A Novel Hemoglobin Variant Hb Liaobu [α107(G14)Val→Leu, : c.322G>C] Detected by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry.

We here describe a novel hemoglobin (Hb) variant, Hb Liaobu [α107(G14)Val→Leu, : c.322G>C], in a Chinese family. The structurally abnormal α chain variant could not be detected using capillary electrophoresis (CE) and was subsequently characterized by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS), and further confirmed by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

C1orf194 deficiency leads to incomplete early embryonic lethality and dominant intermediate Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease in a knockout mouse model.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is the most common inherited peripheral neuropathy and shows clinical and genetic heterogeneity. Mutations in C1orf194 encoding a Ca2+ regulator in neurons and Schwann cells have been reported previously by us to cause CMT disease. In here, we further investigated the function and pathogenic mechanism of C1or194 by generating C1orf194 knockout (KO) mice.

Anterograde Viral Tracer Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Strain H129 Transports Primarily as Capsids in Cortical Neuron Axons.

The features of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) strain 129 (H129), including natural neurotropism and anterograde transneuronal trafficking, make it a potential tool for anterograde neural circuitry tracing. Recently anterograde polysynaptic and monosynaptic tracers were developed from H129 and have been applied for the identification of novel connections and functions of different neural circuitries. However, how H129 viral particles are transported in neurons, especially those of the central nervous system, remains unclear.

[Congenital ectrodactyly caused by chromosome 10q24.31 duplication and its pathogenetic analysis].

In order to investigate the genetic variations and the clinical manifestations of a range of congenital ectrodactyly family and to summarize the split hand/foot malformation (SHFM) types and their related pathogenic genes, we conducted phenotypic analyses of patient's limbs by physical and X-ray examination. The haplotypes were analyzed by using the extracted genes from peripheral blood on D10S1709, D10S192, D10S597, D10S1693 and D10S587 loci, and the mutation duplication loci were confirmed by Array-CGH detection. The pathogenic factors and inheritance pattern of SHFM were analyzed based on family investigation and gene analysis.

[Effect of genetic modifiers on the clinical severity of β-thalassemia].

β-thalassemia (β-thal) is a fatal and disabling inherited blood disorder with diverse phenotypes. The same or similar genotype of β-thal can manifest variable clinical severities. It is the hotspot and emphasis in the field of hematopathy and genetic diseases to explore genetic modifiers that influence the phenotype of β-thal.

Mutations in C1orf194, encoding a calcium regulator, cause dominant Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is a hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy exhibiting great clinical and genetic heterogeneity. Here, the identification of two heterozygous missense mutations in the C1orf194 gene at 1p21.2-p13.

Analysis of variants in upstream open reading frames of human globin-related genes.

β-thalassemia is an autosomal recessive monogenic disease that is caused by defects in the production of β-like globin chains. Activation of γ-globin gene and the increase in fetal hemoglobin expression have been demonstrated as one of the most important factors to ameliorate the clinical outcome of β-thalassemia patients. In this study, 202 genes or miRNAs associated with human hemoglobin gene expression from 1802 β-thalassemia patients were analyzed with target capture and next generation sequencing strategies in terms of functional variants that might affect hemoglobin gene expression.

Multimodal Estimation of Distribution Algorithms.

Taking the advantage of estimation of distribution algorithms (EDAs) in preserving high diversity, this paper proposes a multimodal EDA. Integrated with clustering strategies for crowding and speciation, two versions of this algorithm are developed, which operate at the niche level. Then these two algorithms are equipped with three distinctive techniques: 1) a dynamic cluster sizing strategy; 2) an alternative utilization of Gaussian and Cauchy distributions to generate offspring; and 3) an adaptive local search.

Evaluation and comparison of three assays for molecular detection of spinal muscular atrophy.

Background: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is mainly caused by deletions in SMA-related genes. The objective of this study was to develop gene-dosage assays for diagnosing SMA.

Methods: A multiplex, quantitative PCR assay and a CNVplex assay were developed for determining the copy number of SMN1, SMN2, and NAIP.

Molecular characterization and copy number of SMN1, SMN2 and NAIP in Chinese patients with spinal muscular atrophy and unrelated healthy controls.

Background: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is caused by SMN1 dysfunction, and the copy number of SMN2 and NAIP can modify the phenotype of SMA. The aim of this study was to analyze the copy numbers and gene structures of SMA-related genes in Chinese SMA patients and unrelated healthy controls.

Methods: Forty-two Chinese SMA patients and two hundred and twelve unrelated healthy Chinese individuals were enrolled in our study.

DNA hypermethylation and X chromosome inactivation are major determinants of phenotypic variation in women heterozygous for G6PD mutations.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is an X-linked incompletely dominant enzyme deficiency that results from G6PD gene mutations. Women heterozygous for G6PD mutations exhibit variation in the loss of enzyme activity but the cause of this phenotypic variation is unclear. We determined DNA methylation and X-inactivation patterns in 71 G6PD-deficient female heterozygotes and 68 G6PD non-deficient controls with the same missense mutations (G6PD Canton c.

