The translocation t(14;18) activates BCL2 and is considered the initiating genetic lesion in most follicular lymphomas (FL). Surprisingly, FL patients fail to respond to the BCL2 inhibitor, Venetoclax. We show that mutations and deletions affecting the histone lysine methyltransferase SETD1B (KMT2G) occur in 7% of FLs and 16% of diffuse large B cell lymphomas (DLBCL).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe downregulation of Pleckstrin Homology-Like Domain family A member 1 (PHLDA1) expression mediates resistance to targeted therapies in receptor tyrosine kinase-driven cancers. The restoration and maintenance of PHLDA1 levels in cancer cells thus constitutes a potential strategy to circumvent resistance to inhibitors of receptor tyrosine kinases. Through a pharmacological approach, we identify the inhibition of MAPK signalling as a crucial step in downregulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLoss-of-function mutations in KMT2D are a striking feature of germinal center (GC) lymphomas, resulting in decreased histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methylation and altered gene expression. We hypothesized that inhibition of the KDM5 family, which demethylates H3K4me3/me2, would reestablish H3K4 methylation and restore the expression of genes repressed on loss of KMT2D. KDM5 inhibition increased H3K4me3 levels and caused an antiproliferative response in vitro, which was markedly greater in both endogenous and gene-edited KMT2D mutant diffuse large B-cell lymphoma cell lines, whereas tumor growth was inhibited in KMT2D mutant xenografts in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFis a Gram-negative zoonosis which occasionally infects humans via ingestion of contaminated food and water, and typically causes a self-limiting gastrointestinal tract infection. Patients who are immunocompromised, have haemochromatosis or liver cirrhosis are more likely to develop serious complications such as bacteraemia. We present the case of a 76-year-old man with fever and an acutely tender, swollen right knee.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRegulatory T cells (Tregs) are a lymphocyte subset with intrinsic immunosuppressive properties that can be expanded in large numbers ex vivo and have been shown to prevent allograft rejection and promote tolerance in animal models. To investigate the safety, applicability, and biological activity of autologous Treg adoptive transfer in humans, we conducted an open-label, dose-escalation, Phase I clinical trial in liver transplantation. Patients were enrolled while awaiting liver transplantation or 6-12 months posttransplant.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the original version of this article the authors noted an omission in the author affiliations where the university details: Queen Mary University of London was not included in the original affiliation for the majority of the authors. The correct affiliations are as follows1. Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Task shifting has been suggested as one way to help manage the increasing burden of dementia in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, brief, easy-to-use and valid screening tools are needed to support this approach. Our team has developed an 11-item questionnaire to assess instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) in SSA, the Identification and Intervention for Dementia in Elderly Africans (IDEA)-IADL questionnaire.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose Of Review: The treatment of the germinal center lymphomas, diffuse large B cell (DLBCL) and follicular lymphoma, has changed little beyond the introduction of immunochemotherapies. However, there exists a substantial group of patients within both diseases for which improvements in care will involve appropriate tailoring of treatment.
Recent Findings: DLBCL consists of two major subtypes with striking differences in their clinical outcomes paralleling their underlying genetic heterogeneity.
Unlabelled: ABSTRACTBackground:The number of people living with dementia in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is expected to increase rapidly in the coming decades. However, our understanding of how best to reduce dementia risk in the population is very limited. As a first step in developing intervention strategies to manage dementia risk in this setting, we investigated rates of cognitive decline in a rural population in Tanzania and attempted to identify associated factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite increasing evidence to indicate that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are novel regulators of immunity, there has been no systematic attempt to identify and characterize the lncRNAs whose expression is changed following the induction of the innate immune response. To address this issue, we have employed next-generation sequencing data to determine the changes in the lncRNA profile in four human (monocytes, macrophages, epithelium, and chondrocytes) and four mouse cell types (RAW 264.7 macrophages, bone marrow-derived macrophages, peritoneal macrophages, and splenic dendritic cells) following exposure to the pro-inflammatory mediators, lipopolysaccharides (LPS), or interleukin-1β.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMeasuring the activity and temperature of rats is commonly required in biomedical research. Conventional approaches necessitate single housing, which affects their behavior and wellbeing. We have used a subcutaneous radiofrequency identification (RFID) transponder to measure ambulatory activity and temperature of individual rats when group-housed in conventional, rack-mounted home cages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMyositis is characterised by muscle inflammation and weakness. Although generally thought to be driven by a systemic autoimmune response, increasing evidence suggests that intrinsic changes in the muscle might also contribute to the pathogenesis. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a family of novel genes that regulate gene transcription and translation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile follicular lymphoma (FL) is exquisitely responsive to immuno-chemotherapy, many patients follow a relapsing remitting clinical course driven in part by a common precursor cell (CPC) population. Advances in next generation sequencing have provided valuable insights into the genetic landscape of FL and its clonal evolution in response to therapy, implicating perturbations of epigenetic regulators as a hallmark of the disease. Recurrent mutations of histone modifiers KMT2D, CREBBP, EP300, EZH2, ARIDIA, and linker histones are likely early events arising in the CPC pool, rendering epigenetic based therapies conceptually attractive for treatment of indolent and transformed FL.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe human genome is widely transcribed outside of protein-coding genes, producing thousands of noncoding RNAs from different subfamilies including enhancer RNAs. Functional studies to determine the role of individual genes are challenging with noncoding RNAs appearing to be more difficult to knockdown than mRNAs. One factor that may have hindered progress is that the majority of noncoding RNAs are thought to be located within the nucleus, where the efficiency of traditional RNA interference techniques is debatable.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenes encoding the histone H3 lysine 4 methyltransferases KMT2C and KMT2D are subject to deletion and mutation in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), where these lesions identify a group of patients with a more favorable prognosis. In this study, we demonstrate that low KMT2C and KMT2D expression in biopsies also defines better outcome groups, with median survivals of 15.9 versus 9.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To identify long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), including long intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs), antisense RNAs, and pseudogenes, associated with the inflammatory response in human primary osteoarthritis (OA) chondrocytes and to explore their expression and function in OA.
Methods: OA cartilage was obtained from patients with hip or knee OA following joint replacement surgery. Non-OA cartilage was obtained from postmortem donors and patients with fracture of the neck of the femur.
The adoption of next-generation sequencing technologies has led to a remarkable shift in our understanding of the genetic landscape of follicular lymphoma. While the disease has been synonymous with the t(14;18), the prevalence of alterations in genes that regulate the epigenome has been established as a pivotal hallmark of these lymphomas. Giant strides are being made in unraveling the biological consequences of these alterations in tumorigenesis opening up new opportunities for directed therapies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent studies have indicated that non-coding RNAs transcribed from enhancer regions are important regulators of enhancer function and gene expression. In this report, we have characterised the expression of six enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) induced in human monocytic THP1 cells following activation of the innate immune response by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Specifically, we have demonstrated that LPS-induced expression of individual eRNAs is mediated through divergent intracellular signalling pathways that includes NF-κB and the mitogen activated protein kinases, extracellular regulated kinase-1/2 and p38.
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