Browsing by keyword "Deep sequencing"
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alphabeta T cell receptors as predictors of health and diseaseThe diversity of antigen receptors and the specificity it underlies are the hallmarks of the cellular arm of the adaptive immune system. T and B lymphocytes are indeed truly unique in their ability to generate receptors capable of recognizing virtually any pathogen. It has been known for several decades that T lymphocytes recognize short peptides derived from degraded proteins presented by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules at the cell surface. Interaction between peptide-MHC (pMHC) and the T cell receptor (TCR) is central to both thymic selection and peripheral antigen recognition. It is widely assumed that TCR diversity is required, or at least highly desirable, to provide sufficient immune coverage. However, a number of immune responses are associated with the selection of predictable, narrow, or skewed repertoires and public TCR chains. Here, we summarize the current knowledge on the formation of the TCR repertoire and its maintenance in health and disease. We also outline the various molecular mechanisms that govern the composition of the pre-selection, naive and antigen-specific TCR repertoires. Finally, we suggest that with the development of high-throughput sequencing, common TCR 'signatures' raised against specific antigens could provide important diagnostic biomarkers and surrogate predictors of disease onset, progression and outcome.
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Deep sequencing of pre-translational mRNPs reveals hidden flux through evolutionarily conserved AS-NMD pathways [preprint]Background The ability to generate multiple mRNA isoforms from a single gene by alternative splicing (AS) is crucial for the regulation of eukaryotic gene expression. Because different mRNA isoforms can have widely differing decay rates, however, the flux through competing AS pathways cannot be determined by traditional RNA-Seq data alone. Further, some mRNA isoforms with extremely short half-lives, such as those subject to translation-dependent nonsense-mediated decay (AS-NMD), may be completely overlooked in even the most extensive RNA-Seq analyses. Results RNA immunoprecipitation in tandem (RIPiT) of exon junction complex (EJC) components allows for the purification of post-splicing mRNA-protein particles (mRNPs) not yet subject to translation (pre-translational mRNPs) and translation-dependent mRNA decay. Here we compared EJC RIPiT-Seq to whole cell and cytoplasmic RNA-Seq data from HEK293 cells. Consistent with expectations, we found that the flux through known AS-NMD pathways is substantially higher than what is captured by RNA-Seq. We also identified thousands of previously unannotated splicing events; while many can be attributed to “splicing noise”, others are evolutionarily-conserved events that produce new AS-NMD isoforms likely involved in maintenance of protein homeostasis. Several of these occur in genes whose overexpression has been linked to poor cancer prognosis. Conclusions Deep sequencing of RNAs in post-splicing, pre-translational mRNPs provides a means to identify and quantify splicing events without the confounding influence of differential mRNA decay. For many known AS-NMD targets, the NMD-linked AS pathway dominates. EJC RIPiT-Seq also enabled identification of numerous conserved but previously unknown AS-NMD events.
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Resistance to vemurafenib resulting from a novel mutation in the BRAFV600E kinase domainResistance to the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib poses a significant problem for the treatment of BRAFV600E-positive melanomas. It is therefore critical to prospectively identify all vemurafenib resistance mechanisms prior to their emergence in the clinic. The vemurafenib resistance mechanisms described to date do not result from secondary mutations within BRAFV600E. To search for possible mutations within BRAFV600E that can confer drug resistance, we developed a systematic experimental approach involving targeted saturation mutagenesis, selection of drug-resistant variants, and deep sequencing. We identified a single nucleotide substitution (T1514A, encoding L505H) that greatly increased drug resistance in cultured cells and mouse xenografts. The kinase activity of BRAFV600E/L505H was higher than that of BRAFV600E, resulting in cross-resistance to a MEK inhibitor. However, BRAFV600E/L505H was less resistant to several other BRAF inhibitors whose binding sites were further from L505 than that of PLX4720. Our results identify a novel vemurafenib-resistant mutant and provide insights into the treatment for melanomas bearing this mutation.
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The Hitchhiker's guide to Hi-C analysis: Practical guidelinesOver the last decade, development and application of a set of molecular genomic approaches based on the chromosome conformation capture method (3C), combined with increasingly powerful imaging approaches, have enabled high resolution and genome-wide analysis of the spatial organization of chromosomes. The aim of this paper is to provide guidelines for analyzing and interpreting data obtained with genome-wide 3C methods such as Hi-C and 3C-seq that rely on deep sequencing to detect and quantify pairwise chromatin interactions.
