Corrigendum: Identification of the first congenital ichthyosis case caused by a homozygous deletion in the ALOX12B gene due to chromosome 17 mixed uniparental disomy.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.931833.].

A novel variant in the HX repeat motif of ATN1 in a Chinese patient with CHEDDA syndrome and literature review.

BACKGROUND: CHEDDA syndrome is a rare neurodevelopmental syndrome caused by heterozygous missense or indel variants in the HX repeat motif of ATN1 gene. To date, CHEDDA has been identified in a few ethnic groups, and only 17 patients have been reported in literature, and no case has been reported in any country or region in Asia. METHODS: Trio-exome sequencing (Trio-ES) examination was conducted in a Chinese girl with global developmental delay and in her parents. Sanger sequencing was performed to confirm the candidate variant. RESULTS: This patient presented with mental and motor developmental delay, speech delay, and mild dysmorphic facial features, and had no epilepsy and visual impairment. Brain MRI did not show obvious structural abnormality. Through ES we identified a novel and de novo variant, c.3176_c.3177insGCACCT (p.Ser1059_His1060insHisLeu), within the HX motif of ATN1. No other pathogenic variant in another gene was found to support an alternative clinical and molecular diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first described case of CHEDDA from China. Together with the available literature data, we found that either disruption of HX motif or alteration of the HX repeat number would lead to ATN1-associated CHEDDA. We also noted that CHEDDA is a clinical heterogenous syndrome, and patients carrying the same or similar variant might have different clinical manifestations and prognosis.

Identification of the first congenital ichthyosis case caused by a homozygous deletion in the ALOX12B gene due to chromosome 17 mixed uniparental disomy.

Uniparental disomy (UPD) is a rare genetic event caused by errors during gametogenesis and fertilization leading to two copies of a chromosome or chromosomal region inherited from one parent. MixUPD is one type of UPD that contains isodisomic and heterodisomic parts because of meiotic recombination. Using whole-exome sequencing (WES), we identified the first case of ichthyosis due to a maternal mixUPD on chromosome 17, which results in a homozygous deletion of partial intron 8 to exon 10 in ALOX12B, being predicted to lead to an internal protein deletion of 97 amino acids. We also performed a retrospective analysis of 198 patients with ALOX12B mutations. The results suggested that the exon 9 and 10 are located in the mutational hotspots of ALOX12B. In addition, our patient has microtia and congenital stenosis of the external auditory canals, which is very rare in patients with ALOX12B mutations. Our study reports the first case of autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis (ARCI) due to a mixUPD of chromosome 17 and expands the spectrum of clinical manifestations of ARCI caused by mutations in the ALOX12B gene.

Li-Dan-He-Ji Improves Infantile Cholestasis Hepatopathy Through Inhibiting Calcium-Sensing Receptor-Mediated Hepatocyte Apoptosis.

Infantile cholestatic hepatopathy (ICH) is a clinical syndrome characterized by the accumulation of cytotoxic bile acids in infancy, leading to serious liver cirrhosis or liver failure. The aetiology of ICH is complicated and some of them is unknown. Regardless of the aetiology, the finial pathology of ICH is hepatocyte apoptosis caused by severe and persistent cholestasis. It is already known that activation of calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) could lead to the apoptosis of cardiomyocytes. However, the mechanism by CaSR-mediated cholestasis-related hepatocyte apoptosis is not fully understood. Li-Dan-He-Ji (LDHJ), a Traditional Chinese Medicine prescription, was developed to treat ICH. Another aim of this study was to investigate the possible mechanisms of LDHJ in cholestasis-related hepatocyte apoptosis. Using the primary hepatocytes, we first investigated the molecular mechanism of CaSR-mediated hepatocyte apoptosis in cholestasis. Then we prepared LDHJ granules and used ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography to identify the predominant drugs; confirmed the stability of the main substances; and for cell experiments screened forsythoside-A, emodin and chlorogenic acid as the three active substances of LDHJ granules. In the young rats with ANIT-induced intrahepatic cholestasis and the primary hepatocytes with TCDC-induced cholestasis-related hepatocyte apoptosis, the levels of liver injury and cholestasis-related biomarkers, calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR), hepatocyte apoptosis, Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, Cytochrome-C, caspase-3, phosphorylated-c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (p-JNK)/JNK, and p-P38/P38 were all increased, while the levels of p-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-ERK)/ERK were decreased. However, LDHJ granules and its three active substances effectively reversed these changes. Furthermore, the three active substances reduced the increases in the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) and ROS levels and attenuated the dissipation of the mitochondria membrane potential in the TCDC-induced primary hepatocytes. The opposite results were obtained from the TCDC-induced primary hepatocytes treated with an agonist of CaSR (GdCl3) plus forsythoside-A, emodin or chlorogenic acid. Based on the results from in vivo and in vitro studies, LDHJ functions as an antagonist of CaSR to regulate hepatocyte apoptosis in cholestasis through the mitochondrial pathway and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway.

Substitution Reactions of the Aluminum Chlorogermylenoid H2GeClAlCl2 with HF, H2O, NH3, HCl, H2S, and PH3.

