| 1. |
- Limbach, Maia, et al.
(författare)
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Epigenetic profiling in CD4+and CD8+T cells from Graves' disease patients reveals changes in genes associated with T cell receptor signaling
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Autoimmunity. - : Elsevier BV. - 0896-8411 .- 1095-9157. ; 67, s. 46-56
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Graves' disease (GD), a combination of genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors causes an autoimmune response to the thyroid gland, characterized by lymphocytic infiltrations and autoantibodies targeting the thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) and other thyroid antigens. To identify the epigenetic changes involved in GD, we performed a genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation and enrichment of H3K4me3 and H3K27ac histone marks in sorted CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. We found 365 and 3322 differentially methylated CpG sites in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, respectively. Among the hypermethylated CpG sites, we specifically found enrichment of genes involved in T cell signaling (CD247, LCK, ZAP70, CD3D, CD3E, CD3G, CTLA4 and CD8A) and decreased expression of CD3 gene family members. The hypermethylation was accompanied with decreased levels of H3K4me3 and H3K27ac marks at several T cell signaling genes in ChIP-seq analysis. In addition, we found hypermethylation of the TSHR gene first intron, where several GD-associated polymorphisms are located. Our results demonstrate an involvement of dysregulated DNA methylation and histone modifications at T cell signaling genes in GD patients.
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| 2. |
- Lopes, Fatima, et al.
(författare)
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Identification of novel genetic causes of Rett syndrome-like phenotypes
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Medical Genetics. - : BMJ. - 0022-2593 .- 1468-6244. ; 53:3, s. 190-199
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background The aim of this work was to identify new genetic causes of Rett-like phenotypes using array comparative genomic hybridisation and a whole exome sequencing approach. Methods and results We studied a cohort of 19 Portuguese patients (16 girls, 3 boys) with a clinical presentation significantly overlapping Rett syndrome (RTT). Genetic analysis included filtering of the single nucleotide variants and indels with preference for de novo, homozygous/compound heterozygous, or maternally inherited X linked variants. Examination by MRI and muscle biopsies was also performed. Pathogenic genomic imbalances were found in two patients (10.5%): an 18q21.2 deletion encompassing four exons of the TCF4 gene and a mosaic UPD of chromosome 3. Variants in genes previously implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) were identified in six patients (32%): de novo variants in EEF1A2, STXBP1 and ZNF238 were found in three patients, maternally inherited X linked variants in SLC35A2, ZFX and SHROOM4 were detected in two male patients and one homozygous variant in EIF2B2 was detected in one patient. Variants were also detected in five novel NDD candidate genes (26%): we identified de novo variants in the RHOBTB2, SMARCA1 and GABBR2 genes; a homozygous variant in EIF4G1; compound heterozygous variant in HTT. Conclusions Network analysis reveals that these genes interact by means of protein interactions with each other and with the known RTT genes. These findings expand the phenotypical spectrum of previously known NDD genes to encompass RTT-like clinical presentations and identify new candidate genes for RTT-like phenotypes.
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| 3. |
- Madrigal, Irene, et al.
(författare)
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A novel splicing mutation in the IQSEC2 gene that modulates the phenotype severity in a family with intellectual disability.
- 2016
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Ingår i: European Journal of Human Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1018-4813 .- 1476-5438. ; 24:8, s. 1117-1123
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The IQSEC2 gene is located on chromosome Xp11.22 and encodes a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for the ADP-ribosylation factor family of small GTPases. This gene is known to have a significant role in cytoskeletal organization, dendritic spine morphology and synaptic organization. Variants in IQSEC2 cause moderate to severe intellectual disability in males and a variable phenotype in females because this gene escapes from X-chromosome inactivation. Here we report on the first splicing variant in IQSEC2 (g.88032_88033del; NG_021296.1) that co-segregates in a family diagnosed with an X-linked form of ID. In a percentage of the cells, the variant activates an intraexonic splice acceptor site that abolishes 26 amino acids from the highly conserved PH domain of IQSEC2 and creates a premature stop codon 36 amino acids later in exon 13. Interestingly, the percentage of aberrant splicing seems to correlate with the severity of the disease in each patient. The impact of this variant in the target tissue is unknown, but we can hypothesize that these differences may be related to the amount of abnormal IQSEC2 transcript. To our knowledge, we are reporting a novel mechanism of IQSEC2 involvement in ID. Variants that affect splicing are related to many genetic diseases and the understanding of their role in disease expands potential opportunities for gene therapy. Modulation of aberrant splicing transcripts can become a potent therapeutic approach for many of these diseases.
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| 4. |
- McGinn, Steven, et al.
(författare)
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New Technologies for DNA analysis-A review of the READNA Project.
- 2016
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Ingår i: New Biotechnology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1876-4347 .- 1871-6784.
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The REvolutionary Approaches and Devices for Nucleic Acid analysis (READNA) project received funding from the European Commission for 4 1/2 years. The objectives of the project revolved around technological developments in nucleic acid analysis. The project partners have discovered, created and developed a huge body of insights into nucleic acid analysis, ranging from improvements and implementation of current technologies to the most promising sequencing technologies that constitute a 3(rd) and 4(th) generation of sequencing methods with nanopores and in situ sequencing, respectively.
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