Project description:Exome sequencing using next-generation sequencing technologies is a cost-efficient approach to selectively sequencing coding regions of the human genome for detection of disease variants. One of the lesser known yet important applications of exome sequencing data is to identify copy number variation (CNV). There have been many exome CNV tools developed over the last few years, but the performance and accuracy of these programs have not been thoroughly evaluated. In this study, we systematically compared four popular exome CNV tools (CoNIFER, cn.MOPS, exomeCopy, and ExomeDepth) and evaluated their effectiveness against array comparative genome hybridization (array CGH) platforms. We found that exome CNV tools are capable of identifying CNVs, but they can have problems such as high false positives, low sensitivity, and duplication bias when compared to array CGH platforms. While exome CNV tools do serve their purpose for data mining, careful evaluation and additional validation is highly recommended. Based on all these results, we recommend CoNIFER and cn.MOPs for nonpaired exome CNV detection over the other two tools due to a low false-positive rate, although none of the four exome CNV tools performed at an outstanding level when compared to array CGH.
Project description:BackgroundWith the rapid development of whole exome sequencing (WES), an increasing number of tools are being proposed for copy number variation (CNV) detection based on this technique. However, no comprehensive guide is available for the use of these tools in clinical settings, which renders them inapplicable in practice. To resolve this problem, in this study, we evaluated the performances of four WES-based CNV tools, and established a guideline for the recommendation of a suitable tool according to the application requirements.ResultsIn this study, first, we selected four WES-based CNV detection tools: CoNIFER, cn.MOPS, CNVkit and exomeCopy. Then, we evaluated their performances in terms of three aspects: sensitivity and specificity, overlapping consistency and computational costs. From this evaluation, we obtained four main results: (1) The sensitivity increases and subsequently stabilizes as the coverage or CNV size increases, while the specificity decreases. (2) CoNIFER performs better for CNV insertions than for CNV deletions, while the remaining tools exhibit the opposite trend. (3) CoNIFER, cn.MOPS and CNVkit realize satisfactory overlapping consistency, which indicates their results are trustworthy. (4) CoNIFER has the best space complexity and cn.MOPS has the best time complexity among these four tools. Finally, we established a guideline for tools' usage according to these results.ConclusionNo available tool performs excellently under all conditions; however, some tools perform excellently in some scenarios. Users can obtain a CNV tool recommendation from our paper according to the targeted CNV size, the CNV type or computational costs of their projects, as presented in Table 1, which is helpful even for users with limited knowledge of computer science.
Project description:Whole-exome sequencing (WES) has become a standard method for detecting genetic variants in human diseases. Although the primary use of WES data has been the identification of single nucleotide variations and indels, these data also offer a possibility of detecting copy number variations (CNVs) at high resolution. However, WES data have uneven read coverage along the genome owing to the target capture step, and the development of a robust WES-based CNV tool is challenging. Here, we evaluate six WES somatic CNV detection tools: ADTEx, CONTRA, Control-FREEC, EXCAVATOR, ExomeCNV and Varscan2. Using WES data from 50 kidney chromophobe, 50 bladder urothelial carcinoma, and 50 stomach adenocarcinoma patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas, we compared the CNV calls from the six tools with a reference CNV set that was identified by both single nucleotide polymorphism array 6.0 and whole-genome sequencing data. We found that these algorithms gave highly variable results: visual inspection reveals significant differences between the WES-based segmentation profiles and the reference profile, as well as among the WES-based profiles. Using a 50% overlap criterion, 13-77% of WES CNV calls were covered by CNVs from the reference set, up to 21% of the copy gains were called as losses or vice versa, and dramatic differences in CNV sizes and CNV numbers were observed. Overall, ADTEx and EXCAVATOR had the best performance with relatively high precision and sensitivity. We suggest that the current algorithms for somatic CNV detection from WES data are limited in their performance and that more robust algorithms are needed.
