Broad Institute

About: Broad Institute is a nonprofit organization based out in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Genome-wide association study. The organization has 6584 authors who have published 11618 publications receiving 1522743 citations. The organization is also known as: Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Integrated proteomic analysis of post-translational modifications by serial enrichment

Abstract: We report a mass spectrometry-based method for the integrated analysis of protein expression, phosphorylation, ubiquitination and acetylation by serial enrichments of different post-translational modifications (SEPTM) from the same biological sample. This technology enabled quantitative analysis of nearly 8,000 proteins and more than 20,000 phosphorylation, 15,000 ubiquitination and 3,000 acetylation sites per experiment, generating a holistic view of cellular signal transduction pathways as exemplified by analysis of bortezomib-treated human leukemia cells.

American Gut: an Open Platform for Citizen Science Microbiome Research.

Abstract: Although much work has linked the human microbiome to specific phenotypes and lifestyle variables, data from different projects have been challenging to integrate and the extent of microbial and molecular diversity in human stool remains unknown. Using standardized protocols from the Earth Microbiome Project and sample contributions from over 10,000 citizen-scientists, together with an open research network, we compare human microbiome specimens primarily from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia to one another and to environmental samples. Our results show an unexpected range of beta-diversity in human stool microbiomes compared to environmental samples; demonstrate the utility of procedures for removing the effects of overgrowth during room-temperature shipping for revealing phenotype correlations; uncover new molecules and kinds of molecular communities in the human stool metabolome; and examine emergent associations among the microbiome, metabolome, and the diversity of plants that are consumed (rather than relying on reductive categorical variables such as veganism, which have little or no explanatory power). We also demonstrate the utility of the living data resource and cross-cohort comparison to confirm existing associations between the microbiome and psychiatric illness and to reveal the extent of microbiome change within one individual during surgery, providing a paradigm for open microbiome research and education. IMPORTANCE We show that a citizen science, self-selected cohort shipping samples through the mail at room temperature recaptures many known microbiome results from clinically collected cohorts and reveals new ones. Of particular interest is integrating n = 1 study data with the population data, showing that the extent of microbiome change after events such as surgery can exceed differences between distinct environmental biomes, and the effect of diverse plants in the diet, which we confirm with untargeted metabolomics on hundreds of samples.

DNA polymorphisms at the BCL11A, HBS1L-MYB, and β-globin loci associate with fetal hemoglobin levels and pain crises in sickle cell disease

Abstract: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a debilitating monogenic blood disorder with a highly variable phenotype characterized by severe pain crises, acute clinical events, and early mortality. Interindividual variation in fetal hemoglobin (HbF) expression is a known and potentially heritable modifier of SCD severity. High HbF levels are correlated with reduced morbidity and mortality. Common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the BCL11A and HBS1L-MYB loci have been implicated previously in HbF level variation in nonanemic European populations. We recently demonstrated an association between a BCL11A SNP and HbF levels in one SCD cohort [Uda M, et al. (2008) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:1620-1625]. Here, we genotyped additional BCL11A SNPs, HBS1L-MYB SNPs, and an SNP upstream of (G)gamma-globin (HBG2; the XmnI polymorphism), in two independent SCD cohorts: the African American Cooperative Study of Sickle Cell Disease (CSSCD) and an SCD cohort from Brazil. We studied the effect of these SNPs on HbF levels and on a measure of SCD-related morbidity (pain crisis rate). We strongly replicated the association between these SNPs and HbF level variation (in the CSSCD, P values range from 0.04 to 2 x 10(-42)). Together, common SNPs at the BCL11A, HBS1L-MYB, and beta-globin (HBB) loci account for >20% of the variation in HbF levels in SCD patients. We also have shown that HbF-associated SNPs associate with pain crisis rate in SCD patients. These results provide a clear example of inherited common sequence variants modifying the severity of a monogenic disease.

Genome sequencing reveals insights into physiology and longevity of the naked mole rat

Abstract: The naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is a strictly subterranean, extraordinarily long-lived eusocial mammal. Although it is the size of a mouse, its maximum lifespan exceeds 30 years, making this animal the longest-living rodent. Naked mole rats show negligible senescence, no age-related increase in mortality, and high fecundity until death. In addition to delayed ageing, they are resistant to both spontaneous cancer and experimentally induced tumorigenesis. Naked mole rats pose a challenge to the theories that link ageing, cancer and redox homeostasis. Although characterized by significant oxidative stress, the naked mole rat proteome does not show age-related susceptibility to oxidative damage or increased ubiquitination. Naked mole rats naturally reside in large colonies with a single breeding female, the 'queen', who suppresses the sexual maturity of her subordinates. They also live in full darkness, at low oxygen and high carbon dioxide concentrations, and are unable to sustain thermogenesis nor feel certain types of pain. Here we report the sequencing and analysis of the naked mole rat genome, which reveals unique genome features and molecular adaptations consistent with cancer resistance, poikilothermy, hairlessness and insensitivity to low oxygen, and altered visual function, circadian rythms and taste sensing. This information provides insights into the naked mole rat's exceptional longevity and ability to live in hostile conditions, in the dark and at low oxygen. The extreme traits of the naked mole rat, together with the reported genome and transcriptome information, offer opportunities for understanding ageing and advancing other areas of biological and biomedical research.

Harnessing Connectivity in a Large-Scale Small-Molecule Sensitivity Dataset.

Abstract: Identifying genetic alterations that prime a cancer cell to respond to a particular therapeutic agent can facilitate the development of precision cancer medicines. Cancer cell-line (CCL) profiling of small-molecule sensitivity has emerged as an unbiased method to assess the relationships between genetic or cellular features of CCLs and small-molecule response. Here, we developed annotated cluster multidimensional enrichment analysis to explore the associations between groups of small molecules and groups of CCLs in a new, quantitative sensitivity dataset. This analysis reveals insights into small-molecule mechanisms of action, and genomic features that associate with CCL response to small-molecule treatment. We are able to recapitulate known relationships between FDA-approved therapies and cancer dependencies and to uncover new relationships, including for KRAS -mutant cancers and neuroblastoma. To enable the cancer community to explore these data, and to generate novel hypotheses, we created an updated version of the Cancer Therapeutic Response Portal (CTRP v2). Significance: We present the largest CCL sensitivity dataset yet available, and an analysis method integrating information from multiple CCLs and multiple small molecules to identify CCL response predictors robustly. We updated the CTRP to enable the cancer research community to leverage these data and analyses. Cancer Discov; 5(11); 1210–23. ©2015 AACR . See related commentary by Gray and Mills, [p. 1130][1] . This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, [p. 1111][2] [1]: /lookup/volpage/5/1130?iss=11 [2]: /lookup/volpage/5/1111?iss=11