TMEM161B modulates radial glial scaffolding in neocortical development.

TMEM161B encodes an evolutionarily conserved widely expressed novel 8-pass transmembrane protein of unknown function in human. Here we identify TMEM161B homozygous hypomorphic missense variants in our recessive polymicrogyria (PMG) cohort. Patients carrying TMEM161B mutations exhibit striking neocortical PMG and intellectual disability. Tmem161b knockout mice fail to develop midline hemispheric cleavage, whereas knock-in of patient mutations and patient-derived brain organoids show defects in apical cell polarity and radial glial scaffolding. We found that TMEM161B modulates actin filopodia, functioning upstream of the Rho-GTPase CDC42. Our data link TMEM161B with human PMG, likely regulating radial glia apical polarity during neocortical development.

Analytical and Clinical Validation of a Target-Enhanced Whole Genome Sequencing-Based Comprehensive Genomic Profiling Test.

Evaluation of the test performance of the Target enhanced whole-genome sequencing (TE-WGS) assay for comprehensive oncology genomic profiling. The analytical validation of the assay included sensitivity and specificity for single nucleotide variants (SNVs), insertions/deletions (indels), and structural variants (SVs), revealing a revealed a sensitivity of 99.8% for SNVs and 99.2% for indels. The positive predictive value (PPV) was 99.3% SNVs and 98.7% indels. Clinical validation was benchmarked against established orthogonal methods and demonstrated high concordance with reference methods. TE-WGS provides insights beyond targeted panels by comprehensive analysis of key biomarkers and the entire genome encompassing both germline and somatic findings.

Somatic uniparental disomy mitigates the most damaging EFL1 allele combination in Shwachman-Diamond syndrome.

Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS; OMIM #260400) is caused by variants in SBDS (Shwachman-Bodian-Diamond syndrome gene), which encodes a protein that plays an important role in ribosome assembly. Recent reports suggest that recessive variants in EFL1 are also responsible for SDS. However, the precise genetic mechanism that leads to EFL1-induced SDS remains incompletely understood. Here we present 3 unrelated Korean SDS patients who carry biallelic pathogenic variants in EFL1 with biased allele frequencies, resulting from a bone marrow-specific somatic uniparental disomy in chromosome 15. The recombination events generated cells that were homozygous for the relatively milder variant, allowing for the evasion of catastrophic physiologic consequences. However, the milder EFL1 variant was still solely able to impair 80S ribosome assembly and induce SDS features in cell line and animal models. The loss of EFL1 resulted in a pronounced inhibition of terminal oligopyrimidine element-containing ribosomal protein transcript 80S assembly. Therefore, we propose a more accurate pathogenesis mechanism of EFL1 dysfunction that eventually leads to aberrant translational control and ribosomopathy.

Novel association of Dandy-Walker malformation with CAPN15 variants expands the phenotype of oculogastrointestinal neurodevelopmental syndrome.

Oculogastrointestinal neurodevelopmental syndrome has been described in seven previously published individuals who harbor biallelic pathogenic variants in the CAPN15 gene. Biallelic missense variants have been reported to demonstrate a phenotype of eye abnormalities and developmental delay, while biallelic loss of function variants exhibit phenotypes including microcephaly and craniofacial abnormalities, cardiac and genitourinary malformations, and abnormal neurologic activity. We report six individuals from three unrelated families harboring biallelic deleterious variants in CAPN15 with phenotypes overlapping those previously described for this disorder. Of the individuals affected, four demonstrate radiographic evidence of the classical triad of Dandy-Walker malformation including hypoplastic vermis, fourth ventricle enlargement, and torcular elevation. Cerebellar anomalies have not been previously reported in association with CAPN15-related disease. Here, we present three unrelated families with findings consistent with oculogastrointestinal neurodevelopmental syndrome and cerebellar pathology including Dandy-Walker malformation. To corroborate these novel clinical findings, we present supporting data from the mouse model suggesting an important role for this protein in normal cerebellar development. Our findings add six molecularly confirmed cases to the literature and additionally establish a new association of Dandy-Walker malformation with biallelic CAPN15 variants, thereby expanding the neurologic spectrum among patients affected by CAPN15-related disease.

RNA-seq profiling of tubulointerstitial tissue reveals a potential therapeutic role of dual anti-phosphatase 1 in glomerulonephritis.

