Browsing by Author "Craig, Justin M."

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Detection of KIAA1549-BRAF Fusion Transcripts in Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Pediatric Low-Grade Gliomas
    (ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC, 2011-01-01) Tian, Yongji; Rich, Benjamin E.; Vena, Natalie; Craig, Justin M.; MacConaill, Laura E.; Rajaram, Veena; Goldman, Stewart; Taha, Hala; Mahmoud, Madeha; Ozek, Memet; Sav, Aydin; Longtine, Janina A.; Lindeman, Neal I.; Garraway, Levi A.; Ligon, Azra H.; Stiles, Charles D.; Santagata, Sandra; Chan, Jennifer A.; Kieran, Mark W.; Ligon, Keith L.
    Alterations of BRAF are the most common known genetic aberrations in pediatric gliomas. They frequently are found in pilocytic astrocytomas, where genomic duplications involving BRAF and the poorly characterized gene KIAA1549 create fusion proteins with constitutive B-Raf kinase activity. BRAF V600E point mutations are less common and generally occur in nonpilocytic tumors. The development of BRAF inhibitors as drugs has created an urgent need for robust clinical assays to identify activating lesions in BRAF. KIAA1549-BRAF fusion transcripts have been detected in frozen tissue, however, methods for FFPE tissue have not been reported. We developed a panel of FFPE-compatible quantitative RT-PCR assays for the most common KIAA1549-BRAF fusion transcripts. Application of these assays to a collection of 51 low-grade pediatric gliomas showed 97\% sensitivity and 91\% specificity compared with fluorescence in situ hybridization or array comparative genomic hybridization. In parallel, we assayed samples for the presence of the BRAF V600E mutation by PCR pyrosequencing. The data further support previous observations that these two alterations of the BRAF, KIAA1549 fusions and V600E point mutations, are associated primarily with pilocytic astrocytomas and nonpilocytic gliomas, respectively. These results show that fusion transcripts and mutations can be detected reliably in standard FFPE specimens and may be useful for incorporation into future studies of pediatric gliomas in basic science or clinical trials. (J Mal Diagn 2011, 13:669-677
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    DNA Fragmentation Simulation Method (FSM) and Fragment Size Matching Improve aCGH Performance of FFPE Tissues
    (PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE, 2012-01-01) Craig, Justin M.; Vena, Natalie; Ramkissoon, Shakti; Idbaih, Ahmed; Fouse, Shaun D.; Ozek, Memet; Sav, Aydin; Hill, D. Ashley; Margraf, Linda R.; Eberhart, Charles G.; Kieran, Mark W.; Norden, Andrew D.; Wen, Patrick Y.; Loda, Massimo; Santagata, Sandro; Ligon, Keith L.; Ligon, Azra H.
    Whole-genome copy number analysis platforms, such as array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays, are transformative research discovery tools. In cancer, the identification of genomic aberrations with these approaches has generated important diagnostic and prognostic markers, and critical therapeutic targets. While robust for basic research studies, reliable whole-genome copy number analysis has been unsuccessful in routine clinical practice due to a number of technical limitations. Most important, aCGH results have been suboptimal because of the poor integrity of DNA derived from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues. Using self-hybridizations of a single DNA sample we observed that aCGH performance is significantly improved by accurate DNA size determination and the matching of test and reference DNA samples so that both possess similar fragment sizes. Based on this observation, we developed a novel DNA fragmentation simulation method (FSM) that allows customized tailoring of the fragment sizes of test and reference samples, thereby lowering array failure rates. To validate our methods, we combined FSM with Universal Linkage System (ULS) labeling to study a cohort of 200 tumor samples using Agilent 1 M feature arrays. Results from FFPE samples were equivalent to results from fresh samples and those available through the glioblastoma Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). This study demonstrates that rigorous control of DNA fragment size improves aCGH performance. This methodological advance will permit the routine analysis of FFPE tumor samples for clinical trials and in daily clinical practice.