Predicting Risks of Dry Eye Disease Development Using a Genome-Wide Polygenic Risk Score Model.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to conduct a large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) and construct a polygenic risk score (PRS) for risk stratification in patients with dry eye disease (DED) using the Taiwan Biobank (TWB) databases. Methods: This retrospective case-control study involved 40,112 subjects of Han Chinese ancestry, sourced from the publicly available TWB. Cases were patients with DED (n = 14,185), and controls were individuals without DED (n = 25,927). The patients with DED were further divided into 8072 young (<60 years old) and 6113 old participants (≥60 years old). Using PLINK (version 1.9) software, quality control was carried out, followed by logistic regression analysis with adjustments for sex, age, body mass index, depression, and manic episodes as covariates. We also built PRS prediction models using the standard clumping and thresholding method and evaluated their performance (area under the curve [AUC]) through five-fold cross-validation. Results: Eleven independent risk loci were identified for these patients with DED at the genome-wide significance levels, including DNAJB6, MAML3, LINC02267, DCHS1, SIRPB3P, HULC, MUC16, GAS2L3, and ZFPM2. Among these, MUC16 encodes mucin family protein. The PRS model incorporated 932 and 740 genetic loci for young and old populations, respectively. A higher PRS score indicated a greater DED risk, with the top 5% of PRS individuals having a 10-fold higher risk. After integrating these covariates into the PRS model, the area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) increased from 0.509 and 0.537 to 0.600 and 0.648 for young and old populations, respectively, demonstrating the genetic-environmental interaction. Conclusions: Our study prompts potential candidates for the mechanism of DED and paves the way for more personalized medication in the future. Translational Relevance: Our study identified genes related to DED and constructed a PRS model to improve DED prediction.

Paracrinal regulation of neutrophil functions by coronaviral infection in iPSC-derived alveolar type II epithelial cells.

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are enveloped single-stranded RNA viruses that predominantly attack the human respiratory system. In recent decades, several deadly human CoVs, including SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and MERS-CoV, have brought great impact on public health and economics. However, their high infectivity and the demand for high biosafety level facilities restrict the pathogenesis research of CoV infection. Exacerbated inflammatory cell infiltration is associated with poor prognosis in CoV-associated diseases. In this study, we used human CoV 229E (HCoV-229E), a CoV associated with relatively fewer biohazards, to investigate the pathogenesis of CoV infection and the regulation of neutrophil functions by CoV-infected lung cells. Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived alveolar epithelial type II cells (iAECIIs) exhibiting specific biomarkers and phenotypes were employed as an experimental model for CoV infection. After infection, the detection of dsRNA, S, and N proteins validated the infection of iAECIIs with HCoV-229E. The culture medium conditioned by the infected iAECIIs promoted the migration of neutrophils as well as their adhesion to the infected iAECIIs. Cytokine array revealed the elevated secretion of cytokines associated with chemotaxis and adhesion into the conditioned media from the infected iAECIIs. The importance of IL-8 secretion and ICAM-1 expression for neutrophil migration and adhesion, respectively, was demonstrated by using neutralizing antibodies. Moreover, next-generation sequencing analysis of the transcriptome revealed the upregulation of genes associated with cytokine signaling. To summarize, we established an in vitro model of CoV infection that can be applied for the study of the immune system perturbations during severe coronaviral disease.

Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy: Update on the novel genes and therapeutic options.

A maternal inheritance disorder called Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is the most common primary mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) disorder. In most studies, there are more male patients than female patients, which contradicts the usual pattern in mitochondrial hereditary diseases. This suggests that nuclear DNA (nDNA) may influence the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in LHON. The primary cause of this is dysfunction in complex I of the electron transport chain, leading to ineffective adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production. In addition to MT-ND4 or MT-ND1 mutations, genes such as PRICKLE3 , YARS2 , and DNAJC30 , which come from nDNA, also play a role in LHON. These three genes affect the electron chain transport differently. PRICKLE3 interacts with ATP synthase (complex V) at Xp11.23, while YARS2 is a tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase 2 involved in mitochondria . DNAJC30 mutations result in autosomal recessive LHON (arLHON). Understanding how genes impact the disease is crucial for developing new treatments. Idebenone has been approved for treating LHON and has shown safety and efficacy in clinical trials. Mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy has also emerged as a potential treatment for LHON by transferring mitochondria into target cells. Gene therapy research focuses on specific gene mutations, and the wild-type ND4 gene target in the adeno-associated viruses (AAV) vector has shown promise in clinical trials as a potential treatment for LHON.

HLA-Homozygous iPSC-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Rescue Rotenone-Induced Experimental Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy-like Models In Vitro and In Vivo.

BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) hold promise for cell-based therapy, yet the sourcing, quality, and invasive methods of MSCs impede their mass production and quality control. Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived MSCs (iMSCs) can be infinitely expanded, providing advantages over conventional MSCs in terms of meeting unmet clinical demands. METHODS: The potential of MSC therapy for Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) remains uncertain. In this study, we used HLA-homozygous induced pluripotent stem cells to generate iMSCs using a defined protocol, and we examined their therapeutic potential in rotenone-induced LHON-like models in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: The iMSCs did not cause any tumorigenic incidence or inflammation-related lesions after intravitreal transplantation, and they remained viable for at least nine days in the mouse recipient's eyes. In addition, iMSCs exhibited significant efficacy in safeguarding retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) from rotenone-induced cytotoxicity in vitro, and they ameliorated CGL+IPL layer thinning and RGC loss in vivo. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and an electroretinogram demonstrated that iMSCs not only prevented RGC loss and impairments to the retinal architecture, but they also improved retinal electrophysiology performance. CONCLUSION: The generation of iMSCs via the HLA homozygosity of iPSCs offers a compelling avenue for overcoming the current limitations of MSC-based therapies. The results underscore the potential of iMSCs when addressing retinal disorders, and they highlight their clinical significance, offering renewed hope for individuals affected by LHON and other inherited retinal conditions.

The pathological mechanisms and novel therapeutics for Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy.

Optic neuropathies were estimated to affect 115 in 100,000 population in 2018. Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON) as one of such optic neuropathy diseases that was first identified in 1871 and can be defined as a hereditary mitochondrial disease. LHON is associated with three mtDNA point mutations which are G11778A, T14484, and G3460A that affect the NADH dehydrogenase subunits of 4, 6, and 1, respectively. However, in most cases, only one point mutation is involved. Generally, in manifestation of the disease, there are no symptoms until the terminal dysfunction in the optic nerve is observed. Due to the mutations, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) dehydrogenase or complex I is absent and thus ATP production is stopped. This further causes the generation of reactive oxygen species and retina ganglion cells apoptosis. Aside from the mutations, there are several environmental factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption that can be pointed out as the risk factors of LHON. Nowadays, gene therapy has been intensively studied for LHON treatment. Disease models using human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have been utilized for LHON research.

Recognizing the Differentiation Degree of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells Using Machine Learning and Deep Learning-Based Approaches.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be differentiated into mesenchymal stem cells (iPSC-MSCs), retinal ganglion cells (iPSC-RGCs), and retinal pigmental epithelium cells (iPSC-RPEs) to meet the demand of regeneration medicine. Since the production of iPSCs and iPSC-derived cell lineages generally requires massive and time-consuming laboratory work, artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted approach that can facilitate the cell classification and recognize the cell differentiation degree is of critical demand. In this study, we propose the multi-slice tensor model, a modified convolutional neural network (CNN) designed to classify iPSC-derived cells and evaluate the differentiation efficiency of iPSC-RPEs. We removed the fully connected layers and projected the features using principle component analysis (PCA), and subsequently classified iPSC-RPEs according to various differentiation degree. With the assistance of the support vector machine (SVM), this model further showed capabilities to classify iPSCs, iPSC-MSCs, iPSC-RPEs, and iPSC-RGCs with an accuracy of 97.8%. In addition, the proposed model accurately recognized the differentiation of iPSC-RPEs and showed the potential to identify the candidate cells with ideal features and simultaneously exclude cells with immature/abnormal phenotypes. This rapid screening/classification system may facilitate the translation of iPSC-based technologies into clinical uses, such as cell transplantation therapy.