Transcriptome profiling of tubulointerstitial tissue in glomerulonephritis may reveal a potential tubulointerstitial injury-related biomarker. We profiled manually microdissected tubulointerstitial tissue from biopsy cores of 65 glomerulonephritis cases, including 43 patients with IgA nephropathy, 3 with diabetes mellitus nephropathy, 3 with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, 3 with lupus nephritis, 4 with membranous nephropathy and 9 with minimal change disease, and additional 22 nephrectomy controls by RNA sequencing. A potential biomarker was selected based on the false discovery rate, and experiments were performed in TNF-α-stimulated primary cultured human tubular epithelial cells (hTECs). We identified 3037 genes with low expression and 2852 genes with high expression in the disease samples compared to the controls. Dual-specificity phosphatase 1 (DUSP1) exhibited universal low expression in various diseases (log2 fold change, -3.87), with the lowest false discovery rate (7.03E-132). In further experimental validation study, DUSP1 overexpression ameliorated inflammatory markers related to MAP kinase pathways in hTECs, while pharmacologic inhibition of DUSP1 increased these markers. The combination of DUSP1 overexpression with low-concentration corticosteroid treatment resulted in more potent suppression of inflammation than high-concentration corticosteroid treatment alone. The profiled transcriptomes provide insights into the pathophysiology of tubulointerstitial injury in kidney diseases and may reveal a potential therapeutic biomarker.

Bi-allelic Loss of Human APC2, Encoding Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Protein 2, Leads to Lissencephaly, Subcortical Heterotopia, and Global Developmental Delay.

Lissencephaly is a severe brain malformation in which failure of neuronal migration results in agyria or pachygyria and in which the brain surface appears unusually smooth. It is often associated with microcephaly, profound intellectual disability, epilepsy, and impaired motor abilities. Twenty-two genes are associated with lissencephaly, accounting for approximately 80% of disease. Here we report on 12 individuals with a unique form of lissencephaly; these individuals come from eight unrelated families and have bi-allelic mutations in APC2, encoding adenomatous polyposis coli protein 2. Brain imaging studies demonstrate extensive posterior predominant lissencephaly, similar to PAFAH1B1-associated lissencephaly, as well as co-occurrence of subcortical heterotopia posterior to the caudate nuclei, "ribbon-like" heterotopia in the posterior frontal region, and dysplastic in-folding of the mesial occipital cortex. The established role of APC2 in integrating the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons to mediate cellular morphological changes suggests shared function with other lissencephaly-encoded cytoskeletal proteins such as α-N-catenin (CTNNA2) and platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase 1b regulatory subunit 1 (PAFAH1B1, also known as LIS1). Our findings identify APC2 as a radiographically distinguishable recessive form of lissencephaly.

Missense Mutations in NKAP Cause a Disorder of Transcriptional Regulation Characterized by Marfanoid Habitus and Cognitive Impairment.

NKAP is a ubiquitously expressed nucleoplasmic protein that is currently known as a transcriptional regulatory molecule via its interaction with HDAC3 and spliceosomal proteins. Here, we report a disorder of transcriptional regulation due to missense mutations in the X chromosome gene, NKAP. These mutations are clustered in the C-terminal region of NKAP where NKAP interacts with HDAC3 and post-catalytic spliceosomal complex proteins. Consistent with a role for the C-terminal region of NKAP in embryogenesis, nkap mutant zebrafish with a C-terminally truncated NKAP demonstrate severe developmental defects. The clinical features of affected individuals are highly conserved and include developmental delay, hypotonia, joint contractures, behavioral abnormalities, Marfanoid habitus, and scoliosis. In affected cases, transcriptome analysis revealed the presence of a unique transcriptome signature, which is characterized by the downregulation of long genes with higher exon numbers. These observations indicate the critical role of NKAP in transcriptional regulation and demonstrate that perturbations of the C-terminal region lead to developmental defects in both humans and zebrafish.

Bi-allelic TTC5 variants cause delayed developmental milestones and intellectual disability.

BACKGROUND: Intellectual disability syndromes (IDSs) with or without developmental delays affect up to 3% of the world population. We sought to clinically and genetically characterise a novel IDS segregating in five unrelated consanguineous families. METHODS: Clinical analyses were performed for eight patients with intellectual disability (ID). Whole-exome sequencing for selected participants followed by Sanger sequencing for all available family members was completed. Identity-by-descent (IBD) mapping was carried out for patients in two Egyptian families harbouring an identical variant. RNA was extracted from blood cells of Turkish participants, followed by cDNA synthesis and real-time PCR for TTC5. RESULTS: Phenotype comparisons of patients revealed shared clinical features of moderate-to-severe ID, corpus callosum agenesis, mild ventriculomegaly, simplified gyral pattern, cerebral atrophy, delayed motor and verbal milestones and hypotonia, presenting with an IDS. Four novel homozygous variants in TTC5: c.629A>G;p.(Tyr210Cys), c.692C>T;p.(Ala231Val), c.787C>T;p.(Arg263Ter) and c.1883C>T;p.(Arg395Ter) were identified in the eight patients from participating families. IBD mapping revealed that c.787C>T;p.(Arg263Ter) is a founder variant in Egypt. Missense variants c.629A>G;p.(Tyr210Cys) and c.692C>T;p.(Ala231Val) disrupt highly conserved residues of TTC5 within the fifth and sixth tetratricopeptide repeat motifs which are required for p300 interaction, while the nonsense variants are predicted to decrease TTC5 expression. Functional analysis of variant c.1883C>T;p.(Arg395Ter) showed reduced TTC5 transcript levels in accordance with nonsense-mediated decay. CONCLUSION: Combining our clinical and molecular data with a recent case report, we identify the core and variable clinical features associated with TTC5 loss-of-function variants and reveal the requirement for TTC5 in human brain development and health.

