Sofosbuvir shows a protective effect against vertical transmission of Zika virus and the associated congenital syndrome in rhesus monkeys.

The outbreaks of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in Brazil, 2015-2016, were associated with severe congenital malformations. Our translational study aimed to test the efficacy of the antiviral agent sofosbuvir (SOF) against vertical transmission of ZIKV and the associated congenital syndrome (CZS), using a rhesus monkey model. Eight pregnant macaques were successfully infected during the organogenesis phase with a Brazilian ZIKV strain; five of them received SOF from two to fifteen days post-infection.

A novel nonsense variant in SUPT20H gene associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis identified by Whole Exome Sequencing of multiplex families.

The triggering and development of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is conditioned by environmental and genetic factors. Despite the identification of more than one hundred genetic variants associated with the disease, not all the cases can be explained. Here, we performed Whole Exome Sequencing in 9 multiplex families (N = 30) to identify rare variants susceptible to play a role in the disease pathogenesis.

Detection of mycobacterial infection in non-human primates using the Xpert MTB/RIF molecular assay.

Tuberculosis is a major public health concern, and diagnostic strategies applied to animal populations are scarce. As part of ongoing efforts to control tuberculosis dissemination at our animal facility, two non-human primates (NHP, Saimiri sciureus) presenting cutaneous lesions were examined for mycobacterial infection. Both animals tested positive for acid-fast bacilli and Mycobacterium tuberculosis using a molecular assay (IS6110 PCR).

Characterization of copy number variants for CCL3L1 gene in rheumatoid arthritis for French trio families and Tunisian cases and controls.

Analyses of copy number variants (CNVs) for candidate genes in complex diseases are currently a promising research field. CNVs of C-C chemokine ligand 3-like 1 (CCL3L1) gene are candidate genomic factors in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We investigated CCL3L1 CNVs association with a case-control study in Tunisians and a transmission analysis in French trio families.

The brown algae Pl.LSU/2 group II intron-encoded protein has functional reverse transcriptase and maturase activities.

Group II introns are self-splicing mobile elements found in prokaryotes and eukaryotic organelles. These introns propagate by homing into precise genomic locations, following assembly of a ribonucleoprotein complex containing the intron-encoded protein (IEP) and the spliced intron RNA. Engineered group II introns are now commonly used tools for targeted genomic modifications in prokaryotes but not in eukaryotes.

β-globin gene cluster haplotypes in sickle cell patients from Panamá.

Objective: To analyze the frequency of the haplotypes of β-globin gene cluster in randomly selected patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), attended in the Children's Hospital of Panama.

Methods: Five polymorphic sites in the β-globin gene cluster were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by restriction digestion and agarose gel electrophoresis in a total of 100 patients, including 95 homozygous for HbS (sickle cell anemia) and 5 compound heterozygotes for HbS and HbC genes (HbSC disease).

Results: The Bantu haplotype was predominant with a frequency of 51%, followed by the Benin (30%), Senegal (8.

Diverse genomic integration of a lentiviral vector developed for the treatment of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome.

Background: The genomic integration of a lentiviral vector developed for the treatment of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) was assessed by localizing the vector insertion sites (IS) in a murine model of gene therapy for the disease.

Methods: Transduced hematopoietic progenitor cells were transplanted into mice or cultured in vitro. The IS were determined in the genomic DNA from blood, the bone marrow of the animals and from cultured cells.

Genetic relationship of a Mexican Afromestizo population through the analysis of the 3' haplotype of the beta globin gene in betaA chromosomes.

We analyzed 112 beta(A) chromosomes from the Costa Chica region, with the aim of determining the 3' haplotype (3'Hp) in Afromestizo individuals and its relationship with the reported populations. Thirty polymorphic sites were identified by sequencing and two by restriction fragment length polymorphisms. Genetic variability, genetic distances and neutrality tests were performed with the computer program Arlequin 3.

Molecular characterization of the--SEA alpha thalassemia allele in Mexican patients with HbH disease.