Project description:BackgroundOne of the main types of genetic variations in cancer is Copy Number Variations (CNV). Whole exome sequencing (WES) is a popular alternative to whole genome sequencing (WGS) to study disease specific genomic variations. However, finding CNV in Cancer samples using WES data has not been fully explored.ResultsWe present a new method, called CoNVEX, to estimate copy number variation in whole exome sequencing data. It uses ratio of tumour and matched normal average read depths at each exonic region, to predict the copy gain or loss. The useful signal produced by WES data will be hindered by the intrinsic noise present in the data itself. This limits its capacity to be used as a highly reliable CNV detection source. Here, we propose a method that consists of discrete wavelet transform (DWT) to reduce noise. The identification of copy number gains/losses of each targeted region is performed by a Hidden Markov Model (HMM).ConclusionHMM is frequently used to identify CNV in data produced by various technologies including Array Comparative Genomic Hybridization (aCGH) and WGS. Here, we propose an HMM to detect CNV in cancer exome data. We used modified data from 1000 Genomes project to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. Using these data we have shown that CoNVEX outperforms the existing methods significantly in terms of precision. Overall, CoNVEX achieved a sensitivity of more than 92% and a precision of more than 50%.
Project description:Array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) has been popularly used for analyzing DNA copy number variations in diseases like cancer. In this study, we investigated 82 sporadic samples from 49 breast cancer patients using 1-Mb resolution bacterial artificial chromosome CGH arrays. A number of highly frequent genomic aberrations were discovered, which may act as "drivers" of tumor progression. Meanwhile, the genomic profiles of four "normal" breast tissue samples taken at least 2 cm away from the primary tumor sites were also found to have some genomic aberrations that recurred with high frequency in the primary tumors, which may have important implications for clinical therapy. Additionally, we performed class comparison and class prediction for various clinicopathological parameters, and a list of characteristic genomic aberrations associated with different clinicopathological phenotypes was compiled. Our study provides clues for further investigations of the underlying mechanisms of breast carcinogenesis.
Project description:BackgroundCopy number variations (CNVs) can create new genes, change gene dosage, reshape gene structures, and modify elements regulating gene expression. As with all types of genetic variation, CNVs may influence phenotypic variation and gene expression. CNVs are thus considered major sources of genetic variation. Little is known, however, about their contribution to genetic variation in rice.ResultsTo detect CNVs, we used a set of NimbleGen whole-genome comparative genomic hybridization arrays containing 718,256 oligonucleotide probes with a median probe spacing of 500 bp. We compiled a high-resolution map of CNVs in the rice genome, showing 641 CNVs between the genomes of the rice cultivars 'Nipponbare' (from O. sativa ssp. japonica) and 'Guang-lu-ai 4' (from O. sativa ssp. indica). The CNVs identified vary in size from 1.1 kb to 180.7 kb, and encompass approximately 7.6 Mb of the rice genome. The largest regions showing copy gain and loss are of 37.4 kb on chromosome 4, and 180.7 kb on chromosome 8. In addition, 85 DNA segments were identified, including some genic sequences. Contracted genes greatly outnumbered duplicated ones. Many of the contracted genes corresponded to either the same genes or genes involved in the same biological processes; this was also the case for genes involved in disease and defense.ConclusionWe detected CNVs in rice by array-based comparative genomic hybridization. These CNVs contain known genes. Further discussion of CNVs is important, as they are linked to variation among rice varieties, and are likely to contribute to subspecific characteristics.
Project description:BackgroundSmall intestinal neuroendocrine tumors (SI-NETs) are typically slow-growing tumors that have metastasized already at the time of diagnosis. The purpose of the present study was to further refine and define regions of recurrent copy number (CN) alterations (CNA) in SI-NETs.MethodsGenome-wide CNAs was determined by applying array CGH (a-CGH) on SI-NETs including 18 primary tumors and 12 metastases. Quantitative PCR analysis (qPCR) was used to confirm CNAs detected by a-CGH as well as to detect CNAs in an extended panel of SI-NETs. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering was used to detect tumor groups with similar patterns of chromosomal alterations based on recurrent regions of CN loss or gain. The log rank test was used to calculate overall survival. Mann-Whitney U test or Fisher's exact test were used to evaluate associations between tumor groups and recurrent CNAs or clinical parameters.ResultsThe most frequent abnormality was loss of chromosome 18 observed in 70% of the cases. CN losses were also frequently found of chromosomes 11 (23%), 16 (20%), and 9 (20%), with regions of recurrent CN loss identified in 11q23.1-qter, 16q12.2-qter, 9pter-p13.2 and 9p13.1-11.2. Gains were most frequently detected in chromosomes 14 (43%), 20 (37%), 4 (27%), and 5 (23%) with recurrent regions of CN gain located to 14q11.2, 14q32.2-32.31, 20pter-p11.21, 20q11.1-11.21, 20q12-qter, 4 and 5. qPCR analysis confirmed most CNAs detected by a-CGH as well as revealed CNAs in an extended panel of SI-NETs. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering of recurrent regions of CNAs revealed two separate tumor groups and 5 chromosomal clusters. Loss of chromosomes 18, 16 and 11 and gain of chromosome 20 were found in both tumor groups. Tumor group II was enriched for alterations in chromosome cluster-d, including gain of chromosomes 4, 5, 7, 14 and gain of 20 in chromosome cluster-b. Gain in 20pter-p11.21 was associated with short survival. Statistically significant differences were observed between primary tumors and metastases for loss of 16q and gain of 7.ConclusionOur results revealed recurrent CNAs in several candidate regions with a potential role in SI-NET development. Distinct genetic alterations and pathways are involved in tumorigenesis of SI-NETs.
