• Genomics & Informatics
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• 제20권3호
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• pp.28.1-28.7
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• 2022

We described a clinical, laboratory, and genetic presentation of a pathogenic variant of the CYP1B1 gene through a report of a case of primary congenital glaucoma and a trio analysis of this candidate variant in the family with the Sanger sequencing method and eventually completed our study with the secondary/incidental findings. This study reports a rare case of primary congenital glaucoma, an 8-year-old female child with a negative family history of glaucoma and uncontrolled intraocular pressure. This case's whole-exome sequencing data analysis presents a homozygous pathogenic single nucleotide variant in the CYP1B1 gene (NM_000104:exon3:c.G1103A:p.R368H). At the same time, this pathogenic variant was obtained as a heterozygous state in her unaffected father but not her mother. The diagnosis was made based on molecular findings of whole-exome sequencing data analysis. Therefore, the clinical reports and bioinformatics findings supported the relation between the candidate pathogenic variant and the disease. However, it should not be forgotten that primary congenital glaucoma is not peculiar to the CYP1B1 gene. Since the chance of developing autosomal recessive disorders with low allele frequency and unrelated parents is extraordinary in offspring. However, further data analysis of whole-exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing method were applied to obtain the type of mutation and how it was carried to the offspring.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.111-118
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• 2010

염색체 microarray 검사는 유전체 전체를 한번에 검색하여 초현미경적인 염색체 이상을 매우 정밀하고 정확하게 검출할 수 있다. 외국에서는 현재 자주 활용되는 임상 진단 검사로 자리잡았고, 염색체 검사 또는 표적 부위를 검출하는 FISH 검사나 PCR 기반의 분자유전학적 방법을 대체하고 있다. 최근 발표된 consensus 들은 염색체 microarray 검사를 비특이적인 다발성 기형, 발달지연 또는 정신지체, 자폐증상질환의 환자에서는 염색체 검사보다 먼저 시행할 수 있는 검사로 제안하였다. 염색체 microarray 검사는 핵형 분석에서 검출된 염색체 불균형을 검증하기 위해 염색체 검사에 보조적으로 활용할 수 있고, 염색체 이상에 대한 보다 정확하고 종합적인 분석이 가능하다. 그러나 염색체 microarray 검사는 균형재배열의 염색체 이상과 low-level 모자이시즘을 검출하기 어렵고, 임상적 중요성이 불명확한 CNV에 대한 해석과 검사비용이 고가라는 한계점이 있다. 이러한 이유로 인해 현재로서는 염색체 microarray 검사가 산전 진단 목적으로는 고식적인 염색체 검사를 대신할 수는 없다는 의견이다. 임상검사실에서 염색체 microarray 검사 시행 시, 유전학적 및 세포유전학적 지식과 경험이 결과 분석과 해석 과정에서 요구되며, 적절한 검증 과정 단계와 유전상담이 동반되어야 한다.

• Translational and Clinical Pharmacology
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.63-66
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• 2017

Allopurinol-induced severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs) such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), and drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) syndrome are reportedly associated with the $HLA-B^{\star}58:01$ genotype. Three patients who developed SCARs after allopurinol administration were subjected to HLA-B genotyping and lymphocyte activation test (LAT) to evaluate genetic risk and to detect the causative agent, respectively. All three patients given allopurinol to treat gout were diagnosed with DRESS syndrome. Symptom onset commenced 7-24 days after drug exposure; the patients took allopurinol (100-200 mg/d) for 2-30 days. HLA-B genotyping was performed using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-sequence-based typing (SBT) method. All patients had a single $HLA-B^{\star}58:01$ allele: $HLA-B^{\star}13:02/^{\star}58:01$ (a 63-year-old male), $HLA-B^{\star}48:01/^{\star}58:01$ (a 71-year-old female), and $HLA-B^{\star}44:03/^{\star}58:01$ (a 22-year-old male). Only the last patient yielded a positive LAT result, confirming that allopurinol was the causative agent. These findings suggest that patients with $HLA-B^{\star}58:01$ may develop SCARs upon allopurinol administration. Therefore, HLA-B genotyping could be helpful in preventing serious problems attributable to allopurinol treatment, although PCR-SBT HLA-B genotyping is time consuming. A simple genotyping test is required in practice. LAT may help to identify a causative agent.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.85-93
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• 2022

