MDM2 SNP309 and p53 Arg72Pro in cutaneous melanoma: association between SNP309 GG genotype and tumor Breslow thickness.

A functional single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) 309 T/G within mouse double minute 2 (MDM2) gene has been linked to onset and outcome of disease in tumors. Two published studies have shown discordant results regarding the effect of this SNP on age at diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma (CM) in Caucasian female populations. Here, we examined the age at diagnosis and clinical associations of CM with SNP309 and the related polymorphism, p53 Arg72Pro, in an Italian population (249 CM patients and 291 cancer-free controls) composed of women and men.

A novel erythroid anion exchange variant (Gly796Arg) of hereditary stomatocytosis associated with dyserythropoiesis.

Background: Stomatocytoses are a group of inherited autosomal dominant hemolytic anemias and include overhydrated hereditary stomatocytosis, dehydrated hereditary stomatocytosis, hereditary cryohydrocytosis and familial pseudohyperkalemia.

Design And Methods: We report a novel variant of hereditary stomatocytosis due to a de novo band 3 mutation (p. G796R-band3 CEINGE) associated with a dyserythropoietic phenotype.

Beta-spectrinBari: a truncated beta-chain responsible for dominant hereditary spherocytosis.

We describe a beta-spectrin variant, named beta-spectrin Bari, characterized by a truncated chain and associated with hereditary spherocytosis. The clinical phenotype consists of a moderately severe hemolytic anemia, splenomegaly, and spherocytes and acanthocytes in the blood smear. The occurrence of the truncated protein, that represents about 8% of the total beta-spectrin occurring on the membrane, results in a marked spectrin deficiency.

A predicted functional single-nucleotide polymorphism of bone morphogenetic protein-4 gene affects mRNA expression and shows a significant association with cutaneous melanoma in Southern Italian population.

Purpose: An altered expression of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) has been found in malignant melanoma cells. We performed an association study to investigate the effect of putative functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of BMP4 on development of cutaneous melanoma (CM).

Methods: We selected the predicted functional SNPs 6007 C/T (rs17563) and -3445 T/G (rs4898820) by the combination of three computational tools (FASTSNP, F-SNP and SNP Function Portal) plus another tool (SNP@promoter) skilled in identifying SNPs in transcription regulatory regions.

Cytokine gene polymorphisms in Italian preterm infants: association between interleukin-10 -1082 G/A polymorphism and respiratory distress syndrome.

In this study, we determined the genotype frequencies of polymorphisms of cytokine genes and investigated their association with the risk of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in preterm infants. Genetic polymorphisms in the cytokines interleukin (IL)-10, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha, were studied in 342 white Italian newborns (112 without RDS, 66 prematurely born with RDS, and 164 infants born at term who were included as healthy controls). The polymorphisms were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP).