ObjectiveTo identify the causative genes of the posterior microphthalmia-retinal pigment degeneration family. MethodsA retrospective clinical study. One child (proband) and 3 family members of a family with posterior microphthalmia-retinitis pigmentosa diagnosed by clinical and genetic examination at Henan Provincial People's Hospital in July 2019 were included in the study. Medical history and family history, and draw pedigree of the patients was collected. Visual acuity, visual field, fundus color photography, optical coherence tomography and electroretinogram (ERG) were examined. The peripheral venous blood of the proband, his parents and sister, and extract the whole genome DNA was collected. Whole-exome sequencing was used to detect genetic variations, the suspected pathogenic variations were verified by Sanger sequencing, and the pathogenicity was determined by bioinformatics analysis. ResultsThe parents discovered the proband was poor vision at the age of 10 months. At the age of 3, the best corrected visual acuity of the right eye and the left eye were 0.3 and 0.4, respectively. No abnormality was found in anterior segment. Extremely high hyperopia in both eyes. The axial length was 14.47 mm and 15.78 mm, respectively. The optic disc of both eyes was relatively small and flushed, retinal folds can be observed in macular area, and no obvious pigment deposition was found. ERG examination showed that the rod system response and the maximal combined response of both eyes decreased slightly to moderately, and the single-flash cone response and the 30 Hz flicker response decreased moderately to severely. Genetic analysis revealed two novel mutations in the membrane frizzled-related protein (MFRP) gene in the proband: c.363delC/p.Thr121Thrfs*16, c.1627C＞T/p .Gln543Stop,37 in exon 4 and 13, the former was a frameshift mutation, encoding 16 amino acids and then terminated, and the latter was an nonsense mutation, truncated 37 amino acids, both which were predicted to be pathogenic and segregate with disease. The mother and sister carried c.363delC, and the father carried c.1627C＞T. ConclusionMFRP gene c.363delC/p.Thr121Thrfs*16, c.1627C＞T/p.Gln543Stop, 37 compound heterozygous mutation may be the pathogenic gene of this family.
Objective To analyze the relationship between the epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR) gene mutation and malignant pulmonary focal ground-glass lesion (fGGL). Methods We retrospectively collected the clinical data of 86 patients with surgical treatment in the department of cardiothoracic surgery of Changzheng Hospital from August 2012 to February 2015. There were 26 males and 60 females with a mean age of 56.14±10.55 years. We analyzed the relationship between the EGFR gene mutation and the related clinical data. Results Postoperative pathology showed atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH) combined with focal adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) or AIS in 10 patients, minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA) in 15, and lepidic predominant adenocarcinoma (LPA) in 61. The EGFR gene mutation reports showed the exon 19 19-del mutation in 14 patients, exon 21 L858R mutation in 27, and exon 21 L861Q mutation in 2. There was no difference between the mutation of EGFR gene and clinical factors except age and smoking (P>0.05). Till June 30, 2015, all patients were alive and follow-up was 440.48±186.61 days. Conclusion The EGFR gene in patients with malignant pulmonary fGGL shows a higher mutation rate, which provides important clinical reference data for the basic research and the clinical treatment.
Objective To investigate clinicopathologic features, pathogenesis, and diagnosis and treatment of hereditary pancreatitis (HP). Method The relevant literatures on HP research in recent years were searched and reviewed. Results The HP was similar to the pancreatitis caused by the cholelithiasis, excessive alcohol consumption, hyperlipidemia, etc. in the histomorphology, function, and clinical manifestations and it was difficult to be distinguished. However, HP was different from the other types of chronic pancreatitis due to its early onset, familial, and high risk of pancreatic cancer. The HP was mainly caused by the PRSS1 mutations, and its mutation types mainly included the R122H, N29I, A16V, K23R, etc., among which the R122H and N29I were the two most common types of mutations. There was no specific treatment for the HP. The principles of treatment of HP were similar to the pancreatitist caused by other etiologies, including the nutritional support, blood sugar control, analgesia, etc.. In addition to the medical treatment, the surgical intervention was also the important means for the treatment of HP, including the pancreatic partial resection, total pancreatectomy or total pancreatectomy combined with islet cell autografting. Conclusions HP is an autosomal dominant hereditary disease characterized by recurrent attacks of pancreatitis. Relevant gene tests could be performed for patient with highly suspected HP. It faces great challenges in treatment of HP. Pathogenesis of HP needs to be constantly explored and experimental study of multicenter and large sample needs to be further studied in order to determine its best treatment strategy.
Mutations in the BEST1 gene are associated with a range of retinal diseases collectively referred to as "Best diseases", including Best vitelline macular dystrophy. More than 300 mutations at different sites of the BEST1 gene have been found, which may cause a series of functional disorders such as the mistransport of the calcium-activated anion channel protein-1 protein encoded by it, protein oligomerization defects, and abnormal anion channel activity, leading to different clinical phenotypes. Although it has been established that the BEST1 gene mutation is associated with at least one different type of Best disease, the relationship between the specific gene mutation site and the specific clinical phenotype has not been fully defined. For the time being. Drugs and gene therapy for the Best diseases are still in the basic research stage, which provides a broad development space for future treatment exploration. In the future, when selecting gene therapy in clinical applications, it is necessary to combine the clinical phenotype and molecular diagnosis of patients, and clearly define their mutation types and pathogenic mechanisms in order to achieve better personalized treatment effects.
ObjectiveTo observe and determine the gene mutation site and clinical phenotype of a NDP gene mutant family, and provide a basis for the prenatal diagnosis of offspring. MethodsA pedigree investigation study. Two patients and 6 family members of a third-generation Han family with NDP gene mutation who were admitted to the Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Gansu Province from July 2019 to December 2021 were included in the study. The patients and their parents underwent the examination of pupil light reflex, strip light imaging, visual acuity evaluation, fundus color photography, and wide-field fluorescein fundus angiography (FFA). Peripheral blood of all the subjects was collected, the pathogenic genes were screened by whole exome sequencing, and NDP genes were detected by amplification of multiple ligated probes. DNA prenatal diagnosis was performed by amniocentesis at 19th weeks of the mother's third gestation.ResultsProband (Ⅲ1), male, 4 years old, full term natural delivery. At about 40 days after birth, B-mode ultrasonography indicated total retinal detachment in both eyes. Normal hearing and intelligence. Fundus examination was not performed. First sibling of proband (Ⅲ2, big younger brother), ophthalmologic examination 30 days after birth, retinal detachment in both eyes. Proband's mother (Ⅱ2) had unvascularized peripheral temporal retina in both eyes. Wide-angle FFA examination showed no vascularization of the peripheral temporal retina in both eyes, and slight leakage of peripheral vascular fluorescein. The proband's second sibling (Ⅲ3, little younger brother) was screened for neonatal eye disease 1 day after birth. No abnormalities were observed outside both eyes. Cornea and lens transparent. No abnormalities were observed in the optic disc and macula in both eyes. No vascular curvature was observed in the peripheral retina. The results of gene detection showed that there was hemizygote deletion in exon 2 of NDP gene of the proband (Ⅲ1) and its big younger brother (Ⅲ2). His mother (Ⅱ2) had heterozygosity deletion in exon 2 of NDP gene. The phenotype and genetic test results of the proband's father (Ⅱ1), uncle (Ⅱ3), maternal grandfather (Ⅰ1) and maternal grandmother (Ⅰ2) were not abnormal. ConclusionsThe hemizygote deletion in exon 2 of NDP gene is a pathogenic variation in the native family. The clinical phenotypes of different genders are different. Prenatal diagnosis is an effective way to block hereditary diseases in families.
ObjectiveTo investigate association between BRAFV600E gene mutation and extrathyroidal extension (ETE) among patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).MethodsA retrospective study was conducted to collect all PTC surgical patients in the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from 2017 to 2019. The patients tested for BRAFV600E gene mutation were selected, and the association between BRAFV600E gene mutation and ETE were analyzed.ResultsThe BRAFV600E gene mutation test was performed only in 273 cases, 223 and 50 of whom were BRAFV600E gene with and without mutation, respectively; 194 and 79 of whom had ETE and no ETE, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that the incidence rate with BRAFV600E gene mutation was higher in the patients with ETE as compared with the patients without ETE (86.1% vs 70.9%, P=0.003) and the incidence rate of ETE was higher in the patients with BRAFV600E gene mutaton than in the patients without BRAFV600E gene mutaton (74.9% vs 54.0%, P=0.003). In addition, the incidence rates of ETE in the patients with tumor diameter >1 cm, bilaterality, and multifocality were higher than those in the patients with tumor diameter ≤1 cm (86.7% vs 61.3%, P<0.001), unilaterality (89.6% vs 63.8%, P<0.001), and single lesion (85.7% vs 60.9%, P<0.001), respectively. The incidence rate of ETE was increased with the increase of lymph node stage (P=0.003). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed tumor size >1 cm [OR=3.606, 95%CI (1.758, 7.396), P<0.001], multifocality [OR=2.524, 95%CI (1.154, 5.519), P=0.020], with BRAFV600E gene mutaton [OR=3.022, 95%CI (1.443, 6.326), P=0.003] were the risk factors for ETE.ConclusionThe preliminary results of this study suggest that PTC patients with BRAFV600E gene mutaton are more likely to gross ETE.
