Characterization of the SARS-CoV-2 genomes in Egypt in first and second waves of infection.

At Wuhan, in December 2019, the SRAS-CoV-2 outbreak was detected and it has been the pandemic worldwide. This study aims to investigate the mutations in sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 genome and characterize the mutation patterns in Egyptian COVID-19 patients during different waves of infection. The samples were collected from 250 COVID-19 patients and the whole genome sequencing was conducted using Next Generation Sequencing. The viral sequence analysis showed 1115 different genome from all Egyptian samples in the second wave mutations including 613 missense mutations, 431 synonymous mutations, 25 upstream gene mutations, 24 downstream gene mutations, 10 frame-shift deletions, and 6 stop gained mutation. The Egyptian genomic strains sequenced in second wave of infection are different to that of the first wave. We observe a shift of lineage prevalence from the strain B.1 to B.1.1.1. Only one case was of the new English B.1.1.7. Few samples have one or two mutations of interest from the Brazil and South Africa isolates. New clade 20B appear by March 2020 and 20D appear by May 2020 till January 2021.

Genomic characterization of SARS-CoV-2 in Egypt.

Introduction: The novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread throughout the globe, causing a pandemic. In Egypt over 115,000 individuals were infected so far. Objective: In the present study, the objective is to perform a complete genome sequence of SAR-CoV2 isolated from Egyptian coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients. Methods: Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 61 COVID-19 patients who attended at National Cancer Institute, Kasr Al-Aini Hospital and the army hospital. Viral RNA was extracted and whole genomic sequencing was conducted using Next Generation Sequencing. Results: In all cases, the sequenced virus has at least 99% identity to the reference Wuhan 1. The sequence analysis showed 204 distinct genome variations including 114 missense mutations, 72 synonymous mutations, 1 disruptive in-frame deletion, 7 downstream gene mutations, 6 upstream gene mutations, 3 frame-shift deletions, and 1 in-frame deletion. The most dominant clades were G/GH/GR/O and the dominant type is B. Conclusion: The whole genomic sequence of SARS-CoV2 showed 204 variations in the genomes of the Egyptian isolates, where the Asp614Gly (D614G) substitution is the most common among the samples (60/61). So far, there were no strikingly variations specific to the Egyptian population, at least for this set of samples.

BAP1 gene mutations in Egyptian patients with advanced sporadic malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM): relation with clinical outcomes and survival.

BACKGROUND: Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) is a lethal cancer with few therapeutic options. Patients with MPM have a poor prognosis, with estimated 1 year median survival and currently no treatment is curative. The BRCA associated protein 1 (BAP1) has the highest prevalence of protein-altering mutations identified in MPM. AIMS: Assessment of the frequency and pattern of BAP1 gene mutations in Egyptian patients with advanced sporadic MPM in relation to disease progression and survival rates in order to identify a novel therapeutic target for MPM. METHODS: This prospective, cohort study included 122 patients who were diagnosed and treated as advanced MPM. BAP1 gene mutations were assessed from circulating tumor cells (CTCs) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing and these mutations have been confirmed using the tumor tissue. BAP1 immunohistochemistry was performed using the Dako Envision visualization system. The relationship between BAP1 gene mutations, PFS and OS rates was assessed using the log rank test. The relationship between BAP1 gene mutations, clinical response and patient's clinicopathological characteristics was assessed using chi-square test. RESULTS: Forty seven (38.5%) MPM cases showed one or more mutations in BAP1 gene. The presence of BAP1 mutations associated significantly with BAP1 protein expression (p < 0.001), the incidence of organ metastasis (p = 0.04), PFS after second line treatment (p = 0.04) and clinical response after second line treatment (p = 0.01) only. CONCLUSION: BAP1 gene mutations are relatively common in Egyptian patients with advanced sporadic MPM. BAP1 mutations are associated with disease progression especially after second line therapy and the incidence of organ metastasis.

Methylation of multiple genes in hepatitis C virus associated hepatocellular carcinoma.

We studied promoter methylation (PM) of 11 genes in Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes (PBLs) and tissues of hepatitis C virus (HCV) associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and chronic hepatitis (CH) Egyptian patients. The present study included 31 HCC with their ANT, 38 CH and 13 normal hepatic tissue (NHT) samples. In all groups, PM of APC, FHIT, p15, p73, p14, p16, DAPK1, CDH1, RARß, RASSF1A, O(6)MGMT was assessed by methylation-specific PCR (MSP). APC and O6-MGMT protein expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in the studied HCC and CH (20 samples each) as well as in a different HCC and CH set for confirmation of MSP results. PM was associated with progression from CH to HCC. Most genes showed high methylation frequency (MF) and the methylation index (MI) increased with disease progression. MF of p14, p73, RASSF1A, CDH1 and O(6)MGMT was significantly higher in HCC and their ANT. MF of APC was higher in CH. We reported high concordance between MF in HCC and their ANT, MF in PBL and CH tissues as well as between PM and protein expression of APC and O(6)MGMT. A panel of 4 genes (APC, p73, p14, O(6)MGMT) classifies the cases independently into HCC and CH with high accuracy (89.9%), sensitivity (83.9%) and specificity (94.7%). HCV infection may contribute to hepatocarcinogenesis through enhancing PM of multiple genes. PM of APC occurs early in the cascade while PM of p14, p73, RASSF1A, RARB, CDH1 and O(6)MGMT are late changes. A panel of APC, p73, p14, O6-MGMT could be used in monitoring CH patients for early detection of HCC. Also, we found that, the methylation status is not significantly affected by whether the tissue was from the liver or PBL, indicating the possibility of use PBL as indicator to genetic profile instead of liver tissue regardless the stage of disease.