scholarly journals Whole-exome sequencing of the mummified remains of Cangrande della Scala (1291–1329 CE) indicates the first known case of late-onset Pompe disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Iadarola ◽  
Denise Lavezzari ◽  
Alessandra Modi ◽  
Chiara Degli Esposti ◽  
Cristina Beltrami ◽  
...  

AbstractMummified remains of relevant historical figures are nowadays an important source of information to retrace data concerning their private life and health, especially when historical archives are not available. Next-generation-sequencing was proved to be a valuable tool to unravel the characteristics of these individuals through their genetic heritage. Using the strictest criteria currently available for the validation of ancient DNA sequences, whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing were generated from the mummy remains of an Italian nobleman died almost 700 years ago, Cangrande della Scala. While its genome sequencing could not yield sufficient coverage for in depth investigation, exome sequencing could overcome the limitations of this approach to achieve significantly high coverage on coding regions, thus allowing to perform the first extensive exome analysis of a mummy genome. Similar to a standard “clinical exome analysis” conducted on modern DNA, an in-depth variant annotation, high-quality filtering and interpretation was performed, leading to the identification of a genotype associated with late-onset Pompe disease (glycogen storage disease type II). This genetic diagnosis was concordant with the limited clinical history available for Cangrande della Scala, who likely represents the earliest known case of this autosomal recessive metabolic disorder.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Iadarola ◽  
Denise Lavezzari ◽  
Alessandra Modi ◽  
Chiara Degli Esposti ◽  
Cristina Beltrami ◽  
...  

Mummified remains of relevant historical figures are nowadays an important source of information to retrace data concerning their private life and health, especially when historical archives are not available. Next-generation-sequencing was proved to be a valuable tool to unravel the characteristics of these individuals through their genetic heritage. Using the strictest criteria currently available for the validation of ancient DNA sequences, whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing were generated from the mummy remains of an Italian nobleman died almost 700 years ago, Cangrande della Scala. While its genome sequencing could not yield sufficient coverage for in depth investigation, exome sequencing could overcome the limitations of this approach to achieve significantly high coverage on coding regions, thus allowing to perform the first extensive exome analysis of a mummy genome. Similar to a standard "clinical exome analysis" conducted on modern DNA, an in-depth variant annotation, high-quality filtering and interpretation was performed, leading to the identification of a genotype associated with late-onset Pompe disease (glycogen storage disease type II). This genetic diagnosis was concordant with the limited clinical history available for Cangrande della Scala, who likely represents the earliest known case of this autosomal recessive metabolic disorder.


2017 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 189-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mari Mori ◽  
Gloria Haskell ◽  
Zoheb Kazi ◽  
Xiaolin Zhu ◽  
Stephanie M. DeArmey ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Ka-Yee Kwong ◽  
Mandy Ho-Yin Tsang ◽  
Jasmine Lee-Fong Fung ◽  
Christopher Chun-Yu Mak ◽  
Kate Lok-San Chan ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Movement disorders are a group of heterogeneous neurological diseases including hyperkinetic disorders with unwanted excess movements and hypokinetic disorders with reduction in the degree of movements. The objective of our study is to investigate the genetic etiology of a cohort of paediatric patients with movement disorders by whole exome sequencing and to review the potential treatment implications after a genetic diagnosis. Results We studied a cohort of 31 patients who have paediatric-onset movement disorders with unrevealing etiologies. Whole exome sequencing was performed and rare variants were interrogated for pathogenicity. Genetic diagnoses have been confirmed in 10 patients with disease-causing variants in CTNNB1, SPAST, ATP1A3, PURA, SLC2A1, KMT2B, ACTB, GNAO1 and SPG11. 80% (8/10) of patients with genetic diagnosis have potential treatment implications and treatments have been offered to them. One patient with KMT2B dystonia showed clinical improvement with decrease in dystonia after receiving globus pallidus interna deep brain stimulation. Conclusions A diagnostic yield of 32% (10/31) was reported in our cohort and this allows a better prediction of prognosis and contributes to a more effective clinical management. The study highlights the potential of implementing precision medicine in the patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Somayeh Khatami ◽  
Masomeh Askari ◽  
Fatemeh Bahreini ◽  
Morteza Hashemzadeh-Chaleshtori ◽  
Saeed Hematian ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Clinical genetic diagnosis of non-syndromic hearing loss (NSHL) is quite challenging. With regard to its high heterogeneity as well as large size of some genes, it is also really difficult to detect causative mutations using traditional approaches. One of the recent technologies called whole-exome sequencing (WES) has been thus developed in this domain to remove the limitations of conventional methods. Methods This study was a report on a research study of two unrelated pedigrees with multiple affected cases of hearing loss (HL). Accordingly, clinical evaluations and genetic analysis were performed in both families. Results The results of WES data analysis to uncover autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss (ARNSHL) disease-causing variants was reported in the present study. Initial analysis identified two novel variants of MYO15A i.e. c.T6442A:p.W2148R and c.10504dupT:p.C3502Lfs*15 correspondingly which were later confirmed by Sanger validations and segregation analyses. According to online prediction tools, both identified variants seemed to have damaging effects. Conclusion In this study, whole exome sequencing were used as a first approach strategy to identify the two novel variants in MYO15A in two Iranian families with ARNSHL.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Maffucci ◽  
Charles A. Filion ◽  
Bertrand Boisson ◽  
Yuval Itan ◽  
Lei Shang ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masoud Heidari ◽  
Hamid Gharshasbi ◽  
Alireza Isazadeh ◽  
Morteza Soleyman-Nejad ◽  
Mohammad Hossein Taskhiri ◽  
...  

