Project description:BackgroundIn our previous study, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) genotyping using extracellular vesicles (EV)-derived DNA isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was proven to be highly concordant with conventional tissue-based genotyping and its turn-around-time (TAT) was only 1-2 days. On this background, we prospectively validated the performance of EV-based BALF liquid biopsy for EGFR genotyping in the real practice of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.MethodsAfter screening 120 newly diagnosed stage III-IV NSCLC patients, 51 cases were detected as EGFR-mutated by EV-based BALF EGFR genotyping and 40 patients were enrolled for gefitinib treatment. BALF EV were isolated by ultracentrifuge method and EGFR genotyping was performed with PCR-based PNA-clamping assisted fluorescence melting curve analysis. The objective response rate, progression-free survival (PFS), TAT, time to treatment initiation (TTI), and concordance rate were analyzed with clinical parameters.ResultsThere was only one false positive case among the 120 screened patients and the overall concordance rate between tissue biopsy and EV-based BALF liquid biopsy was 99.2% including the subtype of EGFR mutations. TAT for EV-based BALF EGFR genotyping was 1.9±1.1 days, while tissue-based TAT was 12.1±7.2 days (P<0.001). EGFR genotyping was determined even before obtaining histopathologic report in most cases. TTI in BALF EGFR genotyping was faster than tissue genotyping (7.8±6.5 vs. 13.8±12.9 days). Therapeutic outcomes of response rate and PFS were almost similar to tissue-based results.ConclusionsWe demonstrated, for the first time, that EV-based BALF liquid biopsy should be an excellent platform for expeditious EGFR genotyping and rapid therapeutic intervention even before obtaining the result of histopathology in advanced NSCLC patients.
Project description:BackgroundMetagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) has made a revolution in the mode of pathogen identification. We decided to explore the diagnostic value of blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) as mNGS samples in pneumonia.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed 467 mNGS results and assessed the diagnostic performance of paired blood and BALF mNGS in 39 patients with pneumonia.ResultsFor bacteria and fungi, 16 patients had culture-confirmed pathogen diagnosis, while 13 patients were culture-negative. BALF mNGS was more sensitive than blood mNGS (81.3% vs. 25.0%, p=0.003), and the specificity in BALF and blood mNGS was not statistically significant different (76.9% vs. 84.6%, p=0.317). For 10 patients without culture test, treatments were changed in 2 patients. For viruses, Epstein-Barr virus was positive in blood mNGS in 9 patients. Human adenovirus was detected in both BALF and blood mNGS in 3 patients.ConclusionOur study suggests that BALF mNGS is more sensitive than blood mNGS in detecting bacteria and fungi, but blood also has advantages to identify the pathogens of pneumonia, especially for some viruses.
Project description:Simple Summary Tissue biopsy is the gold standard for molecular genotyping in lung cancer. However, obtaining tumor tissue is challenging due to its invasiveness, inadequate amount of tissue, or complications. To overcome the limitations of tissue biopsy, plasma liquid biopsy using cfDNA has been investigated extensively; however, its low sensitivity limits the clinical application. Therefore, we used the tumor-specific DNA of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) as DNA source for EGFR genotyping. As a result, we demonstrated that EV-based BALF EGFR testing in advanced lung NSCLC is a highly accurate rapid method overcoming low sensitivity of plasma cfDNA-based EGFR genotyping. It can be used as an adjuvant or alternative method for lung biopsy in cases where obtaining an adequate amount of tissue is difficult. Abstract To overcome the limitations of the tissue biopsy and plasma cfDNA liquid biopsy, we performed the EV-based BALF liquid biopsy of 224 newly diagnosed stage III-IV NSCLC patients and compared it with tissue genotyping and 110 plasma liquid biopsies. Isolation of EVs from BALF was performed by ultracentrifugation. EGFR genotyping was performed through peptide nucleic acid clamping-assisted fluorescence melting curve analysis. Compared with tissue-based genotyping, BALF liquid biopsy demonstrated a sensitivity, specificity, and concordance rates of 97.8%, 96.9%, and 97.7%, respectively. The performance of BALF liquid biopsy was almost identical to that of standard tissue-based genotyping. In contrast, plasma cfDNA-based liquid biopsy (n = 110) demonstrated sensitivity, specificity, and concordance rates of 48.5%, 86.3%, and 63.6%, respectively. The mean turn-around time of BALF liquid biopsy was significantly shorter (2.6 days) than that of tissue-based genotyping (13.9 days; p < 0.001). Therefore, the use of EV-based BALF shortens the time for confirmation of EGFR mutation status for starting EGFR-TKI treatment and can hence potentially improve clinical outcomes. As a result, we suggest that EV-based BALF EGFR testing in advanced lung NSCLC is a highly accurate rapid method and can be used as an alternative method for lung tissue biopsy.
