Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal cancers with patients having unresectable or metastatic disease at diagnosis, with poor prognosis and very short survival. Given that genetic variation within autophagy-related genes influences autophagic flux and susceptibility to solid cancers, we decided to investigate whether 55,583 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within 234 autophagy-related genes could influence the risk of developing PDAC in three large independent cohorts of European ancestry including 12,754 PDAC cases and 324,926 controls. The meta-analysis of these populations identified, for the first time, the association of the BIDrs9604789 variant with an increased risk of developing the disease (ORMeta = 1.31, p = 9.67 × 10-6). We also confirmed the association of TP63rs1515496 and TP63rs35389543 variants with PDAC risk (OR = 0.89, p = 6.27 × 10-8 and OR = 1.16, p = 2.74 × 10-5). Although it is known that BID induces autophagy and TP63 promotes cell growth, cell motility and invasion, we also found that carriers of the TP63rs1515496G allele had increased numbers of FOXP3+ Helios+ T regulatory cells and CD45RA+ T regulatory cells (p = 7.67 × 10-4 and p = 1.56 × 10-3), but also decreased levels of CD4+ T regulatory cells (p = 7.86 × 10-4). These results were in agreement with research suggesting that the TP63rs1515496 variant alters binding sites for FOXA1 and CTCF, which are transcription factors involved in modulating specific subsets of regulatory T cells. In conclusion, this study identifies BID as new susceptibility locus for PDAC and confirms previous studies suggesting that the TP63 gene is involved in the development of PDAC. This study also suggests new pathogenic mechanisms of the TP63 locus in PDAC.

• Klíčová slova
• autophagy, functional characterization, genetic variants, pancreatic cancer, polymorphisms, susceptibility,
• MeSH
• autofagie * genetika   MeSH
• běloši genetika   MeSH
• duktální karcinom slinivky břišní * genetika   patologie   MeSH
• forkhead transkripční faktory MeSH
• genetická predispozice k nemoci * MeSH
• hepatocytární jaderný faktor 3-alfa genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• jednonukleotidový polymorfismus * MeSH
• kohortové studie MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nádorové biomarkery * genetika   MeSH
• nádorové supresorové proteiny * genetika   MeSH
• nádory slinivky břišní * genetika   patologie   MeSH
• studie případů a kontrol MeSH
• transkripční faktory genetika   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• metaanalýza MeSH
• Názvy látek
• forkhead transkripční faktory MeSH
• FOXA1 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• FOXP3 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• hepatocytární jaderný faktor 3-alfa MeSH
• nádorové biomarkery * MeSH
• nádorové supresorové proteiny * MeSH
• TP63 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• transkripční faktory MeSH

Multiple myeloma (MM) arises following malignant proliferation of plasma cells in the bone marrow, that secrete high amounts of specific monoclonal immunoglobulins or light chains, resulting in the massive production of unfolded or misfolded proteins. Autophagy can have a dual role in tumorigenesis, by eliminating these abnormal proteins to avoid cancer development, but also ensuring MM cell survival and promoting resistance to treatments. To date no studies have determined the impact of genetic variation in autophagy-related genes on MM risk. We performed meta-analysis of germline genetic data on 234 autophagy-related genes from three independent study populations including 13,387 subjects of European ancestry (6863 MM patients and 6524 controls) and examined correlations of statistically significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; p < 1 × 10-9) with immune responses in whole blood, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) from a large population of healthy donors from the Human Functional Genomic Project (HFGP). We identified SNPs in six loci, CD46, IKBKE, PARK2, ULK4, ATG5, and CDKN2A associated with MM risk (p = 4.47 × 10-4-5.79 × 10-14). Mechanistically, we found that the ULK4rs6599175 SNP correlated with circulating concentrations of vitamin D3 (p = 4.0 × 10-4), whereas the IKBKErs17433804 SNP correlated with the number of transitional CD24+CD38+ B cells (p = 4.8 × 10-4) and circulating serum concentrations of Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein (MCP)-2 (p = 3.6 × 10-4). We also found that the CD46rs1142469 SNP correlated with numbers of CD19+ B cells, CD19+CD3- B cells, CD5+IgD- cells, IgM- cells, IgD-IgM- cells, and CD4-CD8- PBMCs (p = 4.9 × 10-4-8.6 × 10-4) and circulating concentrations of interleukin (IL)-20 (p = 0.00082). Finally, we observed that the CDKN2Ars2811710 SNP correlated with levels of CD4+EMCD45RO+CD27- cells (p = 9.3 × 10-4). These results suggest that genetic variants within these six loci influence MM risk through the modulation of specific subsets of immune cells, as well as vitamin D3-, MCP-2-, and IL20-dependent pathways.

• Klíčová slova
• autophagy, genetic susceptibility, genetic variants, multiple myeloma,
• MeSH
• autofagie MeSH
• biologické markery MeSH
• imunoglobulin M MeSH
• leukocyty mononukleární patologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mnohočetný myelom * genetika   patologie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• metaanalýza MeSH
• Názvy látek
• biologické markery MeSH
• imunoglobulin M MeSH

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia among adults worldwide. Although genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have uncovered the germline genetic component underlying CLL susceptibility, the potential use of GWAS-identified risk variants to predict disease progression and patient survival remains unexplored. Here, we evaluated whether 41 GWAS-identified risk variants for CLL could influence overall survival (OS) and disease progression, defined as time to first treatment (TTFT) in a cohort of 1039 CLL cases ascertained through the CRuCIAL consortium. Although this is the largest study assessing the effect of GWAS-identified susceptibility variants for CLL on OS, we only found a weak association of ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with OS (p < 0.05) that did not remain significant after correction for multiple testing. In line with these results, polygenic risk scores (PRSs) built with these SNPs in the CRuCIAL cohort showed a modest association with OS and a low capacity to predict patient survival, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.57. Similarly, seven SNPs were associated with TTFT (p < 0.05); however, these did not reach the multiple testing significance threshold, and the meta-analysis with previous published data did not confirm any of the associations. As expected, PRSs built with these SNPs showed reduced accuracy in prediction of disease progression (AUROC = 0.62). These results suggest that susceptibility variants for CLL do not impact overall survival and disease progression in CLL patients.

