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Biomedical subjects

Edwin F Juarez

Publications and source records attributed to Edwin F Juarez.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Long-term follow-up of children who received rapid genomic sequencing.

PURPOSE: To explore long-term trajectories of children who received rapid genome sequencing (RGS) in intensive care settings. METHODS: We examined the electronic health records of 67 critically ill pediatric patients who received RGS 6 to 8 years ago with a collective initial diagnostic yield of 46%. RESULTS: The median length of follow-up was 6.2 years (interquartile range 4.0-7.2 years). RGS-diagnosed patients had a longer average follow-up time compared with undiagnosed patients (5.9 years vs 4.8 years, P = .026) and more subspecialty appointments per follow-up year (9.4 vs 6.9, P = .036). Mortality during the follow-up period was 9%. Patients averaged 2.1 hospital readmissions per follow-up year and 28.1 hospitalized days per follow-up year. Forty-four patients (66%) had a documented new phenotype in the electronic health records during their follow-up period. Seven patients received clinician-driven reanalysis during the follow-up period, yielding 1 new diagnosis. Systematic reanalysis of RGS performed as part of this study identified 4 new candidate diagnoses. CONCLUSION: Pediatric patients who receive RGS during intensive care unit hospitalizations continue to be high health care utilizers in subsequent years, regardless of whether RGS identified a diagnosis. Additionally, two-thirds of this cohort had a documented phenotypic change over the follow-up period, indicating dynamic clinical evolution in the years after RGS.

Humans

3D genome mapping identifies subgroup-specific chromosome conformations and tumor-dependency genes in ependymoma.

Ependymoma is a tumor of the brain or spinal cord. The two most common and aggressive molecular groups of ependymoma are the supratentorial ZFTA-fusion associated and the posterior fossa ependymoma group A. In both groups, tumors occur mainly in young children and frequently recur after treatment. Although molecular mechanisms underlying these diseases have recently been uncovered, they remain difficult to target and innovative therapeutic approaches are urgently needed. Here, we use genome-wide chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C), complemented with CTCF and H3K27ac ChIP-seq, as well as gene expression and DNA methylation analysis in primary and relapsed ependymoma tumors, to identify chromosomal conformations and regulatory mechanisms associated with aberrant gene expression. In particular, we observe the formation of new topologically associating domains ('neo-TADs') caused by structural variants, group-specific 3D chromatin loops, and the replacement of CTCF insulators by DNA hyper-methylation. Through inhibition experiments, we validate that genes implicated by these 3D genome conformations are essential for the survival of patient-derived ependymoma models in a group-specific manner. Thus, this study extends our ability to reveal tumor-dependency genes by 3D genome conformations even in tumors that lack targetable genetic alterations.

Child