Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is caused by silencing of the gene, which encodes a protein with a critical role in synaptic plasticity. The molecular abnormality underlying silencing, CGG repeat expansion, is well characterized; however, delineation of the pathway from DNA to RNA to protein using biosamples from well characterized patients with FXS is limited. Since FXS is a common and prototypical genetic disorder associated with intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a comprehensive assessment of the DNA-RNA-protein pathway and its correlations with the neurobehavioral phenotype is a priority.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener
February 2019
Objective: Expansion of the GC repeat tract in the C9orf72 gene is linked to frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Here, we provide comprehensive genotyping of the C9orf72 repeat region for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) ALS collection (n = 2095), using a novel bimodal PCR assay capable of amplifying nearly 100% GC-rich sequences.
Methods: A single-tube 3-primer PCR assay mode, resolved using capillary electrophoresis, was used for sizing up to 145 repeats with single-repeat accuracy, for detecting expansions irrespective of their overall size, and for flagging confounding 3' sequence variations (SVs).
MicroRNAs are post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression with tissue-specific expression profiles. Dysregulation of microRNAs has been shown to play a role in carcinogenesis. Although progress has been made in the diagnosis and treatment of many cancers, pancreatic cancer remains an intractable public health problem, causing 6.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPassive immunization with monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific for the major capsular polysaccharide of Cryptococcus neoformans alters the course of murine cryptococcosis. During studies of passive immunization for treatment of murine cryptococcosis, we noted the occurrence of an acute, lethal toxicity. Toxicity was characterized by scratching, lethargy, respiratory distress, collapse, and death within 20 to 60 min after injection of antibody.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe in vivo properties of an immunoglobulin isotype-switch family of monoclonal antibodies specific for the polysaccharide capsule of Cryptococcus neoformans were examined in a murine model of cryptococcosis. Subclass-switch variants were isolated by sequential sublining of an immunoglobulin G subclass 1 (IgG1)-secreting cell line. Antibodies of the IgG1, IgG2a, and IgG2b isotypes with identical reactivities with cryptococcal polysaccharide were prepared.
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