Crystalline Hepatopathy Associated With Bietti Crystalline Dystrophy: A Striking Manifestation of Disordered Fatty Acid Metabolism.

Bietti crystalline dystrophy (BCD) is a rare heritable retinal disease characterized by crystal deposition primarily in the retina. It is associated with atrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and is caused by variants in CYP4V2, which encodes a cytochrome P450 hemethiolate protein superfamily member. CYP4V2 is involved in the selective hydrolysis of saturated medium chain fatty acids, and patients with BCD demonstrate abnormalities in fatty acid metabolism, including abnormal lipid profiles and the accumulation of the pathogenic crystals within the RPE, which leads to the visual pathologies characteristic of BCD. However, the precise identity of the crystals is currently unknown, and BCD has no established extraocular manifestations. Here, we report granulomatous hepatitis associated with abundant diffuse crystalline clefts in the hepatic parenchyma in 3 patients with retinal dystrophy and dyslipidemia: 2 with pathogenic CYP4V2 variants and 1 patient with clinical ophthalmologic findings suggestive of BCD but without available genetic testing. The unique and striking histologic features unifying the liver biopsies in all 3 patients strongly support a process related to abnormal fatty acid metabolism underlying the genetic disease of BCD, expanding the spectrum of BCD and shedding light on the importance of CYP4V2 in systemic fatty acid metabolism.

CHRNA6 RNA In Situ Hybridization Is a Useful Tool for the Diagnosis of Extraskeletal Myxoid Chondrosarcoma.

Extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma (EMC) is an uncommon mesenchymal neoplasm characteristically composed of uniform-appearing round to spindle-shaped cells with eosinophilic cytoplasm and abundant myxoid extracellular matrix. Although the majority of cases harbor a pathognomonic t(9;22) translocation that fuses EWSR1 with the orphan nuclear receptor NR4A3, there are less common variants that partner NR4A3 with TAF15, TCF12, or TFG. By immunohistochemistry, EMC has features of both cartilaginous and neuroendocrine differentiation, as evidenced by inconsistent expression of S100 protein and synaptophysin or INSM1, respectively, in a subset of cases. Given the limitations of available immunohistochemical stains for the diagnosis of EMC, we analyzed genome-wide gene expression microarray data to identify candidate biomarkers based on differential expression in EMC in comparison with other mesenchymal neoplasms. This analysis pointed to CHRNA6 as the gene with the highest relative expression in EMC (96-fold; P = 8.2 × 10-26) and the only gene with >50-fold increased expression in EMC compared with other tumors. Using RNA chromogenic in situ hybridization, we observed strong and diffuse expression of CHRNA6 in 25 cases of EMC, including both EWSR1-rearranged and TAF15-rearranged variants. All examined cases of histologic mimics were negative for CHRNA6 overexpression; however, limited CHRNA6 expression, not reaching a threshold of >5 puncta or 1 aggregate of chromogen in >25% of cells, was observed in 69 of 685 mimics (10.1%), spanning an array of mesenchymal tumors. Taken together, these findings suggest that, with careful interpretation and the use of appropriate thresholds, CHRNA6 RNA chromogenic in situ hybridization is a potentially useful ancillary histologic tool for the diagnosis of EMC.

Inflamed immune phenotype predicts favorable clinical outcomes of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy across multiple cancer types.

BACKGROUND: The inflamed immune phenotype (IIP), defined by enrichment of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) within intratumoral areas, is a promising tumor-agnostic biomarker of response to immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. However, it is challenging to define the IIP in an objective and reproducible manner during manual histopathologic examination. Here, we investigate artificial intelligence (AI)-based immune phenotypes capable of predicting ICI clinical outcomes in multiple solid tumor types. METHODS: Lunit SCOPE IO is a deep learning model which determines the immune phenotype of the tumor microenvironment based on TIL analysis. We evaluated the correlation between the IIP and ICI treatment outcomes in terms of objective response rates (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) in a cohort of 1,806 ICI-treated patients representing over 27 solid tumor types retrospectively collected from multiple institutions. RESULTS: We observed an overall IIP prevalence of 35.2% and significantly more favorable ORRs (26.3% vs 15.8%), PFS (median 5.3 vs 3.1 months, HR 0.68, 95% CI 0.61 to 0.76), and OS (median 25.3 vs 13.6 months, HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.75) after ICI therapy in IIP compared with non-IIP patients, respectively (p<0.001 for all comparisons). On subgroup analysis, the IIP was generally prognostic of favorable PFS across major patient subgroups, with the exception of the microsatellite unstable/mismatch repair deficient subgroup. CONCLUSION: The AI-based IIP may represent a practical, affordable, clinically actionable, and tumor-agnostic biomarker prognostic of ICI therapy response across diverse tumor types.

