The complexity of genome rearrangement combinatorics under the infinite sites model.

Rearrangements are discrete processes whereby discrete segments of DNA are deleted, replicated and inserted into novel positions. A sequence of such configurations, termed a rearrangement evolution, results in jumbled DNA arrangements, frequently observed in cancer genomes. We introduce a method that allows us to precisely count these different evolutions for a range of processes including breakage-fusion-bridge-cycles, tandem-duplications, inverted-duplications, reversals, transpositions and deletions, showing that the space of rearrangement evolution is super-exponential in size.

PDE MODELS OF ADDER MECHANISMS IN CELLULAR PROLIFERATION.

Cell division is a process that involves many biochemical steps and complex biophysical mechanisms. To simplify the understanding of what triggers cell division, three basic models that subsume more microscopic cellular processes associated with cell division have been proposed. Cells can divide based on the time elapsed since their birth, their size, and/or the volume added since their birth-the timer, sizer, and adder models, respectively.

Heterarchy of transcription factors driving basal and luminal cell phenotypes in human urothelium.

Cell differentiation is affected by complex networks of transcription factors that co-ordinate re-organisation of the chromatin landscape. The hierarchies of these relationships can be difficult to dissect. During in vitro differentiation of normal human uro-epithelial cells, formaldehyde-assisted isolation of regulatory elements (FAIRE-seq) and RNA-seq was used to identify alterations in chromatin accessibility and gene expression changes following activation of the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) as a differentiation-initiating event.

A Hierarchical Kinetic Theory of Birth, Death and Fission in Age-Structured Interacting Populations.

We develop mathematical models describing the evolution of stochastic age-structured populations. After reviewing existing approaches, we formulate a complete kinetic framework for age-structured interacting populations undergoing birth, death and fission processes in spatially dependent environments. We define the full probability density for the population-size age chart and find results under specific conditions.

Kinetic theory of age-structured stochastic birth-death processes.

Classical age-structured mass-action models such as the McKendrick-von Foerster equation have been extensively studied but are unable to describe stochastic fluctuations or population-size-dependent birth and death rates. Stochastic theories that treat semi-Markov age-dependent processes using, e.g.

Inferring the Clonal Structure of Viral Populations from Time Series Sequencing.

RNA virus populations will undergo processes of mutation and selection resulting in a mixed population of viral particles. High throughput sequencing of a viral population subsequently contains a mixed signal of the underlying clones. We would like to identify the underlying evolutionary structures.

Cardio-oncology: an ongoing evolution.

Cancer survivorship has been greatly impacted with the development of modern cancer treatments. While significant strides have been made in managing many types of cancer, now physicians face new challenges. Over the past decades, cardiovascular events in cancer survivors have increased in prevalence, driving the development of multidisciplinary cardio-oncology programs.

Exon Skipping Is Correlated with Exon Circularization.

Circular RNAs are found in a wide range of organisms and it has been proposed that they perform disparate functions. However, how RNA circularization is connected to alternative splicing remains largely unexplored. Here, we stimulated primary human endothelial cells with tumor necrosis factor α or tumor growth factor β, purified RNA, generated >2.

The relative timing of mutations in a breast cancer genome.

Many tumors have highly rearranged genomes, but a major unknown is the relative importance and timing of genome rearrangements compared to sequence-level mutation. Chromosome instability might arise early, be a late event contributing little to cancer development, or happen as a single catastrophic event. Another unknown is which of the point mutations and rearrangements are selected.

The landscape of cancer genes and mutational processes in breast cancer.

All cancers carry somatic mutations in their genomes. A subset, known as driver mutations, confer clonal selective advantage on cancer cells and are causally implicated in oncogenesis, and the remainder are passenger mutations. The driver mutations and mutational processes operative in breast cancer have not yet been comprehensively explored.

Tandem duplication of chromosomal segments is common in ovarian and breast cancer genomes.

