Mutation analysis of SUOX in isolated sulfite oxidase deficiency with ectopia lentis as the presenting feature: insights into genotype-phenotype correlation.

BACKGROUND: Isolated sulfite oxidase deficiency (ISOD) caused by sulfite oxidase gene (SUOX) mutations is a rare neurometabolic disease associated with ectopia lentis (EL). However, few genotype-phenotype correlations have been established yet. METHODS: Potentially pathogenic SUOX mutations were screened from a Chinese cohort of congenital EL using panel-based next-generation sequencing and analyzed with multiple bioinformatics tools. The genotype-phenotype correlations were evaluated via a systematic review of SUOX mutations within our data and from the literature. RESULTS: A novel paternal missense mutation, c.205G > C (p.A69P), and a recurrent maternal nonsense mutation, c.1200 C > G (p.Y400*), of SUOX were identified in a 4-year-old boy from 312 probands. The biochemical assays manifested elevated urine sulfite and S-sulfocysteine accompanied by decreased homocysteine in the blood. The patient had bilateral EL and normal fundus, yet minimal neurological involvement and normal brain structure. Molecular modeling simulation revealed the p.A69P mutant had an unstable structure but an unchanged affinity for sulfite, while the truncated p.Y400* mutant showed decreased binding capacity. Genotype-phenotype analysis demonstrated patients with biallelic missense mutations had milder symptoms (P = 0.023), later age of onset (P < 0.001), and a higher incidence of regression (P = 0.017) than other genotypes. No correlations were found regarding EL and other neurological symptoms. CONCLUSION: The data from this study not only enrich the known mutation spectrum of SUOX but also suggest that missense mutations are associated with mild and atypical symptoms.

Expanding the Phenotypic and Genetic Spectrum of Neuromuscular Diseases Caused by DYNC1H1 Mutations.

Objectives: Spinal muscular atrophy with lower extremity predominance 1 (SMALED1) and Charcot-Marie-Tooth diseasetype 2O (CMT2O) are two kinds of hereditary neuromuscular diseases caused by DYNC1H1 mutations. In this study, we reported two patients with SMALED1 caused by DYNC1H1 mutations. The genotype-phenotype correlations were further analyzed by systematically reviewing previous relevant publications. Materials and Methods: Two patients' with SMALED1 and their parents' clinical data were collected, and detailed clinical examinations were performed. WES was then applied, which was confirmed by Sanger sequencing. PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, and Wanfang Data were searched, and all publications that met the inclusion criteria were carefully screened. Any individual patient without a detailed description of clinical phenotypes was excluded. Results: The two patients manifested delayed motor milestones and muscle wasting of both lower extremities. The diagnosis was further confirmed as SMALED1. Genetic testing revealed heterozygous DYNC1H1 mutations c.1792C>T and c.790C>G; the latter is a novel dominant mutation. Genotype-phenotype analysis of DYNC1H1 variants and neuromuscular diseases revealed that mutations in the DYN1 region of DYNC1H1 protein were associated with a more severe phenotype, more complicated symptoms, and more CNS involvement than the DHC_N1 region. Conclusion: Our study potentially expanded the knowledge of the phenotypic and genetic spectrum of neuromuscular diseases caused by DYNC1H1 mutations. The genotype-phenotype correlation may reflect the pathogenesis underlying the dyneinopathy caused by DYNC1H1 mutations.

High-mobility semiconducting polymers with different spin ground states.

Organic semiconductors with high-spin ground states are fascinating because they could enable fundamental understanding on the spin-related phenomenon in light element and provide opportunities for organic magnetic and quantum materials. Although high-spin ground states have been observed in some quinoidal type small molecules or doped organic semiconductors, semiconducting polymers with high-spin at their neutral ground state are rarely reported. Here we report three high-mobility semiconducting polymers with different spin ground states. We show that polymer building blocks with small singlet-triplet energy gap (ΔES-T) could enable small ΔES-T gap and increase the diradical character in copolymers. We demonstrate that the electronic structure, spin density, and solid-state interchain interactions in the high-spin polymers are crucial for their ground states. Polymers with a triplet ground state (S = 1) could exhibit doublet (S = 1/2) behavior due to different spin distributions and solid-state interchain spin-spin interactions. Besides, these polymers showed outstanding charge transport properties with high hole/electron mobilities and can be both n- and p-doped with superior conductivities. Our results demonstrate a rational approach to obtain high-mobility semiconducting polymers with different spin ground states.

Mouse Nerve Growth Factor Injection and Progression Rate in Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: An Observational Study.

