Background: Autosomal recessive inherited pathogenetic variants in the histidine triad nucleotide-binding protein 1 () gene are responsible for an axonal Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy associated with neuromyotonia, a phenomenon resulting from peripheral nerve hyperexcitability that causes a spontaneous muscle activity such as persistent muscle contraction, impaired relaxation and myokymias.
Methods: Herein, we describe two brothers in whom biallelic variants were identified following a multidisciplinary approach.
Results: The younger brother came to our attention for clinical evaluation of moderate intellectual disability, language developmental delay, and some behavioral issues.
Optical genome mapping (OGM), which allows analysis of ultra-high molecular weight (UHMW) DNA molecules, represents a response to the restriction created by short-read next-generation-sequencing, even in cases where the causative variant is a neutral copy-number-variant insensitive to quantitative investigations. This study aimed to provide a molecular diagnosis to a boy with Marfan syndrome (MFS) and intellectual disability (ID) carrying a translocation involving chromosomes 3, 4, and 13 and a 1.7 Mb deletion at the breakpoint of chromosome 3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFibrillin proteins are extracellular matrix glycoproteins assembling into microfibrils. , , and encode the human fibrillins and mutations in and cause connective tissue disorders called fibrillinopathies, affecting cardiovascular, dermal, skeletal, and ocular tissues. Recently, mutations of the less characterized fibrillin family member, , have been associated in a single family with Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHigh-Throughput Sequencing technologies are providing unprecedented inventories of microbial communities in aquatic samples, offering an invaluable tool to estimate the impact of anthropogenic pressure on marine communities. In this case study, the Mediterranean touristic site of Aci Castello (Italy) was investigated by High-Throughput Sequencing of 16S and 18S rRNA genes. The sampling area falls within a Marine Protected Area and, notwithstanding, features an untreated urban wastewater discharge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDevelopmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEEs) are genetically heterogenous conditions, often characterized by early onset, EEG interictal epileptiform abnormalities, polymorphous and drug-resistant seizures, and neurodevelopmental impairments. In this study, we investigated the genetic defects in two siblings who presented with severe DEE, microcephaly, spastic tetraplegia, diffuse brain hypomyelination, cerebellar atrophy, short stature, and kyphoscoliosis. Whole exome next-generation sequencing (WES) identified in both siblings a homozygous non-sense variant in the ACTL6B gene (NM_016188:c.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochem Biophys Res Commun
March 2013
Insulin resistance with adipose tissue dysfunction and dysregulation in the production and secretion of adipokines is one of the hallmarks of metabolic syndrome. We have previously reported that increased levels of the heme oxygenase (HO) system, HO-1/HO-2 results in increased levels of adiponectin. Despite documentation of the existence of the anti-inflammatory axis HO-adiponectin, a possible protein-protein interaction between HO and adiponectin has not been examined.
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