Validation of a microRNA liquid biopsy assay for diagnosis and risk stratification of invasive cutaneous melanoma.

Background: Noninvasive molecular biomarkers are needed to improve the early, accurate and precise diagnosis of invasive cutaneous melanoma.

Objectives: To independently validate a previously identified circulating microRNA signature of melanoma (MEL38), and, secondly, to develop a complementary microRNA signature, optimized for prognostication.

Patients And Methods: MicroRNA expression profiling was performed on plasma samples from a multicentre observational case-control study, involving patients with primary or metastatic melanoma, melanoma in situ, nonmelanoma skin cancer, or benign naevi.

Failure of tofacitinib to achieve an objective response in a T-lymphoblastic leukemia with activating mutations.

T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma/T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-LBL/T ALL) is an aggressive hematological malignancy arising from malignant transformation of T-cell progenitors with poor prognosis in adult patients. Outcomes are particularly dismal in the relapsed/refractory setting, and therapeutic options are limited in this context. Genomic profiling has shown frequent aberrations in the JAK-STAT pathway, including recurrent mutations in (15%-20% of T-ALL cases), suggesting that JAK kinase inhibition may be a promising therapeutic approach.

ALK-positive histiocytosis: an expanded clinicopathologic spectrum and frequent presence of KIF5B-ALK fusion.

In 2008, we presented three cases of ALK-positive histiocytosis as a novel systemic histiocytic proliferation of early infancy with hepatosplenomegaly and dramatic hematological disturbances. This series of 10 cases (including the original three cases) describes an expanded clinicopathological spectrum and the molecular findings of this histiocytic proliferation. Six patients had disseminated disease: five presented in early infancy with eventual disease resolution, and the sixth presented at 2 years of age and died of intestinal, bone marrow, and brain involvement.

The Lymphatic Immune Response Induced by the Adjuvant AS01: A Comparison of Intramuscular and Subcutaneous Immunization Routes.

The liposome-based adjuvant AS01 incorporates two immune stimulants, 3-O-desacyl-4'-monophosphoryl lipid A and the saponin QS-21. AS01 is under investigation for use in several vaccines in clinical development. i.

Transcriptional profiling of mouse B cell terminal differentiation defines a signature for antibody-secreting plasma cells.

When B cells encounter an antigen, they alter their physiological state and anatomical localization and initiate a differentiation process that ultimately produces antibody-secreting cells (ASCs). We have defined the transcriptomes of many mature B cell populations and stages of plasma cell differentiation in mice. We provide a molecular signature of ASCs that highlights the stark transcriptional divide between B cells and plasma cells and enables the demarcation of ASCs on the basis of location and maturity.

Oct2 and Obf1 as Facilitators of B:T Cell Collaboration during a Humoral Immune Response.

The Oct2 protein, encoded by the Pou2f2 gene, was originally predicted to act as a DNA binding transcriptional activator of immunoglobulin (Ig) in B lineage cells. This prediction flowed from the earlier observation that an 8-bp sequence, the "octamer motif," was a highly conserved component of most Ig gene promoters and enhancers, and evidence from over-expression and reporter assays confirmed Oct2-mediated, octamer-dependent gene expression. Complexity was added to the story when Oct1, an independently encoded protein, ubiquitously expressed from the Pou2f1 gene, was characterized and found to bind to the octamer motif with almost identical specificity, and later, when the co-activator Obf1 (OCA-B, Bob.

High rate of antibody secretion is not integral to plasma cell differentiation as revealed by XBP-1 deficiency.

During B cell terminal differentiation, a complex set of transcription factors interact to drive the phenotypic and functional changes leading to the development of Ab-secreting cells (ASCs). The transcription factor X-box binding protein 1 (XBP-1) is an essential part of one of the branches of the unfolded protein response (UPR). The UPR is induced when a cell has to handle large amounts of proteins, as is the case in ASCs.

The genetic network controlling plasma cell differentiation.

Upon activation by antigen, mature B cells undergo immunoglobulin class switch recombination and differentiate into antibody-secreting plasma cells, the endpoint of the B cell developmental lineage. Careful quantitation of these processes, which are stochastic, independent and strongly linked to the division history of the cell, has revealed that populations of B cells behave in a highly predictable manner. Considerable progress has also been made in the last few years in understanding the gene regulatory network that controls the B cell to plasma cell transition.

The RIDDLE syndrome protein mediates a ubiquitin-dependent signaling cascade at sites of DNA damage.

The biological response to DNA double-strand breaks acts to preserve genome integrity. Individuals bearing inactivating mutations in components of this response exhibit clinical symptoms that include cellular radiosensitivity, immunodeficiency, and cancer predisposition. The archetype for such disorders is Ataxia-Telangiectasia caused by biallelic mutation in ATM, a central component of the DNA damage response.

Pathophysiology of B-cell intrinsic immunoglobulin class switch recombination deficiencies.

B-cell intrinsic immunoglobulin class switch recombination (Ig-CSR) deficiencies, previously termed hyper-IgM syndromes, are genetically determined conditions characterized by normal or elevated serum IgM levels and an absence or very low levels of IgG, IgA, and IgE. As a function of the molecular mechanism, the defective CSR is variably associated to a defect in the generation of somatic hypermutations (SHMs) in the Ig variable region. The study of Ig-CSR deficiencies contributed to a better delineation of the mechanisms underlying CSR and SHM, the major events of antigen-triggered antibody maturation.

A primary immunodeficiency characterized by defective immunoglobulin class switch recombination and impaired DNA repair.

Immunoglobulin class switch recombination (CSR) deficiencies are rare primary immunodeficiencies, characterized by a lack of switched isotype (IgG, IgA, or IgE) production, variably associated with abnormal somatic hypermutation (SHM). Deficiencies in CD40 ligand, CD40, activation-induced cytidine deaminase, and uracil-N-glycosylase may account for this syndrome. We previously described another Ig CSR deficiency condition, characterized by a defect in CSR downstream of the generation of double-stranded DNA breaks in switch (S) mu regions.

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase: structure-function relationship as based on the study of mutants.

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID; gene symbol AICDA) is the key molecule required to induce immunoglobulin (Ig) class switch recombination (CSR) and somatic hypermutation (SHM) of the variable regions of Ig genes. Its deficiency causes a form of hyper-IgM (HIGM) syndrome. The study of natural AID mutants associated with HIGM as well as engineered mutants led to the characterization of the active domains of the protein.

Memory switched B cell percentage and not serum immunoglobulin concentration is associated with clinical complications in children and adults with specific antibody deficiency and common variable immunodeficiency.

Although idiopathic humoral immunodeficiencies are arbitrarily classified into specific antibody deficiency (SAD) or common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), this distinction does not accurately predict the risk of the bronchiectasis, one of the major long-term clinical complications in these patients. In this study, clinical complications were compared with laboratory markers of cellular and humoral immunity in fifty-five consecutive patients (27 children and 28 adults) attending regional immunology clinics in Manchester, United Kingdom. Reduced CD19(+)CD27(+)IgD(-) B cell percentage but not serum immunoglobulin levels or classification of patients into SAD and CVID was associated with a significantly higher prevalence of bronchiectasis (OR 0.

Defined blocks in terminal plasma cell differentiation of common variable immunodeficiency patients.

Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is a heterogeneous disorder characterized by defective Ab production and recurrent bacterial infections. The largely unknown causes are likely to comprise a diverse set of genetic or acquired defects. In this study, we investigated terminal B cell differentiation in lymph nodes from CVID patients.