OBJECTIVES: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive, fatal disease with no curative treatment up to now. This study aims to analyze ALS progression of patients treated with mouse nerve growth factor (mNGF), as well as the effects, side effects, and adverse events of the therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective, observational study was performed including 94 patients with ALS from July 2020 to July 2021. Thirty-two of them were treated with at least one course of mNGF on a regular riluzole use, and the rest 62 were treated with riluzole only. The declining rates of body mass index (BMI) and ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) scores were compared between the two groups to indicate ALS progression. RESULTS: No significant differences in ALS progression indicated by the declining rates of BMI and ALSFRS-R score were observed between the two cohorts. ALS progression before and after the first treatment course of mNGF also showed no discernible difference. However, we noticed a moderate 62.7 and 25.1% reduction in the declining rate of BMI and ALSFRS-R motor subscore when comparing mNGF + riluzole treatment to riluzole only. The mNGF treatment was overall safe and well-tolerated, and a rare case of diarrhea was reported after mNGF injection. CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed that mNGF treatment was overall safe and well-tolerated in patients of ALS. Application of mNGF combined with regular riluzole treatment had no significant clinical effects on delaying ALS progression. Prospective cohort studies and randomized clinical trials based on larger cohorts and longer follow-up times are needed to make a more convincing conclusion.

Approaching disorder-tolerant semiconducting polymers.

Doping has been widely used to control the charge carrier concentration in organic semiconductors. However, in conjugated polymers, n-doping is often limited by the tradeoff between doping efficiency and charge carrier mobilities, since dopants often randomly distribute within polymers, leading to significant structural and energetic disorder. Here, we screen a large number of polymer building block combinations and explore the possibility of designing n-type conjugated polymers with good tolerance to dopant-induced disorder. We show that a carefully designed conjugated polymer with a single dominant planar backbone conformation, high torsional barrier at each dihedral angle, and zigzag backbone curvature is highly dopable and can tolerate dopant-induced disorder. With these features, the designed diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-based polymer can be efficiently n-doped and exhibit high n-type electrical conductivities over 120 S cm-1, much higher than the reference polymers with similar chemical structures. This work provides a polymer design concept for highly dopable and highly conductive polymeric semiconductors.

Recent Progress on Addressing the Key Challenges in Organic Thermoelectrics.

Compared with inorganic thermoelectric materials, organic thermoelectric (OTE) materials have attracted increasing attention due to their advantages of low toxicity, high mechanical flexibility, and large-scale solution processability. In the past few years, OTE materials have made remarkable progress in terms of their design, synthesis, and device performance. However, some challenges remain, including the low doping efficiency in n-type materials, poor doping stability with molecular dopants, and the largely reduced Seebeck coefficient after heavily doping, etc. All these factors hinder the further development of OTEs for commercial applications. In this Minireview, we highlight several key challenges during the development of OTEs and summarize recent understandings and efforts to address these challenges.

Efficient n-Doping of Polymeric Semiconductors through Controlling the Dynamics of Solution-State Polymer Aggregates.

Doping of polymeric semiconductors limits the miscibility between polymers and dopants. Although significant efforts have been devoted to enhancing miscibility through chemical modification, the electrical conductivities of n-doped polymeric semiconductors are usually below 10 S cm-1 . We report a different approach to overcome the miscibility issue by modulating the solution-state aggregates of conjugated polymers. We found that the solution-state aggregates of conjugated polymers not only changed with solvent and temperature but also changed with solution aging time. Modulating the solution-state polymer aggregates can directly influence their solid-state microstructures and miscibility with dopants. As a result, both high doping efficiency and high charge-carrier mobility were simultaneously obtained. The n-doped electrical conductivity of P(PzDPP-CT2) can be tuned up to 32.1 S cm-1 . This method can also be used to improve the doping efficiency of other polymer systems (e.g. N2200) with different aggregation tendencies and behaviors.

Morphological and molecular alterations of reactive astrocytes without proliferation in cerebral cortex of an APP/PS1 transgenic mouse model and Alzheimer's patients.