Nanoparticles-mediated CRISPR-Cas9 gene therapy in inherited retinal diseases: applications, challenges, and emerging opportunities.

Inherited Retinal Diseases (IRDs) are considered one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. However, the majority of them still lack a safe and effective treatment due to their complexity and genetic heterogeneity. Recently, gene therapy is gaining importance as an efficient strategy to address IRDs which were previously considered incurable. The development of the clustered regularly-interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) system has strongly empowered the field of gene therapy. However, successful gene modifications rely on the efficient delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 components into the complex three-dimensional (3D) architecture of the human retinal tissue. Intriguing findings in the field of nanoparticles (NPs) meet all the criteria required for CRISPR-Cas9 delivery and have made a great contribution toward its therapeutic applications. In addition, exploiting induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology and in vitro 3D retinal organoids paved the way for prospective clinical trials of the CRISPR-Cas9 system in treating IRDs. This review highlights important advances in NP-based gene therapy, the CRISPR-Cas9 system, and iPSC-derived retinal organoids with a focus on IRDs. Collectively, these studies establish a multidisciplinary approach by integrating nanomedicine and stem cell technologies and demonstrate the utility of retina organoids in developing effective therapies for IRDs.

Pluripotent Stem Cells in Clinical Cell Transplantation: Focusing on Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived RPE Cell Therapy in Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), including both embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), represent valuable cell sources to replace diseased or injured tissues in regenerative medicine. iPSCs exhibit the potential for indefinite self-renewal and differentiation into various cell types and can be reprogrammed from somatic tissue that can be easily obtained, paving the way for cell therapy, regenerative medicine, and personalized medicine. Cell therapies using various iPSC-derived cell types are now evolving rapidly for the treatment of clinical diseases, including Parkinson's disease, hematological diseases, cardiomyopathy, osteoarthritis, and retinal diseases. Since the first interventional clinical trial with autologous iPSC-derived retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPEs) for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) was accomplished in Japan, several preclinical trials using iPSC suspensions or monolayers have been launched, or are ongoing or completed. The evolution and generation of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-universal iPSCs may facilitate the clinical application of iPSC-based therapies. Thus, iPSCs hold great promise in the treatment of multiple retinal diseases. The efficacy and adverse effects of iPSC-based retinal therapies should be carefully assessed in ongoing and further clinical trials.

Superrepellent Doubly Reentrant Geometry Promotes Antibiofouling and Prevention of Coronavirus Contamination.

The fomite transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has drawn attention because of its highly contagious nature. Therefore, surfaces that can prevent coronavirus contamination are an urgent and unmet need during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Conventional surfaces are usually based on superhydrophobic or antiviral coatings. However, these coatings may be dysfunctional because of biofouling, which is the undesired adhesion of biomolecules. A superhydrophobic surface independent of the material content and coating agents may serve the purpose of antibiofouling and preventing viral transmission. Doubly reentrant topology (DRT) is a unique structure that can meet the need. This study demonstrates that the DRT surfaces possess a striking antibiofouling effect that can prevent viral contamination. This effect still exists even if the DRT surface is made of a hydrophilic material such as silicon oxide and copper. To the best of our knowledge, this work first demonstrates that fomite transmission of viruses may be prevented by minimizing the contact area between pathogens and surfaces even made of hydrophilic materials. Furthermore, the DRT geometry per se features excellent antibiofouling ability, which may shed light on the applications of pathogen elimination in alleviating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Genetics behind Cerebral Disease with Ocular Comorbidity: Finding Parallels between the Brain and Eye Molecular Pathology.