A novel COL7A1 gene mutation causing pretibial epidermolysis bullosa: report of a Chinese family with intra-familial phenotypical diversity.

Pretibial epidermolysis bullosa (PEB) is an extremely rare subtype of dominant dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DDEB) caused by mutation of the COL7A1 gene. More than 730 mutations have been identified in patients with DDEB, but only five mutations have been found to be related to PEB. In this study, a novel heterozygous nucleotide G>T transition at position 6101 in exon 73 of COL7A1 was detected, which resulted in a glycine to valine substitution (G2034V) in the triple-helical domain of type-VII collagen.

[Analysis of clinical phenotypes of compound heterozygotes of Hb J-Bangkok and β-thalassemia].

Objective: To analyze hematological characteristics of compound heterozygotes of Hb J-Bangkok and β-thalassemia, and to explore the influence of Hb J-Bangkok on the phenotype of β-thalassemia.

Methods: Peripheral blood samples from a patient carrying Hb J-Bangkok and a β-thalassemia mutation, her family members and three sporadic Hb J-Bangkok carriers were collected. RBC analysis and hemoglobin electrophoresis were performed.

Evidence of recent natural selection on the Southeast Asian deletion (--(SEA)) causing α-thalassemia in South China.

Background: The Southeast Asian deletion (--(SEA)) is the most commonly observed mutation among diverse α-thalassemia alleles in Southeast Asia and South China. It is generally argued that mutation --(SEA), like other variants causing hemoglobin disorders, is associated with protection against malaria that is endemic in these regions. However, little evidence has been provided to support this claim.

A novel fusion gene and a common α(0)-thalassemia deletion cause hemoglobin H disease in a Chinese family.

Genetic recombination has been implicated as a mechanism that drives mutagenesis in the human globin gene clusters, either as a result of unequal crossover or gene conversion. In this paper, a novel fusion gene was identified in a Chinese girl with hemoglobin H disease. The proband's father was a compound heterozygote for the common -α(4.

[Analysis of hematological characteristics on the 79 co-inheritance of α-thalassemia and β-thalassemia carriers in Guangxi].

Objective: To investigate the hematological characteristics of co-inheritance of α-thalassemia (α-thal) and β-thalassemia (β-thal) and to survey the incidence of co-inheritance of α-thal and β-thal in Guangxi.

Methods: DNA samples from 370 primary and middle school students who were β-thal carriers in Guangxi were further processed for the α-goblin gene mutation screening, and were grouped based on the genotype of β- and α-goblin gene. The hematological indexes to the different groups were compared by One-way ANOVA.

Rapid determination of human globin chains using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.

Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) of human globin chains is an important tool for detecting thalassemias and hemoglobin variants. The challenges of this method that limit its clinical application are a long analytical time and complex sample preparation. The aim of this study was to establish a simple, rapid and high-resolution RP-HPLC method for the separation of globin chains in human blood.

A quantitative assay to detect α-thalassemia deletions and triplications using multiplex nested real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

Increasing evidence indicates that copy number variants (CNVs) have great relevance to common human diseases. In α-thalassemia, clinical phenotypes are related to genotypes, specifically copy number changes in the human α-globin gene cluster. Assays are available for high-throughput screening of unknown CNVs genome-wide and also for targeted CNV genotyping at loci associated with genetic disorders.

[Large-scale population-based genetic screening and prenatal diagnosis for thalassemias in Zhuhai City of Guangdong Province].

Objective: To report the results of preventive control program of severe thalassemias in Zhuhai City of Guangdong Province from 1998 to 2010.

Methods: As the guide centre of marriage and childbearing and the greatest maternity hospital in Zhuhai City of Guangdong Province, Zhuhai Municipal Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital constructed the genetic screening network for thalassemias testing and referred for follow-up and for genetic counseling. The couples for premarital medical examination or regular healthcare examination in pregnancy were enrolled to this preventive control program.

Reliable detection of paternal SNPs within deletion breakpoints for non-invasive prenatal exclusion of homozygous α-thalassemia in maternal plasma.

Reliable detection of large deletions from cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) in maternal plasma is challenging, especially when both parents have the same deletion owing to a lack of specific markers for fetal genotyping. In order to evaluate the efficacy of a non-invasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD) test to exclude α-thalassemia major that uses SNPs linked to the normal paternal α-globin allele, we established a novel protocol to reliably detect paternal SNPs within the (--(SEA)) breakpoints and performed evaluation of the diagnostic potential of the protocol in a total of 67 pregnancies, in whom plasma samples were collected prior to invasive obstetrics procedures in southern China. A group of nine SNPs identified within the deletion breakpoints were scanned to select the informative SNPs in each of the 67 couples DNA by multiplex PCR based mini-sequencing technique.

Mutation analysis of 73 southern Chinese Wilson's disease patients: identification of 10 novel mutations and its clinical correlation.

This study was designed to investigate the molecular basis and the correlation between genotype and phenotype in the southern Chinese patients with Wilson's disease (WD). Genotypes of the ATP7B gene in 73 WD patients were examined by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and DNA sequencing. A total of 38 different disease-causing mutations were identified, including 10 novel mutations: missense mutations (p.