Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) encompasses a diverse group of Mendelian disorders leading to progressive degeneration of rods and then cones. For reasons that remain unclear, diseased RP photoreceptors begin to deteriorate, eventually leading to cell death and, consequently, loss of vision. Here, we have hypothesized that RP associated with mutations in phosphodiesterase-6 (PDE6) provokes a metabolic aberration in rod cells that promotes the pathological consequences of elevated cGMP and Ca2+, which are induced by the
Lijuan Zhang, Jianhai Du, Sally Justus, Chun-Wei Hsu, Luis Bonet-Ponce, Wen-Hsuan Wu, Yi-Ting Tsai, Wei-Pu Wu, Yading Jia, Jimmy K. Duong, Vinit B. Mahajan, Chyuan-Sheng Lin, Shuang Wang, James B. Hurley, Stephen H. Tsang
Fanconi anemia (FA) is a recessive genetic disease characterized by congenital abnormalities, chromosome instability, progressive bone marrow failure (BMF), and a strong predisposition to cancer. Twenty FA genes have been identified, and the FANC proteins they encode cooperate in a common pathway that regulates DNA crosslink repair and replication fork stability. We identified a child with severe BMF who harbored biallelic inactivating mutations of the translesion DNA synthesis (TLS) gene
Dominique Bluteau, Julien Masliah-Planchon, Connor Clairmont, Alix Rousseau, Raphael Ceccaldi, Catherine Dubois d’Enghien, Olivier Bluteau, Wendy Cuccuini, Stéphanie Gachet, Régis Peffault de Latour, Thierry Leblanc, Gérard Socié, André Baruchel, Dominique Stoppa-Lyonnet, Alan D. D’Andrea, Jean Soulier
The telomerase RNA component (TERC) is a critical determinant of cellular self-renewal. Poly(A)-specific ribonuclease (PARN) is required for posttranscriptional maturation of TERC.
Baris Boyraz, Diane H. Moon, Matthew Segal, Maud Z. Muosieyiri, Asli Aykanat, Albert K. Tai, Patrick Cahan, Suneet Agarwal
The structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) family of proteins supports mitotic proliferation, meiosis, and DNA repair to control genomic stability. Impairments in chromosome maintenance are linked to rare chromosome breakage disorders. Here, we have identified a chromosome breakage syndrome associated with severe lung disease in early childhood. Four children from two unrelated kindreds died of severe pulmonary disease during infancy following viral pneumonia with evidence of combined T and B cell immunodeficiency. Whole exome sequencing revealed biallelic missense mutations in the
Saskia N. van der Crabben, Marije P. Hennus, Grant A. McGregor, Deborah I. Ritter, Sandesh C.S. Nagamani, Owen S. Wells, Magdalena Harakalova, Ivan K. Chinn, Aaron Alt, Lucie Vondrova, Ron Hochstenbach, Joris M. van Montfrans, Suzanne W. Terheggen-Lagro, Stef van Lieshout, Markus J. van Roosmalen, Ivo Renkens, Karen Duran, Isaac J. Nijman, Wigard P. Kloosterman, Eric Hennekam, Jordan S. Orange, Peter M. van Hasselt, David A. Wheeler, Jan J. Palecek, Alan R. Lehmann, Antony W. Oliver, Laurence H. Pearl, Sharon E. Plon, Johanne M. Murray, Gijs van Haaften
Hydrops fetalis describes fluid accumulation in at least 2 fetal compartments, including abdominal cavities, pleura, and pericardium, or in body tissue. The majority of hydrops fetalis cases are nonimmune conditions that present with generalized edema of the fetus, and approximately 15% of these nonimmune cases result from a lymphatic abnormality. Here, we have identified an autosomal dominant, inherited form of lymphatic-related (nonimmune) hydrops fetalis (LRHF). Independent exome sequencing projects on 2 families with a history of in utero and neonatal deaths associated with nonimmune hydrops fetalis uncovered 2 heterozygous missense variants in the gene encoding Eph receptor B4 (
Silvia Martin-Almedina, Ines Martinez-Corral, Rita Holdhus, Andres Vicente, Elisavet Fotiou, Shin Lin, Kjell Petersen, Michael A. Simpson, Alexander Hoischen, Christian Gilissen, Heather Jeffery, Giles Atton, Christina Karapouliou, Glen Brice, Kristiana Gordon, John W. Wiseman, Marianne Wedin, Stanley G. Rockson, Steve Jeffery, Peter S. Mortimer, Michael P. Snyder, Siren Berland, Sahar Mansour, Taija Makinen, Pia Ostergaard
