Combined MEK and JAK/STAT3 pathway inhibition effectively decreases SHH medulloblastoma tumor progression
Commun Biol. 2022 Jul 14;5(1):697. doi: 10.1038/s42003-022-03654-9. ABSTRACT Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common primary malignant pediatric brain cancer. We recently identified novel roles for the MEK/MAPK pathway in regulating human Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) MB tumorigenesis. The MEK inhibitor, selumetinib, decreased SHH MB growth while extending survival in mouse models. However, the treated mice ultimately […]
Bi-allelic loss-of-function variants in PPFIBP1 cause a neurodevelopmental disorder with microcephaly, epilepsy, and periventricular calcifications
Am J Hum Genet. 2022 Jul 7:S0002-9297(22)00261-0. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2022.06.008. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT PPFIBP1 encodes for the liprin-β1 protein, which has been shown to play a role in neuronal outgrowth and synapse formation in Drosophila melanogaster. By exome and genome sequencing, we detected nine ultra-rare homozygous loss-of-function variants in 16 individuals from 12 unrelated […]
Neonatal familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis diagnosed with ultrarapid whole-genome sequencing
Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2022 Jul 7:e29871. doi: 10.1002/pbc.29871. Online ahead of print. NO ABSTRACT PMID:35796407 | DOI:10.1002/pbc.29871
Wastewater sequencing reveals early cryptic SARS-CoV-2 variant transmission
Nature. 2022 Jul 7. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05049-6. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT As SARS-CoV-2 continues to spread and evolve, detecting emerging variants early is critical for public health interventions. Inferring lineage prevalence by clinical testing is infeasible at scale, especially in areas with limited resources, participation, or testing/sequencing capacity, which can also introduce biases1-3. SARS-CoV-2 RNA […]
Unbiased mosaic variant assessment in sperm: a cohort study to test predictability of transmission
Elife. 2022 Jul 5;11:e78459. doi: 10.7554/eLife.78459. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: De novo mutations underlie individually rare but collectively common pediatric congenital disorders. Some of these mutations can also be detected in tissues and from cells in a parent, where their abundance and tissue distribution can be measured. We previously reported that a subset of these mutations is […]
Random Field Modeling of Multi-trait Multi-locus Association for Detecting Methylation Quantitative Trait Loci
Bioinformatics. 2022 Jul 4:btac443. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btac443. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT MOTIVATION: CpG sites within the same genomic region often share similar methylation patterns and tend to be co-regulated by multiple genetic variants that may interact with one another. RESULTS: We propose a multi-trait methylation random field (multi-MRF) method to evaluate the joint association between […]
Monoallelic and biallelic mutations in RELN underlie a graded series of neurodevelopmental disorders
Brain. 2022 Jun 30:awac164. doi: 10.1093/brain/awac164. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Reelin, a large extracellular protein, plays several critical roles in brain development and function. It is encoded by RELN, first identified as the gene disrupted in the reeler mouse, a classic neurological mutant exhibiting ataxia, tremors and a ‘reeling’ gait. In humans, biallelic variants […]
Endocannabinoid dysfunction in neurological disease: neuro-ocular DAGLA-related syndrome (NODRS)
Brain. 2022 Jun 23:awac223. doi: 10.1093/brain/awac223. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT The endocannabinoid system is a highly conserved and ubiquitous signaling pathway with broad ranging effects. Despite critical pathway functions, gene variants have not previously been conclusively linked to human disease. We identified nine children from eight families with heterozygous, de novo truncating variants in […]
Better and Faster is Cheaper
Hum Mutat. 2022 Jun 20. doi: 10.1002/humu.24422. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT The rapid pace of advancement in genomic sequencing technology has recently reached a new milestone, with a record-setting time to molecular diagnosis of a mere eight hours. The catalyst behind this achievement is the accumulation of evidence indicating that quicker results more often […]
The Role of Genome Sequencing in Neonatal Intensive Care Units
Annu Rev Genomics Hum Genet. 2022 Jun 8. doi: 10.1146/annurev-genom-120921-103442. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Genetic diseases disrupt the functionality of an infant’s genome during fetal-neonatal adaptation and represent a leading cause of neonatal and infant mortality in the United States. Due to disease acuity, gene locus and allelic heterogeneity, and overlapping and diverse clinical […]