Project description:Array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) has been widely used to detect copy number variants (CNVs) in both research and clinical settings. A customizable aCGH platform may greatly facilitate copy number analyses in genomic regions with higher-order complexity, such as low-copy repeats (LCRs). Here we present the aCGH analyses focusing on the 45 kb LCRs [1] at the NPHP1 region with diverse copy numbers in humans. Also, the interspecies aCGH analysis comparing human and nonhuman primates revealed dynamic copy number transitions of the human 45 kb LCR orthologues during primate evolution and therefore shed light on the origin of complexity at this locus. The original aCGH data are available at GEO under GSE73962.
Project description:BackgroundCopy number variants contribute to genetic variation in birds. Analyses of copy number variants in chicken breeds had focused primarily on those from commercial varieties with nothing known about the occurrence and diversity of copy number variants in locally raised Chinese chicken breeds. To address this deficiency, we characterized copy number variants in 11 chicken breeds and compared the variation among these breeds.ResultsWe presented a detailed analysis of the copy number variants in locally raised Chinese chicken breeds identified using a customized comparative genomic hybridization array. We identified 833 copy number variants contained within 308 copy number variant regions. The median and mean sizes of the copy number variant regions were 14.6 kb and 35.1 kb, respectively. Of the copy number variant regions, 138 (45%) involved gain of DNA, 159 (52%) involved loss of DNA, and 11 (3%) involved both gain and loss of DNA. Principal component analysis and agglomerative hierarchical clustering revealed the close relatedness of the four locally raised chicken breeds, Shek-Ki, Langshan, Qingyuan partridge, and Wenchang. Biological process enrichment analysis of the copy number variant regions confirmed the greater variation among the four aforementioned varieties than among the seven other breeds studied.ConclusionOur description of the distribution of the copy number variants and comparison of the differences among the copy number variant regions of the 11 chicken breeds supplemented the information available concerning the copy number variants of other Chinese chicken breeds. In addition to its relevance for functional analysis, our results provided the first insight into how chicken breeds can be clustered on the basis of their genomic copy number variation.
Project description:Early-onset osteoporosis is characterized by low bone mineral density (BMD) and fractures since childhood or young adulthood. Several monogenic forms have been identified but the contributing genes remain inadequately characterized. In search for novel variants and novel candidate loci, we screened a cohort of 70 young subjects with mild to severe skeletal fragility for rare copy-number variants (CNVs). Our study cohort included 15 subjects with primary osteoporosis before age 30 years and 55 subjects with a pathological fracture history and low or normal BMD before age 16 years. A custom-made high-resolution comparative genomic hybridization array with enriched probe density in >1,150 genes important for bone metabolism and ciliary function was used to search for CNVs. We identified altogether 14 rare CNVs. Seven intronic aberrations were classified as likely benign. Five CNVs of unknown clinical significance affected coding regions of genes not previously associated with skeletal fragility (ETV1-DGKB, AGBL2, ATM, RPS6KL1-PGF, and SCN4A). Finally, two CNVs were pathogenic and likely pathogenic, respectively: a 4 kb deletion involving exons 1-4 of COL1A2 (NM_000089.3) and a 12.5 kb duplication of exon 3 in PLS3 (NM_005032.6). Although both genes have been linked to monogenic forms of osteoporosis, COL1A2 deletions are rare and PLS3 duplications have not been described previously. Both CNVs were identified in subjects with significant osteoporosis and segregated with osteoporosis within the families. Our study expands the number of pathogenic CNVs in monogenic skeletal fragility and shows the validity of targeted CNV screening to potentially pinpoint novel candidate loci in early-onset osteoporosis.