Cerebral visual impairments (CVIs) is an umbrella term that categorizes miscellaneous visual defects with parallel genetic brain disorders. While the manifestations of CVIs are diverse and ambiguous, molecular diagnostics stand out as a powerful approach for understanding pathomechanisms in CVIs. Nevertheless, the characterization of CVI disease cohorts has been fragmented and lacks integration. By revisiting the genome-wide and phenome-wide association studies (GWAS and PheWAS), we clustered a handful of renowned CVIs into five ontology groups, namely ciliopathies (Joubert syndrome, Bardet-Biedl syndrome, Alstrom syndrome), demyelination diseases (multiple sclerosis, Alexander disease, Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease), transcriptional deregulation diseases (Mowat-Wilson disease, Pitt-Hopkins disease, Rett syndrome, Cockayne syndrome, X-linked alpha-thalassaemia mental retardation), compromised peroxisome disorders (Zellweger spectrum disorder, Refsum disease), and channelopathies (neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder), and reviewed several mutation hotspots currently found to be associated with the CVIs. Moreover, we discussed the common manifestations in the brain and the eye, and collated animal study findings to discuss plausible gene editing strategies for future CVI correction.

Polygenic Risk Score Improves Cataract Prediction in East Asian Population.

Cataracts, characterized by crystalline lens opacities in human eyes, is the leading cause of blindness globally. Due to its multifactorial complexity, the molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Larger cohorts of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are needed to investigate cataracts' genetic basis. In this study, a GWAS was performed on the largest Han population to date, analyzing a total of 7079 patients and 13,256 controls from the Taiwan Biobank (TWB) 2.0 cohort. Two cataract-associated SNPs with an adjustment of p < 1 × 10−7 in the older groups and nine SNPs with an adjustment of p < 1 × 10−6 in the younger group were identified. Except for the reported AGMO in animal models, most variations, including rs74774546 in GJA1 and rs237885 in OXTR, were not identified before this study. Furthermore, a polygenic risk score (PRS) was created for the young and old populations to identify high-risk cataract individuals, with areas under the receiver operating curve (AUROCs) of 0.829 and 0.785, respectively, after covariate adjustments. Younger individuals had 17.45 times the risk while older people had 10.97 times the risk when comparing individuals in the highest and lowest PRS quantiles. Validation analysis on an independent TWB1.0 cohort revealed AUROCs of 0.744 and 0.659.

Retinal Circular RNA hsa_circ_0087207 Expression Promotes Apoptotic Cell Death in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy-like Models.

Backgrounds: Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is known as an inherited retinal disorder characterized by the bilateral central vision loss and degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Unaffected LHON carriers are generally asymptomatic, suggesting that certain factors may contribute to the disease manifestations between carriers and patients who carry the same mutated genotypes. Methods: We first aimed to establish the iPSC-differentiated RGCs from the normal healthy subject, the carrier, and the LHON patient and then compared the differential expression profile of circular RNAs (CircRNAs) among RGCs from these donors in vitro. We further overexpressed or knocked down the most upregulated circRNA to examine whether this circRNA contributes to the distinct phenotypic manifestations between the carrier- and patient-derived RGCs. Results: iPSCs were generated from the peripheral blood cells from the healthy subject, the carrier, and the LHON patient and successfully differentiated into RGCs. These RGCs carried equivalent intracellular reactive oxygen species, but only LHON-patient iPSC-derived RGCs exhibited remarkable apoptosis. Next-generation sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR revealed the circRNA hsa_circ_0087207 as the most upregulated circRNA in LHON-patient iPSC-derived RGCs. Overexpression of hsa_circ_0087207 increased the apoptosis in carrier iPSC-derived RGCs, while knockdown of hsa_circ_0087207 attenuated the apoptosis in LHON-patient iPSC-derived RGCs. Predicted by bioinformatics approaches, hsa_circ_0087207 acts as the sponge of miR-665 to induce the expression of a variety of apoptosis-related genes in LHON patient iPSC-derived RGCs. Conclusions: Our data indicated that hsa_circ_0087207 upregulation distinguishes the disease phenotype manifestations between iPSC-derived RGCs generated from the LHON patient and carrier. Targeting the hsa_circ_0087207/miR-665 axis might hold therapeutic promises for the treatment of LHON.

Genome-Wide Polygenic Risk Score for Predicting High Risk Glaucoma Individuals of Han Chinese Ancestry.

