Widespread reversion of genetic disease is rare; however, such events are particularly evident in some skin disorders in which normal clones develop on a background of affected skin. We previously demonstrated that mutations in keratin 10 (
Keith A. Choate, Yin Lu, Jing Zhou, Peter M. Elias, Samir Zaidi, Amy S. Paller, Anita Farhi, Carol Nelson-Williams, Debra Crumrine, Leonard M. Milstone, Richard P. Lifton
Macrocytic anemia with abnormal erythropoiesis is a common feature of megaloblastic anemias, congenital dyserythropoietic anemias, and myelodysplastic syndromes. Here, we characterized a family with multiple female individuals who have macrocytic anemia. The proband was noted to have dyserythropoiesis and iron overload. After an extensive diagnostic evaluation that did not provide insight into the cause of the disease, whole-exome sequencing of multiple family members revealed the presence of a mutation in the X chromosomal gene
Vijay G. Sankaran, Jacob C. Ulirsch, Vassili Tchaikovskii, Leif S. Ludwig, Aoi Wakabayashi, Senkottuvelan Kadirvel, R. Coleman Lindsley, Rafael Bejar, Jiahai Shi, Scott B. Lovitch, David F. Bishop, David P. Steensma
Cherubism is a rare autoinflammatory bone disorder that is associated with point mutations in the SH3-domain binding protein 2 (
Virginie Prod’Homme, Laurent Boyer, Nicholas Dubois, Aude Mallavialle, Patrick Munro, Xavier Mouska, Isabelle Coste, Robert Rottapel, Sophie Tartare-Deckert, Marcel Deckert
Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (AC) is associated with mutations in genes encoding intercalated disc proteins and ultimately results in sudden cardiac death. A subset of patients with AC have the autosomal recessive cardiocutaneous disorder Naxos disease, which is caused by a 2–base pair deletion in the plakoglobin-encoding gene
Zhiwei Zhang, Matthew J. Stroud, Jianlin Zhang, Xi Fang, Kunfu Ouyang, Kensuke Kimura, Yongxin Mu, Nancy D. Dalton, Yusu Gu, William H. Bradford, Kirk L. Peterson, Hongqiang Cheng, Xinmin Zhou, Ju Chen
Idiopathic scoliosis (IS) is a spine deformity that affects approximately 3% of the population. The underlying causes of IS are not well understood, although there is clear evidence that there is a genetic component to the disease. Genetic mapping studies suggest high genetic heterogeneity, but no IS disease-causing gene has yet been identified. Here, genetic linkage analyses combined with exome sequencing identified a rare missense variant (p.A446T) in the centriolar protein gene
Shunmoogum A. Patten, Patricia Margaritte-Jeannin, Jean-Claude Bernard, Eudeline Alix, Audrey Labalme, Alicia Besson, Simon L. Girard, Khaled Fendri, Nicolas Fraisse, Bernard Biot, Coline Poizat, Amandine Campan-Fournier, Kariman Abelin-Genevois, Vincent Cunin, Charlotte Zaouter, Meijiang Liao, Raphaelle Lamy, Gaetan Lesca, Rita Menassa, Charles Marcaillou, Melanie Letexier, Damien Sanlaville, Jerome Berard, Guy A. Rouleau, Françoise Clerget-Darpoux, Pierre Drapeau, Florina Moldovan, Patrick Edery
Tau is a highly abundant and multifunctional brain protein that accumulates in neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), most commonly in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and primary age-related tauopathy. Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been linked to neurodegeneration; however, it is not clear whether miRNA dysregulation contributes to tau neurotoxicity. Here, we determined that the highly conserved brain miRNA miR-219 is downregulated in brain tissue taken at autopsy from patients with AD and from those with severe primary age-related tauopathy. In a
Ismael Santa-Maria, Maria E. Alaniz, Neil Renwick, Carolina Cela, Tudor A. Fulga, David Van Vactor, Thomas Tuschl, Lorraine N. Clark, Michael L. Shelanski, Brian D. McCabe, John F. Crary
Satiety and other core physiological functions are modulated by sensory signals arising from the surface of the gut. Luminal nutrients and bacteria stimulate epithelial biosensors called enteroendocrine cells. Despite being electrically excitable, enteroendocrine cells are generally thought to communicate indirectly with nerves through hormone secretion and not through direct cell-nerve contact. However, we recently uncovered in intestinal enteroendocrine cells a cytoplasmic process that we named neuropod. Here, we determined that neuropods provide a direct connection between enteroendocrine cells and neurons innervating the small intestine and colon. Using cell-specific transgenic mice to study neural circuits, we found that enteroendocrine cells have the necessary elements for neurotransmission, including expression of genes that encode pre-, post-, and transsynaptic proteins. This neuroepithelial circuit was reconstituted in vitro by coculturing single enteroendocrine cells with sensory neurons. We used a monosynaptic rabies virus to define the circuit’s functional connectivity in vivo and determined that delivery of this neurotropic virus into the colon lumen resulted in the infection of mucosal nerves through enteroendocrine cells. This neuroepithelial circuit can serve as both a sensory conduit for food and gut microbes to interact with the nervous system and a portal for viruses to enter the enteric and central nervous systems.
Diego V. Bohórquez, Rafiq A. Shahid, Alan Erdmann, Alex M. Kreger, Yu Wang, Nicole Calakos, Fan Wang, Rodger A. Liddle
Premature ovarian failure (POF) is a genetically and phenotypically heterogeneous disorder that includes individuals with manifestations ranging from primary amenorrhea to loss of menstrual function prior to age 40. POF presents as hypergonadotropic hypogonadism and can be part of a syndrome or occur in isolation. Here, we studied 3 sisters with primary amenorrhea, hypothyroidism, and hypergonadotropic hypogonadism. The sisters were born to parents who are first cousins. SNP analysis and whole-exome sequencing revealed the presence of a pathogenic variant of the minichromosome maintenance 8 gene (
Saleh AlAsiri, Sulman Basit, Michelle A. Wood-Trageser, Svetlana A. Yatsenko, Elizabeth P. Jeffries, Urvashi Surti, Deborah M. Ketterer, Sibtain Afzal, Khushnooda Ramzan, Muhammad Faiyaz-Ul Haque, Huaiyang Jiang, Michael A. Trakselis, Aleksandar Rajkovic
Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) function is regulated by activation of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). Receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) counterbalance RTK signaling; however, the functions of receptor PTPs in HSCs remain incompletely understood. We found that a receptor PTP, PTPσ, was substantially overexpressed in mouse and human HSCs compared with more mature hematopoietic cells. Competitive transplantation of bone marrow cells from PTPσ-deficient mice revealed that the loss of PTPσ substantially increased long-term HSC-repopulating capacity compared with BM cells from control mice. While HSCs from PTPσ-deficient mice had no apparent alterations in cell-cycle status, apoptosis, or homing capacity, these HSCs exhibited increased levels of activated RAC1, a RhoGTPase that regulates HSC engraftment capacity. shRNA-mediated silencing of PTPσ also increased activated RAC1 levels in wild-type HSCs. Functionally, PTPσ-deficient BM cells displayed increased cobblestone area–forming cell (CAFC) capacity and augmented transendothelial migration capacity, which was abrogated by RAC inhibition. Specific selection of human cord blood CD34+CD38–CD45RA–lin– PTPσ– cells substantially increased the repopulating capacity of human HSCs compared with CD34+CD38–CD45RA–lin– cells and CD34+CD38–CD45RA–lin–PTPσ+ cells. Our results demonstrate that PTPσ regulates HSC functional capacity via RAC1 inhibition and suggest that selecting for PTPσ-negative human HSCs may be an effective strategy for enriching human HSCs for transplantation.
Mamle Quarmyne, Phuong L. Doan, Heather A. Himburg, Xiao Yan, Mai Nakamura, Liman Zhao, Nelson J. Chao, John P. Chute
Innate immunity to viral infection involves induction of the type I IFN response; however, dysfunctional regulation of this pathway leads to inappropriate inflammation. Here, we evaluated a nonconsanguineous family of mixed European descent, with 4 members affected by systemic inflammatory and autoimmune conditions, including lupus, with variable clinical expression. We identified a germline dominant gain-of-function mutation in
Nadia Jeremiah, Bénédicte Neven, Matteo Gentili, Isabelle Callebaut, Sophia Maschalidi, Marie-Claude Stolzenberg, Nicolas Goudin, Marie-Louis Frémond, Patrick Nitschke, Thierry J. Molina, Stéphane Blanche, Capucine Picard, Gillian I. Rice, Yanick J. Crow, Nicolas Manel, Alain Fischer, Brigitte Bader-Meunier, Frédéric Rieux-Laucat
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