Paediatrics (RCH) - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableDe novo enhancer deletion of LMX1B produces a mild nail-patella clinical phenotype(WILEY, 2024-02)Critical genes involved in embryonic development are often transcription factors, regulating many downstream genes. LMX1B is a homeobox gene that is involved in formation of the limbs, eyes and kidneys, heterozygous loss-of-function sequence variants and deletions cause Nail-Patella syndrome. Most of the reported variants are localised within the gene's coding sequence, however, approximately 5%-10% of affected individuals do not have a pathogenic variant identified within this region. In this study, we present a family with four affected individuals across two generations with a deletion spanning a conserved upstream LMX1B-binding sequence. This deletion is de novo in the mother of three affected children. Furthermore, in this family, the manifestations appear limited to the nails and limbs, and therefore may reflect an attenuated phenotype of the classic Nail-Patella phenotype that includes ophthalmological and renal manifestations.
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ItemComparing saliva and blood for the detection of mosaic genomic abnormalities that cause syndromic intellectual disability(SPRINGERNATURE, 2023-05)We aimed to determine whether SNP-microarray genomic testing of saliva had a greater diagnostic yield than blood for pathogenic copy number variants (CNVs). We selected patients who underwent CMA testing of both blood and saliva from 23,289 blood and 21,857 saliva samples. Our cohort comprised 370 individuals who had testing of both, 224 with syndromic intellectual disability (ID) and 146 with isolated ID. Mosaic pathogenic CNVs or aneuploidy were detected in saliva but not in blood in 20/370 (4.4%). All 20 individuals had syndromic ID, accounting for 9.1% of the syndromic ID sub-cohort. Pathogenic CNVs were large in size (median of 46 Mb), and terminal in nature, with median mosaicism of 27.5% (not exceeding 40%). By contrast, non-mosaic pathogenic CNVs were 100% concordant between blood and saliva, considerably smaller in size (median of 0.65 Mb), and predominantly interstitial in location. Given that salivary microarray testing has increased diagnostic utility over blood in individuals with syndromic ID, we recommend it as a first-tier testing in this group.
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ItemHistone H3.3 phosphorylation promotes heterochromatin formation by inhibiting H3K9/K36 histone demethylase(OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2022-05-06)Histone H3.3 is an H3 variant which differs from the canonical H3.1/2 at four residues, including a serine residue at position 31 which is evolutionarily conserved. The H3.3 S31 residue is phosphorylated (H3.3 S31Ph) at heterochromatin regions including telomeres and pericentric repeats. However, the role of H3.3 S31Ph in these regions remains unknown. In this study, we find that H3.3 S31Ph regulates heterochromatin accessibility at telomeres during replication through regulation of H3K9/K36 histone demethylase KDM4B. In mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells, substitution of S31 with an alanine residue (H3.3 A31 -phosphorylation null mutant) results in increased KDM4B activity that removes H3K9me3 from telomeres. In contrast, substitution with a glutamic acid (H3.3 E31, mimics S31 phosphorylation) inhibits KDM4B, leading to increased H3K9me3 and DNA damage at telomeres. H3.3 E31 expression also increases damage at other heterochromatin regions including the pericentric heterochromatin and Y chromosome-specific satellite DNA repeats. We propose that H3.3 S31Ph regulation of KDM4B is required to control heterochromatin accessibility of repetitive DNA and preserve chromatin integrity.
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ItemRestricted cell cycle is essential for clonal evolution and therapeutic resistance of pre-leukemic stem cells(NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, 2018-08-30)Pre-leukemic stem cells (pre-LSCs) give rise to leukemic stem cells through acquisition of additional gene mutations and are an important source of relapse following chemotherapy. We postulated that cell-cycle kinetics of pre-LSCs may be an important determinant of clonal evolution and therapeutic resistance. Using a doxycycline-inducible H2B-GFP transgene in a mouse model of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia to study cell cycle in vivo, we show that self-renewal, clonal evolution and therapeutic resistance are limited to a rare population of pre-LSCs with restricted cell cycle. We show that proliferative pre-LSCs are unable to return to a cell cycle-restricted state. Cell cycle-restricted pre-LSCs have activation of p53 and its downstream cell-cycle inhibitor p21. Furthermore, absence of p21 leads to proliferation of pre-LSCs, with clonal extinction through loss of asymmetric cell division and terminal differentiation. Thus, inducing proliferation of pre-LSCs represents a promising strategy to increase cure rates for acute leukemia.
