Citations

Adenosine monophosphate–activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a major energy sensor that maintains cellular energy homeostasis. Huntington’s disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of CAG repeats in the huntingtin (Htt) gene. In this paper, we report that activation of the α1 isoform of AMPK (AMPK-α1) occurred in striatal neurons of humans and mice with HD. Overactivation of AMPK in the striatum caused brain atrophy, facilitated neuronal loss, and increased formation of Htt aggregates in a transgenic mouse model (R6/2) of HD. Such nuclear accumulation of AMPK-α1 was activity dependent. Prevention of nuclear translocation or inactivation of AMPK-α1 ameliorated cell death and down-regulation of Bcl2 caused by mutant Htt (mHtt). Conversely, enhanced expression of Bcl2 protected striatal cells from the toxicity evoked by mHtt and AMPK overactivation. These data demonstrate that aberrant activation of AMPK-α1 in the nuclei of striatal cells represents a new toxic pathway induced by mHtt.

The common polymorphism SCN5A-S1103Y (∼13% allelic frequency in African Americans) is a risk factor for arrhythmia, sudden unexplained death (SUD), and sudden infant death syndrome. Prompted by a case of autopsy-negative SUD in a 23-year-old African American man who collapsed while playing football, we hypothesized that S1103Y interacted with other SCN5A variants to pathologically modify sodium current ( I Na ). Mutational analysis of arrhythmia-associated genes in the victim revealed the variants SCN5A-R680H and SCN5A-S1103Y. These variants were made both separately and in the same cDNA construct of the alternative splice variant backgrounds (SCN5A-Q1077del and Q1077) and expressed in HEK293 cells. In the most abundant SCN5A-Q1077del, late I Na for S1103Y alone was not significantly different from wild type (WT). However, late I Na for R680H, R680H+S1103Y (coexpressed), and R680H/S1103Y (on the same cDNA) was increased 2.1-, 3.4-, and 3.6-fold, respectively, compared with WT. Intracellular acidosis (pH 6.7) increased late I Na for S1103Y, R680H, R680H+S1103Y, and R680H/S1103Y by 2.2-, 2.4-, 5.0-, and 5.5-fold, respectively, compared with WT at pH 6.7. Expression in the less abundant SCN5A-Q1077 showed no increased late I Na . This is the initial report of a functional interaction for the common polymorphism S1103Y with another mutation in the major transcript Q1077del of SCN5A. The “double hit” and environmental factor of acidosis may have converged to cause arrhythmic sudden death in this case.

AbstractGenome‐wide association studies (GWAS) are being conducted at an unprecedented rate in population‐based cohorts and have increased our understanding of the pathophysiology of complex disease. Regardless of context, the practical utility of this information will ultimately depend upon the quality of the original data. Quality control (QC) procedures for GWAS are computationally intensive, operationally challenging, and constantly evolving. Here we enumerate some of the challenges in QC of GWAS data and describe the approaches that the electronic MEdical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) network is using for quality assurance in GWAS data, thereby minimizing potential bias and error in GWAS results. We discuss common issues associated with QC of GWAS data, including data file formats, software packages for data manipulation and analysis, sex chromosome anomalies, sample identity, sample relatedness, population substructure, batch effects, and marker quality. We propose best practices and discuss areas of ongoing and future research. Curr. Protoc. Hum. Genet. 68:1.19.1‐1.19.18 © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Abstract Background: Three prior Phase III trials (E2100, AVADO, and RIBBON-1) established the clinical benefit of adding bevacizumab (BV) to various chemotherapies (chemos) as first-line treatment for metastatic breast cancer (MBC). A previous Phase III study (AVF2119g) in patients with predominantly heavily pre-treated MBC, in which BV was added to capecitabine (Cape), resulted in a significant increase in objective response rate (ORR), but did not meet the primary endpoint for progression-free survival (PFS). The current study, RIBBON-2, was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the addition of BV to chemotherapies used as second-line treatment for MBC.Methods: Patients were randomized in a 2:1 ratio to chemo+BV or chemo+placebo (PL). Key eligibility criteria included one prior cytotoxic treatment for MBC, ECOG performance status of 0 to 1, and HER2-negative or unknown status. Prior to randomization, investigators chose one of the following chemo agents: taxane (T; paclitaxel 90 mg/m2/wk for 3 of the 4 weeks; paclitaxel 175 mg/m2, nab-paclitaxel 260 mg/m2, docetaxel 75–100 mg/m2, all given q3wk), gemcitabine (G; 1250 mg/m2 on Days 1 and 8 q3wk), Cape (2000 mg/m2 Days 1–14 q3wk), or vinorelbine (V; 30 mg/m2/wk). BV or PL was administered at 10 mg/kg q2wk or 15 mg/kg q3wk, depending on the chemo regimen. The primary endpoint of the study was investigator-assessed PFS pooled across the chemo cohorts. Key secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS), PFS within individual chemo cohorts, ORR, and safety.Results: 684 patients (T, 304; G, 160; Cape, 144; and V, 76) at 211 sites in 19 countries were randomized between February 2006 and June 2008. Overall, the two study arms were balanced for patient characteristics at baseline. The study met its primary endpoint of PFS pooled across chemo cohorts and also demonstrated a 10% increase in ORR when BV was added to chemo. At the interim analysis for OS, the median durations were 18 mo for chemo+BV and 16.4 mo for chemo+PL (see table).Across all chemo cohorts the incidence of BV-related AEs was consistent with data from previous studies. Hypertension was the only BV-related AE consistently increased in the chemo+BV arm across all chemo cohorts.Conclusions: The addition of BV to chemotherapies used for second-line treatment of MBC led to a significant improvement in PFS. The AE profile of BV in the overall study population and across the chemotherapy cohorts was consistent with that previously observed. Additional analyses, including PFS for the individual chemo cohorts, will be presented. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(24 Suppl):Abstract nr 42.

