scholarly journals GWAS meta-analysis and gene expression data link reproductive tract development, immune response and cellular proliferation/apoptosis with cervical cancer and clarify overlap with other cervical phenotypes

Author(s):  
Mariann Koel ◽  
Urmo Võsa ◽  
Maarja Lepamets ◽  
Hannele Laivuori ◽  
Susanna Lemmelä ◽  
...  

Background The uterine cervix has an important role in female reproductive health, but not much is known about the genetic determinants of cervical biology and pathology. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) with increasing sample sizes have reported a few genetic associations for cervical cancer. However, GWAS is only the first step in mapping the genetic susceptibility and thus, the underlying biology in cervical cancer and other cervical phenotypes is still not entirely understood. Here, we use data from large biobanks to characterise the genetics of cervical phenotypes (including cervical cancer) and leverage latest computational methods and gene expression data to refine the association signals for cervical cancer. Methods Using Estonian Biobank and FinnGen data, we characterise the genetic signals associated with cervical ectropion (10,162 cases/151,347 controls), cervicitis (19,285/185,708) and cervical dysplasia (14,694/150,563). We present the results from the largest trans-ethnic GWAS meta-analysis of cervical cancer, including up to 9,229 cases and 490,304 controls from Estonian Biobank, the FinnGen study, the UK Biobank and Biobank Japan. We combine GWAS results with gene expression data and chromatin regulatory annotations in HeLa cervical carcinoma cells to propose the most likely candidate genes and causal variants for every locus associated with cervical cancer. We further dissect the HLA association with cervical pathology using imputed data on alleles and amino acid polymorphisms. Results We report a single associated locus on 2q13 for both cervical ectropion (rs3748916, p=5.1 x 10-16) and cervicitis (rs1049137, p=3.9 x 10-10), and five signals for cervical dysplasia - 6p21.32 (rs1053726, p=9.1 x 10-9; rs36214159, 1.6 x 10-22), 2q24.1 (rs12611652, p=3.2 x 10-9) near DAPL1, 2q13 ns1049137, p=6.4 x 10-9) near PAX8, and 5p15.33 (rs6866294, p=2.1 x 10-9), downstream of CLPTM1L. We identify five loci associated with cervical cancer in the trans-ethnic meta-analysis: 1p36.12 (rs2268177, p= 3.1 x 10-8), 2q13 (rs4849177, p=9.4 x 10-15), 5p15.33 (rs27069, p=1.3 x 10-14), 17q12 (rs12603332, p=1.2 x 10-9), and 6p21.32 (rs35508382, p=1.0 x 10-39). Joint analysis of dysplasia and cancer datasets revealed an association on chromosome 19 (rs425787, p=3.5 x 10-8), near CD70. Conclusions Our results map PAX8/PAX8-AS1, LINC00339, CDC42, CLPTM1L, HLA-DRB1, HLA-B, and GSDMB as the most likely candidate genes for cervical cancer, which provides novel insight into cervical cancer pathogenesis and supports the role of genes involved in reproductive tract development, immune response and cellular proliferation/apoptosis. We further show that PAX8/PAX8-AS1 has a central role in cervical biology and pathology, as it was associated with all analysed phenotypes. The detailed characterisation of association signals, together with mapping of causal variants and genes offers valuable leads for further functional studies.

Genomics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 112 (2) ◽  
pp. 1761-1767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantina E. Vennou ◽  
Daniele Piovani ◽  
Panagiota I. Kontou ◽  
Stefanos Bonovas ◽  
Pantelis G. Bagos

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (06) ◽  
pp. 1550019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexei A. Sharov ◽  
David Schlessinger ◽  
Minoru S. H. Ko

We have developed ExAtlas, an on-line software tool for meta-analysis and visualization of gene expression data. In contrast to existing software tools, ExAtlas compares multi-component data sets and generates results for all combinations (e.g. all gene expression profiles versus all Gene Ontology annotations). ExAtlas handles both users’ own data and data extracted semi-automatically from the public repository (GEO/NCBI database). ExAtlas provides a variety of tools for meta-analyses: (1) standard meta-analysis (fixed effects, random effects, z-score, and Fisher’s methods); (2) analyses of global correlations between gene expression data sets; (3) gene set enrichment; (4) gene set overlap; (5) gene association by expression profile; (6) gene specificity; and (7) statistical analysis (ANOVA, pairwise comparison, and PCA). ExAtlas produces graphical outputs, including heatmaps, scatter-plots, bar-charts, and three-dimensional images. Some of the most widely used public data sets (e.g. GNF/BioGPS, Gene Ontology, KEGG, GAD phenotypes, BrainScan, ENCODE ChIP-seq, and protein–protein interaction) are pre-loaded and can be used for functional annotations.


