Impact of RNA degradation on fusion detection by RNA-seq.

BACKGROUND: RNA-seq is a well-established method for studying the transcriptome. Popular methods for library preparation in RNA-seq such as Illumina TruSeq® RNA v2 kit use a poly-A pulldown strategy. Such methods can cause loss of coverage at the 5' end of genes, impacting the ability to detect fusions when used on degraded samples. The goal of this study was to quantify the effects RNA degradation has on fusion detection when using poly-A selected mRNA and to identify the variables involved in this process. RESULTS: Using both artificially and naturally degraded samples, we found that there is a reduced ability to detect fusions as the distance of the breakpoint from the 3' end of the gene increases. The median transcript coverage decreases exponentially as a function of the distance from the 3' end and there is a linear relationship between the coverage decay rate and the RNA integrity number (RIN). Based on these findings we developed plots that show the probability of detecting a gene fusion ("sensitivity") as a function of the distance of the fusion breakpoint from the 3' end. CONCLUSIONS: This study developed a strategy to assess the impact that RNA degradation has on the ability to detect gene fusions by RNA-seq.

Polymorphous Low-Grade Neuroepithelial Tumor of the Young (PLNTY): Molecular Profiling Confirms Frequent MAPK Pathway Activation.

Polymorphous low-grade neuroepithelial tumor of the young (PLNTY) is a recently described epileptogenic tumor characterized by oligodendroglioma-like components, aberrant CD34 expression, and frequent mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway activation. We molecularly profiled 13 cases with diagnostic histopathological features of PLNTY (10 female; median age, 16 years; range, 5-52). Patients frequently presented with seizures (9 of 12 with available history) and temporal lobe tumors (9 of 13). MAPK pathway activating alterations were identified in all 13 cases. Fusions were present in the 7 youngest patients: FGFR2-CTNNA3 (n = 2), FGFR2-KIAA1598 (FGFR2-SHTN1) (n = 1), FGFR2-INA (n = 1), FGFR2-MPRIP (n = 1), QKI-NTRK2 (n = 1), and KIAA1549-BRAF (n = 1). BRAF V600E mutation was present in 6 patients (17 years or older). Two fusion-positive cases additionally harbored TP53/RB1 abnormalities suggesting biallelic inactivation. Copy number changes predominantly involving whole chromosomes were observed in all 10 evaluated cases, with losses of chromosome 10q occurring with FGFR2-KIAA1598 (SHTN1)/CTNNA3 fusions. The KIAA1549-BRAF and QKI-NTRK2 fusions were associated respectively with a 7q34 deletion and 9q21 duplication. This study shows that despite its name, PLNTY also occurs in older adults, who frequently show BRAF V600E mutation. It also expands the spectrum of the MAPK pathway activating alterations associated with PLNTY and demonstrates recurrent chromosomal copy number changes consistent with chromosomal instability.