Publications by authors named "Renkui Bai"

Background: Establishing a molecular diagnosis of mitochondrial diseases due to pathogenic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variants can be difficult because of varying levels of tissue heteroplasmy, and identifying these variants is important for clinical management. Here, we present clinical and molecular findings in 8 adult patients with classical features of mitochondrial ophthalmologic and/or muscle disease and multiple mtDNA deletions isolated to muscle.

Methods: The patients were identified via a retrospective review of patients seen in both a tertiary ophthalmology center and a genetics clinic with a clinical diagnosis of chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia, optic nerve abnormalities, and/or mitochondrial myopathy.

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Bi-allelic variants in Iron-Sulfur Cluster Scaffold (NFU1) have previously been associated with multiple mitochondrial dysfunctions syndrome 1 (MMDS1) characterized by early-onset rapidly fatal leukoencephalopathy. We report 19 affected individuals from 10 independent families with ultra-rare bi-allelic NFU1 missense variants associated with a spectrum of early-onset pure to complex hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) phenotype with a longer survival (16/19) on one end and neurodevelopmental delay with severe hypotonia (3/19) on the other. Reversible or irreversible neurological decompensation after a febrile illness was common in the cohort, and there were invariable white matter abnormalities on neuroimaging.

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  • LETM1 is a gene that encodes a protein in the inner mitochondrial membrane involved in regulating mitochondrial volume and ion balance, and its dysfunction is linked to various mitochondrial diseases.
  • Research has discovered 18 individuals from 11 families with rare LETM1 mutations, showing severe symptoms mostly beginning in infancy, such as developmental delays, hearing loss, and neurodegeneration.
  • Further studies in human cells and yeast have shown that these LETM1 mutations can lead to impaired potassium efflux and dysfunctional mitochondria, contributing to the observed neurological issues and other health problems.
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  • - Synonymous variants can disrupt pre-mRNA splicing, leading to disease-causing transcripts, yet are often neglected in genetic testing without further functional data.
  • - The study focuses on a specific synonymous variant (c.327C>T) in the TECTA gene found in seven individuals with hearing loss, which was shown to activate an unintended splicing site.
  • - Results indicate this variant likely causes autosomal recessive hearing loss and appears to be a founder variant among Latinos of African ancestry, highlighting the need for thorough splicing evaluations in identifying genetic diseases.
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ZMYND11 is the critical gene in chromosome 10p15.3 microdeletion syndrome, a syndromic cause of intellectual disability. The phenotype of ZMYND11 variants has recently been extended to autism and seizures.

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Purpose: Reports have questioned the dogma of exclusive maternal transmission of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), including the recent report of an admixture of two mtDNA haplogroups in individuals from three multigeneration families. This was interpreted as being consistent with biparental transmission of mtDNA in an autosomal dominant-like mode. The authenticity and frequency of these findings are debated.

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  • The MT-TL1 gene is crucial for mitochondrial tRNA, and its pathogenic variants can lead to mitochondrial diseases in humans.
  • The m.3250T>C variant in this gene is linked to exercise intolerance and muscle-related conditions, but its disease classification is inconsistent, and its impact on tRNA is still unclear.
  • Research showed that affected patients often have heart issues, particularly hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and some asymptomatic individuals carry the variant, indicating incomplete penetrance, while laboratory studies revealed reduced ATP production in fibroblasts from affected patients.
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Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variant pathogenicity interpretation has special considerations given unique features of the mtDNA genome, including maternal inheritance, variant heteroplasmy, threshold effect, absence of splicing, and contextual effects of haplogroups. Currently, there are insufficient standardized criteria for mtDNA variant assessment, which leads to inconsistencies in clinical variant pathogenicity reporting. An international working group of mtDNA experts was assembled within the Mitochondrial Disease Sequence Data Resource Consortium and obtained Expert Panel status from ClinGen.

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Activation of RIPK1 controls TNF-mediated apoptosis, necroptosis and inflammatory pathways. Cleavage of human and mouse RIPK1 after residues D324 and D325, respectively, by caspase-8 separates the RIPK1 kinase domain from the intermediate and death domains. The D325A mutation in mouse RIPK1 leads to embryonic lethality during mouse development.

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  • * A case study details a 14-year-old boy with severe mitochondrial disease linked to a novel mutation in SSBP1, resulting in various health issues including hearing loss and kidney disease.
  • * The mutation affects the stability and binding ability of the SSBP1 protein, potentially disrupting mtDNA replication and contributing to the observed mitochondrial dysfunction.
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Mitochondrial complex I is encoded by 38 nuclear-encoded and 7 mitochondrial-encoded genes. is one of the 13 additional nuclear genes known as assembly factors. So far, four patients have been described with complex I deficiency caused by autosomal recessive mutations in Here, we report the fifth patient with related complex 1 deficiency presenting with prenatal onset of bilateral periventricular cysts, congenital lactic acidosis, and persistent life-limiting pulmonary hypertension.

