Long-term culture of human Sertoli cells from adult Klinefelter patients as a first step to develop new tools for unravelling the testicular physiopathology.

Study Question: Are Sertoli cells (SCs) from adult Klinefelter men (47,XXY) capable of proliferating in vitro and maintaining their main phenotypical and functional characteristics as do SCs from adult 46,XY patients?

Summary Answer: Isolated SCs from patients with Klinefelter syndrome (KS) can be expanded in vitro while maintaining their characteristics and a stable karyotype, similar to SCs from 46,XY patients.

What Is Known Already: The mechanism leading to testicular tissue degeneration in KS is still unknown. A few recent studies highlight the main role played by SCs in the physiopathology of the disease, but new study models based on co-culture or testicular organoids are needed to further understand the SC's involvement in the mechanism of testicular degeneration and fibrosis, and to find therapeutical targets.

Wieacker-Wolff syndrome, a distinctive phenotype of arthrogryposis multiplex congenita caused by a "de novo" gene partial deletion.

Unusual fetal arthrogryposis on ultrasound should draw attention to look for additional lower limb anomalies. Precise genetic counseling may be obtained from deletion on Xq11.2 as for  gene sequencing diagnostic for Wieacker-Wolff syndrome.

Performance and Diagnostic Value of Genome-Wide Noninvasive Prenatal Testing in Multiple Gestations.

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy and diagnostic value of genome-wide noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for the detection of fetal aneuploidies in multiple gestations, with a focus on dichorionic-diamniotic twin pregnancies.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study including data from pregnant women with a twin or higher-order gestation who underwent genome-wide NIPT at one of the eight Belgian genetic centers between November 1, 2013, and March 1, 2020. Chorionicity and amnionicity were determined by ultrasonography.

Outcome of publicly funded nationwide first-tier noninvasive prenatal screening.

Purpose: Noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) using cell-free DNA has transformed prenatal care. Belgium was the first country to implement and fully reimburse NIPS as a first-tier screening test offered to all pregnant women. A consortium consisting of all Belgian genetic centers report the outcome of two years genome-wide NIPS implementation.

Validation of an ultrasensitive digital droplet PCR assay for HIV-2 plasma RNA quantification.

Introduction: Low or undetectable plasma viral load (VL) using current qPCR assays is common for HIV-2 patients. Digital PCR is an emerging technology enabling more precision and reproducibility than qPCR at low DNA/RNA copy numbers. Available data related to digital droplet PCR (ddPCR, Bio-Rad) underscore issues linked to the threshold definition of positivity, coupled to the specificity of low copy results (1).

Identification of enzymes acting on alpha-glycated amino acids in Bacillus subtilis.

We have characterized the Bacillus subtilis homologs of fructoselysine 6-kinase and fructoselysine-6-phosphate deglycase, two enzymes that specifically metabolize the Amadori compound fructose-epsilon-lysine in Escherichia coli. The B. subtilis enzymes also catalyzed the phosphorylation of fructosamines to fructosamine 6-phosphates (YurL) and the conversion of the latter to glucose 6-phosphate and a free amino acid (YurP).