Hyperekplexia is a rare inherited neurologic disorder that is characterized by hypertonia and an exaggerated startle response to sudden external stimuli. Until now, 5 genes are known to be associated with hyperekplexia: GLRA1, SLC6A5, GLRB, GPHN, and ARHGEF9. In this report, we performed a clinical and genetic analysis of 4 Korean children with hyperekplexia. Two patients had typical clinical manifestations of hyperekplexia that initially were misdiagnosed as epilepsy. Direct sequencing of the GLRB and GLRA1 genes revealed 2 novel mutations, GLRB c.298-1G>A and c.1028C>T (p.S343F), in patient 1 and 1 novel mutation, GLRA1 c.895C>T (p.R299X), in patient 2. The other 2 familial cases, patients 3 and 4, exhibited startle responses, which appeared at the age of 1 year, and had global developmental delay. Those patients showed negative results for the 5 genes.
Dioscorea alata, a key tuber crop for global food security, is threatened by anthracnose disease caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. However, identification of functional resistance genes against C. gloeosporioides in D.
Low-frequency non-syndromic hearing loss (LFNSHL) is a rare auditory disorder affecting frequencies ≤ 2000 Hz. To elucidate its genetic basis, we conducted whole-exome sequencing on nine Chinese families (31 affected individuals) with LFNSHL. Four heterozygous pathogenic variants, including two novel variants, were identified in common LFNSHL-related genes (WFS1, DIAPH1) and less common genes (TNC, EYA4), achieving a 44% genetic diagnosis rate.
METTL3, an m6A methyltransferase, is integral to the regulation of messenger RNA (mRNA) biogenesis, degradation, and translation through the N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification. Alterations in m6A homeostasis have been implicated in the development, progression, invasion, and metastasis of certain cancers. The present research aims to examine the consequences of METTL3 knockdown using short hairpin RNA (shRNA) on the proliferation and invasive capabilities of human colorectal and melanoma cancer cell lines.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030, China.
Objective: Endometrial cancer (EC) is the ninth most common malignancy among women. While mutations in JAK2 are frequently observed in EC, the specific biological functions of JAK2 in endometrial cancer are poorly understood.
Methods: The genetic alterations of JAK2 in different cancer types were explored using sequencing dataset deposited at TCGA database.
Increasingly, emerging research evidence has demonstrated that nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a disease closely associated with systemic inflammation. However, the specific upstream inflammatory factors engaged in the pathogenesis of NAFLD remain unclear. Our study aimed to identify the inflammatory regulators causally associated with NAFLD pathogenesis through Mendelian randomisation.
