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Martin S, Struemph KL, Poblete A, Toledo-Tamula MA, Lockridge R, Roderick MC, Wolters P. An Internet support group for parents of children with neurofibromatosis type 1: a qualitative analysis. J Community Genet 2018; 9:327-334. [PMID: 29500624 DOI: 10.1007/s12687-018-0360-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2017] [Accepted: 02/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Parents of children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a rare genetic condition, are at risk for emotional distress. While they may benefit from support groups, they may find it difficult to access support. We conducted an 8-week Internet support group (ISG) with 33 parents (29 mothers, 4 fathers) of children with NF1. Transcripts were evaluated using inductive thematic analysis to determine parental needs and concerns; a process and content theme were identified, with each containing codes and subcodes. In terms of process, parents utilized the ISG to seek out information, share information and experiences, and provide and receive emotional support. Common content codes included medical concerns, psychosocial/cognitive development, and accessing NF1 community resources. These concerns highlight the importance of providing parents with reliable information about their child's condition, providing multidisciplinary support to the children with NF1 and their families, and encouraging involvement in the NF1 community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Staci Martin
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 9030 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD, 20892-8200, USA.
| | - Kari L Struemph
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 9030 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD, 20892-8200, USA
| | - Alyssa Poblete
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 9030 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD, 20892-8200, USA
| | - Mary Anne Toledo-Tamula
- Clinical Research Directorate/Clinical Monitoring Research Program, Leidos Biomedical Research Inc., NCI Campus at Frederick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA
| | - Robin Lockridge
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 9030 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD, 20892-8200, USA
| | - Marie Claire Roderick
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 9030 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD, 20892-8200, USA
| | - Pamela Wolters
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 9030 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD, 20892-8200, USA
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de Morais CGV, Castro Lima AK, Terra R, dos Santos RF, Da-Silva SAG, Dutra PML. The Dialogue of the Host-Parasite Relationship: Leishmania spp. and Trypanosoma cruzi Infection. BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2015; 2015:324915. [PMID: 26090399 PMCID: PMC4450238 DOI: 10.1155/2015/324915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2014] [Revised: 09/01/2014] [Accepted: 09/02/2014] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
The intracellular protozoa Leishmania spp. and Trypanosoma cruzi and the causative agents of Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease, respectively, belong to the Trypanosomatidae family. Together, these two neglected tropical diseases affect approximately 25 million people worldwide. Whether the host can control the infection or develops disease depends on the complex interaction between parasite and host. Parasite surface and secreted molecules are involved in triggering specific signaling pathways essential for parasite entry and intracellular survival. The recognition of the parasite antigens by host immune cells generates a specific immune response. Leishmania spp. and T. cruzi have a multifaceted repertoire of strategies to evade or subvert the immune system by interfering with a range of signal transduction pathways in host cells, which causes the inhibition of the protective response and contributes to their persistence in the host. The current therapeutic strategies in leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis are very limited. Efficacy is variable, toxicity is high, and the emergence of resistance is increasingly common. In this review, we discuss the molecular basis of the host-parasite interaction of Leishmania and Trypanosoma cruzi infection and their mechanisms of subverting the immune response and how this knowledge can be used as a tool for the development of new drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Gustavo Vieira de Morais
- Laboratório de Bioquímica de Protozoários e Imunofisiologia do Exercício, Disciplina de Parasitologia, DMIP, FCM, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Avenida Professor Manuel de Abreu 444, Pavilhão Américo Piquet Carneiro, 5° andar, Vila Isabel, 20550-170 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
- Programa de Pós Graduação em Microbiologia/FCM/UERJ, Avenida Professor Manuel de Abreu 444, Pavilhão Américo Piquet Carneiro, 3° andar, Vila Isabel, 20550-170 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Ana Karina Castro Lima
- Laboratório de Bioquímica de Protozoários e Imunofisiologia do Exercício, Disciplina de Parasitologia, DMIP, FCM, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Avenida Professor Manuel de Abreu 444, Pavilhão Américo Piquet Carneiro, 5° andar, Vila Isabel, 20550-170 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Terra
- Laboratório de Bioquímica de Protozoários e Imunofisiologia do Exercício, Disciplina de Parasitologia, DMIP, FCM, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Avenida Professor Manuel de Abreu 444, Pavilhão Américo Piquet Carneiro, 5° andar, Vila Isabel, 20550-170 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
- Programa de Pós Graduação em Fisiopatologia Clínica e Experimental/FCM/UERJ, Avenida Professor Manuel de Abreu 444, Pavilhão Américo Piquet Carneiro, 5° andar, Vila Isabel, 20550-170 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Rosiane Freire dos Santos
