Publications by authors named "Marek Franitza"

Background: Long-read sequencing is increasingly used to uncover structural variants in the human genome, both functionally neutral and deleterious. Structural variants occur more frequently in regions with a high homology or repetitive segments, and one rearrangement may predispose to additional events. Bartter syndrome type 3 (BS 3) is a monogenic tubulopathy caused by deleterious variants in the chloride channel gene CLCNKB, a high proportion of these being large gene deletions.

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Genetic alterations in the DNA damage response (DDR) pathway are a frequent mechanism of resistance to chemoimmunotherapy (CIT) in B-cell malignancies. We have previously shown that the synergy of CIT relies on secretory crosstalk elicited by chemotherapy between the tumor cells and macrophages. Here, we show that loss of multiple different members of the DDR pathway inhibits macrophage phagocytic capacity in vitro and in vivo.

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Unlabelled: T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL) is a chemotherapy-refractory T-cell malignancy with limited therapeutic options and a poor prognosis. Current disease concepts implicate TCL1A oncogene-mediated enhanced T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling and aberrant DNA repair as central perturbed pathways. We discovered that recurrent gains on chromosome 8q more frequently involve the argonaute RISC catalytic component 2 (AGO2) gene than the adjacent MYC locus as the affected minimally amplified genomic region.

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T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL) is a poor-prognostic mature T-cell malignancy. It typically presents with exponentially rising lymphocyte counts, splenomegaly, and bone marrow infiltration. Effective treatment options are scarce and a better understanding of TPLL's pathogenesis is desirable.

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Article Synopsis
  • Richter's transformation (RT) is a serious type of lymphoma that can develop from a blood cancer called chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
  • Scientists found that certain genetic changes, especially involving a protein called AKT, can cause CLL to turn into RT, making the cancer more aggressive.
  • The study also showed that when AKT is overly active, it can lead to a dangerous form of lymphoma by helping CLL cells interact with T cells in the environment, making the cancer even worse.
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The extent of non-coding RNA alterations in patients with sepsis and their relationship to clinical characteristics, soluble mediators of the host response to infection, as well as an advocated in vivo model of acute systemic inflammation is unknown. Here we obtained whole blood from 156 patients with sepsis and 82 healthy subjects among whom eight were challenged with lipopolysaccharide in a clinically controlled setting (human endotoxemia). Via next-generation microarray analysis of leukocyte RNA we found that long non-coding RNA and, to a lesser extent, small non-coding RNA were significantly altered in sepsis relative to health.

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Single-cell transcriptomics have revolutionized our understanding of the cell composition of tumors and allowed us to identify new subtypes of cells. Despite rapid technological advancements, single-cell analysis remains resource-intense hampering the scalability that is required to profile a sufficient number of samples for clinical associations. Therefore, more scalable approaches are needed to understand the contribution of individual cell types to the development and treatment response of solid tumors such as esophageal adenocarcinoma where comprehensive genomic studies have only led to a small number of targeted therapies.

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Article Synopsis
  • - RHOA is a protein involved in key cell functions like adhesion, migration, and growth, playing a significant role in tissue dynamics.
  • - Researchers identified four individuals with a similar set of health issues, including skin discoloration and limb discrepancies, linked to a specific genetic variant in RHOA, c.139G>A; p.Glu47Lys.
  • - Molecular analysis suggests that this genetic change affects RHOA's signaling ability, likely leading to a unique mosaic disorder in these individuals.
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T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL) is an aggressive tumor with leukemic presentation of mature T-lymphocytes. Here, we aimed at characterizing the initial events in the molecular pathogenesis of T-PLL and particularly, at determining the point in T-cell differentiation when the hallmark oncogenic events, that is, inv(14)(q11q32)/t(14;14)(q11;q32) and t(X;14)(q28;q11) occur. To this end, we mined whole genome and transcriptome sequencing data of 17 and 11 T-PLL cases, respectively.

