Inference of tumor phylogenies with improved somatic mutation discovery.

Next-generation sequencing technologies provide a powerful tool for studying genome evolution during progression of advanced diseases such as cancer. Although many recent studies have employed new sequencing technologies to detect mutations across multiple, genetically related tumors, current methods do not exploit available phylogenetic information to improve the accuracy of their variant calls. Here, we present a novel algorithm that uses somatic single-nucleotide variations (SNVs) in multiple, related tissue samples as lineage markers for phylogenetic tree reconstruction.

DNA methylation and epigenetic control of cellular differentiation.

In mammals the genome is shaped by epigenetic regulation to manifest numerous cellular identities. The term epigenetics has been used to refer to changes in gene expression, which are heritable through multiple cell division cycles that are not due to variations in primary DNA sequence. Stable suppression of differentiation genes is required to sustain the undifferentiated state in cells ranging from embryonic stem cells to somatic stem cell progenitors that constantly replenish self-renewing tissues.