Blood ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 126 (23) ◽  
pp. 2663-2663
Author(s):  
Matthew A Care ◽  
Stephen M Thirdborough ◽  
Andrew J Davies ◽  
Peter W.M. Johnson ◽  
Andrew Jack ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose To assess whether comparative gene network analysis can reveal characteristic immune response signatures that predict clinical response in Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Background The wealth of available gene expression data sets for DLBCL and other cancer types provides a resource to define recurrent pathological processes at the level of gene expression and gene correlation neighbourhoods. This is of particular relevance in the context of cancer immune responses, where convergence onto common patterns may drive shared gene expression profiles. Where existing and novel immunotherapies harness the immune response for therapeutic benefit such responses may provide predictive biomarkers. Methods We independently analysed publically available DLBCL gene expression data sets and a wide compendium of gene expression data from diverse cancer types, and then asked whether common elements of cancer host response could be identified from resulting networks. Using 10 DLBCL gene expression data sets, encompassing 2030 cases, we established pairwise gene correlation matrices per data set, which were merged to generate median correlations of gene pairs across all data sets. Gene network analysis and unsupervised clustering was then applied to define global representations of DLBCL gene expression neighbourhoods. In parallel a diverse range of solid and lymphoid malignancies including; breast, colorectal, oesophageal, head and neck, non-small cell lung, prostate, pancreatic cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, Follicular lymphoma and DLBCL were independently analysed using an orthogonal weighted gene correlation network analysis of gene expression data sets from which correlated modules across diverse cancer types were identified. The biology of resulting gene neighbourhoods was assessed by signature and ontology enrichment, and the overlap between gene correlation neighbourhoods and WGCNA derived modules associated with immune/host responses was analysed. Results Amongst DLBCL data, we identified distinct gene correlation neighbourhoods associated with the immune response. These included both elements of IFN-polarised responses, core T-cell, and cytotoxic signatures as well as distinct macrophage responses. Neighbourhoods linked to macrophages separated CD163 from CD68 and CD14. In the WGCNA analysis of diverse cancer types clusters corresponding to these immune response neighbourhoods were independently identified including a highly similar cluster related to CD163. The overlapping CD163 clusters in both analyses linked to diverse Fc-Receptors, complement pathway components and patterns of scavenger receptors potentially linked to alternative macrophage activation. The relationship between the CD163 macrophage gene expression cluster and outcome was tested in DLBCL data sets, identifying a poor response in CD163 -cluster high patients, which reached statistical significance in one data set (GSE10846). Notably, the effect of the CD163-associated gene neighbourhood which correlates with poor outcome post rituximab containing immunochemotherapy is distinct from the effect of IFNG-STAT1-IRF1 polarised cytotoxic responses. The latter represents the predominant immune response pattern separating cell of origin unclassifiable (Type-III) DLBCL from either ABC or GCB DLBCL subsets, and is associated with a trend toward positive outcome. Conclusion Comparative gene expression network analysis identifies common immune response signatures shared between DLBCL and other cancer types. Gene expression clusters linked to CD163 macrophage responses and IFNG-STAT1-IRF1 polarised cytotoxic responses are common patterns with apparent divergent outcome association. Disclosures Davies: CTI: Honoraria; GIlead: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Mundipharma: Honoraria, Research Funding; Bayer: Research Funding; Takeda: Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria, Research Funding; Roche: Honoraria, Research Funding; GSK: Research Funding; Pfizer: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding. Jack:Jannsen: Research Funding.


2012 ◽  
Vol 132 (8) ◽  
pp. 2050-2059 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marloes S. van Kester ◽  
Martin K. Borg ◽  
Willem H. Zoutman ◽  
Jacoba J. Out-Luiting ◽  
Patty M. Jansen ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 1464-1471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie K. Schwarz ◽  
Jacqueline E. Payton ◽  
Ramachandran Rashmi ◽  
Tao Xiang ◽  
Yunhe Jia ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nimisha Asati ◽  
Abhinav Mishra ◽  
Ankita Shukla ◽  
Tiratha Raj Singh

AbstractGene expression studies revealed a large degree of variability in gene expression patterns particularly in tissues even in genetically identical individuals. It helps to reveal the components majorly fluctuating during the disease condition. With the advent of gene expression studies many microarray studies have been conducted in prostate cancer, but the results have varied across different studies. To better understand the genetic and biological regulatory mechanisms of prostate cancer, we conducted a meta-analysis of three major pathways i.e. androgen receptor (AR), mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) and Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) on prostate cancer. Meta-analysis has been performed for the gene expression data for the human species that are exposed to prostate cancer. Twelve datasets comprising AR, mTOR, and MAPK pathways were taken for analysis, out of which thirteen potential biomarkers were identified through meta-analysis. These findings were compiled based upon the quantitative data analysis by using different tools. Also, various interconnections were found amongst the pathways in study. Our study suggests that the microarray analysis of the gene expression data and their pathway level connections allows detection of the potential predictors that can prove to be putative therapeutic targets with biological and functional significance in progression of prostate cancer.


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