Background:: Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is an autosomal recessive disorder resulting from mutations in the PKHD1 gene on chromosome 6 (6p12), a large gene spanning 470 kb of genomic DNA. Objective: The aim of the present study was to report newly identified mutations in the PKHD1 gene in two Iranian families with PKD. Materials and Methods: Genetic alterations of a 3-month-old boy and a 27-year-old girl with PKD were evaluated using whole-exome sequencing. The PCR direct sequencing was performed to analyse the co-segregation of the variants with the disease in the family. Finally, the molecular function of the identified novel mutations was evaluated by in silico study. Results: In the 3 month-old boy, a novel homozygous frameshift mutation was detected in the PKHD1 gene, which can cause PKD. Moreover, we identified three novel heterozygous missense mutations in ATIC, VPS13B, and TP53RK genes. In the 27-year-old woman, with two recurrent abortions history and two infant mortalities at early weeks due to metabolic and/or renal disease, we detected a novel missense mutation on PKHD1 gene and a novel mutation in ETFDH gene. Conclusion: In general, we have identified two novel mutations in the PKHD1 gene. These molecular findings can help accurately correlate genotype and phenotype in families with such disease in order to reduce patient births through preoperative genetic diagnosis or better management of disorders.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Laura Pezzoli ◽  
Lidia Pezzani ◽  
Ezio Bonanomi ◽  
Chiara Marrone ◽  
Agnese Scatigno ◽  
...  

Whole-exome sequencing (WES) is a powerful and comprehensive tool for the genetic diagnosis of rare diseases, but few reports describe its timely application and clinical impact on infantile cardiomyopathies (CM). We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients with infantile CMs who had trio (proband and parents)-WES to determine whether results contributed to clinical management in urgent and non-urgent settings. Twenty-nine out of 42 enrolled patients (69.0%) received a definitive molecular diagnosis. The mean time-to-diagnosis was 9.7 days in urgent settings, and 17 out of 24 patients (70.8%) obtained an etiological classification. In non-urgent settings, the mean time-to-diagnosis was 225 days, and 12 out of 18 patients (66.7%) had a molecular diagnosis. In 37 out of 42 patients (88.1%), the genetic findings contributed to clinical management, including heart transplantation, palliative care, or medical treatment, independent of the patient’s critical condition. All 29 patients and families with a definitive diagnosis received specific counseling about recurrence risk, and in seven (24.1%) cases, the result facilitated diagnosis in parents or siblings. In conclusion, genetic diagnosis significantly contributes to patients’ clinical and family management, and trio-WES should be performed promptly to be an essential part of care in infantile cardiomyopathy, maximizing its clinical utility.


2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-116
Author(s):  
Kirill Zagorodnev ◽  
Aleksandr Romanko ◽  
Uliy Gorgul ◽  
Aleksandr Ivantsov ◽  
Anna Sokolenko ◽  
...  

The search for the new hereditary mutations and a precise molecular genetic diagnosis that determines the causative mutation in each specific case of hereditary breast cancer (BC) is a clinically important task since it helps to define the personal therapeutic approach and increase the effectiveness of preventive measures. Using whole-exome sequencing (WES) we analyzed the full spectrum of hereditary variations in 49 Russian patients with clinical signs of a hereditary disease which allowed us to compile a list of 229 candidate probably pathogenic germ-line variants. Then, the selected candidate mutations were validated by Sanger sequencing and molecular-epidemiological studies, the predisposing roles of three oncologically relevant mutations (USP39 c.*208G>C, SLIT3 p.Arg154Cys, and CREB3 p.Lys157Glu) were confirmed. Our candidate genes are first mentioned in connection with the hereditary risk of BC. The final proofs of the causative roles of these variants could be obtained through functional tests as well as via the analysis of the mutations segregation in BC families.


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