Glaucoma is a progressive and irreversible blindness-causing disease. However, the underlying genetic factors and molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have made tremendous progress on the SNP-based disease association and characterization. However, most of them were conducted for Europeans. Since differential genetic characteristics among ethnic groups were evident in glaucoma, it is worthwhile to complete its genetic landscape from the larger cohorts of Asian individuals. Here, we present a GWAS based on the Taiwan Biobank. Among 1013 glaucoma patients and 36,562 controls, we identified a total of 138 independent glaucoma-associated SNPs at the significance level of p < 1 × 10-5. After clumping genetically linked SNPs (LD clumping), 134 independent SNPs with p < 10-4 were recruited to construct a Polygenic Risk Score (PRS). The model achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.8387 (95% CI = [0.8269-0.8506]), and those within the top PRS quantile had a 45.48-fold increased risk of glaucoma compared with those within the lowest quantile. The PRS model was validated with an independent cohort that achieved an AUC of 0.7283, thereby showing the effectiveness of our polygenic risk score in predicting individuals in the Han Chinese population with higher glaucoma risks.

RNA Modifications and Epigenetics in Modulation of Lung Cancer and Pulmonary Diseases.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, and its tumorigenesis involves the accumulation of genetic and epigenetic events in the respiratory epithelium. Epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, RNA modification, and histone modifications, have been widely reported to play an important role in lung cancer development and in other pulmonary diseases. Whereas the functionality of DNA and chromatin modifications referred to as epigenetics is widely characterized, various modifications of RNA nucleotides have recently come into prominence as functionally important. N6-methyladosine (m6A) is the most prevalent internal modification in mRNAs, and its machinery of writers, erasers, and readers is well-characterized. However, several other nucleotide modifications of mRNAs and various noncoding RNAs have also been shown to play an important role in the regulation of biological processes and pathology. Such epitranscriptomic modifications play an important role in regulating various aspects of RNA metabolism, including transcription, translation, splicing, and stability. The dysregulation of epitranscriptomic machinery has been implicated in the pathological processes associated with carcinogenesis including uncontrolled cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. In recent years, with the advancement of RNA sequencing technology, high-resolution maps of different modifications in various tissues, organs, or disease models are being constantly reported at a dramatic speed. This facilitates further understanding of the relationship between disease development and epitranscriptomics, shedding light on new therapeutic possibilities. In this review, we summarize the basic information on RNA modifications, including m6A, m1A, m5C, m7G, pseudouridine, and A-to-I editing. We then demonstrate their relation to different kinds of lung diseases, especially lung cancer. By comparing the different roles RNA modifications play in the development processes of different diseases, this review may provide some new insights and offer a better understanding of RNA epigenetics and its involvement in pulmonary diseases.

An Update on Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle Applications in Nanomedicine.

The efficient and safe delivery of therapeutic drugs, proteins, and nucleic acids are essential for meaningful therapeutic benefits. The field of nanomedicine shows promising implications in the development of therapeutics by delivering diagnostic and therapeutic compounds. Nanomedicine development has led to significant advances in the design and engineering of nanocarrier systems with supra-molecular structures. Smart mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), with excellent biocompatibility, tunable physicochemical properties, and site-specific functionalization, offer efficient and high loading capacity as well as robust and targeted delivery of a variety of payloads in a controlled fashion. Such unique nanocarriers should have great potential for challenging biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering, bioimaging techniques, stem cell research, and cancer therapies. However, in vivo applications of these nanocarriers should be further validated before clinical translation. To this end, this review begins with a brief introduction of MSNs properties, targeted drug delivery, and controlled release with a particular emphasis on their most recent diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

Modifications of intravitreal injections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption to the normal operation of the healthcare system. On a worldwide scale, hospitals suspended nonurgent surgeries and outpatient visits to downsize clinical loadings to redistribute manpower to counteract the pandemic's impact. So far, there is no evidence-based guideline defining a clear line between urgent and nonurgent indications of intravitreal injections (IVI). Herein, we aimed to summarize IVI algorithm modifications and discuss the patient prioritization according to medical needs in the hostile environment in the COVID crisis. Assessing current literature, we found that neovascular age-related macular degeneration is considered the utmost priority among conditions that require IVI. Other conditions assigned with a high priority include monocular or quasi-monocular patients (only one eye > 20/40), neovascular glaucoma, and new patients with significant vision loss. Although patients with central retinal vein occlusion and proliferative diabetic retinopathy are not advised to delay treatments, we found no consistent evidence that correlated with a worse outcome. Diabetic macular edema and branch retinal vein occlusion patients undertaking treatment delay should be regularly followed up every 2 to 3 months. Serving as the principle of management behind the algorithm modifications, the reduction of both patient visit and IVI therapy counts should be reckoned together with the risk of permanent visual loss and COVID infection.