S100 Protein Expression in Primary and Metastatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms: A Specific Marker of Pancreatic Origin.

Neuroendocrine neoplasms can arise in a wide variety of anatomic sites including the gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, and lung, among others. Here, we report on the expression of S100 protein in a tissue microarray composed of 919 distinct primary and metastatic neuroendocrine neoplasms from 548 patients. S100 protein is a commonly used marker in many laboratories for the identification of neural and melanocytic neoplasms and occasionally used in the workup for neuroendocrine neoplasms when the diagnosis of paraganglioma is being considered. We show that strong S100 protein expression is highly specific to well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors of pancreatic origin. This finding suggests potential diagnostic utility of this marker in cases of tumors of unknown origin, and emphasizes that S100 protein expression should not be an unexpected finding in neuroendocrine tumors of pancreatic origin.

Leiomyomatosis in an Infant With a SUFU Splice Site Variant: Case Report.

Heterozygous loss-of-function variants in the suppressor of fused protein gene (SUFU) can result in Gorlin syndrome, which is characterized by an increased frequency of basal cell carcinoma, medulloblastoma, odontogenic keratocysts, as well as other tumors. We describe a case of a 5-month-old female who presented with multiple intra-abdominal leiomyomata and was found to have a likely pathogenic splice site variant in the SUFU gene. This is the first reported case of leiomyomatosis secondary to a pathogenic SUFU variant in an infant and may represent an early, atypical presentation of Gorlin syndrome.

Single-cell analysis reveals T cell infiltration in old neurogenic niches.

The mammalian brain contains neurogenic niches that comprise neural stem cells and other cell types. Neurogenic niches become less functional with age, but how they change during ageing remains unclear. Here we perform single-cell RNA sequencing of young and old neurogenic niches in mice. The analysis of 14,685 single-cell transcriptomes reveals a decrease in activated neural stem cells, changes in endothelial cells and microglia, and an infiltration of T cells in old neurogenic niches. T cells in old brains are clonally expanded and are generally distinct from those in old blood, which suggests that they may experience specific antigens. T cells in old brains also express interferon-γ, and the subset of neural stem cells that has a high interferon response shows decreased proliferation in vivo. We find that T cells can inhibit the proliferation of neural stem cells in co-cultures and in vivo, in part by secreting interferon-γ. Our study reveals an interaction between T cells and neural stem cells in old brains, opening potential avenues through which to counteract age-related decline in brain function.

Remodeling of epigenome and transcriptome landscapes with aging in mice reveals widespread induction of inflammatory responses.

Aging is accompanied by the functional decline of tissues. However, a systematic study of epigenomic and transcriptomic changes across tissues during aging is missing. Here, we generated chromatin maps and transcriptomes from four tissues and one cell type from young, middle-aged, and old mice-yielding 143 high-quality data sets. We focused on chromatin marks linked to gene expression regulation and cell identity: histone H3 trimethylation at lysine 4 (H3K4me3), a mark enriched at promoters, and histone H3 acetylation at lysine 27 (H3K27ac), a mark enriched at active enhancers. Epigenomic and transcriptomic landscapes could easily distinguish between ages, and machine-learning analysis showed that specific epigenomic states could predict transcriptional changes during aging. Analysis of data sets from all tissues identified recurrent age-related chromatin and transcriptional changes in key processes, including the up-regulation of immune system response pathways such as the interferon response. The up-regulation of the interferon response pathway with age was accompanied by increased transcription and chromatin remodeling at specific endogenous retroviral sequences. Pathways misregulated during mouse aging across tissues, notably innate immune pathways, were also misregulated with aging in other vertebrate species-African turquoise killifish, rat, and humans-indicating common signatures of age across species. To date, our data set represents the largest multitissue epigenomic and transcriptomic data set for vertebrate aging. This resource identifies chromatin and transcriptional states that are characteristic of young tissues, which could be leveraged to restore aspects of youthful functionality to old tissues.