The application of paired-end next generation sequencing approaches has made it possible to systematically characterize rearrangements of the cancer genome to base-pair level. Utilizing this approach, we report the first detailed analysis of ovarian cancer rearrangements, comparing high-grade serous and clear cell cancers, and these histotypes with other solid cancers. Somatic rearrangements were systematically characterized in eight high-grade serous and five clear cell ovarian cancer genomes and we report here the identification of > 600 somatic rearrangements.

Systematic identification of genomic markers of drug sensitivity in cancer cells.

Clinical responses to anticancer therapies are often restricted to a subset of patients. In some cases, mutated cancer genes are potent biomarkers for responses to targeted agents. Here, to uncover new biomarkers of sensitivity and resistance to cancer therapeutics, we screened a panel of several hundred cancer cell lines--which represent much of the tissue-type and genetic diversity of human cancers--with 130 drugs under clinical and preclinical investigation.

Estimation of rearrangement phylogeny for cancer genomes.

Cancer genomes are complex, carrying thousands of somatic mutations including base substitutions, insertions and deletions, rearrangements, and copy number changes that have been acquired over decades. Recently, technologies have been introduced that allow generation of high-resolution, comprehensive catalogs of somatic alterations in cancer genomes. However, analyses of these data sets generally do not indicate the order in which mutations have occurred, or the resulting karyotype.

Model-integrated estimation of normal tissue contamination for cancer SNP allelic copy number data.

SNP allelic copy number data provides intensity measurements for the two different alleles separately. We present a method that estimates the number of copies of each allele at each SNP position, using a continuous-index hidden Markov model. The method is especially suited for cancer data, since it includes the fraction of normal tissue contamination, often present when studying data from cancer tumors, into the model.

Germline fitness-based scoring of cancer mutations.

A key goal in cancer research is to find the genomic alterations that underlie malignant cells. Genomics has proved successful in identifying somatic variants at a large scale. However, it has become evident that a typical cancer exhibits a heterogenous mutation pattern across samples.

Massive genomic rearrangement acquired in a single catastrophic event during cancer development.

Cancer is driven by somatically acquired point mutations and chromosomal rearrangements, conventionally thought to accumulate gradually over time. Using next-generation sequencing, we characterize a phenomenon, which we term chromothripsis, whereby tens to hundreds of genomic rearrangements occur in a one-off cellular crisis. Rearrangements involving one or a few chromosomes crisscross back and forth across involved regions, generating frequent oscillations between two copy number states.

GLO1-A novel amplified gene in human cancer.

To identify a novel amplified cancer gene a systematic screen of 975 human cancer DNA samples, 750 cell lines and 225 primary tumors, using the Affymetrix 10K SNP microarray was undertaken. The screen identified 193 amplicons. A previously uncharacterized amplicon located on 6p21.

Signatures of mutation and selection in the cancer genome.

The cancer genome is moulded by the dual processes of somatic mutation and selection. Homozygous deletions in cancer genomes occur over recessive cancer genes, where they can confer selective growth advantage, and over fragile sites, where they are thought to reflect an increased local rate of DNA breakage. However, most homozygous deletions in cancer genomes are unexplained.

Complex landscapes of somatic rearrangement in human breast cancer genomes.

Multiple somatic rearrangements are often found in cancer genomes; however, the underlying processes of rearrangement and their contribution to cancer development are poorly characterized. Here we use a paired-end sequencing strategy to identify somatic rearrangements in breast cancer genomes. There are more rearrangements in some breast cancers than previously appreciated.

A comprehensive catalogue of somatic mutations from a human cancer genome.

All cancers carry somatic mutations. A subset of these somatic alterations, termed driver mutations, confer selective growth advantage and are implicated in cancer development, whereas the remainder are passengers. Here we have sequenced the genomes of a malignant melanoma and a lymphoblastoid cell line from the same person, providing the first comprehensive catalogue of somatic mutations from an individual cancer.