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Mitochondrial complex I is encoded by 38 nuclear-encoded and 7 mitochondrial-encoded genes. is one of the 13 additional nuclear genes known as assembly factors. So far, four patients have been described with complex I deficiency caused by autosomal recessive mutations in Here, we report the fifth patient with related complex 1 deficiency presenting with prenatal onset of bilateral periventricular cysts, congenital lactic acidosis, and persistent life-limiting pulmonary hypertension.

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  • - This text discusses a mitochondrial complex IV assembly factor linked to COX2 activation, highlighting a previously known homozygous missense mutation found in two consanguineous families.
  • - Four new cases were reported with symptoms like childhood hypotonia, ataxia, and sensory neuropathy, indicating a broader spectrum of symptoms associated with COX20 deficiency.
  • - Exome sequencing revealed two novel variants disrupting splice donor sites, resulting in the absence of full-length cDNA or protein, supporting the link to COX20 deficiency.
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Mitochondrial dynamics, including mitochondrial division, fusion and transport, are integral parts of mitochondrial and cellular function. DNM1L encodes dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1), a member of the dynamin-related protein family that is required for mitochondrial division. Several de novo mutations in DNM1L are associated with a range of disease states.

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Accurate mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variant annotation is essential for the clinical diagnosis of diverse human diseases. Substantial challenges to this process include the inconsistency in mtDNA nomenclatures, the existence of multiple reference genomes, and a lack of reference population frequency data. Clinicians need a simple bioinformatics tool that is user-friendly, and bioinformaticians need a powerful informatics resource for programmatic usage.

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We report the cases of 2 patients who presented to our Myositis Center with myalgias and elevated creatine kinase levels. Muscle biopsy showed pathological features consistent with mitochondrial myopathy. In both cases, a single large deletion in mitochondrial DNA at low-level heteroplasmy was identified by next-generation sequencing in muscle tissue.

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  • The study identifies four pathogenic mutations in the MRPS34 gene, crucial for mitochondrial ribosomal function, linked to Leigh syndrome and oxidative phosphorylation defects in six patients from four unrelated families.
  • Whole-exome sequencing revealed two splice-site mutations in Italian and Puerto Rican subjects, along with compound heterozygous mutations in a French proband that led to reduced MRPS34 protein levels and impaired mitochondrial translation.
  • The research highlights the importance of MRPS34 for proper mitoribosome performance and demonstrates how advanced proteomic techniques can be utilized to detect specific cellular pathway defects in genetic disorders.
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We describe here two novel mitochondrial mutations associated with a complex mitochondrial encephalopathy. An A to G transition at position 7495 (MT-TS1 (MT-tRNSer(UCN))) was identified at 83% heteroplasmy in the muscle of a four year old female with ptosis, hypotonia, seizures, and dilated cardiomyopathy (Case 1). A homoplasmic C to T transition at position 5577 (MT-TW (MT-tRNATrp)) was found in a twenty-four year old woman with exercise intolerance, mild muscle weakness, hearing loss, seizures, and cognitive decline (Case 2).

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PURA is the leading candidate gene responsible for the developmental phenotype in the 5q31.3 microdeletion syndrome. De novo mutations in PURA were recently reported in 15 individuals with developmental features similar to the 5q31.

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Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) are common, with 1-3% of general population being affected, but the etiology is unknown in most individuals. Clinical whole-exome sequencing (WES) has proven to be a powerful tool for the identification of pathogenic variants leading to Mendelian disorders, among which NDD represent a significant percentage. Performing WES with a trio-approach has proven to be extremely effective in identifying de novo pathogenic variants as a common cause of NDD.

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Exome sequencing is an effective way to identify genetic causes of etiologically heterogeneous conditions such as developmental delay and intellectual disabilities. Using exome sequencing, we have identified four patients with similar phenotypes of developmental delay, intellectual disability, failure to thrive, hypotonia, ataxia, and tooth enamel defects who all have the same de novo R331W missense variant in C-terminal binding protein 1 (CTBP1). CTBP1 is a transcriptional regulator critical for development by coordinating different regulatory pathways.

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Objective: Succinate dehydrogenase-deficient leukoencephalopathy is a complex II-related mitochondrial disorder for which the clinical phenotype, neuroimaging pattern, and genetic findings have not been comprehensively reviewed.

Methods: Nineteen individuals with succinate dehydrogenase deficiency-related leukoencephalopathy were reviewed for neuroradiological, clinical, and genetic findings as part of institutional review board-approved studies at Children's National Health System (Washington, DC) and VU University Medical Center (Amsterdam, the Netherlands).

Results: All individuals had signal abnormalities in the central corticospinal tracts and spinal cord where imaging was available.

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