Astrocytes are fundamental for maintaining brain homeostasis and are commonly involved in the progression of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease (AD). In response to injury or toxic material, astrocytes undergo activation that results in hypertrophy and process ramification. Although numerous studies have shown that reactive astrocytes are intimately related to the pathogenesis of AD, their characteristic features including morphological and molecular alterations that occur during different stages of AD progression remain to be elucidated. Here, we crossed astrocyte-specific reporter mice hGFAP-CreERT2;Rosa-tdTomato with APP/PS1 mice, and then used genetic tracing to characterize the morphological profiles and expression of molecular biomarkers associated with progressive ß-amyloid deposits in the cortical region of AD mice. Expression of glutamine synthetase (GS) was lower in cortical reactive astrocytes, in contrast to the higher expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein, of APP/PS1 mice and AD patients relative to that in cortical astrocytes of wild-type mice and age-matched controls, respectively. GS activity was also decreased obviously in the cortex of APP/PS1 mice at 6 and 12 months of age relative to that in the wild-type mice of the same ages. Furthermore, cortical reactive astrocytes in APP/PS1 mice and AD patients did not undergo proliferation. Finally, based on RNA-sequencing analysis, we identified differentially expressed transcripts of signal transduction molecules involved in early induction of reactive astrocytes in the cortex of APP/PS1 mice. These findings provide a morphological and molecular basis with which to understand the function and mechanism of reactive astrocytes in the progression of AD.

Ascorbic Acid Sensitizes Colorectal Carcinoma to the Cytotoxicity of Arsenic Trioxide via Promoting Reactive Oxygen Species-Dependent Apoptosis and Pyroptosis.

Arsenic trioxide (ATO) is an effective therapeutic agent against acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL); however, its anti-tumor effect on solid tumors such as colorectal cancer (CRC) is still in debate. Ascorbic acid (AA) also produces a selective cytotoxic activity against tumor cells. Here, we exploit the potential benefit of ATO/AA combination in generating cytotoxicity to CRC cells, which may lay the groundwork for the potential combinational chemotherapy of CRCs. According to the results, we found that ATO and AA effectively inhibited the viability of human CRC cells in a synergistic manner. AA and ATO corporately activated caspase-3 to trigger apoptosis and upregulated the expression of caspase-1 and promoted formation of inflammasomes to induce pyroptosis. Furthermore, the stimulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction was demonstrated as a subcellular mechanism for apoptosis and pyroptosis induced by ATO/AA combination treatment. Our findings suggest that ATO combination with a conventional dosage of AA offers an advantage for killing CRC cells. The synergistic action of ATO/AA combination might be considered a plausible strategy for the treatment of CRC and perhaps other solid tumors as well.

Pyrazine-Flanked Diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP): A New Polymer Building Block for High-Performance n-Type Organic Thermoelectrics.

n-Doped conjugated polymers usually show low electrical conductivities and low thermoelectric power factors, limiting their applications in n-type organic thermoelectrics. Here, we report the synthesis of a new diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) derivative, pyrazine-flanked DPP (PzDPP), with the deepest LUMO level in all the reported DPP derivatives. Based on PzDPP, a donor-acceptor copolymer, P(PzDPP-CT2), is synthesized. The polymer displays a deep LUMO energy level and strong interchain interaction with a short π-π stacking distance of 3.38 Å. When doped with n-dopant N-DMBI, P(PzDPP-CT2) exhibits high n-type electrical conductivities of up to 8.4 S cm-1 and power factors of up to 57.3 µW m-1 K-2. These values are much higher than previously reported n-doped DPP polymers, and the power factor also ranks the highest in solution-processable n-doped conjugated polymers. These results suggest that PzDPP is a promising high-performance building block for n-type organic thermoelectrics and also highlight that, without sacrificing polymer interchain interactions, efficient n-doping can be realized in conjugated polymers with careful molecular engineering.

Arsenic trioxide and angiotensin II have inhibitory effects on HERG protein expression: Evidence for the role of PML SUMOylation.

The human ether-a-go-go-related gene (HERG) channel is a novel target for the treatment of drug-induced long QT syndrome, which causes lethal cardiotoxicity. This study is designed to explore the possible role of PML SUMOylation and its associated nuclear bodies (NBs) in the regulation of HERG protein expression. Both arsenic trioxide (ATO) and angiotensin II (Ang II) were able to significantly reduce HERG protein expression, while also increasing PML SUMOylation and accelerating the formation of PML-NBs. Pre-exposure of cardiomyocytes to a SUMOylation chemical inhibitor, ginkgolic acid, or the silencing of UBC9 suppressed PML SUMOylation, subsequently preventing the downregulation of HERG induced by ATO or Ang II. Conversely, knockdown of RNF4 led to a remarkable increase in PML SUMOylation and the function of PML-NBs, further promoting ATO- or Ang II-induced HERG protein downregulation. Mechanistically, an increase in PML SUMOylation by ATO or Ang II dramatically enhanced the formation of PML and Pin1 complexes in PML-NBs, leading to the upregulation of TGF-ß1 protein, eventually inhibiting HERG expression through activation of protein kinase A. The present work uncovered a novel molecular mechanism underlying HERG protein expression and indicated that PML SUMOylation is a critical step in the development of drug-acquired arrhythmia.