Risk for ischemic stroke has a strong genetic basis, but heritable factors also contribute to the extent of damage after a stroke has occurred. We previously identified a locus on distal mouse chromosome 7 that contributes over 50% of the variation in postischemic cerebral infarct volume observed between inbred strains. Here, we used ancestral haplotype analysis to fine-map this locus to 12 candidate genes. The gene encoding the IL-21 receptor (
Han Kyu Lee, Sehoon Keum, Huaxin Sheng, David S. Warner, Donald C. Lo, Douglas A. Marchuk
Homocystinuria, which typically results from cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) deficiency, is the most common defect of sulfur amino acid metabolism. CBS condenses homocysteine and serine to cystathionine that is then converted to cysteine. Individuals with homocystinuria have markedly elevated plasma levels of homocysteine and methionine and reduced concentrations of cystathionine and cysteine. Clinical disease manifestations include thromboembolism and neuropsychiatric, ocular, and skeletal complications. Here, we have shown that administration of PEGylated CBS into the circulation of homocystinuria model mice alters the extra- and intracellular equilibrium of sulfur amino acids, resulting in a decrease of approximately 75% in plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) and normalization of cysteine concentrations. Moreover, the decrease in homocysteine and the normalization of cysteine in PEGylated CBS–treated model mice were accompanied by improvement of histopathological liver symptoms and increased survival. Together, these data suggest that CBS enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) is a promising approach for the treatment of homocystinuria and that ERT for metabolic diseases may not necessitate introduction of the deficient enzyme into its natural intracellular compartment.
Erez M. Bublil, Tomas Majtan, Insun Park, Richard S. Carrillo, Helena Hůlková, Jakub Krijt, Viktor Kožich, Jan P. Kraus
Selenium is a trace element that is essential for human health and is incorporated into more than 25 human selenocysteine-containing (Sec-containing) proteins via unique Sec-insertion machinery that includes a specific, nuclear genome–encoded, transfer RNA (tRNA[Ser]Sec). Here, we have identified a human tRNA[Ser]Sec mutation in a proband who presented with a variety of symptoms, including abdominal pain, fatigue, muscle weakness, and low plasma levels of selenium. This mutation resulted in a marked reduction in expression of stress-related, but not housekeeping, selenoproteins. Evaluation of primary cells from the homozygous proband and a heterozygous parent indicated that the observed deficit in stress-related selenoprotein production is likely mediated by reduced expression and diminished 2′-O-methylribosylation at uridine 34 in mutant tRNA[Ser]Sec. Moreover, this methylribosylation defect was restored by cellular complementation with normal tRNA[Ser]Sec. This study identifies a tRNA mutation that selectively impairs synthesis of stress-related selenoproteins and demonstrates the importance of tRNA modification for normal selenoprotein synthesis.
Erik Schoenmakers, Bradley Carlson, Maura Agostini, Carla Moran, Odelia Rajanayagam, Elena Bochukova, Ryuta Tobe, Rachel Peat, Evelien Gevers, Francesco Muntoni, Pascale Guicheney, Nadia Schoenmakers, Sadaf Farooqi, Greta Lyons, Dolph Hatfield, Krishna Chatterjee
The transcription factor GATA3 is essential for the genesis and maturation of the T cell lineage, and GATA3 dysregulation has pathological consequences. Previous studies have shown that GATA3 function in T cell development is regulated by multiple signaling pathways and that the Notch nuclear effector, RBP-J, binds specifically to the
Sakie Ohmura, Seiya Mizuno, Hisashi Oishi, Chia-Jui Ku, Mary Hermann, Tomonori Hosoya, Satoru Takahashi, James Douglas Engel
Yavuz Bayram, Ender Karaca, Zeynep Coban Akdemir, Elif Ozdamar Yilmaz, Gulsen Akay Tayfun, Hatip Aydin, Deniz Torun, Sevcan Tug Bozdogan, Alper Gezdirici, Sedat Isikay, Mehmed M. Atik, Tomasz Gambin, Tamar Harel, Ayman W. El-Hattab, Wu-Lin Charng, Davut Pehlivan, Shalini N. Jhangiani, Donna M. Muzny, Ali Karaman, Tamer Celik, Ozge Ozalp Yuregir, Timur Yildirim, Ilhan A. Bayhan, Eric Boerwinkle, Richard A. Gibbs, Nursel Elcioglu, Beyhan Tuysuz, James R. Lupski