Publications by authors named "Maria Leone"

Heterozygous deleterious null alleles and specific missense variants in the DNA-binding domain of the ETS2 repressor factor (ERF) cause craniosynostosis, while the recurrent p.(Tyr89Cys) missense variant is associated with Chitayat syndrome. Exome and whole transcriptome sequencing revealed the ERF de novo in-frame indel c.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

PROTEIN ARGININE METHYLTRANSFERASES (PRMTs) catalyze arginine (R) methylation that is critical for transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene regulation. In Arabidopsis, PRMT5 that catalyzes symmetric R dimethylation is best characterized. PRMT5 mutants are late-flowering and show altered responses to environmental stress.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Adolescents' late chronotypes colliding with early school start times (SSTs) are associated with students' unhealthy sleep habits. Most studies comparing different SSTs associate later SSTs with longer sleep duration and lower social jetlag. However, the magnitude of the effect varies between studies and the effect of different SSTs on chronotype is not well established.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: To evaluate glomerular and tubular renal functions and analyze blood pressure in a cohort of pediatric patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

Methods: A total of 40 pediatric patients, 20 (50%) with JIA and 20 (50%) healthy control subjects, were studied, and performed the renal function on 24-h collection and the 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). Moreover, we compared renal function and blood pressure trends between the groups of JIA patients with different disease activities.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) PROTEIN ARGININE METHYLTRANSFERASE5 (PRMT5) post-translationally modifies RNA-binding proteins by arginine (R) methylation. However, the impact of this modification on the regulation of RNA processing is largely unknown. We used the spliceosome component, SM-LIKE PROTEIN 4 (LSM4), as a paradigm to study the role of R-methylation in RNA processing.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rare heterozygous variants in exons 33-34 of the SRCAP gene are associated with Floating-Harbor syndrome and have a dominant-negative mechanism of action. At variance, heterozygous null alleles falling in other parts of the same gene cause developmental delay, hypotonia, musculoskeletal defects, and behavioral abnormalities (DEHMBA) syndrome. We report an 18-year-old man with DEHMBA syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea, who underwent exome sequencing (ES) and whole transcriptome sequencing (WTS) on peripheral blood.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The impact of rising global temperatures on crop yields is a serious concern, and the development of heat-resistant crop varieties is crucial for mitigating the effects of climate change on agriculture. To achieve this, a better understanding of the molecular basis of the thermal responses of plants is necessary. The circadian clock plays a central role in modulating plant biology in synchrony with environmental changes, including temperature fluctuations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a growing indication for liver transplantation (LT). Careful candidate selection is a prerequisite to keep post-LT recurrence rates within acceptable percentages. In the pre-LT period, various types of locoregional treatments and/or systemic therapies can be used for bridging or downstaging purposes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

To examine real-life clinical data regarding hereditary factor XI (FXI) deficiency from a secondary care centre. Retrospective review of clinical records for every FXI:C 0.7 IU/ml or less reported from 2012 to 2020.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Monkeypox It is a zoonotic disease. The etiologic agent is the monkeypox virus. Since January 1, 2022, monkeypox cases have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 110 Member States across 6 WHO regions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a systemic autoimmune disorder clinically characterized by recurrent arterial and venous thrombosis and/or pregnancy morbidity in the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies. Currently, treatment is mainly focused on anticoagulation, but therapies targeting mechanisms involved in APS autoimmune pathogenesis could play an important role in specific settings. An evidence-based therapeutic approach is limited by the broad clinical spectrum of the syndrome and the nature of a "rare disease" that makes it difficult to carry out well-designed prospective studies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The analysis of organic residue in ancient vessels to investigate early-age civilization habits is an important archeological application that needs advanced analytical methods. However, these procedures should meet inherent requisites such as low sampling invasiveness and high sensitivity for trace analysis. This study deals with the development of advanced analytical methods for the detection of opium alkaloids in ceramic vessels and its first application to the study of Daunian pots dating back to the VIII-IV sec BC.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Circadian rhythms are entrained by external factors such as sunlight and social cues, but also depend on internal factors such as age. Adolescents exhibit late chronotypes, but worldwide school starts early in the morning leading to unhealthy sleep habits. Several studies reported that adolescents benefit from later school start times.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Schools start early in the morning all over the world, contrasting with adolescents' late chronotype. Interestingly, lower academic performance (i.e.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - Deleterious variants in collagen genes are a primary cause of hereditary connective tissue disorders (HCTD), and there's a need for better adaptations of existing classification criteria by ACMG/AMP.
  • - A multidisciplinary team developed tailored ACMG/AMP specifications for key collagen genes, effectively classifying pathogenic variants, particularly focusing on null alleles and certain glycine substitutions.
  • - The new criteria aim to clarify the interpretation of genetic variants in HCTD, helping reduce ambiguities and improving the clinical application of molecular testing by fostering better collaboration between labs and clinicians.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: To standardly assess and describe nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC) assessment in children and adolescents with juvenile rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (jRMD) vs healthy controls (HCs).

Material And Methods: In consecutive jRMD children and matched HCs from 13 centres worldwide, 16 NVC images per patient were acquired locally and read centrally per international consensus standard evaluation of the EULAR Study Group on Microcirculation in Rheumatic Diseases. A total of 95 patients with JIA, 22 with JDM, 20 with childhood-onset SLE (cSLE), 13 with juvenile SSc (jSSc), 21 with localized scleroderma (lSc), 18 with MCTD and 20 with primary RP (PRP) were included.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Handgrip strength (HGS), a simple tool for the evaluation of muscular strength, is independently associated with negative prognosis in many diseases. It is unknown whether HGS is prognostically relevant in COVID-19. We evaluated the ability of HGS to predict clinical outcomes in people with COVID-19-related pneumonia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: During 2020, circulation of other respiratory viruses was lower than usual. Most likely, as mitigation measures for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were modified, their prevalence in 2021 may have increased.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of common respiratory viruses among patients aged 0-5 years seen at the Emergency Department of a children's hospital in the City of Buenos Aires.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

COVID-19 pandemic forced countries to adopt strategies aimed at responding to the health emergency by containing contagion. Lockdowns have ensured the achievement of this goal but imposed substantial restrictions to the freedom of movement and resulted in social isolation for a large share of vulnerable people. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and associated emergency restriction measures on the quality of life, lifestyle habits, and psychosocial status in older adults.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The misalignment between late chronotypes and early school start times affect health, performance and psychological well-being of adolescents. Here we test whether, and how, the baseline chronotype (i.e.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Mentor relationships are really important for helping women and underrepresented minority scientists stay and succeed in their academic careers.
  • Having a variety of mentors can help these scientists reach their long-term goals and feel supported.
  • This support also boosts diversity and helps everyone feel included in the academic world.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Music is ubiquitous in our lives. Although we listen to music as an activity in and of itself, music is frequently played while we are engaged in other activities that rely on decision-making (e.g.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: To assess the (structural and functional) characteristics of the microvascular and dermal status in juvenile localised scleroderma (jLoS), using novel non-invasive standardised research tools commonly used in adult systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Methods: Ten consecutive patients with a confirmed jLoS diagnosis were studied cross-sectionally in this two-centre case series. For each patient, the most prominent lesion (i.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF