Genetic mapping of Uba3 O.2.2 , a pupal lethal mutation in Drosophila melanogaster

An EMS mutagenesis screen was conducted in Drosophila melanogaster to identify growth control mutants. The multi-institution Fly-CURE consortium phenotypically characterized the O.2.2 mutant using the FLP/FRT system which displayed a mutant lethal phenotype with reduced head development, and darkened ocular tissue. Complementation mapping was conducted to identify the affected gene. A failure to complement was identified in Uba3 , resulting in the identification of the novel allele, Uba3 ^O.2.2 . Uba3 is a known disruptor of the cell cycle and our data are consistent with early larval/embryonic lethality displayed in numerous species.

Reactive Oxygen Species and the Stress Response in Octocorals

AbstractReactive oxygen species (ROS) may damage cellular components but may also contribute to signaling that mitigates damage. In this context, the role of ROS in the stress response that leads to coral bleaching was investigated in three series of experiments with octocorals Sarcothelia sp. and Sympodium sp. Using video and fluorescent microscopy, the first experiments examined ROS and symbiont migration. Colonies mildly stressed with increased temperature and light showed increases in both ROS and numbers of migrating symbionts compared with stress-free controls. Symbionts migrating in the gastrovascular lumen may escape programmed cell death and provide a reservoir of healthy symbionts once conditions return to normal. In the second series of experiments, colonies were mildly stressed with elevated temperature and light. During stress, treated colonies were incubated in seawater enriched with two concentrations of bicarbonate (1 and 3 mmol/L), while controls were incubated in normal seawater. Bicarbonate enrichment provides additional carbon for photosynthesis and at some concentrations diminished the ROS emissions of stressed colonies of Sympodium sp. and Sarcothelia sp. In all experiments, the latter species tended to exhibit more ROS. Sympodium sp. contains Cladocopium sp. symbionts, which are less tolerant of stress, while Sarcothelia sp. contains the more resistant Durusdinium sp. Indeed, in direct comparisons, Sarcothelia sp. experienced higher levels of ROS under stress-free conditions and thus is conditioned to endure the stress associated with bleaching. Generally, ROS levels provide important insight into the cnidarian stress response and should be measured more often in studies of this response.

Genetic susceptibility in pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic pathways underlying drug-induced arrhythmia and sudden unexplained deaths

Drug-induced arrhythmia is an adverse drug reaction that can be potentially fatal since it is mostly related to drug-induced QT prolongation, a known risk factor for Torsade de Pointes and sudden cardiac death (SCD). Several risk factors have been described in association to these drug-induced events, such as preexistent cardiac disease and genetic variation. Our objective was to study the genetic susceptibility in pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic pathways underlying suspected drug-induced arrhythmias and sudden unexplained deaths in 32 patients. The genetic component in the pharmacodynamic pathway was studied by analysing 96 genes associated with higher risk of SCD through massive parallel sequencing. Pharmacokinetic-mediated genetic susceptibility was investigated by studying the genes encoding cytochrome P450 enzymes using medium-throughput genotyping. Pharmacodynamic analysis showed three probably pathogenic variants and 45 variants of uncertain significance in 28 patients, several of them previously described in relation to mild or late onset cardiomyopathies. These results suggest that genetic variants in cardiomyopathy genes, in addition to those related with channelopathies, could be relevant to drug-induced cardiotoxicity and contribute to the arrhythmogenic phenotype. Pharmacokinetic analysis showed three patients that could have an altered metabolism of the drugs they received involving CYP2C19 and/or CYP2D6, probably contributing to the arrhythmogenic phenotype. The study of genetic variants in both pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic pathways may be a useful strategy to understand the multifactorial mechanism of drug-induced events in both clinical practice and forensic field. However, it is necessary to comprehensively study and evaluate the contribution of the genetic susceptibility to drug-induced cardiotoxicity.

Clinical picture of a patient with a novel PSEN1 mutation (L424V)

Young onset dementia raises concern about familial and non degenerative dementias. We describe a patient with early dementia. At the age of 26, a woman developed symptoms of anorexia nervosa, at 30 a memory and attention deficit, and at 34 abnormal behavior with impulsivity, aggression, and dysexecutive disorder. At 36 she showed aphasia, stereotyped behavior, hyperreflexia, grasping reflex, urinary incontinence, myoclonus, and seizures. Blood and cerebrospinal fluid were normal. Brain computed tomography and single photon emission computed tomography showed diffuse cortico-subcortical atrophy and frontotemporoparietal hypoperfusion. A Leu424Val mutation was present in PSEN1 gene. PSEN1 mutations can produce Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies phenotypes, or a combination of them. It has been proposed that the mutation type and location may influence the molecular pathogenesis and thus PSEN1 would represent a molecular connexion between these entities. This case shows a novel PSEN1 mutation with outstanding amnesic and frontal symptoms.