Publications by authors named "Masao Nagasaki"

The selection of a reference sequence in genome analysis is critical, as it serves as the foundation for all downstream analyses. Recently, the pangenome graph has been proposed as a data model that incorporates haplotypes from multiple individuals. Here we present JaSaPaGe, a pangenome graph reference for Saudi Arabian and Japanese populations, both of which have been significantly underrepresented in previous genomic studies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Platinum-based compounds have been instrumental in clinical oncology, underscoring the critical need to identify predictive biomarkers for these agents to advance personalized medicine.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify predictive biomarkers for platinum-based chemotherapies in gastrointestinal cancers.

Design: This study was designed to explore candidate single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) through a genome-wide association study (GWAS), followed by re-evaluation using external nationwide cohorts.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

There are ten leukocyte immunoglobulin (Ig)-like receptor () genes, i.e., five genes encoding activating receptors (, and ) characterized by their truncated cytoplasmic tails, and five genes encoding inhibitory receptors (, and ) characterized by their extended cytoplasmic tails containing immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motifs (ITIMs).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aims: The clinical guidelines categorize heart failure (HF) based on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). However, the current LVEF cutoffs, 40% and 50%, may not fully address the underlying characteristics and cardiovascular risk of HF, particularly for HF with higher LVEF. This study aimed to characterize HF with supranormal ejection fraction (HFsnEF) using different LVEF cutoffs (35%, 55%, and 70% for men, and 40%, 60%, and 75% for women).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is a major cause of vision loss, especially in middle-aged men, and its chronic subtype can lead to legal blindness. Despite its clinical importance, the underlying mechanisms of CSC need further clarification. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis of three genome-wide association studies (GWASs) for CSC consisting of 8811 Asians and Caucasians, followed by replication in an additional 4338 Asians.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptors (LILRs), encoded on human chromosome 19q13.4, comprise a set of 11 immunoglobulin superfamily receptors known for their genetic heterogeneity. Notably, LILRB3 and LILRA6 within this cluster exhibit pronounced sequence homology in immunoglobulin-like domains involved in ligand binding and variable copy number (CN) states.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aims to find genetic factors that contribute to myopic macular neovascularization (mMNV) in people with severe myopia through a genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis.
  • Researchers analyzed data from 2,783 highly myopic individuals, including 608 with mMNV and 2,175 controls, using advanced genetic analysis techniques.
  • The study discovered a new genetic variant, rs56257842, associated with a lower risk of mMNV, and found that certain transcription factors interacted differently with this variant, suggesting it plays a significant role in the disease's development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To explore the frequency and positions of genetic mutations in CYP1B1 and FOXC1 in a Japanese population.

Study Design: Molecular genetic analysis.

Methods: Genomic DNA was extracted from 31 Japanese patients with childhood glaucoma (CG) from 29 families.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Tailored, preventive cancer care requires the identification of pathogenic germline variants (PGVs) among potentially at-risk blood relatives (BRs). Cascade testing is carried out for BRs of probands who are positive for PGVs of an inherited cancer but not for negative probands. This study was conducted to examine the prevalence of PGVs for BRs of PGV-negative probands.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: It is crucial to pinpoint the metabolites that cause Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) to comprehend their pathogenesis and identify possible targets for therapy. To achieve this goal, we performed the first metabolome-wide Mendelian randomization (MR) study of Japanese patients with CD and UC.

Methods: As exposure datasets, genetic instruments with blood-circulating metabolites were obtained from the Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, which includes 204 metabolites from the genome-wide association study data of 7843 Japanese individuals.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Researchers studied leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptors (LILRs) on chromosome 19, which show genetic variations across human populations and have complex genomic regions that are hard to characterize.
  • They used a tool called JoGo-LILR CN Caller to analyze data from over 2,500 whole genome sequencing samples, discovering a novel large deletion in the Japanese population that affects three genes.
  • This deletion creates a hybrid gene combining parts of two LILR genes, leading to potentially new signaling functions, with similar hybrid genes also identified in another population sample.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cell states are regulated by the response of signaling pathways to receptor ligand-binding and intercellular interactions. High-resolution imaging has been attempted to explore the dynamics of these processes and, recently, multiplexed imaging has profiled cell states by achieving a comprehensive acquisition of spatial protein information from cells. However, the specificity of antibodies is still compromised when visualizing activated signals.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Previous studies have found both shared and population-specific genetic factors contributing to primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), with more than 20 novel susceptibility loci identified in a recent meta-analysis across different populations.
  • A new genome-wide association study (GWAS) focused on the Japanese population identified the gene PTPN2 as a novel susceptibility gene for PBC, linking a specific variant (rs8098858) to the disease.
  • The risk allele (rs2292758) is shown to disrupt PTPN2 expression, leading to an impaired negative feedback mechanism in immune signaling, suggesting that targeting PTPN2 could be a promising approach for PBC treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

