On the association between Chiari malformation type 1, bone mineral density and bone related genes.

Background: Chiari malformation type 1 (C1M) is a neurological disease characterized by herniation of the cerebellar tonsils below the foramen magnum. Cranial bone constriction is suspected to be its main cause. To date, genes related to bone development (e.

Genetics and Genomics of : Functional Analysis of Variants and Genomic Regulation in Osteoblasts.

encodes the sclerostin protein, which acts as a key extracellular inhibitor of the canonical Wnt pathway in bone, playing a crucial role in skeletal development and bone homeostasis. The objective of this work was to assess the functionality of two variants previously identified (the rare variant rs570754792 and the missense variant p.Val10Ile) and to investigate the physical interactors of the proximal promoter region in bone cells.

Gaucher disease: Biochemical and molecular findings in 141 patients diagnosed in Greece.

Gaucher disease (GD) is characterized by a marked phenotypic and genetic diversity. It is caused by the functional deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme β-glucocerebrosidase (GCase), which in most instances results from mutations in the gene and over 500 different disease causing mutations have been described. We present the biochemical and molecular findings in 141 GD cases (14 were siblings) with the three types of the disorder diagnosed in Greece over the last 35 years.

Neuronal and Astrocytic Differentiation from Sanfilippo C Syndrome iPSCs for Disease Modeling and Drug Development.

Sanfilippo syndrome type C (mucopolysaccharidosis IIIC) is an early-onset neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorder, which is currently untreatable. The vast majority of studies focusing on disease mechanisms of Sanfilippo syndrome were performed on non-neural cells or mouse models, which present obvious limitations. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are an efficient way to model human diseases in vitro.

Functional characterization of the C7ORF76 genomic region, a prominent GWAS signal for osteoporosis in 7q21.3.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have repeatedly identified genetic variants associated with bone mineral density (BMD) and osteoporotic fracture in non-coding regions of C7ORF76, a poorly studied gene of unknown function. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the causality and molecular mechanisms underlying the association. We re-sequenced the genomic region in two extreme BMD groups from the BARCOS cohort of postmenopausal women to search for functionally relevant variants.

Functional Characterization of a GGPPS Variant Identified in Atypical Femoral Fracture Patients and Delineation of the Role of GGPPS in Bone-Relevant Cell Types.

Atypical femoral fractures (AFFs) are a rare but potentially devastating event, often but not always linked to bisphosphonate (BP) therapy. The pathogenic mechanisms underlying AFFs remain obscure, and there are no tests available that might assist in identifying those at high risk of AFF. We previously used exome sequencing to explore the genetic background of three sisters with AFFs and three additional unrelated AFF cases, all previously treated with BPs.

Evaluation of previous substance dependence genome-wide significant findings in a Spanish sample.

Background: Substance dependence is a chronic and relapsing disorder explained by genetic and environmental risk factors. The aim of our study is to replicate previous genome-wide significant (GWS) hits identified in substance dependence in general or in cocaine dependence in particular using an independent sample from Spain.

Methods: We evaluated, in a Spanish sample of 1711 subjects with substance dependence (1011 of them cocaine dependent) and 1719 control individuals, three SNPs identified as GWS in previous studies: rs1868152 and rs2952621 (located near LINC02052 and LINC01854, respectively), associated with substance dependence, and rs2629540 (in the first intron of FAM53B), associated with cocaine dependence.

EXTL2 and EXTL3 inhibition with siRNAs as a promising substrate reduction therapy for Sanfilippo C syndrome.

Sanfilippo syndrome is a rare lysosomal storage disorder caused by an impaired degradation of heparan sulfate (HS). It presents severe and progressive neurodegeneration and currently there is no effective treatment. Substrate reduction therapy (SRT) may be a useful option for neurological disorders of this kind, and several approaches have been tested to date.

Evaluation of Aminoglycoside and Non-Aminoglycoside Compounds for Stop-Codon Readthrough Therapy in Four Lysosomal Storage Diseases.

Nonsense mutations are quite prevalent in inherited diseases. Readthrough drugs could provide a therapeutic option for any disease caused by this type of mutation. Geneticin (G418) and gentamicin were among the first to be described.

The Spectrum of Krabbe Disease in Greece: Biochemical and Molecular Findings.

Krabbe disease is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disease caused by the deficiency of β-galactocerebrosidase. This deficiency results in the impaired degradation of β-galactocerebroside, a major myelin lipid, and of galactosylsphingosine. Based on the age of onset of neurological symptoms, an infantile form (90% patients) and late-onset forms (10% patients) of the disease are recognized.

[Double mutant alleles in the EXT1 gene not previously reported in a teenager with hereditary multiple exostoses].

Hereditary forms of multiple exostoses, now called EXT1/EXT2-CDG within Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation, are the most common benign bone tumors in humans and clinical description consists of the formation of several cartilage-capped bone tumors, usually benign and localized in the juxta-epiphyseal region of long bones, although wide body dissemination in severe cases is not uncommon. Onset of the disease is variable ranging from 2-3 years up to 13-15 years with an estimated incidence ranging from 1/18,000 to 1/50,000 cases in European countries. We present a double mutant alleles in the EXT1 gene not previously reported in a teenager and her family with hereditary multiple exostoses.

Characterisation of two deletions involving NPC1 and flanking genes in Niemann-Pick type C disease patients.

Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease is an autosomal recessive lysosomal disorder characterised by the accumulation of a complex pattern of lipids in the lysosomal-late endosomal system. More than 300 disease-causing mutations have been identified so far in the NPC1 and NPC2 genes, including indel, missense, nonsense and splicing mutations. Only one genomic deletion, of more than 23 kb, has been previously reported.

Glucocerebrosidase mutations confer a greater risk of dementia during Parkinson's disease course.

Mutations in the glucocerebrosidase gene are associated with Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia. However, whether these alterations have any effect on the clinical course of Parkinson's disease is not clear. The glucocerebrosidase coding region was fully sequenced in 225 Parkinson's disease patients, 17 pathologically confirmed Lewy body dementia patients, and 186 controls from Spain.

Identification and functional analyses of CBS alleles in Spanish and Argentinian homocystinuric patients.

Homocystinuria due to CBS deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by elevated plasma levels of homocysteine (Hcy) and methionine (Met). Here we present the analysis of 22 unrelated patients of different geographical origins, mainly Spanish and Argentinian. Twenty-two different mutations were found, 10 of which were novel.

Molecular characterization of a new deletion of the GBA1 gene due to an inter Alu recombination event.

Gaucher disease is the most frequent lysosomal storage disorder due to the autosomal recessive deficiency of acid β-glucosidase. More than 300 mutations in the GBA1 gene have been described. However only one large deletion of the GBA1 gene has been reported to date.

Functional assays testing pathogenicity of 14 cystathionine-beta synthase mutations.

In this study, 14 CBS alleles from homocystinuric patients were expressed heterologously in E. coli and their enzyme activities were assayed in vitro. Additionally, mutant CBS proteins were visualized by Western blot from denaturing and non-denaturing polyacrylamide gels.

Clinical and mutational characterization of three patients with multiple sulfatase deficiency: report of a new splicing mutation.

Multiple sulfatase deficiency (MSD) is a rare autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disease characterized by impaired activity of all known sulfatases. The gene SUMF1, recently identified, encodes the enzyme responsible for post-translational modification of a cysteine residue, which is essential for the activity of sulfatases. Fewer than 30 MSD patients have been reported to date and 23 different mutations in the SUMF1 gene have been identified.