Lung cancer is a most common malignant tumor of the lung and is the cancer with the highest morbidity and mortality worldwide. For patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who have undergone epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations, targeted drugs can be used for targeted therapy. There are many methods for detecting EGFR gene mutations, but each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. This study aims to predict the risk of EGFR gene mutation by exploring the association between the histological features of the whole slides pathology of non-small cell lung cancer hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and the patient's EGFR mutant gene. The experimental results show that the area under the curve (AUC) of the EGFR gene mutation risk prediction model proposed in this paper reached 72.4% on the test set, and the accuracy rate was 70.8%, which reveals the close relationship between histomorphological features and EGFR gene mutations in the whole slides pathological images of non-small cell lung cancer. In this paper, the molecular phenotypes were analyzed from the scale of the whole slides pathological images, and the combination of pathology and molecular omics was used to establish the EGFR gene mutation risk prediction model, revealing the correlation between the whole slides pathological images and EGFR gene mutation risk. It could provide a promising research direction for this field.
Mutations in optic atrophy (OPA) genes can lead to a similar phenotype, namely optic atrophy, which can manifest as isolated optic atrophy or be accompanied by other systemic symptoms, mostly related to the nervous system. Currently, a total of 13 OPA genes have been discovered, covering a variety of inheritance patterns, including chromosomal dominant inheritance, autosomal recessive inheritance, and X-linked inheritance. Through genetic testing and analysis of patients, it is possible to accurately determine whether they carry mutation genes related to optic atrophy, and predict the progression of the disease and potential complications accordingly. This not only provides valuable genetic counseling and fertility planning guidance for patients and their families, but also helps better understand the disease, discover new therapeutic targets, and lay the foundation for developing more precise and effective drugs or gene therapies in the future.
Objective To examined gene mutations in thymic carcinoma (TC) patients and to explore prognostic correlates and potential targets for therapy. MethodsWe retrospectively included TC patients in Sichuan Cancer Hospital between January 2015 and Febuary 2021.Whole-exome sequencing was performed on tumor tissues from TC patients and their control peripheral blood samples, and the raw data were subjected to bioinformatics analysis and statistical analysis. Results We finally included 24 TC patients with 16 males and 8 females at a median age of 55 (42-74) years. The highest frequency of single nucleotide mutations in this cohort were in the TTN gene (42%), HSPG2 (29%), and OBSCN (29%). Higher frequency of copy number variations occurred in ZNF276 gene (54%, loss), BEND3 (50%, loss), DHODH (50%, loss), and VAC14 (50%, loss). Microsatellite instability (MSI) phenotype was found in 25% of the patients, and the mean tumor mutation burden (TMB) was 9.86. Conclusion This study is the first comprehensive analysis of the mutation profile of thymic carcinoma in China to date. The mutation frequencies of TTN, OBSCN, and ZNF276 genes were high. The biomarker analysis suggests that patients may benefit from immunotherapy and have a long effective survival.
ObjectiveTo study the relation between the clinical phenotype and neurological developmental quotient in children with epilepsy and GPR98 gene mutation. MethodsGenomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes of the probands and other available members in the epilepsy families.Clinical datas and screened for mutations by next-generation sequencing conbined target sequencing technology and PCR and direct DNA sequencing were collected.Then, the relations between the clinical phenotype and developmental quotient in children with epilepsy and GPR98 gene mutation was analyzed. ResultsSeven novel GPR98 gene mutations were found in seven probands in 65 families, including six heterozygote missense mutations (c.6083C <、c.1969A < C、c.17531C < T、c.9069G < C、c.6661G < A and c.18496A < C) and one nonsense mutation (c.14224G < T). One of their parents carried the same GPR98 gene mutation as the proband's. The initial symptom of six cases was afebrile seizures and one showed febrile seizure, in which the main type seizure was generalized seizure.Moreover, was were significant difference between children with epilepsy and GPR98 gene mutations and healthy children in developmental quotient test(P < 0.01). ConclusionsThe main type of seizures in children with epilepsy and GPR98 gene mutations is generalized seizure. Furthermore, GPR98 gene mutations may be associated with psychomotor retardation.