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The host immune response is characterized by a complex interplay of signal-specific cellular transcriptional responses. The magnitude of the immune response is dependent on the strength of the external stimulus. Knowledge on leukocyte transcriptional responses altered in response to different stimulus dosages in man is lacking.

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Patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models have become an important asset in translational cancer research. However, to provide a robust preclinical platform, PDXs need to accommodate the tumor heterogeneity that is observed in patients. Colorectal cancer (CRC) can be stratified into four consensus molecular subtypes (CMS) with distinct biological and clinical features.

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The maize smut fungus is a model organism for elucidating host colonization strategies of biotrophic fungi. Here, we performed an in depth transcriptional profiling of the entire plant-associated development of wild-type strains. In our analysis, we focused on fungal metabolism, nutritional strategies, secreted effectors, and regulatory networks.

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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a highly heterogeneous disease both from a molecular and clinical perspective. Several distinct molecular entities, such as microsatellite instability (MSI), have been defined that make up biologically distinct subgroups with their own clinical course. Recent data indicated that CRC can be best segregated into four groups called consensus molecular subtypes (CMS1-4), each of which has a unique biology and gene expression pattern.

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Objective: To determine the association of gender with the presentation, outcome, and host response in critically ill patients with sepsis.

Design And Setting: A prospective observational cohort study in the ICU of two tertiary hospitals between January 2011 and January 2014.

Patients: All consecutive critically ill patients admitted with sepsis, involving 1,815 admissions (1,533 patients).

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Wild populations of the house mouse (Mus musculus) represent the raw genetic material for the classical inbred strains in biomedical research and are a major model system for evolutionary biology. We provide whole genome sequencing data of individuals representing natural populations of M. m.

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Rationale: Preclinical studies suggest that hospitalized patients are susceptible to infections caused by nosocomial respiratory pathogens at least in part because of immune suppression caused by the condition for which they were admitted.

Objectives: We aimed to characterize the systemic host response in hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) when compared with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

Methods: We performed a prospective study in two intensive care units (ICUs) in 453 patients with HAP (n = 222) or CAP (n = 231).

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The heterogeneous nature of colorectal cancer (CRC) complicates prognosis and is suggested to be a determining factor in the efficacy of adjuvant therapy for individual patients. Based on gene expression profiling, CRC is currently classified into four consensus molecular subtypes (CMSs), characterized by specific biological programs, thus suggesting the existence of unifying developmental drivers for each CMS Using human organoid cultures, we investigated the role of such developmental drivers at the premalignant stage of distinct CRC subtypes and found that TGFβ plays an important role in the development of the mesenchymal CMS4, which is of special interest due to its association with dismal prognosis. We show that in tubular adenomas (TAs), which progress to classical CRCs, the dominating response to TGFβ is death by apoptosis.

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Preclinical studies have suggested that platelets influence the host response during sepsis. We sought to assess the association of admission thrombocytopenia with the presentation, outcome, and host response in patients with sepsis. Nine hundred thirty-one consecutive sepsis patients were stratified according to platelet counts (very low <50 × 10(9)/L, intermediate-low 50 × 10(9) to 99 × 10(9)/L, low 100 × 10(9) to 149 × 10(9)/L, or normal 150 × 10(9) to 399 × 10(9)/L) on admission to the intensive care unit.

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HIV patients have an increased risk to develop sepsis and HIV infection affects several components of the immune system involved in sepsis pathogenesis. We hypothesized that HIV infection might aggrevate the aberrant immune response during sepsis, so we aimed to determine the impact of HIV infection on the genomic host response to sepsis. We compared whole blood leukocyte gene expression profiles among sepsis patients with or without HIV co-infection in the intensive care unit (ICU) and validated our findings in a cohort of patients admitted to the same ICUs in a different time frame.

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Rationale: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) accounts for a major proportion of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions for respiratory failure and sepsis. Diagnostic uncertainty complicates case management, which may delay appropriate cause-specific treatment.

Objectives: To characterize the blood genomic response in patients with suspected CAP and identify a candidate biomarker for the rapid diagnosis of CAP on ICU admission.

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