Project description:BackgroundIt is now possible to comprehensively characterize the microbiota of the lungs using culture-independent, sequencing-based assays. Several sample types have been used to investigate the lung microbiota, each presenting specific challenges for preparation and analysis of microbial communities. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) enables the identification of microbiota specific to the lower lung but commonly has low bacterial density, increasing the risk of false-positive signal from contaminating DNA. The objectives of this study were to investigate the extent of contamination across a range of sample densities representative of BALF and identify features of contaminants that facilitate their removal from sequence data and aid in the interpretation of BALF sample 16S sequencing data.ResultsUsing three mock communities across a range of densities ranging from 8E+ 02 to 8E+ 09 16S copies/ml, we assessed taxonomic accuracy and precision by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and the proportion of reads arising from contaminants. Sequencing accuracy, precision, and the relative abundance of mock community members decreased with sample input density, with a significant drop-off below 8E+ 05 16S copies/ml. Contaminant OTUs were commonly inversely correlated with sample input density or not reproduced between technical replicates. Removal of taxa with these features or physical concentration of samples prior to sequencing improved both sequencing accuracy and precision for samples between 8E+ 04 and 8E+ 06 16S copies/ml. For the lowest densities, below 8E+ 03 16S copies/ml BALF, accuracy and precision could not be significantly improved using these approaches. Using clinical BALF samples across a large density range, we observed that OTUs with features of contaminants identified in mock communities were also evident in low-density BALF samples.ConclusionRelative abundance data and community composition generated by 16S sequencing of BALF samples across the range of density commonly observed in this sample type should be interpreted in the context of input sample density and may be improved by simple pre- and post-sequencing steps for densities above 8E+ 04 16S copies/ml.
Project description:Circulating in China and 158 other countries and areas, the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has caused devastating mortality and posed a great threat to public health. However, efforts to identify effectively supportive therapeutic drugs and treatments has been hampered by our limited understanding of host immune response for this fatal disease. To characterize the transcriptional signatures of host inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2 (HCoV-19) infection, we carried out transcriptome sequencing of the RNAs isolated from the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) specimens of COVID-19 patients. Our results reveal distinct host inflammatory cytokine profiles to SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients, and highlight the association between COVID-19 pathogenesis and excessive cytokine release such as CCL2/MCP-1, CXCL10/IP-10, CCL3/MIP-1A, and CCL4/MIP1B. Furthermore, SARS-CoV-2 induced activation of apoptosis and P53 signalling pathway in lymphocytes may be the cause of patients' lymphopenia. The transcriptome dataset of COVID-19 patients would be a valuable resource for clinical guidance on anti-inflammatory medication and understanding the molecular mechansims of host response.
Project description:The long-term goal of our study is to identify chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)-related bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) nitroproteins to clarify COPD pathological mechanisms and to discover biomarkers of COPD. The goal of the present study was to detect the presence of, and potential roles of, nitroproteins in, human ex-smoker (without COPD) BALF samples. Nitroproteins were immunoprecipitated from two separate BALF samples, and digested with trypsin; and tryptic peptides were analyzed with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Each MS/MS spectrum was composed of accumulated scans (n = 50-100). The MS/MS data were searched with BioWorks 2.0 TuboSequest in the SwissProt database to generate the amino acid sequence, which was evaluated manually. Eleven nitrotyrosine sites were identified in eight proteins, including progestin and adipoQ receptor family member III, zinc finger protein 432, proteasome subunit alpha type 2, NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase B14, slit homolog 1 protein, lysozyme, aldose 1-epimerase, and PTS system lactose-specific EIICB component. Each nitrotyrosine site was located within a specific protein domain and motif. Those identified nitrated proteins could be involved in multiple functional metabolic systems, including transcriptional regulation, mitochondrial complex, immune system, and energy metabolism.
Project description:Global-scale examination of protein phosphorylation in human biological fluids by phosphoproteomics approaches is an emerging area of research with potential for significant contributions towards discovery of novel biomarkers. In this pilot work, we analyzed the phosphoproteome in human bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) from nondiseased subjects. The main objectives were to assess the feasibility to probe phosphorylated proteins in human BAL and to obtain the initial catalog of BAL phosphoproteins, including protein identities and exact description of their phosphorylation sites. We used a gel-free bioanalytical workflow that included whole-proteome digestion of depleted BAL proteins, enrichment of phosphopeptides by immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC), LC-MS/MS analyses with a linear ion trap mass spectrometer, and searches of a protein sequence database to generate a panel of BAL phosphoproteins and their sites of phosphorylation. Based on sequence-diagnostic MS/MS fragmentation patterns, we identified a collection of 36 phosphopeptides that contained 26 different phosphorylation sites. These phosphopeptides mapped to 21 phosphoproteins including, for example, vimentin, plastin-2, ferritin heavy chain, kininogen-1, and others. The characterized phosphoproteins have diverse characteristics in terms of cellular origin and biological function. To the best of our knowledge, results of this study represent the first description of the human BAL phosphoproteome.