Faculty Profiles - TAKAHASHI, Yoshiyuki

Integrated molecular profiling of juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia. Reviewed International journal Open Access

Norihiro Murakami, Yusuke Okuno, Kenichi Yoshida, Yuichi Shiraishi, Genta Nagae, Kyogo Suzuki, Atsushi Narita, Hirotoshi Sakaguchi, Nozomu Kawashima, Xinan Wang, Yinyan Xu, Kenichi Chiba, Hiroko Tanaka, Asahito Hama, Masashi Sanada, Masafumi Ito, Masashi Hirayama, Arata Watanabe, Toshihide Ueno, Seiji Kojima, Hiroyuki Aburatani, Hiroyuki Mano, Satoru Miyano, Seishi Ogawa, Yoshiyuki Takahashi, Hideki Muramatsu

Blood Vol. 131 ( 14 ) page： 1576 - 1586 2018.4

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)

Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML), a rare and aggressive myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasm that occurs in infants and during early childhood, is characterized by excessive myelomonocytic cell proliferation. More than 80% of patients harbor germ line and somatic mutations in RAS pathway genes (eg, PTPN11, NF1, NRAS, KRAS, and CBL), and previous studies have identified several biomarkers associated with poor prognosis. However, the molecular pathogenesis of 10% to 20% of patients and the relationships among these biomarkers have not been well defined. To address these issues, we performed an integrated molecular analysis of samples from 150 JMML patients. RNA-sequencing identified ALK/ROS1 tyrosine kinase fusions (DCTN1-ALK, RANBP2-ALK, and TBL1XR1-ROS1) in 3 of 16 patients (18%) who lacked canonical RAS pathway mutations. Crizotinib, an ALK/ROS1 inhibitor, markedly suppressed ALK/ROS1 fusion-positive JMML cell proliferation in vitro. Therefore, we administered crizotinib to a chemotherapy-resistant patient with the RANBP2-ALK fusion who subsequently achieved complete molecular remission. In addition, crizotinib also suppressed proliferation of JMML cells with canonical RAS pathway mutations. Genome-wide methylation analysis identified a hypermethylation profile resembling that of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which correlated significantly with genetic markers with poor outcomes such as PTPN11/NF1 gene mutations, 2 or more genetic mutations, an AML-type expression profile, and LIN28B expression. In summary, we identified recurrent activated ALK/ROS1 fusions in JMML patients without canonical RAS pathway gene mutations and revealed the relationships among biomarkers for JMML. Crizotinib is a promising candidate drug for the treatment of JMML, particularly in patients with ALK/ROS1 fusions.

DOI： 10.1182/blood-2017-07-798157

Phase I study of cord blood transplantation with intrabone marrow injection of mesenchymal stem cells: A clinical study protocol. Reviewed International journal Open Access

Tatsunori Goto, Makoto Murata, Seitaro Terakura, Tetsuya Nishida, Yoshiya Adachi, Yoko Ushijima, Kazuyuki Shimada, Yuichi Ishikawa, Fumihiko Hayakawa, Nobuhiro Nishio, Satoshi Nishiwaki, Akihiro Hirakawa, Katsuyoshi Kato, Yoshiyuki Takahashi, Hitoshi Kiyoi

Medicine Vol. 97 ( 17 ) page： e0449 2018.4

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)

INTRODUCTION: Delayed hematological recovery, graft failure, and acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) still remain major problems in cord blood transplantation (CBT). Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known to support bone marrow stroma and promote hematopoiesis. Additionally, MSCs possess immunomodulatory properties and are used clinically for the treatment of acute GVHD. Therefore, the use of MSCs to enhance engraftment and prevent GVHD after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation has been explored. Recent clinical trials have shown the feasibility and safety of intravenous cotransplantation of MSCs with cord blood cells in pediatric patients, but not in adult patients, who are at greater risk of graft failure. As for the route of administration of MSCs, direct intrabone marrow injection of MSCs is thought to enhance the engraftment of cord blood cells more than intravenous injection. Based on these background findings, this clinical trial was designed to develop a new strategy to enhance engraftment and prevent GVHD after CBT. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a single-center, phase I, clinical study to evaluate the safety of CBT combined with intrabone marrow injection of ex vivo expanded MSCs from bone marrow of a third-party donor. Adult patients with hematological disorders are eligible for this study. The target sample size is 5, and the registration period is 3 years. The target dose of MSCs infused is 0.5 × 10 cells/kg of patient body weight. On the day of CBT, MSCs are injected into the intrabone marrow of the patient 4 hours before the infusion of a single cord blood unit. The conditioning regimen varies according to patient age and disease. GVHD prophylaxis consists of a combination of tacrolimus and methotrexate. The primary endpoint of this study is infusional toxicity of MSCs within 14 days after transplantation.

