Madhav V.; Davies, Faith E.; Morgan, Gareth J.; van Rhee, Frits; Walker, Brian A.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Sequencing studies have shed some light on the pathogenesis of progression from smouldering multiple myeloma (SMM) and symptomatic multiple myeloma (MM). Given the scarcity of smouldering samples, little data are available to determine which translational programmes are dysregulated and whether the mechanisms of progression are uniform across the main molecular subgroups. In this work, we investigated 223 SMM and 1348 MM samples from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) for which we had gene expression profiling (GEP). Patients were analysed by TC-7 subgroup for gene expression changes between SMM and MM. Among the commonly dysregulated genes in each subgroup, PHF19 and EZH2 highlight the importance of the PRC2.1 complex. We show that subgroup specific differences exist even at the SMM stage of disease with different biological features driving progression within each TC molecular subgroup. These data suggest that MMSET SMM has already transformed, but that the other precursor diseases are distinct clinical entities from their symptomatic counterpart.
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    The molecular make up of smoldering myeloma highlights the evolutionary pathways leading to multiple myeloma
    (Springer Nature, 2021-01-12) Boyle, Eileen M.; Deshpande, Shayu; Tytarenko, Ruslana; Ashby, Cody; Wang, Yan; Bauer, Michael A.; Johnson, Sarah K.; Wardell, Christopher P.; Thanendrarajan, Sharmilan; Zangari, Maurizio; Facon, Thierry; Dumontet, Charles; Barlogie, Bart; Arbini, Arnaldo; Rustad, Even H.; Maura, Francesco; Landgren, Ola; Zhan, Fenghuang; van Rhee, Frits; Schinke, Carolina; Davies, Faith E.; Morgan, Gareth J.; Walker, Brian A.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Smoldering myeloma (SMM) is associated with a high-risk of progression to myeloma (MM). We report the results of a study of 82 patients with both targeted sequencing that included a capture of the immunoglobulin and MYC regions. By comparing these results to newly diagnosed myeloma (MM) we show fewer NRAS and FAM46C mutations together with fewer adverse translocations, del(1p), del(14q), del(16q), and del(17p) in SMM consistent with their role as drivers of the transition to MM. KRAS mutations are associated with a shorter time to progression (HR 3.5 (1.5-8.1), p = 0.001). In an analysis of change in clonal structure over time we studied 53 samples from nine patients at multiple time points. Branching evolutionary patterns, novel mutations, biallelic hits in crucial tumour suppressor genes, and segmental copy number changes are key mechanisms underlying the transition to MM, which can precede progression and be used to guide early intervention strategies.
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    The spatio-temporal evolution of multiple myeloma from baseline to relapse-refractory states
    (Springer, 2022-08-03) Rasche, Leo; Schinke, Carolina; Maura , Francesco; Bauer , Michael A.; Ashby, Cody; Deshpande , Shayu; Poos , Alexandra M.; Zangari , Maurizio; Thanendrarajan, Sharmilan; Davies, Faith E.; Walker, Brian A.; Barlogie, Bart; Landgren, Ola; Morgan, Gareth J.; van Rhee, Frits; Weinhold , Niels; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Deciphering Multiple Myeloma evolution in the whole bone marrow is key to inform curative strategies. Here, we perform spatial-longitudinal whole-exome sequencing, including 140 samples collected from 24 Multiple Myeloma patients during up to 14 years. Applying imaging-guided sampling we observe three evolutionary patterns, including relapse driven by a single-cell expansion, competing/co-existing sub-clones, and unique sub-clones at distinct locations. While we do not find the unique relapse sub-clone in the baseline focal lesion(s), we show a close phylogenetic relationship between baseline focal lesions and relapse disease, highlighting focal lesions as hotspots of tumor evolution. In patients with ≥3 focal lesions on positron-emission-tomography at diagnosis, relapse is driven by multiple distinct sub-clones, whereas in other patients, a single-cell expansion is typically seen (p < 0.01). Notably, we observe resistant sub-clones that can be hidden over years, suggesting that a prerequisite for curative therapies would be to overcome not only tumor heterogeneity but also dormancy.