• Klíčová slova
• TTFT, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, genetic variants, overall survival, polygenic risk score, susceptibility,
• MeSH
• celogenomová asociační studie MeSH
• chronická lymfatická leukemie * genetika   MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• genetická predispozice k nemoci MeSH
• jednonukleotidový polymorfismus MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• progrese nemoci MeSH
• rizikové faktory MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• metaanalýza MeSH

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable disease characterized by the presence of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow that secrete specific monoclonal immunoglobulins into the blood. Obesity has been associated with the risk of developing solid and hematological cancers, but its role as a risk factor for MM needs to be further explored. Here, we evaluated whether 32 genome-wide association study (GWAS)-identified variants for obesity were associated with the risk of MM in 4189 German subjects from the German Multiple Myeloma Group (GMMG) cohort (2121 MM cases and 2068 controls) and 1293 Spanish subjects (206 MM cases and 1087 controls). Results were then validated through meta-analysis with data from the UKBiobank (554 MM cases and 402,714 controls) and FinnGen cohorts (914 MM cases and 248,695 controls). Finally, we evaluated the correlation of these single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with cQTL data, serum inflammatory proteins, steroid hormones, and absolute numbers of blood-derived cell populations (n = 520). The meta-analysis of the four European cohorts showed no effect of obesity-related variants on the risk of developing MM. We only found a very modest association of the POC5rs2112347G and ADCY3rs11676272G alleles with MM risk that did not remain significant after correction for multiple testing (per-allele OR = 1.08, p = 0.0083 and per-allele OR = 1.06, p = 0.046). No correlation between these SNPs and functional data was found, which confirms that obesity-related variants do not influence MM risk.

• Klíčová slova
• genetic variants, multiple myeloma, obesity, susceptibility,
• MeSH
• celogenomová asociační studie * metody   MeSH
• genetická predispozice k nemoci MeSH
• jednonukleotidový polymorfismus MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mnohočetný myelom * genetika   MeSH
• obezita komplikace   genetika   MeSH
• rizikové faktory MeSH
• transportní proteiny MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• metaanalýza MeSH
• Názvy látek
• POC5 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• transportní proteiny MeSH

The role of genetic variation in autophagy-related genes in modulating autophagy and cancer is poorly understood. Here, we comprehensively investigated the association of autophagy-related variants with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk and provide new insights about the molecular mechanisms underlying the associations. After meta-analysis of the genome-wide association study (GWAS) data from four independent European cohorts (8006 CRC cases and 7070 controls), two loci, DAPK2 (p = 2.19 × 10-5) and ATG5 (p = 6.28 × 10-4) were associated with the risk of CRC. Mechanistically, the DAPK2rs11631973G allele was associated with IL1 β levels after the stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with Staphylococcus aureus (p = 0.002), CD24 + CD38 + CD27 + IgM + B cell levels in blood (p = 0.0038) and serum levels of en-RAGE (p = 0.0068). ATG5rs546456T allele was associated with TNF α and IL1 β levels after the stimulation of PBMCs with LPS (p = 0.0088 and p = 0.0076, respectively), CD14+CD16- cell levels in blood (p = 0.0068) and serum levels of CCL19 and cortisol (p = 0.0052 and p = 0.0074, respectively). Interestingly, no association with autophagy flux was observed. These results suggested an effect of the DAPK2 and ATG5 loci in the pathogenesis of CRC, likely through the modulation of host immune responses.

• Klíčová slova
• autophagy, colorectal cancer, genetic variants, susceptibility,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

The purpose of this study was to conduct a two-stage case control association study including 654 acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients and 3477 controls ascertained through the NuCLEAR consortium to evaluate the effect of 27 immune-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on AML risk. In a pooled analysis of cohort studies, we found that carriers of the IL13rs1295686A/A genotype had an increased risk of AML (PCorr = 0.0144) whereas carriers of the VEGFArs25648T allele had a decreased risk of developing the disease (PCorr = 0.00086). In addition, we found an association of the IL8rs2227307 SNP with a decreased risk of developing AML that remained marginally significant after multiple testing (PCorr = 0.072). Functional experiments suggested that the effect of the IL13rs1295686 SNP on AML risk might be explained by its role in regulating IL1Ra secretion that modulates AML blast proliferation. Likewise, the protective effect of the IL8rs2227307 SNP might be mediated by TLR2-mediated immune responses that affect AML blast viability, proliferation and chemorresistance. Despite the potential interest of these results, additional functional studies are still warranted to unravel the mechanisms by which these variants modulate the risk of AML. These findings suggested that IL13, VEGFA and IL8 SNPs play a role in modulating AML risk.

• MeSH
• akutní myeloidní leukemie etiologie   metabolismus   patologie   MeSH
• alely MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• frekvence genu MeSH
• genetická predispozice k nemoci MeSH
• genetická variace * MeSH
• genotyp MeSH
• hodnocení rizik MeSH
• imunita genetika   MeSH
• imunomodulace genetika   MeSH
• jednonukleotidový polymorfismus MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• náchylnost k nemoci * imunologie   MeSH
• nádorové biomarkery MeSH
• rizikové faktory MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• steroidy metabolismus   MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• nádorové biomarkery MeSH
• steroidy MeSH