Biallelic variants in HPDL, encoding 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase-like protein, lead to an infantile neurodegenerative condition.

PURPOSE: Dioxygenases are oxidoreductase enzymes with roles in metabolic pathways necessary for aerobic life. 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase-like protein (HPDL), encoded by HPDL, is an orphan paralogue of 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPD), an iron-dependent dioxygenase involved in tyrosine catabolism. The function and association of HPDL with human diseases remain unknown. METHODS: We applied exome sequencing in a cohort of over 10,000 individuals with neurodevelopmental diseases. Effects of HPDL loss were investigated in vitro and in vivo, and through mass spectrometry analysis. Evolutionary analysis was performed to investigate the potential functional separation of HPDL from HPD. RESULTS: We identified biallelic variants in HPDL in eight families displaying recessive inheritance. Knockout mice closely phenocopied humans and showed evidence of apoptosis in multiple cellular lineages within the cerebral cortex. HPDL is a single-exonic gene that likely arose from a retrotransposition event at the base of the tetrapod lineage, and unlike HPD, HPDL is mitochondria-localized. Metabolic profiling of HPDL mutant cells and mice showed no evidence of altered tyrosine metabolites, but rather notable accumulations in other metabolic pathways. CONCLUSION: The mitochondrial localization, along with its disrupted metabolic profile, suggests HPDL loss in humans links to a unique neurometabolic mitochondrial infantile neurodegenerative condition.

The Role of TNF Superfamily Member 13 in the Progression of IgA Nephropathy.

TNF superfamily member 13 (TNFSF13) has been identified as a susceptibility gene for IgA nephropathy in recent genetic studies. However, the role of TNFSF13 in the progression of IgA nephropathy remains unresolved. We evaluated two genetic polymorphisms (rs11552708 and rs3803800) and plasma levels of TNFSF13 in 637 patients with IgA nephropathy, and determined the risk of ESRD according to theses variable. Neither of the examined genetic polymorphisms associated with a clinical outcome of IgA nephropathy. However, high plasma levels of TNFSF13 increased the risk of ESRD. To explore the causal relationship and underlying mechanism, we treated B cells from patients (n=21) with or without recombinant human TNFSF13 (rhTNFSF13) and measured the expression of IgA and galactose-deficient IgA (GdIgA) using ELISA and flow cytometry. Treatment with rhTNFSF13 significantly increased the total IgA level among B cells, and TNFSF13 receptor blockade abrogated this increase. Furthermore, the absolute levels of GdIgA increased with rhTNFSF13 treatment, but the total IgA-normalized levels did not change. Both RNA sequencing and quantitative PCR results showed that rhTNFSF13 did not alter the expression of glycosyltransferase enzymes. These results suggest that high plasma TNFSF13 levels associate with a worse prognosis of IgA nephropathy through the relative increase in GdIgA levels.

Atypical presentation of infantile-onset farber disease with novel ASAH1 mutations.

Farber disease is a very rare autosomal recessive disease caused by mutation of ASAH1 that results in the accumulation of ceramide in various tissues. Clinical symptoms of classic Farber disease comprise painful joint deformity, hoarseness of voice, and subcutaneous nodules. Here, we describe a patient with Farber disease with atypical presentation of early onset hypotonia, sacral mass, congenital heart disease, and dysmorphic face since birth. Severe cognitive disability, failure to gain motor skills, failure to thrive, and joint contractures developed. Using whole-exome sequencing, we identified the compound heterozygote missense mutations of ASAH1 (p.R333C and p.G235R). Because of the diagnostic delay, she underwent sacral mass excision, which revealed enlarged lysosomes and zebra bodies. We report an atypical presentation of Farber disease with her pathology and associated genetic defect. This case expands the phenotypic spectrum of Farber disease to include novel mutations of ASAH1, which pose a diagnostic challenge. We also discuss the clinical utility of whole-exome sequencing for diagnosis of ultra-rare diseases. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Delay-dependent Lurie-Postnikov type Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals for stability analysis of discrete-time delayed neural networks.

This paper addresses the influence of time-varying delay and nonlinear activation functions with sector restrictions on the stability of discrete-time neural networks. Compared to previous works that mainly focuses on the influence of delay information, this paper devotes to activation nonlinear functions information to help compensate the analysis technique based on Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional (LKF). A class of delay-dependent Lurie-Postnikov type integral terms involving sector constraints of nonlinear activation function is proposed to complement the LKF construction. The less conservative criteria for the stability analysis of discrete-time delayed networks is given by using improved LKF. Numerical examples show that conservatism can be reduced by the delay-dependent integral terms involving nonlinear activation functions.

Resolving the non-uniformity in the feature space of age estimation: A deep learning model based on feature clusters of panoramic images.

Age estimation is important in forensics, and numerous techniques have been investigated to estimate age based on various parts of the body. Among them, dental tissue is considered reliable for estimating age as it is less influenced by external factors. The advancement in deep learning has led to the development of automatic estimation of age using dental panoramic images. Typically, most of the medical datasets used for model learning are non-uniform in the feature space. This causes the model to be highly influenced by dense feature areas, resulting in adequate estimations; however, relatively poor estimations are observed in other areas. An effective solution to address this issue can be pre-dividing the data by age feature and training each regressor to estimate the age for individual features. In this study, we divide the data based on feature clusters obtained from unsupervised learning. The developed model comprises a classification head and multi-regression head, wherein the former predicts the cluster to which the data belong and the latter estimates the age within the predicted cluster. The visualization results show that the model can focus on a clinically meaningful area in each cluster for estimating age. The proposed model outperforms the models without feature clusters by focusing on the differences within the area. The performance improvement is particularly noticeable in the growth and aging periods. Furthermore, the model can adequately estimate the age even for samples with a high probability of classification error as they are located at the border of two feature clusters.

Clinical Utility of Whole-Genome Analysis as One-for-All Test for Breast Cancer: A Case Series.

Introduction: Breast cancer exhibits vast genomic diversity, leading to varied clinical manifestations. Integrating molecular subtyping with in-depth genomic profiling is pivotal for informed treatment choices and prognostic insights. Whole-genome clinical analysis provides a holistic view of genome-wide variations, capturing structural changes and affirming tumor suppressor gene loss of heterozygosity. Case Presentation: Here we detail four unique breast cancer cases from Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, highlighting the actionable benefits and clinical value of whole-genome sequencing (WGS). As an all-in-one test, WGS demonstrates significant clinical utility in these cases, including: (1) detecting homologous recombination deficiency with underlying somatic causal variants (case 1), (2) distinguishing double primary cancer from metastasis (case 2), (3) uncovering microsatellite instability (case 3), and (4) identifying rare germline pathogenic variants in TP53 gene (case 4). Our observations underscore the enhanced clinical relevance of WGS-based testing beyond pinpointing a few driver mutations in conventional targeted panel sequencing platforms. Conclusion: With genomic advancements and decreasing sequencing costs, WGS stands out as a transformative tool in oncology, paving the way for personalized treatment plans rooted in individual genetic blueprints.

Risk of meningomyelocele mediated by the common 22q11.2 deletion.

Meningomyelocele is one of the most severe forms of neural tube defects (NTDs) and the most frequent structural birth defect of the central nervous system. We assembled the Spina Bifida Sequencing Consortium to identify causes. Exome and genome sequencing of 715 parent-offspring trios identified six patients with chromosomal 22q11.2 deletions, suggesting a 23-fold increased risk compared with the general population. Furthermore, analysis of a separate 22q11.2 deletion cohort suggested a 12- to 15-fold increased NTD risk of meningomyelocele. The loss of Crkl, one of several neural tube-expressed genes within the minimal deletion interval, was sufficient to replicate NTDs in mice, where both penetrance and expressivity were exacerbated by maternal folate deficiency. Thus, the common 22q11.2 deletion confers substantial meningomyelocele risk, which is partially alleviated by folate supplementation.

Current smoking is associated with a poor visual acuity improvement after intravitreal ranibizumab therapy in patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration.