Lysosome activation clears aggregates and enhances quiescent neural stem cell activation during aging.

In the adult brain, the neural stem cell (NSC) pool comprises quiescent and activated populations with distinct roles. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that quiescent and activated NSCs exhibited differences in their protein homeostasis network. Whereas activated NSCs had active proteasomes, quiescent NSCs contained large lysosomes. Quiescent NSCs from young mice accumulated protein aggregates, and many of these aggregates were stored in large lysosomes. Perturbation of lysosomal activity in quiescent NSCs affected protein-aggregate accumulation and the ability of quiescent NSCs to activate. During aging, quiescent NSCs displayed defects in their lysosomes, increased accumulation of protein aggregates, and reduced ability to activate. Enhancement of the lysosome pathway in old quiescent NSCs cleared protein aggregates and ameliorated the ability of quiescent NSCs to activate, allowing them to regain a more youthful state.

PD-1 expression by tumour-associated macrophages inhibits phagocytosis and tumour immunity.

Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) is an immune checkpoint receptor that is upregulated on activated T cells for the induction of immune tolerance. Tumour cells frequently overexpress the ligand for PD-1, programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1), facilitating their escape from the immune system. Monoclonal antibodies that block the interaction between PD-1 and PD-L1, by binding to either the ligand or receptor, have shown notable clinical efficacy in patients with a variety of cancers, including melanoma, colorectal cancer, non-small-cell lung cancer and Hodgkin's lymphoma. Although it is well established that PD-1-PD-L1 blockade activates T cells, little is known about the role that this pathway may have in tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs). Here we show that both mouse and human TAMs express PD-1. TAM PD-1 expression increases over time in mouse models of cancer and with increasing disease stage in primary human cancers. TAM PD-1 expression correlates negatively with phagocytic potency against tumour cells, and blockade of PD-1-PD-L1 in vivo increases macrophage phagocytosis, reduces tumour growth and lengthens the survival of mice in mouse models of cancer in a macrophage-dependent fashion. This suggests that PD-1-PD-L1 therapies may also function through a direct effect on macrophages, with substantial implications for the treatment of cancer with these agents.

Single-Cell Transcriptomic Analysis Defines Heterogeneity and Transcriptional Dynamics in the Adult Neural Stem Cell Lineage.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) in the adult mammalian brain serve as a reservoir for the generation of new neurons, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes. Here, we use single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize adult NSC populations and examine the molecular identities and heterogeneity of in vivo NSC populations. We find that cells in the NSC lineage exist on a continuum through the processes of activation and differentiation. Interestingly, rare intermediate states with distinct molecular profiles can be identified and experimentally validated, and our analysis identifies putative surface markers and key intracellular regulators for these subpopulations of NSCs. Finally, using the power of single-cell profiling, we conduct a meta-analysis to compare in vivo NSCs and in vitro cultures, distinct fluorescence-activated cell sorting strategies, and different neurogenic niches. These data provide a resource for the field and contribute to an integrative understanding of the adult NSC lineage.

Stem Cell Aging and Sex: Are We Missing Something?

Longevity differs between sexes, with females being longer-lived in most mammals, including humans. One hallmark of aging is the functional decline of stem cells. Thus, a key question is whether the aging of stem cells differs between males and females and whether this has consequences for disease and lifespan.

Sir2 deletion prevents lifespan extension in 32 long-lived mutants.

Activation of Sir2 orthologs is proposed to increase lifespan downstream of dietary restriction. Here, we describe an examination of the effect of 32 different lifespan-extending mutations and four methods of DR on replicative lifespan (RLS) in the short-lived sir2Δ yeast strain. In every case, deletion of SIR2 prevented RLS extension; however, RLS extension was restored when both SIR2 and FOB1 were deleted in several cases, demonstrating that SIR2 is not directly required for RLS extension. These findings indicate that suppression of the sir2Δ lifespan defect is a rare phenotype among longevity interventions and suggest that sir2Δ cells senesce rapidly by a mechanism distinct from that of wild-type cells. They also demonstrate that failure to observe lifespan extension in a short-lived background, such as cells or animals lacking sirtuins, should be interpreted with caution.