DOI： 10.1097/MD.0000000000010449

Enhanced Expression of Anti-CD19 Chimeric Antigen Receptor in piggyBac Transposon-Engineered T Cells. Reviewed International journal Open Access

Daisuke Morita, Nobuhiro Nishio, Shoji Saito, Miyuki Tanaka, Nozomu Kawashima, Yusuke Okuno, Satoshi Suzuki, Kazuyuki Matsuda, Yasuhiro Maeda, Matthew H Wilson, Gianpietro Dotti, Cliona M Rooney, Yoshiyuki Takahashi, Yozo Nakazawa

Molecular therapy. Methods & clinical development Vol. 8 page： 131 - 140 2018.3

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)

Adoptive T cell therapy using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells is a promising cancer immunotherapy. We previously developed a non-viral method of gene transfer into T cells using a piggyBac transposon system to improve the cost-effectiveness of CAR-T cell therapy. Here, we have further improved our technology by a novel culture strategy to increase the transfection efficiency and to reduce the time of T cell manufacturing. Using a CH2CH3-free CD19-specific CAR transposon vector and combining irradiated activated T cells (ATCs) as feeder cells and virus-specific T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation, we achieved 51.4% ± 14% CAR+ T cells and 2.8-fold expansion after 14 culture days. Expanded CD19.CAR-T cells maintained a significant fraction of CD45RA+CCR7+ T cells and demonstrated potent antitumor activity against CD19+ leukemic cells both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, piggyBac-based gene transfer may provide an alternative to viral gene transfer for CAR-T cell therapy.

DOI： 10.1016/j.omtm.2017.12.003

Comprehensive detection of pathogens in immunocompromised children with bloodstream infections by next-generation sequencing. Reviewed International journal Open Access

Kazuhiro Horiba, Jun-Ichi Kawada, Yusuke Okuno, Nobuyuki Tetsuka, Takako Suzuki, Shotaro Ando, Yasuko Kamiya, Yuka Torii, Tetsuya Yagi, Yoshiyuki Takahashi, Yoshinori Ito

Scientific reports Vol. 8 ( 1 ) page： 3784 - 3784 2018.2

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)

Bloodstream infection (BSI) is a severe complication in immunocompromised patients. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) allows us to analyze comprehensively and quantitatively all microorganisms present in a clinical sample. Thirty-five pediatric patients (12 with BSI and 23 with suspected BSI/negative blood culture) were enrolled. Plasma/serum samples were used for sequencing and the results were compared with those from blood culture. Sequencing reads of bacteria isolated in blood culture were identified by NGS in all plasma/serum samples at disease onset. Bacteria isolated in blood culture were identical to the dominant bacteria by NGS in 8 of 12 patients. Bacterial reads per million reads of the sequence depth (BR) > 200 and relative importance values of the dominant bacteria (P1) > 0.5 were employed to determine causative pathogens. Causative pathogens were detected using these criteria in 7 of 12 patients with BSI. Additionally, causative bacteria were detected in the plasma/serum at 7 days before disease onset in two patients with catheter-related BSI. Causative pathogens, including virus, were identified in three patients with suspected BSI. Lastly, a total of 62 resistance genes were detected by NGS. In conclusion, NGS is a new method to identify causative microorganisms in BSI and may predict BSI in some patients.

DOI： 10.1038/s41598-018-22133-y

Comprehensive genetic analysis of donor cell derived leukemia with KMT2A rearrangement. Reviewed International journal

Rieko Taniguchi, Hideki Muramatsu, Yusuke Okuno, Kyogo Suzuki, Satoshi Obu, Masahiro Nakatochi, Teppei Shimamura, Yoshiyuki Takahashi, Yasuo Horikoshi, Kenichiro Watanabe, Seiji Kojima

Pediatric blood & cancer Vol. 65 ( 2 ) 2018.2

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)

BACKGROUND: Donor cell leukemia (DCL) occurs after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Several mechanisms, including occult leukemic/preleukemic subclones in the donor graft and germline predisposition to leukemia, are proposed to be associated with DCL's molecular pathogenesis. We report a comprehensive genetic analysis of a patient with KMT2A-rearranged DCL after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for refractory cytopenia of childhood. PROCEDURE: We performed a whole-exome sequencing of the recipient's peripheral blood before transplant and the donor's peripheral blood and the recipient's bone marrow at the time of DCL diagnosis. RNA sequencing was also performed to detect fusion genes in DCL blasts. RESULTS: There were no germline mutations that were associated with a predisposition to leukemia in the recipient and donor. Furthermore, there were no detectable somatic alterations except KMT2A-MLLT10 and other related gene fusions in DCL. KMT2A-MLLT10 was not detectable in the donor's bone marrow. CONCLUSION: We propose a novel pattern of the molecular pathogenesis of DCL solely involving a genetic mutation acquired after transplant with no identifiable genetic factor related to the donor and recipient.

