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Functional validation of variants of unknown significance using CRISPR gene editing and transcriptomics: A Kleefstra syndrome case studyThere are an estimated > 400 million people living with a rare disease globally, with genetic variants the cause of approximately 80% of cases. Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) rapidly identifies genetic variants however they are often of unknown significance.
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CRISPR single base editing, neuronal disease modelling and functional genomics for genetic variant analysis: pipeline validation using Kleefstra syndrome EHMT1 haploinsufficiencyOver 400 million people worldwide are living with a rare disease. Next Generation Sequencing identifies potential disease causative genetic variants. However, many are identified as variants of uncertain significance and require functional laboratory validation to determine pathogenicity, and this creates major diagnostic delays.
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Common and Rare Genetic Variants That Could Contribute to Severe Otitis Media in an Australian Aboriginal PopulationOur goal was to identify genetic risk factors for severe otitis media (OM) in Aboriginal Australians.
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Tumour draining lymph node-generated CD8 T cells play a role in controlling lung metastases after a primary tumour is removed but not when adjuvant immunotherapy is usedSurgical resection of cancer remains the frontline therapy for millions of patients annually, but post-operative recurrence is common, with a relapse rate of around 45% for non-small cell lung cancer. The tumour draining lymph nodes (dLN) are resected at the time of surgery for staging purposes, and this cannot be a null event for patient survival and future response to immune checkpoint blockade treatment. This project investigates cancer surgery, lymphadenectomy, onset of metastatic disease, and response to immunotherapy in a novel model that closely reflects the clinical setting. In a murine metastatic lung cancer model, primary subcutaneous tumours were resected with associated dLNs remaining intact, completely resected or partially resected.
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Adiposity associated DNA methylation signatures in adolescents are related to leptin and perinatal factorsEpigenetics links perinatal influences with later obesity. We identifed differentially methylated CpG (dmCpG) loci measured at 17 years associated with concurrent adiposity measures and examined whether these were associated with hsCRP, adipokines, and early life environmental factors. Genome-wide DNA methylation from 1192 Raine Study participants at 17 years, identified 29 dmCpGs associated with body mass index, 10 with waist circumference and 9 with subcutaneous fat thickness.
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A flexible computational pipeline for research analyses of unsolved clinical exome casesExome sequencing has enabled molecular diagnoses for rare disease patients but often with initial diagnostic rates of ~25-30%. Here we develop a robust computational pipeline to rank variants for reassessment of unsolved rare disease patients. A comprehensive web-based patient report is generated in which all deleterious variants can be filtered by gene, variant characteristics, OMIM disease and Phenolyzer scores, and all are annotated with an ACMG classification and links to ClinVar.
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Tumor Infiltrating Effector Memory Antigen-Specific CD8(+) T Cells Predict Response to Immune Checkpoint TherapyImmune checkpoint therapy (ICT) results in durable responses in individuals with some cancers, but not all patients respond to treatment. ICT improves CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) function, but changes in tumor antigen-specific CTLs post-ICT that correlate with successful responses have not been well characterized. Here, we studied murine tumor models with dichotomous responses to ICT.
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The rare and undiagnosed diseases diagnostic service – application of massively parallel sequencing in a state-wide clinical serviceThe Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases Diagnostic Service refers to a genomic diagnostic platform operating within the Genetic Services of Western Australia
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Functional annotation of the vlinc class of non-coding RNAs using systems biology approachWe show that vlincRNAs genes likely function in cis to activate nearby genes
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Systematic chemical and molecular profiling of MLL-rearranged infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia reveals efficacy of romidepsinPresent a valuable resource for drug discovery and have identified ROM as a promising therapeutic for MLL-rearranged iALL