- Programa de Pós Graduação em Microbiologia/FCM/UERJ, Avenida Professor Manuel de Abreu 444, Pavilhão Américo Piquet Carneiro, 3° andar, Vila Isabel, 20550-170 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
- Laboratório de Imunofarmacologia Parasitária, Disciplina de Parasitologia, DMIP, FCM, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Avenida Professor Manuel de Abreu 444, Pavilhão Américo Piquet Carneiro, 5° andar, Vila Isabel, 20550-170 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Silvia Amaral Gonçalves Da-Silva
- Laboratório de Imunofarmacologia Parasitária, Disciplina de Parasitologia, DMIP, FCM, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Avenida Professor Manuel de Abreu 444, Pavilhão Américo Piquet Carneiro, 5° andar, Vila Isabel, 20550-170 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Patrícia Maria Lourenço Dutra
- Laboratório de Bioquímica de Protozoários e Imunofisiologia do Exercício, Disciplina de Parasitologia, DMIP, FCM, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Avenida Professor Manuel de Abreu 444, Pavilhão Américo Piquet Carneiro, 5° andar, Vila Isabel, 20550-170 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
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Masoudi-Nejad A, Meshkin A, Haji-Eghrari B, Bidkhori G. RETRACTED ARTICLE: Candidate gene prioritization. Mol Genet Genomics 2012; 287:679-98. [DOI: 10.1007/s00438-012-0710-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2012] [Accepted: 07/12/2012] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
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Rorick NK, Kinoshita A, Weirather JL, Peyrard-Janvid M, de Lima RLLF, Dunnwald M, Shanske AL, Moretti-Ferreira D, Koillinen H, Kere J, Mansilla MA, Murray JC, Goudy SL, Schutte BC. Genomic strategy identifies a missense mutation in WD-repeat domain 65 (WDR65) in an individual with Van der Woude syndrome. Am J Med Genet A 2011; 155A:1314-21. [PMID: 21574244 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.a.33980] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2010] [Accepted: 01/22/2011] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Genetic variation in the transcription factor interferon regulatory factor 6 (IRF6) causes and contributes risk for oral clefting disorders. We hypothesized that genes regulated by IRF6 are also involved in oral clefting disorders. We used five criteria to identify potential IRF6 target genes; differential gene expression in skin taken from wild-type and Irf6-deficient murine embryos, localization to the Van der Woude syndrome 2 (VWS2) locus at 1p36-1p32, overlapping expression with Irf6, presence of a conserved predicted-binding site in the promoter region, and a mutant murine phenotype that was similar to the Irf6 mutant mouse. Previously, we observed altered expression for 573 genes; 13 were located in the murine region syntenic to the VWS2 locus. Two of these genes, Wdr65 and Stratifin, met 4 of 5 criteria. Wdr65 was a novel gene that encoded a predicted protein of 1,250 amino acids with two WD domains. As potential targets for Irf6 regulation, we hypothesized that disease-causing mutations will be found in WDR65 and Stratifin in individuals with VWS or VWS-like syndromes. We identified a potentially etiologic missense mutation in WDR65 in a person with VWS who does not have an exonic mutation in IRF6. The expression and mutation data were consistent with the hypothesis that WDR65 was a novel gene involved in oral clefting.
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Tranchevent LC, Capdevila FB, Nitsch D, De Moor B, De Causmaecker P, Moreau Y. A guide to web tools to prioritize candidate genes. Brief Bioinform 2010; 12:22-32. [PMID: 21278374 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbq007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 141] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
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Davis LK, Hazlett HC, Librant AL, Nopoulos P, Sheffield VC, Piven J, Wassink TH. Cortical enlargement in autism is associated with a functional VNTR in the monoamine oxidase A gene. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 2008; 147B:1145-51. [PMID: 18361446 PMCID: PMC2752707 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.b.30738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) is an enzyme expressed in the brain that metabolizes dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, and serotonin. Abnormalities of serotonin neurotransmission have long been implicated in the psychopathology of autism. A polymorphism exists within the promoter region of the MAOA gene that influences MAOA expression levels so that "low activity" alleles are associated with increased neurotransmitter levels in the brain. Individuals with autism often exhibit elevated serotonin levels. Additional studies indicate that the "low activity" allele may be associated with lower IQ and more severe autistic symptoms. In this study we genotyped the MAOA promoter polymorphism in a group of 29 males (age 2-3 years) with autism and a group of 39 healthy pediatric controls for whom brain MRI data was available. We found a consistent association between the "low activity" allele and larger brain volumes for regions of the cortex in children with autism but not in controls. We did not find evidence for over-transmission of the "low activity" allele in a separate sample of 114 affected sib pair families. Nor did we find any unknown SNPs in yet another sample of 96 probands. Future studies will determine if there is a more severe clinical phenotype associated with both the "low activity" genotype and the larger brain volumes in our sample.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lea K. Davis
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa,Correspondence to: Lea K. Davis, BS, 4181 Medical Education Research Facility, 375 Newton Road, Iowa City, IA 52242.