In this study, the risk factors that may influence visual improvement after intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) treatment for exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) were examined. From 2008 to 2012, 420 patients (448 eyes) with exudative AMD were prospectively registered at Seoul National University Hospital. From this group of patients, 125 eyes were included in this study. All patients were treated with 3 consecutive IVR injections. The visual acuity (VA) was evaluated at baseline and 1 month after the third ranibizumab injection. To evaluate the risk factors associated with VA improvement after IVR, patient demographic data and systemic risk factors were analyzed. Patients were divided into a poor VA improvement group and a good VA improvement group, with reference to the median visual improvement in all eyes. Among 125 eyes, 66 eyes (52.8%) were included in the responder group and 59 eyes (47.2%) in the non-responder group. The median VA improvement after 3 monthly ranibizumab injections was -0.05 logMAR. Multivariate analyses revealed that current smoking (adjusted OR, 7.540; 95% CI, 1.732-32.823) was independently associated with poor VA improvement after IVR treatment for exudative AMD. In conclusion, cigarette smoking is an independent risk factor for lower VA gains with IVR treatment for exudative AMD.

Prognostic factors for visual recovery after transsphenoidal pituitary adenectomy.

OBJECTIVES: Pituitary adenomas often cause deficits in visual acuity (VA) and visual field (VF) due to compression of the optic chiasm. This study is to identify factors most likely to predict the prognosis of VA and VF after transsphenoidal pituitary adenectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical records of patients who underwent transsphenoidal pituitary adenectomy were retrospectively reviewed. Data analysed included systemic and visual symptom duration, tumour size, presence of suprasellar tumour extension, histological classification of tumour, VA, and VF. VFs were determined using the Goldmann VF test and quantified according to methods outlined by the American Medical Association. RESULTS: One-hundred and seventy eyes from 85 patients were included. Systemic and visual symptom duration, pre- and postoperative tumour size, and age did not correlate with postoperative VA or VF score. Patients with normal preoperative VA had a better postoperative VA than that of patients with preoperative VA of 20/30 or worse. Patients with normal preoperative VA had better postoperative VF score than that of patients with preoperative VA of 20/70 or worse. Postoperative VF score was lower in the preoperative ≥ 2 quadrant field loss group than in the ≤ 1 quadrant field loss group. Postoperative VA was worse in the ≥ 2 quadrant loss group than in the normal field group. Preoperative VA correlated with postoperative VA and VF score, and preoperative VF score correlated with postoperative VF score but not with VA. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative VA is a prognostic factor for postoperative VA and VF. Preoperative VF is predictive of postoperative VF and postoperative VA in cases with severe VF loss.

Enhanced Results on Sampled-Data Synchronization for Chaotic Neural Networks With Actuator Saturation Using Parameterized Control.

This article investigates a novel sampled-data synchronization controller design method for chaotic neural networks (CNNs) with actuator saturation. The proposed method is based on a parameterization approach which reformulates the activation function as the weighted sum of matrices with the weighting functions. Also, controller gain matrices are combined by affinely transformed weighting functions. The enhanced stabilization criterion is formulated in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) based on the Lyapunov stability theory and weighting function's information. As shown in the comparison results of the bench marking example, the presented method much outperforms previous methods, and thus the enhancement of the proposed parameterized control is verified.

Congenital lacrimal fistula associated with Down syndrome.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this work is to investigate the prevalence and clinical characteristics of congenital lacrimal fistula in Down syndrome patients. METHODS: The medical records of 198 Down syndrome patients who were referred to a tertiary ophthalmology clinic from 2000 to 2010 were retrospectively reviewed to identify patients with congenital lacrimal fistula. The demographic data, clinical features, clinical management, and clinical outcomes were recorded. The main outcome measures were the presence and laterality of fistula, accompanying adnexal and oculomotor abnormalities including congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction (NLDO), the type of surgery performed, and surgical outcome. The prevalence of congenital lacrimal fistula in Down syndrome patients was calculated upon this data. RESULTS: Congenital lacrimal fistula was identified in 8/198 (4.04 %) patients, 4 (2.02 %) of whom presented with bilateral lacrimal fistula. All patients that had lacrimal fistula complained of tearing from their eyes. Congenital NLDO was observed in seven of eight patients with lacrimal fistula. Five patients underwent excision of the lacrimal fistula for the improvement of cosmesis, and three of these patients also underwent lacrimal silicone intubation for NLDO. Another patient received lacrimal silicone intubation for NLDO without excision of the lacrimal fistula. Excision of the lacrimal fistula was successful in all patients; however, tearing persisted after surgery in two patients with uncorrected NLDO. CONCLUSIONS: Congenital lacrimal fistula occurs more frequently in Down syndrome patients and therefore these patients should be thoroughly examined for this abnormality. Down syndrome patients with congenital lacrimal fistula should be also examined for NLDO, because this condition is frequently observed in these patients.