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ItemStreptavidin-Binding Peptide (SBP)-tagged SMC2 allows single-step affinity fluorescence, blotting or purification of the condensin complex(BMC, 2010-12-31)BACKGROUND: Cell biologists face the need to rapidly analyse their proteins of interest in order to gain insight into their function. Often protein purification, cellular localisation and Western blot analyses can be multi-step processes, where protein is lost, activity is destroyed or effective antibodies have not yet been generated. AIM: To develop a method that simplifies the critical protein analytical steps of the laboratory researcher, leading to easy, efficient and rapid protein purification, cellular localisation and quantification. RESULTS: We have tagged the SMC2 subunit of the condensin complex with the Streptavidin-Binding Peptide (SBP), optimising and demonstrating the efficacious use of this tag for performing these protein analytical steps. Based on silver staining, and Western analysis, SBP delivered an outstanding specificity and purity of the condensin complex. We also developed a rapid and highly specific procedure to localise SBP-tagged proteins in cells in a single step procedure thus bypassing the need for using antibodies. Furthermore we have shown that the SBP tag can be used for isolating tagged proteins from chemically cross-linked cell populations for capturing DNA-protein interactions. CONCLUSIONS: The small 38-amino acid synthetic SBP offers the potential to successfully perform all four critical analytical procedures as a single step and should have a general utility for the study of many proteins and protein complexes.
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ItemInherent promoter bidirectionality facilitates maintenance of sequence integrity and transcription of parasitic DNA in mammalian genomes(BIOMED CENTRAL LTD, 2009-10-27)BACKGROUND: Many mammalian genes are arranged in a bidirectional manner, sharing a common promoter and regulatory elements. This is especially true for promoters containing a CpG island, usually unmethylated and associated with an 'open' or accessible chromatin structure. In evolutionary terms, a primary function of genomic methylation is postulated to entail protection of the host genome from the disruption associated with activity of parasitic or transposable elements. These are usually epigenetically silenced following insertion into mammalian genomes, becoming sequence degenerate over time. Despite this, it is clear that many transposable element-derived DNAs have evaded host-mediated epigenetic silencing to remain expressed (domesticated) in mammalian genomes, several of which have demonstrated essential roles during mammalian development. RESULTS: The current study provides evidence that many CpG island-associated promoters associated with single genes exhibit inherent bidirectionality, facilitating "hijack" by transposable elements to create novel antisense 'head-to-head' bidirectional gene pairs in the genome that facilitates escape from host-mediated epigenetic silencing. This is often associated with an increase in CpG island length and transcriptional activity in the antisense direction. From a list of over 60 predicted protein-coding genes derived from transposable elements in the human genome and 40 in the mouse, we have found that a significant proportion are orientated in a bidirectional manner with CpG associated regulatory regions. CONCLUSION: These data strongly suggest that the selective force that shields endogenous CpG-containing promoter from epigenetic silencing can extend to exogenous foreign DNA elements inserted in close proximity in the antisense orientation, with resulting transcription and maintenance of sequence integrity of such elements in the host genome. Over time, this may result in "domestication" of such elements to provide novel cellular and developmental functions.
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ItemContribution of the Two Genes Encoding Histone Variant H3.3 to Viability and Fertility in Mice(PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE, 2015-02)Histones package DNA and regulate epigenetic states. For the latter, probably the most important histone is H3. Mammals have three near-identical H3 isoforms: canonical H3.1 and H3.2, and the replication-independent variant H3.3. This variant can accumulate in slowly dividing somatic cells, replacing canonical H3. Some replication-independent histones, through their ability to incorporate outside S-phase, are functionally important in the very slowly dividing mammalian germ line. Much remains to be learned of H3.3 functions in germ cell development. Histone H3.3 presents a unique genetic paradigm in that two conventional intron-containing genes encode the identical protein. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of the developmental effects of null mutations in each of these genes. H3f3a mutants were viable to adulthood. Females were fertile, while males were subfertile with dysmorphic spermatozoa. H3f3b mutants were growth-deficient, dying at birth. H3f3b heterozygotes were also growth-deficient, with males being sterile because of arrest of round spermatids. This sterility was not accompanied by abnormalities in sex chromosome inactivation in meiosis I. Conditional ablation of H3f3b at the beginning of folliculogenesis resulted in zygote cleavage failure, establishing H3f3b as a maternal-effect gene, and revealing a requirement for H3.3 in the first mitosis. Simultaneous ablation of H3f3a and H3f3b in folliculogenesis resulted in early primary oocyte death, demonstrating a crucial role for H3.3 in oogenesis. These findings reveal a heavy reliance on H3.3 for growth, gametogenesis, and fertilization, identifying developmental processes that are particularly susceptible to H3.3 deficiency. They also reveal partial redundancy in function of H3f3a and H3f3b, with the latter gene being generally the most important.
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ItemActive centromere and chromosome identification in fixed cell lines(BMC, 2016-03-22)BACKGROUND: The centromere plays a crucial role in ensuring the fidelity of chromosome segregation during cell divisions. However, in cancer and constitutional disorders, the presence of more than one active centromere on a chromosome may be a contributing factor to chromosome instability and could also have predictive value in disease progression, making the detection of properly functioning centromeres important. Thus far, antibodies that are widely used for functional centromere detection mainly work on freshly harvested cells whereas most cytogenetic samples are stored long-term in methanol-acetic acid fixative. Hence, we aimed to identify antibodies that would recognise active centromere antigens on methanol-acetic acid fixed cells. RESULTS: A panel of active centromere protein antibodies was tested and we found that a rabbit monoclonal antibody against human CENP-C recognises the active centromeres of cells fixed in methanol-acetic acid. We then tested and compared combinations of established methods namely centromere fluorescence in situ hybridisation (cenFISH), centromere protein immunofluorescence (CENP-IF) and multicolour FISH (mFISH), and showed the usefulness of CENP-IF together with cenFISH followed by mFISH (CENP-IF-cenFISH-mFISH) with the aforementioned anti-CENP-C antibody. We further demonstrated the utility of our method in two cancer cell lines with high proportion of centromere defects namely neocentromere and functional dicentric. CONCLUSIONS: We propose the incorporation of the CENP-IF-cenFISH-mFISH method using a commercially available rabbit monoclonal anti-CENP-C into established methods such as dicentric chromosome assay (DCA), prenatal karyotype screening in addition to constitutional and cancer karyotyping. This method will provide a more accurate assessment of centromere abnormality status in chromosome instability disorders.
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ItemCentromere protein B null mice are mitotically and meiotically normal but have lower body and testis weights(ROCKEFELLER UNIV PRESS, 1998-04-20)CENP-B is a constitutive centromere DNA-binding protein that is conserved in a number of mammalian species and in yeast. Despite this conservation, earlier cytological and indirect experimental studies have provided conflicting evidence concerning the role of this protein in mitosis. The requirement of this protein in meiosis has also not previously been described. To resolve these uncertainties, we used targeted disruption of the Cenpb gene in mouse to study the functional significance of this protein in mitosis and meiosis. Male and female Cenpb null mice have normal body weights at birth and at weaning, but these subsequently lag behind those of the heterozygous and wild-type animals. The weight and sperm content of the testes of Cenpb null mice are also significantly decreased. Otherwise, the animals appear developmentally and reproductively normal. Cytogenetic fluorescence-activated cell sorting and histological analyses of somatic and germline tissues revealed no abnormality. These results indicate that Cenpb is not essential for mitosis or meiosis, although the observed weight reduction raises the possibility that Cenpb deficiency may subtly affect some aspects of centromere assembly and function, and result in reduced rate of cell cycle progression, efficiency of microtubule capture, and/or chromosome movement. A model for a functional redundancy of this protein is presented.
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ItemAn improved Diagnostic PCR Assay for identification of Cryptic Heterozygosity for CGG Triplet Repeat Alleles in the Fragile X Gene (FMR1)(BIOMED CENTRAL LTD, 2008)BACKGROUND: Fragile X syndrome (OMIM #300624) is the most common, recognised, heritable cause of mental retardation. Widespread testing is warranted by the relatively high frequency of the disorder, the benefits of early detection and the identification of related carriers whose offspring are at a 1 in 2 risk of inheriting the expanded pathogenic mutation. However, cost-effective screening of mentally retarded individuals has been impeded by the lack of a single, simple laboratory test. Currently, Fragile X syndrome can be excluded in males and a majority of females using a simple high-throughput PCR test. Due to the limited sensitivity of the PCR test, we find in our diagnostic service that approximately 40% of females appear homozygous and a labour intensive and expensive Southern blot test is required to distinguish these from females carrying one normal allele and an expanded allele. RESULTS: We describe an improved PCR test which displays a high level of precision allowing alleles differing by a single triplet to be resolved. Using the new assay, we detected 46/83 (53%) cryptic heterozygotes previously labelled as homozygotes. The assay also extended the range of repeats amplifiable, up to 170 CGG repeats in males and 130 CGG repeats in females. Combined with the high precision, the assay also improves discrimination of normal (CGG repeats < 45) from grey zone (45 < CGG repeats < 54) alleles and grey zone alleles from small premutations (55 < CGG repeats < 100). CONCLUSION: Use of this PCR test provides significantly improved precision and amplification of longer alleles. The number of follow-up Southern blot tests required is reduced (up to 50%) with consequent improvement in turnaround time and cost.