RESUMO
Whole-exome sequencing (WES) analysis has been used recently as a diagnostic tool for finding molecular defects. In the present study, researchers attempted to analyze molecular defects through WES in a 13-year-old female patient who had not been diagnosed through a conventional genetic approach. DNA was extracted and subjected to WES analysis to identify the genetic defect. A total of 106,728 exons and splicing variants were selected, and synonymous single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and general single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were filtered out. Finally, nonsynonymous SNVs (c.C415T and c.C389T) of the PYGM gene were identified in nine compound heterozygous mutations. PYGM encodes myophosphorylase and degrades glycogen in the muscle to supply energy to muscle cells. The present study revealed that the patient's father had a c.C389T mutation and the mother had a c.C415T mutation, resulting in A130V and R139W missense mutations, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, the A130V variant in PYGM has not been reported in the common variant databases. All variations of the patient's family detected using WES were verified by Sanger sequencing. Because the patient had compound heterozygous mutations in the PYGM gene, the patient was presumed to exhibit markedly decreased muscle phosphorylase activity. To assess the function of myophosphorylase, an ischemic forearm exercise test was performed. The blood ammonia level sharply increased and the lactate level maintained a flat curve shape similar to the typical pattern of McArdle disease. Therefore, the diagnosis of the patient was confirmed to be McArdle disease, a glycogen storage disease. Through WES analysis, accurate and early diagnosis could be made in the present study. This report describes a novel compound heterozygous mutation of the PYGM gene in a Korean patient.
RESUMO
Circular dichroism (CD) is a useful technique for monitoring changes in the conformation of antimicrobial peptides or gelatin. In this study, interactions between cationic peptides and gelatin were observed without affecting the triple helical content of the gelatin, which was more strongly affected by anionic surfactant. The peptides did not adopt a secondary structure in the presence of aqueous solution or Tween 80, but a peptide secondary structure formed upon the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The peptides bound to the phosphate group of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and displayed an alpha-helical conformation while (KW)(4) adopted a folded conformation. Further, the peptides did not specifically interact with the fungal cell wall components of mannan or laminarin. Tryptophan blue shift assay indicated that these peptides interacted with SDS, LPS, and gelatin but not with Tween 80, mannan, or laminarin. The peptides also displayed antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa without cytotoxicity against HaCaT cells at MIC, except for HPA3NT3-analog peptide. In this study, we used a CD spectroscopic method to demonstrate the feasibility of peptide characterization in numerous environments. The CD method can thus be used as a screening method of gelatin-peptide interactions for use in wound healing applications.
