Genetic analysis of a Chinese pedigree affected with Becker muscular dystrophy with myalgia as the main feature / 中华医学遗传学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the genetic basis of a Chinese pedigree affected with Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) with myalgia as the main feature.@*METHODS@#Clinical data of the patients and results of auxiliary examinations were retrospectively analyzed. Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification and high-throughput sequencing were used to detect potential variants. Sanger sequencing was used to verify the results.@*RESULTS@#The clinical manifestations of the proband included myalgia and elevated serum creatine kinase, which is similar to another patient from the pedigree. Genetic testing revealed that the two patients both harbored hemizygous deletions of exons 10 to 29 of the DMD gene, for which the mother was a carrier. The same deletion was not found in his father. Based on the guidelines from American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, the deletion was predicted to be pathogenic (PVS1+PM2+PP1).@*CONCLUSION@#Myalgia with elevated serum CK may be atypical clinical manifestations of BMD and may be associated with variants in the rod domain of the DMD gene. The deletion of exons 10 to 29 of the DMD gene probably underlay the BMD in this pedigree.

The Gene Polymorphism of VMAT2 Is Associated with Risk of Schizophrenia in Male Han Chinese

Objective@#To investigate the association between gene polymorphism of vesicular monoamine transporter type 2(VMAT2) and schizophrenia in Han Chinese population. @*Methods@#430 patients with schizophrenia and 470 age-sex matched controls were recruited from four mental health centers. All patients were diagnosed by two psychiatrists based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders (SCID). The ligase detection reactions (LDR) method was used to assess the polymorphism of the two SNPs (rs363371 and rs363324) of VMAT2. @*Results@#No associations of two SNPs with schizophrenia was found. When we stratified males and females for the analysis, we found that that in the recessive model of rs363371, there was an obvious significant association between rs363371 and schizophrenia in males (OR=0.564, 95% CI=0.357–0.892, p=0.014) but not females. For the association between rs363324 and schizophrenia, no association was found in either males or females. No association was found when stratifying early-onset schizophrenia and late-onset schizophrenia. @*Conclusion@#Our findings indicate that both rs363371 and rs363324 were not associated with schizophrenia, while it seemed that the AA genotype of rs363371 plays a protective effect in male Chinese in developing schizophrenia.

Clinical and genetic analysis of three pedigrees affected with myotonic dystrophy / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To carry out clinical and genetic analysis for three pedigrees affected with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Three probands with clinically diagnosed DM and their familial members were recruited. Clinical data of the patients including clinical manifestations, electrocardiogram (ECG), and electromyogram (EEG) was collected.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The clinical symptoms of all probands have progressed slowly and included myotonia, muscle weakness and muscle atrophy as the main manifestations. Disorders of other systems have included cataract, arrhythmia, alopecia, sexual dysfunction, and cognitive impairment. The EEG of the probands showed characteristic myotonia discharges. Genetic analysis revealed over 50 CTG repeats at the 3' end of the DMPK gene in all three probands.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>DM1 is a complex hereditary disorder involving multiple systems and overlaps with other diseases. In addition to clinical symptoms and EEG, genetic testing can facilitate its diagnosis at early stages.</p>

Construction of prokaryotic expression vector and expression of human beta defensin 4 gene / 生物医学工程学杂志

Human beta defensin 4 is a small cationic peptide with a broad range of antimicrobial activity. It plays an important role in innate immunity of human body, especially in mucosal and epithelial defense. In this study, the full-length encoding gene of HBD4 was synthesized by overlap extension polymerase chain reaction and inserted into cloning vector pMD18-T. The gene encoding mature peptide of HBD4 was amplified by PCR and cloned into prokaryotic expression vector pGEX-4T-2. Then pGEX-4T-2/mHBD4 was transformed into E. coli DH5 alpha, which was induced by isopropy-beta-D-thiogalactoside (IPTG). The identification was made by means of endonuclease digestion, DNA sequencing, sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamine gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The results showed that the synthesized gene and cloned gene were identical to the HBD4 gene sequence registered in GenBank and were successfully cloned into cloning vector pMD18-T and prokaryotic expression vector pGEX-4T-2. After IPTG induction, the GST-HBD4 fusion protein was successfully expressed in E. coli.

A new point mutation on exon 2 of parkin gene in Parkinson's disease / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To detect the relationship between point mutations on exon 2 of parkin gene and sporadic early-onset Parkinson's disease.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The point mutations on exon 2 of parkin gene were detected using polymerase chain reaction(PCR), agarose electrophoresis, single strand conformation polymorphism(SSCP), DNA sequencing and analysis of restrict enzyme in DNA of 60 Parkinson's disease patients with an onset age under 50 and 120 normal controls.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>One homozygous mutation (G(237)-->C) on exon 2 was found by sequencing and verified by analysis of restrict enzyme, whereas no mutation was found in normal controls.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Point mutations on exon 2 of parkin gene are likely to be related to sporadic early-onset Parkinson's disease.</p>

Mutation Detection on Exon 1 and 2 of Parkin Gene in Sporadic Early-onset Parkinson's Disease / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

【Objective】To study the relationship between mutations on exon 1,2 of parkin gene and sporadic early-onset Parkinson's disease.【Methods】The deletion and single strand mobility shift on exon 1 and 2 of parkin gene in peripheral white blood cell DNA were detected by using PCR,agarose electrophoresis,and SSCP techniques in 52 patients with sporadic early-onset (onset age≤50) Parkinson's disease.The exons with mobility shift on SSCP were sequenced.【Results】One deletion（1.9%） of exon 2,2 cases with single strand mobility shift（3.8%）on exon 1 and exon 2 respectively,one heterozygous mutation (T103C) on exon 1 and one homozygous mutation (G237C) on exon 2 were found by sequencing.【Conclusion】Mutations on exon 1 and 2 of parkin gene are likely to be related to sporadic early-onset Parkinson's disease.

Cloning of fadd gene and its apoptosis induction in Tca8113 cells / 实用口腔医学杂志

Objective: To investigate the induction of Tca8113 cells to apoptosis by fadd gene.Methods: RT PCR and recombinant PCR were used to amplify human fadd gene and cloned into expression vector pcDNA3 and pIRES2 EGFP, then transfered into Tca8113 cells. The growth and apoptosis of the cells were tested by cell counting,fluorescent microscopy, electron microscopy and flow cytometery. Results: fadd gene was obtained and transfered into Tca8113 cells. After transfection of the gene the growth of the cells was inhibited by 25%～52%, cell number in G 1 phase increased and that in S phase decreased. Apoptosis of the cells was observed. Conclusion: fadd gene can effectively inhibite cell growth and induce Tca8113 cells to apoptosis.