Purpose: Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS) is a rare genetically heterogeneous disorder caused by genetic variants of the cohesin complex. However, the diverse genetic etiologies and their phenotypic correlations in Korean patients with CdLS are still largely unknown. Hence, this study aimed to clarify the clinical characteristics and genetic background of Korean patients with CdLS. Materials and Methods: The medical records of 15 unrelated patients (3 males and 12 females) genetically confirmed to have CdLS were retrospectively reviewed. All individuals were diagnosed with CdLS using target gene analysis, whole-exome sequencing, and/or chromosomal microarray analysis. The clinical score (CS) was calculated to assess disease severity. Results: The median age at diagnosis was 1.7 (range, 0.0-11.8) years, and median follow-up duration was 3.8 (range, 0.4-11.7) years. Eight (53.3%) patients showed classic phenotypes of CdLS, two (13.3%) showed non-classic phenotypes, and five (33.3%) had other phenotypes sharing limited signs of CdLS. Fifteen causative variants were identified: NIPBL in five (33.3%, including 3 males), SMC1A in three (20.0%), SMC3 in three (20.0%), and HDAC8 in four (26.7%) patients. The CS was significantly higher in the NIPBL group than in the non-NIPBL group (14.2±1.3 vs. 8.7±2.9, P<0.001). Conclusion: We identified the clinical and genetic heterogeneity of CdLS in Korean patients. Patients with variants of NIPBL had a more distinctive phenotype than those carrying variants of other cohesin complex genes (SMC1A, SMC3, and HDAC8). However, further studies are warranted to understand the pathogenesis of CdLS as a cohesinopathy and its genotype-phenotype correlations.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.76-84
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• 2022

Purpose: Whole-exome sequencing (WES) has been a useful tool for novel gene discovery of various disease categories, further increasing the diagnostic yield. This study aimed to investigate the clinical utility of WES prospectively in undiagnosed genetic diseases. Materials and Methods: WES tests were performed on 110 patients (age range, 0-28 years) with suspected rare genetic diseases. WES tests were performed at a single reference laboratory and the variants reported were reviewed by clinical geneticists, pediatricians, neurologists, and laboratory physicians. Results: The patients' symptoms varied with abnormalities in the head or neck, including facial dysmorphism, being the most common, identified in 85.4% of patients, followed by abnormalities in the nervous system (83.6%). The average number of systems manifesting phenotypic abnormalities per patient was 3.9±1.7. The age at presentation was 2.1±2.7 years old (range, 0-15 years), and the age at WES testing was 6.7±5.3 years (range, 0-28 years). In total, WES test reported 100 pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants or variants of uncertain significance for 79 out of 110 probands (71.8%). Of the 79 patients with positive or inconclusive calls, 55 (50.0%) patients were determined to have good genotype-phenotype correlations after careful review. Further clinical reassessment and family member testing determined 45 (40.9%) patients to have been identified with a molecular diagnosis. Conclusion: This study showed a 40.9% diagnostic yield for WES test for a heterogeneous patient cohort with suspected rare genetic diseases. WES could be the feasible genetic test modality to overcome the diversity and complexity of rare disease diagnostics.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권19호
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• pp.8041-8046
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• 2014