Application of artificial intelligence-driven endoscopic screening and diagnosis of gastric cancer.

The landscape of gastrointestinal endoscopy continues to evolve as new technologies and techniques become available. The advent of image-enhanced and magnifying endoscopies has highlighted the step toward perfecting endoscopic screening and diagnosis of gastric lesions. Simultaneously, with the development of convolutional neural network, artificial intelligence (AI) has made unprecedented breakthroughs in medical imaging, including the ongoing trials of computer-aided detection of colorectal polyps and gastrointestinal bleeding. In the past demi-decade, applications of AI systems in gastric cancer have also emerged. With AI's efficient computational power and learning capacities, endoscopists can improve their diagnostic accuracies and avoid the missing or mischaracterization of gastric neoplastic changes. So far, several AI systems that incorporated both traditional and novel endoscopy technologies have been developed for various purposes, with most systems achieving an accuracy of more than 80%. However, their feasibility, effectiveness, and safety in clinical practice remain to be seen as there have been no clinical trials yet. Nonetheless, AI-assisted endoscopies shed light on more accurate and sensitive ways for early detection, treatment guidance and prognosis prediction of gastric lesions. This review summarizes the current status of various AI applications in gastric cancer and pinpoints directions for future research and clinical practice implementation from a clinical perspective.

Identification of Novel Genomic-Variant Patterns of OR56A5, OR52L1, and CTSD in Retinitis Pigmentosa Patients by Whole-Exome Sequencing.

Inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs) are rare but highly heterogeneous genetic disorders that affect individuals and families worldwide. However, given its wide variability, its analysis of the driver genes for over 50% of the cases remains unexplored. The present study aims to identify novel driver genes, disease-causing variants, and retinitis pigmentosa (RP)-associated pathways. Using family-based whole-exome sequencing (WES) to identify putative RP-causing rare variants, we identified a total of five potentially pathogenic variants located in genes OR56A5, OR52L1, CTSD, PRF1, KBTBD13, and ATP2B4. Of the variants present in all affected individuals, genes OR56A5, OR52L1, CTSD, KBTBD13, and ATP2B4 present as missense mutations, while PRF1 and CTSD present as frameshift variants. Sanger sequencing confirmed the presence of the novel pathogenic variant PRF1 (c.124_128del) that has not been reported previously. More causal-effect or evidence-based studies will be required to elucidate the precise roles of these SNPs in the RP pathogenesis. Taken together, our findings may allow us to explore the risk variants based on the sequencing data and upgrade the existing variant annotation database in Taiwan. It may help detect specific eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa in East Asia.

Current Genetic Survey and Potential Gene-Targeting Therapeutics for Neuromuscular Diseases.

Neuromuscular diseases (NMDs) belong to a class of functional impairments that cause dysfunctions of the motor neuron-muscle functional axis components. Inherited monogenic neuromuscular disorders encompass both muscular dystrophies and motor neuron diseases. Understanding of their causative genetic defects and pathological genetic mechanisms has led to the unprecedented clinical translation of genetic therapies. Challenged by a broad range of gene defect types, researchers have developed different approaches to tackle mutations by hijacking the cellular gene expression machinery to minimize the mutational damage and produce the functional target proteins. Such manipulations may be directed to any point of the gene expression axis, such as classical gene augmentation, modulating premature termination codon ribosomal bypass, splicing modification of pre-mRNA, etc. With the soar of the CRISPR-based gene editing systems, researchers now gravitate toward genome surgery in tackling NMDs by directly correcting the mutational defects at the genome level and expanding the scope of targetable NMDs. In this article, we will review the current development of gene therapy and focus on NMDs that are available in published reports, including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD), X-linked myotubular myopathy (XLMTM), Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), and Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy Type 2C (LGMD2C).