Quantum chemical calculations have been performed for the substitution reactions of the aluminum chlorogermylenoid H2GeClAlCl2 with HF, H2O, NH3, HCl, H2S, and PH3 to get more insights into the reactivity of H2GeClAlCl2. The theoretical calculated results indicated that the substitution reactions of H2GeClAlCl2 with HF, H2O, NH3, HCl, H2S, and PH3 proceeded in a concerted manner. There were one transition state and one intermediate which connected the reactants and the products along the potential energy surface. The six substitution reactions of H2GeClAlCl2 with HF, H2O, NH3, HCl, H2S, and PH3 are compared with the addition reaction s of H2Ge with these hydrides. And based on the calculated results we concluded that the substitution reactions of H2GeClAlCl2 with these hydrides involve two steps, one is dissociation onto H2Ge with AlCl3, and the other is the addition reactions of H2Ge with HF, H2O, NH3, HCl, H2S, and PH3.

Conventional MRI for diagnosis of subacute combined degeneration (SCD) of the spinal cord due to vitamin B-12 deficiency.

Subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord (SCD) is often found in vitamin B-12 deficiency and typically shows hyperintensity on T2-weighted images of the lateral and posterior columns. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the use of conventional magnetic resonance examination in diagnosing SCD. Thirty-six patients were clinically confirmed and retrospectively analyzed; conventional spine MRIs were available for all patients and eight of them had contrast enhancement MRIs. 19 out of 36 patients showed abnormal signal intensity on T2 weighted images with a sensitivity of 52.8%, among which 18 in the posterior aspect of the spinal cord and 1 in the anterior horn of the thoracic spinal cord The spinal cord abnormalities were seen at the cervical spine in 12 patients (33.3%) and at the thoracic spine in the other 7 patients (19.4%). Axial T2-weighted images showed symmetric linear T2-hyperintensity as an "inverted V" at the cervical spinal cord in 5 patients, which has been reported as a typical sign of SCD. For patients with thoracic spinal cord abnormalities, the bilateral paired nodular T2-hyperintensity looked like "binoculars" at the thoracic spinal cord. Only one out of the eight patients showed slight enhancement after injection with contrast agent. All the 36 patients reported clinical improvement after appropriate vitamin B-12 treatment. The two follow-up spine MRIs showed a decreased extent of the lesion. Therefore, conventional MRI is useful in the diagnosis and management of SCD caused by vitamin B-12 deficiency.

New insights into the insertion reactions of germylenoid H2GeLiF with RH (R = F, OH, NH2).

In the present work, a new pathway of the insertion reactions of H2GeLiF with RH (R = F, OH, NH2) was investigated using DFT B3LYP and QCISD methods. The geometries of the stationary points on the potential energy surfaces in the reactions were optimized at the B3LYP/6-311 + G (d, p) level and then the single-point energies were calculated at the QCISD/6-311++G (d, p) level. The calculated results indicated that the initial step of all the reactions is the isomerization of the p-complex structure to a three-membered-ring structure. After isomerization, the insertion reactions of three-membered-ring H2GeLiF with RH (R = F, OH, NH2) take place. The QCISD/6-311++G (d, p)//B3LYP/6-311 + G (d, p) calculated potential energy barriers of the three reactions were 89.77, 137.40, and 167.45 kJ mol(-1), respectively. Under the same situation, the insertion reactions should occur easily in the following order H-F > H-OH > H-NH2. Compared with the direct insertion reactions of H2GeLiF with RH (R = F, OH, NH2), the two-step insertions have lower activation barriers and should be more favorable.

Insight into the substitution reactions of silylenoid H2SiLiF with GeH3X (X = F, Cl, Br): a theoretical study.

The unique substitution reactions of the three-membered-ring silylenoid H2SiLiF with GeH3X (X = F, Cl, Br) were investigated using ab initio and density functional theory calculations. All stationary points on the potential energy surfaces were optimized at the B3LYP/6-311 + G (d, p) level of theory and the QCISD method was then used to calculate the single-point energies. Theoretical calculations predicted that the substitution reactions of H2SiLiF with GeH3X proceed via two reaction paths (I and II), while forming the same product H2FSi-GeH3. In either pathway, there is one precursor complex (Q), one transition state (TS), and one intermediate (IM) connecting the reactants and products. The substitution reaction barriers of H2SiLiF with GeH3X for path I (48.49, 42.71, and 38.71 kJ mol(-1)) decreased with the increase for the same-family element X from up to down in the periodic table, whereas the substitution barriers for path II (6.51, 22.04, and 23.62 kJ mol(-1)) increased with the increase in atomic number of X (X = F, Cl, Br). Path II was more favorable than path I. All the substitution reactions of H2SiLiF with GeH3X were exothermic. The elucidation of the unique mechanism of these substitution reactions suggests a new reaction mode of silicon-germanium bond formation.

A new reaction mode of germanium-silicon bond formation: insertion reactions of H2GeLiF with SiH3X (X = F, Cl, Br).

A combined density functional and ab initio quantum chemical study of the insertion reactions of the germylenoid H2GeLiF with SiH3X (X = F, Cl, Br) was carried out. The geometries of all the stationary points of the reactions were optimized using the DFT B3LYP method and then the QCISD method was used to calculate the single-point energies. The theoretical calculations indicated that along the potential energy surface, there were one precursor complex (Q), one transition state (TS), and one intermediate (IM) which connected the reactants and the products. The calculated barrier heights relative to the respective precursors are 102.26 (X = F), 95.28 (X = Cl), and 84.42 (X = Br) kJ mol(-1) for the three different insertion reactions, respectively, indicating the insertion reactions should occur easily according to the following order: SiH3-Br > SiH3-Cl > SiH3-F under the same situation. The solvent effects on the insertion reactions were also calculated and it was found that the larger the dielectric constant, the easier the insertion reactions. The elucidations of the mechanism of these insertion reactions provided a new reaction model of germanium-silicon bond formation.