The mutational landscape of normal human endometrial epithelium, bioRxiv, 2018-12-24
All normal somatic cells are thought to acquire mutations. However, characterisation of the patterns and consequences of somatic mutation in normal tissues is limited. Uterine endometrium is a dynamic tissue that undergoes cyclical shedding and reconstitution and is lined by a gland-forming epithelium. Whole genome sequencing of normal endometrial glands showed that most are clonal cell populations derived from a recent common ancestor with mutation burdens differing from other normal cell types and manyfold lower than endometrial cancers. Mutational signatures found ubiquitously account for most mutations. Many, in some women potentially all, endometrial glands are colonised by cell clones carrying driver mutations in cancer genes, often with multiple drivers. Total and driver mutation burdens increase with age but are also influenced by other factors including body mass index and parity. Clones with drivers often originate during early decades of life. The somatic mutational landscapes of normal cells differ between cell types and are revealing the procession of neoplastic change leading to cancer.
biorxiv cancer-biology 0-100-users 2018Prioritisation of oncology therapeutic targets using CRISPR-Cas9 screening, bioRxiv, 2018-12-20
SummaryFunctional genomics approaches can overcome current limitations that hamper oncology drug development such as lack of robust target identification and clinical efficacy. Here we performed genome-scale CRISPR-Cas9 screens in 204 human cancer cell lines from 12 cancer-types and developed a data-driven framework to prioritise cancer therapeutic candidates. We integrated gene cell fitness effects with genomic biomarkers and target tractability for drug development to systematically prioritise new oncology targets in defined tissues and genotypes. Furthermore, we took one of our most promising dependencies, Werner syndrome RecQ helicase, and verified it as a candidate target for tumours with microsatellite instability. Our analysis provides a comprehensive resource of cancer dependencies, a framework to prioritise oncology targets, and nominates specific new candidates. The principles described in this study can transform the initial stages of the drug development process contributing to a new, diverse and more effective portfolio of oncology targets.
biorxiv cancer-biology 200-500-users 2018The consensus molecular classification of muscle-invasive bladder cancer, bioRxiv, 2018-12-08
AbstractMuscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer (MIBC) is a molecularly diverse disease with heterogeneous clinical outcomes. Several molecular classifications have been proposed, yielding diverse sets of subtypes, which hampers the clinical implications of such knowledge. Here, we report the results of a large international effort to reach a consensus on MIBC molecular subtypes. Using 1750 MIBC transcriptomes and a network-based analysis of six independent MIBC classification systems, we identified a consensus set of six molecular classes Luminal Papillary (24%), Luminal Non-Specified (8%), Luminal Unstable (15%), Stroma-rich (15%), BasalSquamous (35%), and Neuroendocrine-like (3%). These consensus classes differ regarding underlying oncogenic mechanisms, infiltration by immune and stromal cells, and histological and clinical characteristics. This consensus system offers a robust framework that will enable testing and validating predictive biomarkers in future clinical trials.
biorxiv cancer-biology 100-200-users 2018Ultra-sensitive sequencing for cancer detection reveals progressive clonal selection in normal tissue over a century of human lifespan, bioRxiv, 2018-11-04
ABSTRACTHigh accuracy next-generation DNA sequencing promises a paradigm shift in early cancer detection by enabling the identification of mutant cancer molecules in minimally-invasive body fluid samples. We demonstrate 80% sensitivity for ovarian cancer detection using ultra-accurate Duplex Sequencing to identify TP53 mutations in uterine lavage. However, in addition to tumor DNA, we also detect low frequency TP53 mutations in nearly all lavages from women with and without cancer. These mutations increase with age and share the selection traits of clonal TP53 mutations commonly found in human tumors. We show that low frequency TP53 mutations exist in multiple healthy tissues, from newborn to centenarian, and progressively increase in abundance and pathogenicity with older age across tissue types. Our results illustrate that subclonal cancer evolutionary processes are a ubiquitous part of normal human aging and great care must be taken to distinguish tumor-derived, from age-associated mutations in high sensitivity clinical cancer diagnostics.
biorxiv cancer-biology 200-500-users 2018Mutation detection in thousands of acute myeloid leukemia cells using single cell RNA-sequencing, bioRxiv, 2018-10-18
AbstractVirtually all tumors are genetically heterogeneous, containing subclonal populations of cells that are defined by distinct mutations1. Subclones can have unique phenotypes that influence disease progression2, but these phenotypes are difficult to characterize subclones usually cannot be physically purified, and bulk gene expression measurements obscure interclonal differences. Single-cell RNA-sequencing has revealed transcriptional heterogeneity within a variety of tumor types, but it is unclear how this expression heterogeneity relates to subclonal genetic events – for example, whether particular expression clusters correspond to mutationally defined subclones3,4,5,6-9. To address this question, we developed an approach that integrates enhanced whole genome sequencing (eWGS) with the 10x Genomics Chromium Single Cell 5’ Gene Expression workflow (scRNA-seq) to directly link expressed mutations with transcriptional profiles at single cell resolution. Using bone marrow samples from five cases of primary human Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), we generated WGS and scRNA-seq data for each case. Duplicate single cell libraries representing a median of 20,474 cells per case were generated from the bone marrow of each patient. Although the libraries were 5’ biased, we detected expressed mutations in cDNAs at distances up to 10 kbp from the 5’ ends of well-expressed genes, allowing us to identify hundreds to thousands of cells with AML-specific somatic mutations in every case. This data made it possible to distinguish AML cells (including normal-karyotype AML cells) from surrounding normal cells, to study tumor differentiation and intratumoral expression heterogeneity, to identify expression signatures associated with subclonal mutations, and to find cell surface markers that could be used to purify subclones for further study. The data also revealed transcriptional heterogeneity that occurred independently of subclonal mutations, suggesting that additional factors drive epigenetic heterogeneity. This integrative approach for connecting genotype to phenotype in AML cells is broadly applicable for analysis of any sample that is phenotypically and genetically heterogeneous.
biorxiv cancer-biology 100-200-users 2018High throughput droplet single-cell Genotyping of Transcriptomes (GoT) reveals the cell identity dependency of the impact of somatic mutations, bioRxiv, 2018-10-17
AbstractDefining the transcriptomic identity of clonally related malignant cells is challenging in the absence of cell surface markers that distinguish cancer clones from one another or from admixed non-neoplastic cells. While single-cell methods have been devised to capture both the transcriptome and genotype, these methods are not compatible with droplet-based single-cell transcriptomics, limiting their throughput. To overcome this limitation, we present single-cell Genotyping of Transcriptomes (GoT), which integrates cDNA genotyping with high-throughput droplet-based single-cell RNA-seq. We further demonstrate that multiplexed GoT can interrogate multiple genotypes for distinguishing subclonal transcriptomic identity. We apply GoT to 26,039 CD34+ cells across six patients with myeloid neoplasms, in which the complex process of hematopoiesis is corrupted by CALR-mutated stem and progenitor cells. We define high-resolution maps of malignant versus normal hematopoietic progenitors, and show that while mutant cells are comingled with wildtype cells throughout the hematopoietic progenitor landscape, their frequency increases with differentiation. We identify the unfolded protein response as a predominant outcome of CALR mutations, with significant cell identity dependency. Furthermore, we identify that CALR mutations lead to NF-κB pathway upregulation specifically in uncommitted early stem cells. Collectively, GoT provides high-throughput linkage of single-cell genotypes with transcriptomes and reveals that the transcriptional output of somatic mutations is heavily dependent on the native cell identity.
biorxiv cancer-biology 0-100-users 2018