Segmental duplications, which comprise approximately 5%-10% of the human genome, are known to mediate medically relevant deletions, duplications, and inversions through nonallelic homologous recombination (NAHR) and have been suggested to be hot spots in chromosome evolution and human genomic instability. We report seven individuals with microdeletions at 17q23.1q23.2, identified by microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH). Six of the seven deletions are approximately 2.2 Mb in size and flanked by large segmental duplications of >98% sequence identity and in the same orientation. One of the deletions is approximately 2.8 Mb in size and is flanked on the distal side by a segmental duplication, whereas the proximal breakpoint falls between segmental duplications. These characteristics suggest that NAHR mediated six out of seven of these rearrangements. These individuals have common features, including mild to moderate developmental delay (particularly speech delay), microcephaly, postnatal growth retardation, heart defects, and hand, foot, and limb abnormalities. Although all individuals had at least mild dysmorphic facial features, there was no characteristic constellation of features that would elicit clinical suspicion of a specific disorder. The identification of common clinical features suggests that microdeletions at 17q23.1q23.2 constitute a novel syndrome. Furthermore, the inclusion in the minimal deletion region of TBX2 and TBX4, transcription factors belonging to a family of genes implicated in a variety of developmental pathways including those of heart and limb, suggests that these genes may play an important role in the phenotype of this emerging syndrome.

Two dimeric abietane diterpenoids, salviwardins A and B (1 and 2), and a seco-abietane diterpenoid salviwardin C (3), along with five known analogues (4-8), were isolated from the roots of Salvia wardii. The structures of these isolates were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods. The inhibitory activities of these isolates against five human cancer cell lines in vitro were also tested.

Dioscin, a typical steroid saponin, is isolated from Dioscorea nipponica Makino and Dioscorea zingiberensis Wright. It has estrogenic activity and many studies have also reported that dioscorea plants have an effect in preventing and treating osteoporosis. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying their effect on osteoporosis treatment are poorly understood. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the mechanism (s) by which dioscin promotes osteoblastic proliferation and differentiation in mouse pre-osteoblast like MC3T3-E1 cells and human osteoblast-like MG-63 cells.

Early B cell factor 3 (EBF3) is a member of the highly evolutionarily conserved Collier/Olf/EBF (COE) family of transcription factors. Prior studies on invertebrate and vertebrate animals have shown that EBF3 homologs are essential for survival and that loss-of-function mutations are associated with a range of nervous system developmental defects, including perturbation of neuronal development and migration. Interestingly, aristaless-related homeobox (ARX), a homeobox-containing transcription factor critical for the regulation of nervous system development, transcriptionally represses EBF3 expression. However, human neurodevelopmental disorders related to EBF3 have not been reported. Here, we describe three individuals who are affected by global developmental delay, intellectual disability, and expressive speech disorder and carry de novo variants in EBF3. Associated features seen in these individuals include congenital hypotonia, structural CNS malformations, ataxia, and genitourinary abnormalities. The de novo variants affect a single conserved residue in a zinc finger motif crucial for DNA binding and are deleterious in a fly model. Our findings indicate that mutations in EBF3 cause a genetic neurodevelopmental syndrome and suggest that loss of EBF3 function might mediate a subset of neurologic phenotypes shared by ARX-related disorders, including intellectual disability, abnormal genitalia, and structural CNS malformations.

Identification of over 500 epigenetic regulators in humans raises an interesting question regarding how chromatin dysregulation contributes to different diseases. Bromodomain and PHD finger-containing protein 1 (BRPF1) is a multivalent chromatin regulator possessing three histone-binding domains, one non-specific DNA-binding module, and several motifs for interacting with and activating three lysine acetyltransferases. Genetic analyses of fish brpf1 and mouse Brpf1 have uncovered an important role in skeletal, hematopoietic, and brain development, but it remains unclear how BRPF1 is linked to human development and disease. Here, we describe an intellectual disability disorder in ten individuals with inherited or de novo monoallelic BRPF1 mutations. Symptoms include infantile hypotonia, global developmental delay, intellectual disability, expressive language impairment, and facial dysmorphisms. Central nervous system and spinal abnormalities are also seen in some individuals. These clinical features overlap with but are not identical to those reported for persons with KAT6A or KAT6B mutations, suggesting that BRPF1 targets these two acetyltransferases and additional partners in humans. Functional assays showed that the resulting BRPF1 variants are pathogenic and impair acetylation of histone H3 at lysine 23, an abundant but poorly characterized epigenetic mark. We also found a similar deficiency in different lines of Brpf1-knockout mice. These data indicate that aberrations in the chromatin regulator gene BRPF1 cause histone H3 acetylation deficiency and a previously unrecognized intellectual disability syndrome.

We report population findings from newborn screening for biotinidase deficiency in California, representing over 2,000,000 newborns. The incidence of profound deficiency was 1/73,629, higher than in other reported populations. Out of 28 patients with profound biotinidase deficiency, 19 were of Hispanic descent, suggesting an increased frequency among this group. Of the 28 patients, 23 underwent mutation analysis of the BTD gene, with one common mutation, 528G>T, found in 43.3% of Hispanic alleles tested.

We delineated and analyzed directly oriented paralogous low-copy repeats (DP-LCRs) in the most recent version of the human haploid reference genome. The computationally defined DP-LCRs were cross-referenced with our chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) database of 25,144 patients subjected to genome-wide assays. This computationally guided approach to the empirically derived large data set allowed us to investigate genomic rearrangement relative frequencies and identify new loci for recurrent nonallelic homologous recombination (NAHR)-mediated copy-number variants (CNVs). The most commonly observed recurrent CNVs were NPHP1 duplications (233), CHRNA7 duplications (175), and 22q11.21 deletions (DiGeorge/velocardiofacial syndrome, 166). In the ∼25% of CMA cases for which parental studies were available, we identified 190 de novo recurrent CNVs. In this group, the most frequently observed events were deletions of 22q11.21 (48), 16p11.2 (autism, 34), and 7q11.23 (Williams-Beuren syndrome, 11). Several features of DP-LCRs, including length, distance between NAHR substrate elements, DNA sequence identity (fraction matching), GC content, and concentration of the homologous recombination (HR) hot spot motif 5'-CCNCCNTNNCCNC-3', correlate with the frequencies of the recurrent CNVs events. Four novel adjacent DP-LCR-flanked and NAHR-prone regions, involving 2q12.2q13, were elucidated in association with novel genomic disorders. Our study quantitates genome architectural features responsible for NAHR-mediated genomic instability and further elucidates the role of NAHR in human disease.

Meier-Gorlin syndrome (MGS) is a genetically heterogeneous primordial dwarfism syndrome known to be caused by biallelic loss-of-function mutations in one of five genes encoding pre-replication complex proteins: ORC1, ORC4, ORC6, CDT1, and CDC6. Mutations in these genes cause disruption of the origin of DNA replication initiation. To date, only an autosomal-recessive inheritance pattern has been described in individuals with this disorder, with a molecular etiology established in about three-fourths of cases. Here, we report three subjects with MGS and de novo heterozygous mutations in the 5' end of GMNN, encoding the DNA replication inhibitor geminin. We identified two truncating mutations in exon 2 (the 1(st) coding exon), c.16A>T (p.Lys6(∗)) and c.35_38delTCAA (p.Ile12Lysfs(∗)4), and one missense mutation, c.50A>G (p.Lys17Arg), affecting the second-to-last nucleotide of exon 2 and possibly RNA splicing. Geminin is present during the S, G2, and M phases of the cell cycle and is degraded during the metaphase-anaphase transition by the anaphase-promoting complex (APC), which recognizes the destruction box sequence near the 5' end of the geminin protein. All three GMNN mutations identified alter sites 5' to residue Met28 of the protein, which is located within the destruction box. We present data supporting a gain-of-function mechanism, in which the GMNN mutations result in proteins lacking the destruction box and hence increased protein stability and prolonged inhibition of replication leading to autosomal-dominant MGS.

The paradigm of a single gene associated with one specific phenotype and mode of inheritance has been repeatedly challenged. Genotype-phenotype correlations can often be traced to different mutation types, localization of the variants in distinct protein domains, or the trigger of or escape from nonsense-mediated decay. Using whole-exome sequencing, we identified homozygous variants in EMC1 that segregated with a phenotype of developmental delay, hypotonia, scoliosis, and cerebellar atrophy in three families. In addition, a de novo heterozygous EMC1 variant was seen in an individual with a similar clinical and MRI imaging phenotype. EMC1 encodes a member of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-membrane protein complex (EMC), an evolutionarily conserved complex that has been proposed to have multiple roles in ER-associated degradation, ER-mitochondria tethering, and proper assembly of multi-pass transmembrane proteins. Perturbations of protein folding and organelle crosstalk have been implicated in neurodegenerative processes including cerebellar atrophy. We propose EMC1 as a gene in which either biallelic or monoallelic variants might lead to a syndrome including intellectual disability and preferential degeneration of the cerebellum.

The WRKY gene family plays an important role in the development and stress responses in plants. As information is not available on the WRKY gene family in Musa species, genome-wide analysis has been carried out in this study using available genomic information from two species, Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. Analysis identified 147 and 132 members of the WRKY gene family in M. acuminata and M. balbisiana, respectively. Evolutionary analysis suggests that the WRKY gene family expanded much before the speciation in both the species. Most of the orthologs retained in two species were from the γ duplication event which occurred prior to α and β genome-wide duplication (GWD) events. Analysis also suggests that subtle changes in nucleotide sequences during the course of evolution have led to the development of new motifs which might be involved in neo-functionalization of different WRKY members in two species. Expression and cis-regulatory motif analysis suggest possible involvement of Group II and Group III WRKY members during various stresses and growth/development including fruit ripening process respectively.

Persons with neurodevelopmental disorders or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often harbor chromosomal microdeletions, yet the individual genetic contributors within these regions have not been systematically evaluated. We established a consortium of clinical diagnostic and research laboratories to accumulate a large cohort with genetic alterations of chromosomal region 2q23.1 and acquired 65 subjects with microdeletion or translocation. We sequenced translocation breakpoints; aligned microdeletions to determine the critical region; assessed effects on mRNA expression; and examined medical records, photos, and clinical evaluations. We identified a single gene, methyl-CpG-binding domain 5 (MBD5), as the only locus that defined the critical region. Partial or complete deletion of MBD5 was associated with haploinsufficiency of mRNA expression, intellectual disability, epilepsy, and autistic features. Fourteen alterations, including partial deletions of noncoding regions not typically captured or considered pathogenic by current diagnostic screening, disrupted MBD5 alone. Expression profiles and clinical characteristics were largely indistinguishable between MBD5-specific alteration and deletion of the entire 2q23.1 interval. No copy-number alterations of MBD5 were observed in 7878 controls, suggesting MBD5 alterations are highly penetrant. We surveyed MBD5 coding variations among 747 ASD subjects compared to 2043 non-ASD subjects analyzed by whole-exome sequencing and detected an association with a highly conserved methyl-CpG-binding domain missense variant, p.79Gly>Glu (c.236G>A) (p = 0.012). These results suggest that genetic alterations of MBD5 cause features of 2q23.1 microdeletion syndrome and that this epigenetic regulator significantly contributes to ASD risk, warranting further consideration in research and clinical diagnostic screening and highlighting the importance of chromatin remodeling in the etiology of these complex disorders.

The proto-oncoprotein Raf is pivotal for mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling, and its aberrant activation has been implicated in multiple human cancers. However, the precise molecular mechanism of Raf activation, especially for B-Raf, remains unresolved. By genetic and biochemical studies, we demonstrate that phosphorylation of tyrosine 510 is essential for activation of Drosophila Raf (Draf), which is an ortholog of mammalian B-Raf. Y510 of Draf is phosphorylated by the c-src homolog Src64B. Acidic substitution of Y510 promotes and phenylalanine substitution impairs Draf activation without affecting its enzymatic activity, suggesting that Y510 plays a purely regulatory role. We further show that Y510 regulates Draf activation by affecting the autoinhibitory interaction between the N- and C-terminal fragments of the protein. Finally, we show that Src64B is required for Draf activation in several developmental processes. Together, these results suggest a novel mechanism of Raf activation via Src-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation. Since Y510 is a conserved residue in the kinase domain of all Raf proteins, this mechanism is likely evolutionarily conserved.

The Drosophila glucoside xylosyltransferase Shams xylosylates Notch and inhibits Notch signaling in specific contexts including wing vein development. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying context-specificity of the shams phenotype is not known. Considering the role of Delta-Notch signaling in wing vein formation, we hypothesized that Shams might affect Delta-mediated Notch signaling in Drosophila. Using genetic interaction studies, we find that altering the gene dosage of Delta affects the wing vein and head bristle phenotypes caused by loss of Shams or by mutations in the Notch xylosylation sites. Clonal analysis suggests that loss of shams promotes Delta-mediated Notch activation. Further, Notch trans-activation by ectopically overexpressed Delta shows a dramatic increase upon loss of shams. In agreement with the above in vivo observations, cell aggregation and ligand-receptor binding assays show that shams knock-down in Notch-expressing cells enhances the binding between Notch and trans-Delta without affecting the binding between Notch and trans-Serrate and cell surface levels of Notch. Loss of Shams does not impair the cis-inhibition of Notch by ectopic overexpression of ligands in vivo or the interaction of Notch and cis-ligands in S2 cells. Nevertheless, removing one copy of endogenous ligands mimics the effects of loss shams on Notch trans-activation by ectopic Delta. This favors the notion that trans-activation of Notch by Delta overcomes the cis-inhibition of Notch by endogenous ligands upon loss of shams. Taken together, our data suggest that xylosylation selectively impedes the binding of Notch with trans-Delta without affecting its binding with cis-ligands and thereby assists in determining the balance of Notch receptor's response to cis-ligands vs. trans-Delta during Drosophila development.

Interferon regulatory factor 2 binding protein-like (IRF2BPL) encodes a member of the IRF2BP family of transcriptional regulators. Currently the biological function of this gene is obscure, and the gene has not been associated with a Mendelian disease. Here we describe seven individuals who carry damaging heterozygous variants in IRF2BPL and are affected with neurological symptoms. Five individuals who carry IRF2BPL nonsense variants resulting in a premature stop codon display severe neurodevelopmental regression, hypotonia, progressive ataxia, seizures, and a lack of coordination. Two additional individuals, both with missense variants, display global developmental delay and seizures and a relatively milder phenotype than those with nonsense alleles. The IRF2BPL bioinformatics signature based on population genomics is consistent with a gene that is intolerant to variation. We show that the fruit-fly IRF2BPL ortholog, called pits (protein interacting with Ttk69 and Sin3A), is broadly detected, including in the nervous system. Complete loss of pits is lethal early in development, whereas partial knockdown with RNA interference in neurons leads to neurodegeneration, revealing a requirement for this gene in proper neuronal function and maintenance. The identified IRF2BPL nonsense variants behave as severe loss-of-function alleles in this model organism, and ectopic expression of the missense variants leads to a range of phenotypes. Taken together, our results show that IRF2BPL and pits are required in the nervous system in humans and flies, and their loss leads to a range of neurological phenotypes in both species.

In multicellular organisms, glycosylation regulates various developmental signaling pathways including the Notch pathway. One of the O-linked glycans added to epidermal growth factor-like (EGF) repeats in animal proteins including the Notch receptors is the xylose-xylose-glucose-O oligosaccharide. Drosophila glucoside xylosyltransferase (Gxylt) Shams negatively regulates Notch signaling in specific contexts. Since Shams adds the first xylose residue to O-glucose, its loss-of-function phenotype could be due to the loss of the first xylose, the second xylose or both. To examine the contribution of the second xylose residues to Drosophila Notch signaling, we have performed biochemical and genetic analysis on CG11388, which is the Drosophila homolog of human xyloside xylosyltransferase 1 (XXYLT1). Experiments in S2 cells indicated that similar to human XXYLT1, CG11388 can add the second xylose to xylose-glucose-O glycans. Flies lacking both copies of CG11388 (Xxylt) are viable and fertile and do not show gross phenotypes indicative of altered Notch signaling. However, genetic interaction experiments show that in sensitized genetic backgrounds with decreased or increased Notch pathway components, loss of Xxylt promotes Delta-mediated activation of Notch. Unexpectedly, we find that in such sensitized backgrounds, even loss of one copy of the fly Gxylt shams enhances Delta-mediated Notch activation. Taken together, these data indicate that while the first xylose plays a key role in tuning the Delta-mediated Notch signaling in Drosophila, the second xylose has a fine-tuning role only revealed in sensitized genetic backgrounds.