CD58 plays roles in cell adhesion and co-stimulation with antigen presentation from major histocompatibility complex class II on antigen-presenting cells to T-cell antigen receptors on naïve T cells. CD58 reportedly contributes to the development of various human autoimmune diseases. Recently, genome-wide association studies (GWASs) identified CD58 as a susceptibility locus for autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), multiple sclerosis (MS), and primary biliary cholangitis (PBC).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • TAS2R genes are responsible for detecting bitter tastes and may help regulate the intake of bitter substances by influencing taste and digestion.
  • The study focused on the TAS2R38 gene, identifying three main genotypes (AVI/AVI, AVI/PAV, PAV/PAV) and their frequencies in a Japanese sample, showing no significant differences in dietary habits among these genotypes.
  • Additionally, no correlation was found between the TAS2R46 gene variations and body mass index or eating/drinking behaviors, highlighting unique genetic influences in different populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A study explored the connection between a genetic variation (HLA-DQA1*05) and early treatment failure of infliximab in Japanese Crohn's disease patients, as evidence in Asian populations has been limited.
  • The presence of the C allele in the genetic variation significantly raised the risk for early discontinuation of treatment, with a hazard ratio of 2.23.
  • Additionally, a genome-wide association study identified a novel genetic predictor linked to inflammation (rs73277969) that demonstrated a strong significance for treatment persistence, suggesting potential pathways involved in the effectiveness of infliximab.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is an autoimmune disease linked to specific genetic factors, particularly related to the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.
  • A study analyzed genetic data from 1,670 PBC patients and 2,328 healthy individuals, confirming 18 known Japanese PBC-associated alleles and discovering additional novel alleles that affect disease susceptibility.
  • Certain alleles were found to be associated with a higher risk of autoimmune hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma in PBC patients, enhancing understanding of genetic factors influencing disease progression and complications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are chronic disorders of the gastrointestinal tract with the following two subtypes: Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). To date, most IBD genetic associations were derived from individuals of European (EUR) ancestries. Here we report the largest IBD study of individuals of East Asian (EAS) ancestries, including 14,393 cases and 15,456 controls.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • This study investigates the link between developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) and specific genetic markers in a Japanese population, comparing findings with a larger dataset from the UK Biobank.
  • Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were conducted, revealing unique genetic variants in the Japanese cohort that did not replicate in the UK sample, indicating potential population-specific genetic influences.
  • The analysis highlighted the ferroptosis signaling pathway as a significant factor in DDH, suggesting it may play a role in the disease's underlying mechanisms, as observed through gene set enrichment analyses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The development of liver cancer in patients with hepatitis B is a major problem, and several models have been reported to predict the development of liver cancer. However, no predictive model involving human genetic factors has been reported to date. For the items incorporated in the prediction model reported so far, we selected items that were significant in predicting liver carcinogenesis in Japanese patients with hepatitis B and constructed a prediction model of liver carcinogenesis by the Cox proportional hazard model with the addition of () genotypes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * In this study, two aHUS patients lacked known aHUS-related gene variants or anti-complement factor H antibodies but exhibited high hemolysis levels, indicating possible abnormalities related to CFH.
  • * The researchers found CFH-CFHR1 hybrid genes in these patients through CNV analysis, suggesting that these hybrids may be pathogenic, highlighting the need for comprehensive clinical and genetic evaluations in suspected aHUS cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In the field of genomic medical research, the amount of large-scale information continues to increase due to advances in measurement technologies, such as high-performance sequencing and spatial omics, as well as the progress made in genomic cohort studies involving more than one million individuals. Therefore, researchers require more computational resources to analyze this information. Here, we introduce a hybrid cloud system consisting of an on-premise supercomputer, science cloud, and public cloud at the Kyoto University Center for Genomic Medicine in Japan as a solution.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Schizophrenia presents clinical and biological differences between males and females. This study investigated transcriptional profiles in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) using postmortem data from the largest RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) database on schizophrenic cases and controls. Data for 154 male and 113 female controls and 160 male and 93 female schizophrenic cases were obtained from the CommonMind Consortium.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF