Genetic variants of PARP4 gene and PARP4P2 pseudogene in patients with multiple primary tumors including thyroid cancer.

Recently, the PARP4 gene has been identified as a possible susceptibility gene of primary thyroid and breast cancers. We analyzed PARP4 in 53 patients with multiple primary cancers including a thyroid cancer (TC), in 74 patients with TC alone, and in 88 healthy donors. Two PARP4 intronic variants within the IVS29 (c.

Impact of Mutation Density and Heterogeneity on Papillary Thyroid Cancer Clinical Features and Remission Probability.

Background: The need to integrate the classification of cancer with information on the genetic pattern has emerged in recent years for several tumors.

Methods: The genomic background of a large series of 208 papillary thyroid cancers (PTC) followed at a single center was analyzed by a custom MassARRAY genotyping platform, which allows the simultaneous detection of 19 common genetic alterations, including point mutations and fusions.

Results: Of the PTCs investigated, 71% were found to have pathognomonic genetic findings, with BRAF and TERT promoter mutations being the most frequent monoallelic alterations (42% and 23.

Transcriptional profiling of human bronchial epithelial cell BEAS-2B exposed to diesel and biomass ultrafine particles.

Background: Emissions from diesel vehicles and biomass burning are the principal sources of primary ultrafine particles (UFP). The exposure to UFP has been associated to cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, including lung cancer. Although many aspects of the toxicology of ambient particulate matter (PM) have been unraveled, the molecular mechanisms activated in human cells by the exposure to UFP are still poorly understood.

MassARRAY-based simultaneous detection of hotspot somatic mutations and recurrent fusion genes in papillary thyroid carcinoma: the PTC-MA assay.

Purpose: We exploited the MassARRAY (MA) genotyping platform to develop the "PTC-MA assay", which allows the simultaneous detection of 13 hotspot mutations, in the BRAF, KRAS, NRAS, HRAS, TERT, AKT1, PIK3CA, and EIF1AX genes, and six recurrent genetic rearrangements, involving the RET and TRK genes in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).

Methods: The assay was developed using DNA and cDNA from 12 frozen and 11 formalin-fixed paraffin embedded samples from 23 PTC cases, together with positive and negative controls.

Results: The PTC-MA assay displays high sensitivity towards point mutations and gene rearrangements, detecting their presence at frequencies as low as 5%.

Letter regarding the article: "Multiple HABP2 variants in familial papillary thyroid carcinoma: Contribution of a group of "thyroid-checked" controls" by Kern et al.

This Journal recently published a study (Kern et al., 2017) reporting the genetic analysis of the whole HABP2 gene in 11 independent kindreds with familial non medullary thyroid cancer (FNMTC). The Authors showed that a new variant (p.

Segregation and expression analyses of hyaluronan-binding protein 2 (HABP2): insights from a large series of familial non-medullary thyroid cancers and literature review.

Introduction: Recently, the G534E variant of the HABP2 gene was reported as the underlying genetic defect in a large kindred with nonsyndromic familial nonmedullary thyroid cancer (FNMTC). Nevertheless, this postulated role was not confirmed in additional cohorts. Contrasting data are also available on HABP2 expression in the thyroid.

Integrative transcriptomic and protein analysis of human bronchial BEAS-2B exposed to seasonal urban particulate matter.

Background: Exposure to particulate matter (PM) is associated with various health effects. Physico-chemical properties influence the toxicological impact of PM, nonetheless the mechanisms underlying PM-induced effects are not completely understood.

Objectives: Human bronchial epithelial cells were used to analyse the pathways activated after exposure to summer and winter urban PM and to identify possible markers of exposure.

Genetic analysis of Italian patients with congenital hyperinsulinism of infancy.

Background/aims: Congenital hyperinsulinism of infancy is a rare disease that needs prompt treatment to avoid brain damage. There are currently no data regarding the clinical and molecular features of Italian patients.

Methods: Thirty-three patients with HI and their parents were included.

Gene expression profiling of A549 cells exposed to Milan PM2.5.

Background: Particulate matter (PM) has been associated to adverse health effects in exposed population and DNA damage has been extensively reported in in vitro systems exposed to fine PM (PM2.5). The ability to induce gene expression profile modulation, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and strand breaks to DNA molecules has been investigated in A549 cells exposed to winter and summer Milan PM2.

Identification of a diffuse form of hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia by 18-fluoro-L-3,4 dihydroxyphenylalanine positron emission tomography/CT in a patient carrying a novel mutation of the HADH gene.

Objective: Congenital hyperinsulinism is the most common cause of persistent hypoglycemia in infancy (HI), leading to severe neurologic disabilities if not promptly treated. The recent application of positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scanning with 18-fluoro-l-3,4 dihydroxyphenylalanine improved the ability to distinguish the two histopathologic forms of HI (focal and diffuse), whose differentiation heavily influences the therapeutic management of the patient.

Case Report: We describe the case of a patient presenting with severe hypoglycemia from infancy.

Identification of two novel frameshift mutations in the KCNJ11 gene in two Italian patients affected by Congenital Hyperinsulinism of Infancy.

Congenital Hyperinsulinism of Infancy (CHI) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder characterized by profound hypoglycemia related to inappropriate insulin secretion. Two histopathologically and genetically distinct groups are recognized among patients with CHI due to ATP-sensitive potassium channel (KATP) defects: a diffuse type (Di-CHI), which involves the whole pancreas, and a focal form (Fo-CHI), which shows adenomatous islet-cell hyperplasia of a particular area within the normal pancreas. The beta-cell KATP channel consists of two essential subunits: Kir6.

RNA-mediated interference indicates that SEL1L plays a role in pancreatic beta-cell growth.

The specificity of SEL1L expression and promoter activity for the pancreatic cell population, its chromosomal location, as well as its similarities to the yeast Hrd3p protein, a component of HRD complex which is responsible for endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated degradation of numerous ER-resident proteins, prompted us to study its effects on beta cell function. In this study we show that lowering SEL1L expression, by using the short interfering RNAs technology as well as antisense transfection, resulted in severe perturbation of betaTC-3 growth and metabolic activity. We hypothesize that SEL1L may exert its function by protecting the cells from ER stress and could counteract immune responses.

Autosomal dominant hypocalcemia in monozygotic twins caused by a de novo germline mutation near the amino-terminus of the human calcium receptor.

Unlabelled: To define the molecular pathogenesis of severe postnatal hypocalcemia in monozygotic twin sisters, we sequenced their CaR gene and identified a missense mutation, K29E. Expression of the mutant receptor in vitro showed a marked increase in Ca2+ sensitivity explaining the observed phenotype. Additional mutagenesis studies lead us to speculate concerning a novel mechanism whereby the K29E mutation may lead to receptor activation.

Longitudinal changes in bone metabolism and bone mineral content in children with celiac disease during consumption of a gluten-free diet.

Background: A gluten-free diet (GFD) rapidly corrects the bone mineral deficit of children with untreated celiac disease. The mechanisms underlying such changes are still poorly understood.

Objective: In a longitudinal study, we monitored changes in bone metabolism during consumption of a GFD.

Autosomal dominant hypocalcemia caused by a novel mutation in the loop 2 region of the human calcium receptor extracellular domain.

We report a novel missense mutation N124K in the extracellular calcium receptor (CaR) identified in two related subjects with the phenotypic features of autosomal dominant hypocalcemia (ADH). Expression of the N124K mutant receptor created by site-directed mutagenesis and transfected into HEK-293 cells was comparable with that of the wild-type (WT) receptor and two other mutant receptors N118K and L125P identified in subjects with ADH. Functional characterization by the extracellular Ca2+ ion ([Ca2+]0)-stimulated phosphoinositide (PI) hydrolysis in transfected HEK-293 cells showed that the N124K mutant receptor was left-shifted in Ca2+ sensitivity.

Germline mutations of TSH receptor gene as cause of nonautoimmune subclinical hypothyroidism.

Germline loss-of-function mutations of TSH receptor (TSHR) gene have been described in families with partial or complete TSH resistance. Large TSH elevations were generally found in the patients with homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations. In this study, we sequenced the entire TSHR gene in a series of 10 unrelated patients with slight (6.

Polymorphism of vitamin D receptor gene start codon in patients with calcium kidney stones.

Background: A linkage has been detected between vitamin D receptor (VDR) locus and calcium kidney stone disease. In order to assess the eventual role of VDR gene start codon polymorphisms in stone production, we analyzed the genotype-phenotype association in a group of patients with calcium kidney stones.

Methods: One hundred and fifty-five patients were studied.