Alpha-Thalassemia is one of the most prevalent hemoglobin disorders in the world, in South-East Asians, the --SEA allele is widely found in the HbH disease patients. The purpose of this work is to describe the molecular characteristics of Hemoglobin H disease in three patients from two Mexican families, as well to analyze the DNA sequence of the --SEA allele to determine the precise site of the crossover. The -alpha 3.

A high throughput method for genome-wide analysis of retroviral integration.

Retroviral and lentiviral vectors integrate their DNA into the host cell genome leading to stable transgene expression. Integration preferentially occurs in the proximity of active genes, and may in some case disturb their activity, with adverse toxic consequences. To efficiently analyze high numbers of lentiviral insertion sites in the DNA of transduced cells, we developed an improved high-throughput method called vector integration tag analysis (VITA).

Prevalence of -alpha(3.7) and alpha alpha alpha(anti3.7) alleles in sickle cell trait and beta-thalassemia patients in Mexico.

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of alpha-globin gene mutations in three groups of Mexican unrelated individuals. The first two groups were normal and sickle cell trait individuals from the Costa Chica region, a place with a 12.8% frequency of HbS carriers, and the third group comprised of Mexican mestizo patients with beta-thalassemia.

3' haplotypes of the beta-globin gene in beta(S)-chromosomes of Mexican individuals.

The beta-globin gene cluster has shown high polymorphic diversity organized in 5' and 3' haplotypes (Hps). beta(S)-Chromosomes are in linkage disequilibrium with the 5' Hps Bantu, Benin, Senegal, Cameroon, and Arab-Indian. In Mexican mestizos with African west coast origins, we observed the following 5' Hps in beta(S)-chromosomes: Bantu, 78.

Molecular spectrum of beta-thalassemia in the Mexican population.

Beta-thalassemia (beta-thal) is present in 59% and 75% of patients with abnormal hemoglobin disorders in northwestern and central Mexico, respectively. In our Research Center, up until 1997, we reported the presence of 13 beta-thal alleles in 26 unrelated chromosomes (-28A>C; -87C>T; MET1VAL; IVS1, G>A, +1; IVS1, G>A, +5; IVS1, G>C, +5; IVS1, G>A, +110; IVS2, C>G, +745; GLU6FS; VAL11FS; GLN39TER; HBD/HBB 104 kb del; and HBD87/HBB116 fusion). Since then, 57 more beta-thal chromosomes have been identified by the amplification-refractory mutation system (ARMS) and DNA sequencing from 54 individuals with beta-thalassemia (seven compound heterozygotes, three with two beta-thal alleles, three with beta-thal and HbS, and one with beta-thal and HbD; and 47 beta-thal heterozygotes).

Red cell membrane protein deficiencies in Mexican patients with hereditary spherocytosis.

Twenty-seven families and four individual patients with hereditary spherocytosis (HS) from the northwestern region of Mexico were studied. An autosomal dominant inheritance pattern was identified in 59% of 22 families. Densitometric analysis of erythrocyte membrane proteins revealed individual protein deficiencies in 39% of the patients studied, in whom the principal altered proteins were the alpha spectrins (13%), band 3 protein (10%), ankyrin (6%), 4.

Analysis of betaS and betaA genes in a Mexican population with African roots.

To investigate the origin of the beta(A) and beta(S) genes in a Mexican population with African roots and a high frequency of hemoglobin S, we analyzed 467 individuals (288 unrelated) from different towns in the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca in the Costa Chica region. The frequency of the sickle-cell trait was 12.8%, which may represent a public health problem.

Effects of mouse strain, position of integration and tetracycline analogue on the tetracycline conditional system in transgenic mice.

The tetracycline conditional system is a very powerful method for achieving control of gene expression in transgenic mice, allowing one to turn expression both off and on in the same animal. We have used it to make a tissue-specific transgenic mouse model of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A. This disease is most commonly caused by overexpression of peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22) in Schwann cells of the peripheral nervous system.