Noninvasive prenatal diagnosis of genetic diseases induced by triplet repeat expansion by linked read haplotyping and Bayesian approach.

The field of noninvasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD) has undergone significant progress over the last decade. Direct haplotyping has been successfully applied for NIPD of few single-gene disorders. However, technical issues remain for triplet-repeat expansions. The objective of this study was to develop an NIPD approach for couples at risk of transmitting dynamic mutations. This method includes targeted enrichment for linked-read libraries and targeted maternal plasma DNA sequencing. We also developed an innovative Bayesian procedure to integrate the Hoobari fetal genotyping model for inferring the fetal haplotype and the targeted gene variant status. Our method of directly resolving parental haplotypes through targeted linked-read sequencing was smoothly performed using blood samples from families with Huntington's disease or myotonic dystrophy type 1. The Bayesian analysis of transmission of parental haplotypes allowed defining the genotype of five fetuses. The predicted variant status of four of these fetuses was in agreement with the invasive prenatal diagnosis findings. Conversely, no conclusive result was obtained for the NIPD of fragile X syndrome. Although improvements should be made to achieve clinically acceptable accuracy, our study shows that linked-read sequencing and parental haplotype phasing can be successfully used for NIPD of triplet-repeat expansion diseases.Trial registration: NCT04698551_date of first registration: 07/01/2021.

Autosomal dominant SPG9: intrafamilial variability and onset during pregnancy.

INTRODUCTION: The ALDH18A1 gene, encoding delta-1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase (P5CS), is responsible for an autosomal recessive disease with severe developmental delay; more recently, ALDH18A1 was found to be responsible for SPG9, an autosomal dominant (AD) spastic paraplegia. CASE REPORT: We report a three-generation family with AD SPG9, initially suspected because of low citrulline on fasting plasma amino acid chromatography (AAC). Interestingly, in two patients, the spastic paraplegia appeared during pregnancy. One subject presented a severe childhood-onset form while another subject had a mild late-onset disease. CONCLUSION: The description of this family is of particular interest: it highlights the possibility of transient or permanent aggravation of spastic paraplegia due to SPG9 during pregnancy, suggesting a direct link between neurological symptoms and amino acid defect in a period of higher requirements and the potential benefit of amino acid supplementation; it underscores the value of plasma citrulline on fasting plasma AAC as a biomarker for this disease; it shows the variable expression of the disease.

Xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group F: A rare cause of cerebellar ataxia with chorea.

The complementation group F of Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP-F) is rare in the Caucasian population, and usually devoid of neurological symptoms. We report two cases, both Caucasian, who exhibited progressive cerebellar ataxia, chorea, a mild subcortical frontal cognitive impairment, and in one case severe polyneuropathy. Brain MRI demonstrated cerebellar (2/2) and cortical (1/2) atrophy. Both patients had only mild sunburn sensitivity and no skin cancer. Mini-exome sequencing approach revealed in ERCC4, two heterozygous mutations, one of which was never described (c.580-584+1delCCAAGG, exon 3), in the first case, and an already reported homozygous mutation, in the second case. These cases emphasize that XP-F is a rare cause of recessive cerebellar ataxia and can in some cases clinically mimic Huntington's disease due to chorea and executive impairment. The association of ataxia, chorea, and sun hypersensitivity are major guidance for the diagnosis, which should not be missed, in order to prevent skin neoplastic complications.

Non-invasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD) of cystic fibrosis: an optimized protocol using MEMO fluorescent PCR to detect the p.Phe508del mutation.

BACKGROUND: Analysis of cell-free foetal DNA (cff-DNA) in maternal plasma is very promising for early diagnosis of monogenic diseases; in particular, cystic fibrosis (CF). However, NIPD of single-gene disorders has been limited by the availability of suitable technical platforms and the need to set up patient or disease-specific custom-made approaches. METHODS: To make research applications more readily accessible to the clinic, we offer a simple assay combining two independent methods to determine the presence or absence of paternally inherited foetal allele p.Phe508del (the most frequent mutation in CF patients worldwide). The first method detects the presence or absence of a p.Phe508del allele by Mutant Enrichment with 3'-Modified Oligonucleotide PCR coupled to Fragment Length Analysis (MEMO-PCR-FLA). The second method detects the p.Phe508del allele with classical Multiplex Fluorescent PCR including five intragenic and extragenic STR markers of the CFTR locus and a specific SRY sequence. RESULTS: We collected 24 plasma samples from 23 women carrying foetuses at risk for CF and tested each sample using both methods. Our new procedures were successfully applied to 10 couples where fathers carried the p.Phe508del mutation and mothers were carrying a different mutation in the CFTR gene. These simple tests provided clear positive or negative results from the maternal plasma of the pregnant women. We confirmed the presence of cff-DNA in the studied samples by the identification of a tri-allelic DNA profile using a miniSTR kit. All results were correlated with chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis analyses. CONCLUSIONS: This NIPD approach, easily set up in any clinical laboratory where prenatal diagnosis is routinely performed, offers many advantages over current methods: it is simple, rapid, and cost-effective. It opens up the possibility for testing a large number of couples with offspring at risk for CF.

Turning unreactive copper acetylides into remarkably powerful and mild alkyne transfer reagents by oxidative umpolung.

This is not breaking news: copper acetylides, readily available polymeric rock-stable solids, have been known for more than a century to be unreactive species and piteous nucleophiles. This lack of reactivity actually makes them ideal alkyne transfer reagents that can be easily activated under mild oxidizing conditions. When treated with molecular oxygen in the presence of simple chelating nitrogen ligands such as TMEDA, phenanthroline or imidazole derivatives, they are smoothly oxidized to highly electrophilic species that formally behave like acetylenic carbocations and can therefore be used for the mild and practical alkynylation of a wide range of nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon nucleophiles.