Inherited GPI deficiencies (IGDs) are a subset of congenital disorders of glycosylation that are increasingly recognized as a result of advances in whole-exome sequencing (WES) and whole-genome sequencing (WGS). IGDs cause a series of overlapping phenotypes consisting of seizures, dysmorphic features, multiple congenital malformations, and severe intellectual disability. We present a study of six individuals from three unrelated families in which WES or WGS identified bi-allelic phosphatidylinositol glycan class S (PIGS) biosynthesis mutations. Phenotypes included severe global developmental delay, seizures (partly responding to pyridoxine), hypotonia, weakness, ataxia, and dysmorphic facial features. Two of them had compound-heterozygous variants c.108G>A (p.Trp36∗) and c.101T>C (p.Leu34Pro), and two siblings of another family were homozygous for a deletion and insertion leading to p.Thr439_Lys451delinsArgLeuLeu. The third family had two fetuses with multiple joint contractures consistent with fetal akinesia. They were compound heterozygous for c.923A>G (p.Glu308Gly) and c.468+1G>C, a splicing mutation. Flow-cytometry analyses demonstrated that the individuals with PIGS mutations show a GPI-AP deficiency profile. Expression of the p.Trp36∗ variant in PIGS-deficient HEK293 cells revealed only partial restoration of cell-surface GPI-APs. In terms of both biochemistry and phenotype, loss of function of PIGS shares features with PIGT deficiency and other IGDs. This study contributes to the understanding of the GPI-AP biosynthesis pathway by describing the consequences of PIGS disruption in humans and extending the family of IGDs.

Combination of photodynamic therapy and chemotherapy has been emerging as a new strategy for cancer treatment. Conventional photosensitizer tends to aggregate in aqueous media, which causes fluorescence quenching, reduces reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and limits its clinical application to photodynamic therapy. Traditional nanoparticle drug delivery system for chemotherapy also has its disadvantages, such as low drug loading content, drug leakage, and off-target toxicity for normal tissues. Here, we developed a reduction-sensitive co-delivery micelles TB@PMP for combinational therapy, which composed of entrapping a red aggregation-induced emission fluorogen (AIEgen) for photodynamic therapy and PMP that contains a reduction-sensitive paclitaxel polymeric prodrug for chemotherapy. AIEgen photosensitizer illustrates a much improved photostability and ROS production efficiency in aggregate state and PMP loads a high dose of paclitaxel and carries a smart stimuli-triggered drug release property. This co-delivery system provides a better option that replaces AIEgen photosensitizer for cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Accumulative evidence showed that gut microbiota was important in regulating the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Hugan Qingzhi tablet (HQT), a lipid-lowering and anti-inflammatory medicinal formula, has been used to prevent and treat NAFLD. However, its mechanism of action is unknown. The aim of this study was to confirm whether HQT reversed the gut microbiota dysbiosis in NAFLD rats.

Exon-targeted microarrays can detect small (<1000 bp) intragenic copy number variants (CNVs), including those that affect only a single exon. This genome-wide high-sensitivity approach increases the molecular diagnosis for conditions with known disease-associated genes, enables better genotype-phenotype correlations, and facilitates variant allele detection allowing novel disease gene discovery.

ABL1 is a proto-oncogene well known as part of the fusion gene BCR-ABL1 in the Philadelphia chromosome of leukemia cancer cells. Inherited germline ABL1 changes have not been associated with genetic disorders. Here we report ABL1 germline variants cosegregating with an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by congenital heart disease, skeletal abnormalities, and failure to thrive. The variant c.734A>G (p.Tyr245Cys) was found to occur de novo or cosegregate with disease in five individuals (families 1-3). Additionally, a de novo c.1066G>A (p.Ala356Thr) variant was identified in a sixth individual (family 4). We overexpressed the mutant constructs in HEK 293T cells and observed increased tyrosine phosphorylation, suggesting increased ABL1 kinase activities associated with both the p.Tyr245Cys and p.Ala356Thr substitutions. Our clinical and experimental findings, together with previously reported teratogenic effects of selective BCR-ABL inhibitors in humans and developmental defects in Abl1 knockout mice, suggest that ABL1 has an important role during organismal development.