Abstract Background: Taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy is a dose-limiting side effect that leads to suboptimal cancer treatment and diminished quality of life. The mode of taxane neurotoxicity is unclear, but may be through stabilization of microtubules and induction of spindle checkpoint, leading to cell cycle arrest at G2/M. Fanconi Anemia (FA) genes, including FANCD2, and FANCA, appear to be involved in G2/M phase checkpoint maintenance as well as spindle checkpoint in response to internal and external signals, such as taxane treatment. Thus, we hypothesized that variants in FA genes could impact severity of taxane-induced neuropathies.Methods: Using DNA extracted from blood collected from 893 breast cancer patients participating in a trial evaluating metronomic dosing of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and paclitaxel (S0221), we genotyped for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that represent all of the variability across FANCA (44 SNPs) and FANCD2 (24 SNPs) in all race/ethnicity groups, as well as a panel of ancestry informative markers to control for potential population stratification, using Illumina GoldenGate platform. SNPs with minor allele frequency (MAF) less than 0.10 and those out of Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) proportions (p<0.001) were removed from analyses. Ordinal regression was used to test for allelic and haplotypic association with grade 3 or 4 toxicities relative to 0, 1, and 2 toxicities, adjusting for age, genetic admixture index and treatment arm. To adjust for multiple testing, permutation analyses were performed on both single SNP and haplotype models.Results: Eighteen SNPs in FANCD2 and 38 SNPs in FANCA passed MAF and HWE proportion requirements. For FANCD2, 4 SNPs spanning 67.5 Kb (rs7648104, rs2272125 [coding SNP], rs6786638 and rs644215), were significantly associated with taxane-induced neuropathy (p<0.001) after controlling for multiple testing, with each SNP resulting in approximately a twofold increase in odds of severe taxane-induced neuropathy. Haplotype estimation showed that all 18 SNPs comprise a single haplotype. Two major (>1% frequency) haplotypes were found. The frequencies of the risk haplotype in cases (patients with grade 3 or 4 neuropathy) and controls (patients with ≤ grade 2 neuropathy) were 0.25 and 0.15, respectively. Ordinal regression analyses were highly significant (p<0.0005); patients with at least one copy of the risk haplotype had more than a twofold increased risk of grade 3 or 4 taxane-induced neuropathy (OR=2.2, 95% CI 1.44, 3.44). For FANCA, no SNPs or haplotypes were significantly associated with grade 3 or 4 neurotoxicity, either prior to or after correction for multiple testing.Conclusions: These results indicate that the Fanconi-Anemia pathway may be important for neurological sensitivity to taxanes, and that genotypic markers might be able to be used to identify patients at increased risk for severe taxane-induced neuropathy. Further studies will elucidate potential associations with survival outcomes. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(24 Suppl):Abstract nr 2001.

Brown fat is specialized for energy expenditure and has therefore been proposed to function as a defense against obesity. Despite recent advances in delineating the transcriptional regulation of brown adipocyte differentiation, cellular lineage specification and developmental cues specifying brown-fat cell fate remain poorly understood. In this study, we identify and isolate a subpopulation of adipogenic progenitors (Sca-1 + /CD45 − /Mac1 − ; referred to as Sca-1 + progenitor cells, ScaPCs) residing in murine brown fat, white fat, and skeletal muscle. ScaPCs derived from different tissues possess unique molecular expression signatures and adipogenic capacities. Importantly, although the ScaPCs from interscapular brown adipose tissue (BAT) are constitutively committed brown-fat progenitors, Sca-1 + cells from skeletal muscle and subcutaneous white fat are highly inducible to differentiate into brown-like adipocytes upon stimulation with bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7). Consistent with these findings, human preadipocytes isolated from subcutaneous white fat also exhibit the greatest inducible capacity to become brown adipocytes compared with cells isolated from mesenteric or omental white fat. When muscle-resident ScaPCs are re-engrafted into skeletal muscle of syngeneic mice, BMP7-treated ScaPCs efficiently develop into adipose tissue with brown fat-specific characteristics. Importantly, ScaPCs from obesity-resistant mice exhibit markedly higher thermogenic capacity compared with cells isolated from obesity-prone mice. These data establish the molecular characteristics of tissue-resident adipose progenitors and demonstrate a dynamic interplay between these progenitors and inductive signals that act in concert to specify brown adipocyte development.