Publications by authors named "Nicholas Nuechterlein"

Article Synopsis
  • Medulloblastoma and ependymoma are common types of brain tumors in children, and this study analyzes their molecular differences using bulk RNA sequencing data from a large number of tumor samples.
  • The researchers processed the data to create a unified landscape, identifying distinct gene expression profiles and molecular characteristics within the tumors, particularly highlighting two compartments in ependymoma and subtypes in medulloblastoma.
  • The findings provide a valuable resource for discovering new biomarkers and improving diagnostic accuracy, and the data can be explored using the interactive platform Oncoscape for better patient classification in future research.
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Article Synopsis
  • Oligodendroglioma, particularly the IDH-mutant and 1p/19q-codeleted type, shows varied outcomes based on patient age, with research indicating a bimodal age distribution.
  • Elevated expression and gene body hypermethylation of the HOXD12 gene were identified as significant factors linked to older patient age and shorter survival rates across multiple studies.
  • Analysis revealed that HOXD12 is more active in cancerous tissue and is associated with aggressive tumor characteristics and stem-like cell properties, suggesting it plays a critical role in the progression of oligodendroglioma in older patients.
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Meningiomas, although mostly benign, can be recurrent and fatal. World Health Organization (WHO) grading of the tumor does not always identify high-risk meningioma, and better characterizations of their aggressive biology are needed. To approach this problem, we combined 13 bulk RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) datasets to create a dimension-reduced reference landscape of 1,298 meningiomas.

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In malignant glioma, cytotoxic drugs are often inhibited from accessing the tumor site due to the blood-tumor barrier (BTB). Ibrutinib, FDA-approved lymphoma agent, inhibits Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) and has previously been shown to independently impair aortic endothelial adhesion and increase rodent glioma model survival in combination with cytotoxic therapy. Yet additional research is required to understand ibrutinib's effect on BTB function.

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Glioblastoma is universally fatal and characterized by frequent chromosomal copy number alterations harboring oncogenes and tumor suppressors. In this study, we analyzed exome-wide human glioblastoma copy number data and found that cytoband 6q27 is an independent poor prognostic marker in multiple data sets. We then combined CRISPR-Cas9 data, human spatial transcriptomic data, and human and mouse RNA sequencing data to nominate as a potential haploinsufficient tumor suppressor in the 6q27 region.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Recent clinical trials for H3K27-altered diffuse midline gliomas (DMGs) are showing promising results, indicating potential advancements in treatment.
  • - The text identifies three key challenges: improving experimental models to include immune and brain-specific factors, fostering collaboration between researchers, clinicians, and the industry, and optimizing clinical processes like biopsy and drug delivery.
  • - Emphasizes that extensive collaboration is crucial for enhancing our understanding of DMGs, as well as improving diagnostics and therapies for these tumors.
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In order to better understand the relationship between normal and neoplastic brain, we combined five publicly available large-scale datasets, correcting for batch effects and applying Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) to RNA-Seq data. We assembled a reference Brain-UMAP including 702 adult gliomas, 802 pediatric tumors and 1409 healthy normal brain samples, which can be utilized to investigate the wealth of information obtained from combining several publicly available datasets to study a single organ site. Normal brain regions and tumor types create distinct clusters and because the landscape is generated by RNA-Seq, comparative gene expression profiles and gene ontology patterns are readily evident.

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In order to better understand the relationship between normal and neoplastic brain, we combined five publicly available large-scale datasets, correcting for batch effects and applying Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) to RNA-seq data. We assembled a reference Brain-UMAP including 702 adult gliomas, 802 pediatric tumors and 1409 healthy normal brain samples, which can be utilized to investigate the wealth of information obtained from combining several publicly available datasets to study a single organ site. Normal brain regions and tumor types create distinct clusters and because the landscape is generated by RNA seq, comparative gene expression profiles and gene ontology patterns are readily evident.

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In order to better understand the relationship between normal and neoplastic brain, we combined five publicly available large-scale datasets, correcting for batch effects and applying Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) to RNA-seq data. We assembled a reference Brain-UMAP including 702 adult gliomas, 802 pediatric tumors and 1409 healthy normal brain samples, which can be utilized to investigate the wealth of information obtained from combining several publicly available datasets to study a single organ site. Normal brain regions and tumor types create distinct clusters and because the landscape is generated by RNA seq, comparative gene expression profiles and gene ontology patterns are readily evident.

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Article Synopsis
  • High-grade astrocytoma with piloid features (HGAP) is a newly identified glioma type classified by its unique global epigenetic signature and commonly associated with mutations in the MAPK pathway and other genetic alterations like CDKN2A/B deletions and ATRX mutations.
  • A study involving 144 patients with HGAP confirmed frequent CDKN2A/B deletions, ATRX mutations, and noted some cases with TP53 mutations or NTRK2 gene fusions, the latter being previously unreported.
  • Analysis revealed three distinct subtypes of HGAP based on DNA methylation patterns, with subtype gNF1 associated with Neurofibromatosis Type 1, specific tumor characteristics, and a potential trend towards
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Temporally regulated alternative splicing choices are vital for proper development, yet the wrong splice choice may be detrimental. Here, we highlight a previously unidentified role for the neurotrophin receptor splice variant TrkB.T1 in neurodevelopment, embryogenesis, transformation, and oncogenesis across multiple tumor types in humans and mice.

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Knowledge of 1p/19q-codeletion and IDH1/2 mutational status is necessary to interpret any investigational study of diffuse gliomas in the modern era. While DNA sequencing is the gold standard for determining IDH mutational status, genome-wide methylation arrays and gene expression profiling have been used for surrogate mutational determination. Previous studies by our group suggest that 1p/19q-codeletion and IDH mutational status can be predicted by genome-wide somatic copy number alteration (SCNA) data alone, however a rigorous model to accomplish this task has yet to be established.

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Background: Combined whole-exome sequencing (WES) and somatic copy number alteration (SCNA) information can separate -wildtype glioblastoma into two prognostic molecular subtypes, which cannot be distinguished by epigenetic or clinical features. The potential for radiographic features to discriminate between these molecular subtypes has yet to be established.

Methods: Radiologic features ( = 35 340) were extracted from 46 multisequence, pre-operative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of -wildtype glioblastoma patients from The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA), all of whom have corresponding WES/SCNA data.

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