DOI： 10.1002/pbc.26823

[5. Evaluation of Pathology of Heart Disease Models Using Preclinical Ultra-high Field MRI]. Reviewed

Takahashi Y, Saito S

Nihon Hoshasen Gijutsu Gakkai zasshi Vol. 74 ( 4 ) page： 404 - 411 2018

Neurocan, an extracellular chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, stimulates neuroblastoma cells to promote malignant phenotypes. Reviewed International journal Open Access

Zhendong Su, Satoshi Kishida, Shoma Tsubota, Kazuma Sakamoto, Dongliang Cao, Shinichi Kiyonari, Miki Ohira, Takehiko Kamijo, Atsushi Narita, Yinyan Xu, Yoshiyuki Takahashi, Kenji Kadomatsu

Oncotarget Vol. 8 ( 63 ) page： 106296 - 106310 2017.12

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)

Neurocan (NCAN), a secreted chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, is one of the major inhibitory molecules for axon regeneration in nervous injury. However, its role in cancer is not clear. Here we observed that high NCAN expression was closely associated with the unfavorable outcome of neuroblastoma (NB). NCAN was also highly and ubiquitously expressed in the early lesions and terminal tumor of TH-MYCN mice, a NB model. Interestingly, exogenous NCAN (i.e., overexpression, recombinant protein and conditioned medium) transformed adherent NB cells into spheres whose malignancies in vitro (anchorage-independent growth and chemoresistance) and in vivo (xenograft tumor growth) were potentiated. Both chondroitin sulfate sugar chains and NCAN's core protein were essential for the sphere formation. The CSG3 domain was essential in the moiety of NCAN. Our comprehensive microarray analysis and RT-qPCR of mRNA expression suggested that NCAN treatment promoted cell division, and urged cells to undifferentiated state. The knockdown of NCAN in tumor sphere cells cultured from TH-MYCN mice resulted in growth suppression in vitro and in vivo. Our findings suggest that NCAN, which stimulates NB cells to promote malignant phenotypes, is an extracellular molecule providing a growth advantage to cancer cells.

DOI： 10.18632/oncotarget.22435

Comprehensive detection of viruses in pediatric patients with acute liver failure using next-generation sequencing. Reviewed International journal

Takako Suzuki, Jun-Ichi Kawada, Yusuke Okuno, Satoshi Hayano, Kazuhiro Horiba, Yuka Torii, Yoshiyuki Takahashi, Syuichiro Umetsu, Tsuyoshi Sogo, Ayano Inui, Yoshinori Ito

Journal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology Vol. 96 page： 67 - 72 2017.11

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal) Publisher：ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

BACKGROUND: Pediatric acute liver failure (PALF) is a rare and severe syndrome that frequently requires liver transplantation. Viruses are one of the most frequent causes of this disease, however, pathogenic viruses are not determined in many patients. Recently next-generation sequencing (NGS) has been applied to comprehensively detect pathogens of infectious diseases of unknown etiology. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate an NGS-based approach for detecting pathogenic viruses in patients with PALF or acute hepatitis of unknown etiology. STUDY DESIGN: To detect virus-derived DNA and RNA sequences existing in sera/plasma from patients, both DNA and RNA sequencing were performed. First, we validated the ability of NGS to detect viral pathogens in clinical serum/plasma samples, and compared different commercial RNA library preparation methods Then, serum/plasma of fourteen patients with PALF or acute hepatitis of unknown etiology were evaluated using NGS. RESULTS: Among three RNA library preparation methods, Ovation RNA-Seq System V2 had the highest sensitivity to detect RNA viral sequences. Among fourteen patients, sequence reads of torque teno virus, adeno-associated virus, and stealth virus were found in the sera of one patient each, however, the pathophysiological role of these three viruses was not clarified. Significant virus reads were not detected in the remaining 11 patients. CONCLUSIONS: This finding might be due to low virus titer in blood at the time of referral or a non-infectious cause might be more frequent. These results suggest an NGS-based approach has potential to detect viral pathogens in clinical samples and would contribute to clarification of the etiology of PALF.

DOI： 10.1016/j.jcv.2017.10.001