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- Ken-Dror, G., et al.
(author)
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Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies First Locus Associated with Susceptibility to Cerebral Venous Thrombosis
- 2021
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In: Annals of Neurology. - : Wiley. - 0364-5134 .- 1531-8249. ; 90:5, s. 777-788
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is an uncommon form of stroke affecting mostly young individuals. Although genetic factors are thought to play a role in this cerebrovascular condition, its genetic etiology is not well understood. Methods A genome-wide association study was performed to identify genetic variants influencing susceptibility to CVT. A 2-stage genome-wide study was undertaken in 882 Europeans diagnosed with CVT and 1,205 ethnicity-matched control subjects divided into discovery and independent replication datasets. Results In the overall case-control cohort, we identified highly significant associations with 37 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the 9q34.2 region. The strongest association was with rs8176645 (combined p = 9.15 x 10(-24); odds ratio [OR] = 2.01, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.76-2.31). The discovery set findings were validated across an independent European cohort. Genetic risk score for this 9q34.2 region increases CVT risk by a pooled estimate OR = 2.65 (95% CI = 2.21-3.20, p = 2.00 x 10(-16)). SNPs within this region were in strong linkage disequilibrium (LD) with coding regions of the ABO gene. The ABO blood group was determined using allele combination of SNPs rs8176746 and rs8176645. Blood groups A, B, or AB, were at 2.85 times (95% CI = 2.32-3.52, p = 2.00 x 10(-16)) increased risk of CVT compared with individuals with blood group O. Interpretation We present the first chromosomal region to robustly associate with a genetic susceptibility to CVT. This region more than doubles the likelihood of CVT, a risk greater than any previously identified thrombophilia genetic risk marker. That the identified variant is in strong LD with the coding region of the ABO gene with differences in blood group prevalence provides important new insights into the pathophysiology of CVT. ANN NEUROL 2021
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| 2. |
- Ranjan, R., et al.
(author)
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Age of onset of cerebral venous thrombosis: the BEAST study
- 2023
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In: European Stroke Journal. - : SAGE Publications. - 2396-9873 .- 2396-9881. ; 8:1, s. 344-350
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is an uncommon cause of stroke in young adults. We aimed to determine the impact of age, gender and risk factors (including sex-specific) on CVT onset. Methods: We used data from the BEAST (Biorepository to Establish the Aetiology of Sinovenous Thrombosis), a multicentre multinational prospective observational study on CVT. Composite factors analysis (CFA) was performed to determine the impact on the age of CVT onset in males and females. Results: A total of 1309 CVT patients (75.3% females) aged > 18 years were recruited. The overall median (IQR-interquartile range) age for males and females was 46 (35-58) years and 37 (28-47) years (p < 0.001), respectively. However, the presence of antibiotic-requiring sepsis (p = 0.03, 95% CI 27-47 years) among males and gender-specific risk factors like pregnancy (p < 0.001, 95% CI 29-34 years), puerperium (p < 0.001, 95% CI 26-34 years) and oral contraceptive use (p < 0.001, 95% CI 33-36 years) were significantly associated with earlier onset of CVT among females. CFA demonstrated a significantly earlier onset of CVT in females, similar to 12 years younger, in those with multiple (> 1) compared to '0' risk factors (p < 0.001, 95% CI 32-35 years). Conclusions: Women suffer CVT 9 years earlier in comparison to men. Female patients with multiple (> 1) risk factors suffer CVT similar to 12 years earlier compared to those with no identifiable risk factors.
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| 3. |
- Picone, P., et al.
(author)
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Ionizing radiation-engineered nanogels as insulin nanocarriers for the development of a new strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease
- 2016
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In: Biomaterials. - : Elsevier. - 0142-9612 .- 1878-5905. ; 80, s. 179-194
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A growing body of evidence shows the protective role of insulin in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). A nanogel system (NG) to deliver insulin to the brain, as a tool for the development of a new therapy for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), is designed and synthetized. A carboxyl-functionalized poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) nanogel system produced by ionizing radiation is chosen as substrate for the covalent attachment of insulin or fluorescent molecules relevant for its characterization. Biocompatibility and hemocompatibility of the naked carrier is demonstrated. The insulin conjugated to the NG (NG-In) is protected by protease degradation and able to bind to insulin receptor (IR), as demonstrated by immunofluorescence measurements showing colocalization of NG-InFITC with IR. Moreover, after binding to the receptor, NG-In is able to trigger insulin signaling via AKT activation. Neuroprotection of NG-In against dysfunction induced by amyloid β (Aβ), a peptide mainly involved in AD, is verified. Finally, the potential of NG-In to be efficiently transported across the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) is demonstrated. All together these results indicate that the synthesized NG-In is a suitable vehicle system for insulin deliver in biomedicine and a very promising tool to develop new therapies for neurodegenerative diseases.
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| 4. |
- Ditta, L. A., et al.
(author)
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The role of molecular oxygen in the formation of radiation-engineered multifunctional nanogels
- 2019
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In: European Polymer Journal. - : Elsevier. - 0014-3057 .- 1873-1945. ; 114, s. 164-175
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nanogels are very promising biomedical nanodevices. The classic “radiation chemistry-based” approach to synthetize nanogels consists in the irradiation with pulsed electron beams of dilute, N 2 O-saturated, aqueous solutions of water-soluble polymers of the “crosslinking type”. Nanogels with controlled size and properties are produced in a single irradiation step with no recourse to initiators, organic solvents and surfactants. This paper combines experimental syntheses, performed with two e-beam irradiation setups and dose-ranges, starting from poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) solutions of various concentrations, both in N 2 O-saturated and air-saturated initial conditions, with the numerical simulations of the radiation chemistry of aqueous solutions of a radical scavanger exposed to the same irradiation conditions used in the experiments. This approach provides a methodology to predict the impact of system and irradiation conditions on the water radiation chemistry, which in turn affect the nanogel features in terms of molecular and physico-chemical properties. In particular, the crucial role of initial and transient concentration of molecular oxygen is revealed. This work also proposes a very simple and effective methodology to quantitatively measure the double bonds formed in the systems from disporportionation and chain scission reactions, competing with inter-/intra-molecular crosslinking.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Solaki, Maria, et al.
(author)
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Comprehensive variant spectrum of the CNGA3 gene in patients affected by achromatopsia
- 2022
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In: Human Mutation. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1059-7794 .- 1098-1004. ; 43:7, s. 832-858
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Achromatopsia (ACHM) is a congenital cone photoreceptor disorder characterized by impaired color discrimination, low visual acuity, photosensitivity, and nystagmus. To date, six genes have been associated with ACHM (CNGA3, CNGB3, GNAT2, PDE6C, PDE6H, and ATF6), the majority of these being implicated in the cone phototransduction cascade. CNGA3 encodes the CNGA3 subunit of the cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel in cone photoreceptors and is one of the major disease-associated genes for ACHM. Herein, we provide a comprehensive overview of the CNGA3 variant spectrum in a cohort of 1060 genetically confirmed ACHM patients, 385 (36.3%) of these carrying “likely disease-causing” variants in CNGA3. Compiling our own genetic data with those reported in the literature and in public databases, we further extend the CNGA3 variant spectrum to a total of 316 variants, 244 of which we interpreted as “likely disease-causing” according to ACMG/AMP criteria. We report 48 novel “likely disease-causing” variants, 24 of which are missense substitutions underlining the predominant role of this mutation class in the CNGA3 variant spectrum. In addition, we provide extensive in silico analyses and summarize reported functional data of previously analyzed missense, nonsense and splicing variants to further advance the pathogenicity assessment of the identified variants.
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