| | - Heather C. Hazlett
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Center and Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Amy L. Librant
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa
| | - Peggy Nopoulos
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa
| | - Val C. Sheffield
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa,The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Iowa City, Iowa
| | - Joesph Piven
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Center and Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Thomas H. Wassink
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa
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O'Leary BM, Davis SG, Smith MF, Brown B, Kemp MB, Almabrazi H, Grundstad JA, Burns T, Leontiev V, Andorf J, Clark AF, Sheffield VC, Casavant TL, Scheetz TE, Stone EM, Braun TA. Transcript annotation prioritization and screening system (TrAPSS) for mutation screening. J Bioinform Comput Biol 2008; 5:1155-72. [PMID: 18172923 DOI: 10.1142/s0219720007003132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2007] [Revised: 07/31/2007] [Accepted: 08/13/2007] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
When searching for disease-causing mutations with polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods, candidate genes are usually screened in their entirety, exon by exon. Genomic resources (i.e. www.ncbi.nih.gov, www.ensembl.org, and genome.ucsc.edu) largely support this paradigm for mutation screening by making it easy to view and access sequence data associated with genes in their genomic context. However, the administrative burden of conducting mutation screening in potentially hundreds of genes and thousands of exons in thousands of patients is significant, even with the use of public genome resources. For example, the manual design of oligonucleotide primers for all exons of the 10 Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA) genes (149 exons) represents a significant information management challenge. The Transcript Annotation Prioritization and Screening System (TrAPSS) is designed to accelerate mutation screening by (1) providing a gene-based local cache of candidate disease genes in a genomic context, (2) automating tasks associated with optimizing candidate disease gene screening and information management, and (3) providing the implementation of an algorithmic technique to utilize large amounts of heterogeneous genome annotation (e.g. conserved protein functional domains) so as to prioritize candidate genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian M O'Leary
- Coordinated Laboratory for Computational Genomics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
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Stone EM. Leber congenital amaurosis - a model for efficient genetic testing of heterogeneous disorders: LXIV Edward Jackson Memorial Lecture. Am J Ophthalmol 2007; 144:791-811. [PMID: 17964524 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajo.2007.08.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 212] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2007] [Revised: 07/26/2007] [Accepted: 08/07/2007] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE To critically evaluate our experience in molecular testing of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) and to use this information to devise a general approach to heterogeneous recessive disorders. Careful clinical and molecular characterization of large cohorts of patients affected with inherited eye diseases will be an essential step in the development of effective therapy for these diseases, especially when the therapy involves gene replacement. DESIGN A molecular genetic case-control study. METHODS Six hundred forty-two unrelated individuals with the clinical diagnosis of LCA and 200 unrelated control individuals were screened for disease-causing sequence variations in eight genes using various combinations of single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis (SSCP), automated DNA sequencing, multiplex allele-specific ligation analysis (SNPlex), and high-density solid-phase single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping. RESULTS Four hundred forty instances of 189 different disease-causing sequence variations were observed in this study, 98 of which have not been previously reported. One hundred forty-six of the 189 variations (77%) were observed in only a single individual. The observed variations were not evenly distributed among the LCA patients or among the eight genes. Empirical analysis of this uneven distribution was used to devise a multi-platform mutation detection strategy that is four times more efficient than a more conventional strategy of completely sequencing all of the coding regions of all LCA genes in all subjects. Hardy-Weinberg analysis of the observed mutations suggests that these eight genes are collectively responsible for about 70% of the cases of LCA in North America. The carrier frequency of the most common LCA allele (an intron 26 variation in CEP290) was found to be 2/3,248, which suggests that the overall prevalence of LCA in this population is about 1/81,000. An allele-specific ligation assay (SNPlex) was designed to detect 68 of the most common LCA-causing alleles, and semi-quantitative analysis of the data from this assay also revealed examples of gene deletion and isodisomy in the cohort. CONCLUSIONS The data demonstrates that a tiered screening strategy combining allele-specific detection with automated DNA sequencing can increase the efficiency of autosomal recessive mutation detection four-fold when compared with DNA sequencing alone. However, the very high rate of unique mutations observed in this study (77%) suggests that DNA sequencing will remain an important part of the overall strategy if high sensitivity is to be achieved.
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