In-depth analysis of how TRAIL signals through death receptors to induce apoptosis in cancer cells using high throughput technologies has added new layers of knowledge. However, the wealth of information has also highlighted the fact that TRAIL induced apoptosis may be impaired as evidenced by experimental findings obtained from TRAIL resistant cancer cell lines. Overwhelmingly, increasing understanding of TRAIL mediated apoptosis has helped in identifying synthetic and natural compounds which can restore TRAIL induced apoptosis via functionalization of either extrinsic or intrinsic pathways. Increasingly it is being realized that biologically active phytochemicals modulate TRAIL induced apoptosis, as evidenced by cell-based studies. In this review we have attempted to provide an overview of how different phytonutrients have shown efficacy in restoring apoptosis in TRAIL resistant cancer cells. We partition this review into how the TRAIL mediated signaling landscape has broadened over the years and how TRAIL induced signaling machinery crosstalks with autophagic protein networks. Subsequently, we provide a generalized view of considerable biological activity of coumarins against a wide range of cancer cell lines and how coumarins (psoralidin and esculetin) isolated from natural sources have improved TRAIL induced apoptosis in resistant cancer cells. We summarize recent updates on piperlongumine, phenethyl isothiocyanate and luteolin induced activation of TRAIL mediated apoptosis. The data obtained from pre-clinical studies will be helpful in translation of information from benchtop to the bedside.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.13.1-13.8
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• 2023

Importance of accurate molecular diagnosis and quantification of particular disease-related pathogenic microorganisms is highlighted as an introductory step to prevent and care for diseases. In this study, we designed a primer/probe set for quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) targeting rgpA gene, known as the specific virulence factor of periodontitis-related pathogenic bacteria 'Porphyromonas gingivalis', and evaluated its diagnostic efficiency by detecting and quantifying relative bacterial load of P. gingivalis within saliva samples collected from clinical subjects. As a result of qRT-PCR, we confirmed that relative bacterial load of P. gingivalis was detected and quantified within all samples of positive control and periodontitis groups. On the contrary, negative results were confirmed in both negative control and healthy groups. Additionally, as a result of comparison with next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based 16S metagenome profiling data, we confirmed relative bacterial load of P. gingivalis, which was not identified on bacterial classification table created through 16S microbiome analysis, in qRT-PCR results. It showed that an approach to quantifying specific microorganisms by applying qRT-PCR method could solve microbial misclassification issues at species level of an NGS-based 16S microbiome study. In this respect, we suggest that P. gingivalis-specific primer/probe set introduced in present study has efficient applicability in various oral healthcare industries, including periodontitis-related microbial molecular diagnosis field.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.67-72
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• 2012

The generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from patients' somatic cells provides a new paradigm for studying human genetic diseases. Human iPSCs which have similar properties of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) provide a powerful platform to recapitulate the disease-specific cell types by using various differentiation techniques. This promising technology has being realized the possibility to explore pathophysiology of many human genetic diseases at the molecular and cellular levels. Furthermore, disease-specific human iPSCs can also be used for patient-based drug screening and new drug discovery at the stage of the pre-clinical test in vitro. In this review, we summarized the concept and history of cellular reprogramming or iPSC generation and highlight recent progresses for disease modeling using patient-specific iPSCs.

• Journal of Interdisciplinary Genomics
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• 제2권2호
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• pp.20-25
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• 2020

Mucopolysaccharidosis type III (MPS III or Sanfilippo syndrome) is a multisystem lysosomal storage disease that is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. It consists of four subtypes (MPS IIIA, B, C, and D), each characterized by the deficiency of different enzymes that catalyze the metabolism of the glycosaminoglycan heparan sulfate at the lysosomal level. The typical clinical manifestation of MPS III includes progressive central nervous system (CNS) degeneration with accompanying systemic manifestations. Disease onset is typically before the age of ten years and death usually occurs in the second or third decade due to neurological regression or respiratory tract infections. However, there is currently no treatment for CNS symptoms in patients with MPS III. Invasive and non-invasive techniques that allow drugs to pass through the blood brain barrier and reach the CNS are being tested and have proven effective. In addition, the application of genistein treatment as a substrate reduction therapy is in progress.

• Journal of Interdisciplinary Genomics
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• 제2권2호
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• pp.13-17
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• 2020

Infantile nystagmus syndrome (INS) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder. To date, more than 100 genes have been reported to cause INS and there is significant overlap in phenotypic characteristics. The most common form of X-linked INS is attributed to FRMD7 at Xq26. Recent advances in molecular genetics have facilitated the identification of pathogenic variants of FRMD7 and the investigation for underlying mechanisms of FRMD7-associated INS. This review summarizes genetic and clinical features of FRMD7-associated INS, and introduces updates on the pathogenesis of FRMD7 mutation.