scholarly journals Genomic Variation, Evolvability, and the Paradox of Mental Illness

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camillo Thomas Gualtieri
Keyword(s):  
Human Genome ◽  
Complex Disease ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Disorders ◽  
Genomic Variation ◽  
Behavioral Variability ◽  
Genomic Variability ◽  
Variable Expression ◽  
Dna Content Variation ◽  
Genetic Aberration ◽  
And Function

Twentieth-century genetics was hard put to explain the irregular behavior of neuropsychiatric disorders. Autism and schizophrenia defy a principle of natural selection; they are highly heritable but associated with low reproductive success. Nevertheless, they persist. The genetic origins of such conditions are confounded by the problem of variable expression, that is, when a given genetic aberration can lead to any one of several distinct disorders. Also, autism and schizophrenia occur on a spectrum of severity, from mild and subclinical cases to the overt and disabling. Such irregularities reflect the problem of missing heritability; although hundreds of genes may be associated with autism or schizophrenia, together they account for only a small proportion of cases. Techniques for higher resolution, genomewide analysis have begun to illuminate the irregular and unpredictable behavior of the human genome. Thus, the origins of neuropsychiatric disorders in particular and complex disease in general have been illuminated. The human genome is characterized by a high degree of structural and behavioral variability: DNA content variation, epistasis, stochasticity in gene expression, and epigenetic changes. These elements have grown more complex as evolution scaled the phylogenetic tree. They are especially pertinent to brain development and function. Genomic variability is a window on the origins of complex disease, neuropsychiatric disorders, and neurodevelopmental disorders in particular. Genomic variability, as it happens, is also the fuel of evolvability. The genomic events that presided over the evolution of the primate and hominid lineages are over-represented in patients with autism and schizophrenia, as well as intellectual disability and epilepsy. That the special qualities of the human genome that drove evolution might, in some way, contribute to neuropsychiatric disorders is a matter of no little interest.

scholarly journals The Impact of the Human Genome Project on Complex Disease

Genes ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 518-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Bailey ◽  
Margaret Pericak-Vance ◽  
Jonathan Haines
Keyword(s):  
Human Genome ◽  
Human Genome Project ◽  
Complex Disease ◽  
Genome Project ◽  
The Human Genome Project ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Intergenic RNA mainly derives from nascent transcripts of known genes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agostini Federico ◽  
Zagalak Julian ◽  
Attig Jan ◽  
Ule Jernej ◽  
Nicholas M. Luscombe
Keyword(s):  
Rna Polymerase Ii ◽  
Human Genome ◽  
Genomic Context ◽  
Alternative Processing ◽  
Intergenic Regions ◽  
Transcriptional Units ◽  
And Function ◽  
Cellular Compartments ◽  
Nascent Transcripts ◽  
Transcriptional Start Sites

AbstractBackgroundEukaryotic genomes undergo pervasive transcription, leading to the production of many types of stable and unstable RNAs. Transcription is not restricted to regions with annotated gene features but includes almost any genomic context. Currently, the source and function of most RNAs originating from intergenic regions in the human genome remains unclear.ResultsWe hypothesised that many intergenic RNA can be ascribed to the presence of as-yet unannotated genes or the ‘fuzzy’ transcription of known genes that extends beyond the annotated boundaries. To elucidate the contributions of these two sources, we assembled a dataset of >2.5 billion publicly available RNA-seq reads across 5 human cell lines and multiple cellular compartments to annotate transcriptional units in the human genome. About 80% of transcripts from unannotated intergenic regions can be attributed to the fuzzy transcription of existing genes; the remaining transcripts originate mainly from putative long non-coding RNA loci that are rarely spliced. We validated the transcriptional activity of these intergenic RNA using independent measurements, including transcriptional start sites, chromatin signatures, and genomic occupancies of RNA polymerase II in various phosphorylation states. We also analysed the nuclear localisation and sensitivities of intergenic transcripts to nucleases to illustrate that they tend to be rapidly degraded either ‘on-chromatin’ by XRN2 or ‘off-chromatin’ by the exosome.ConclusionsWe provide a curated atlas of intergenic RNAs that distinguishes between alternative processing of well annotated genes from independent transcriptional units based on the combined analysis of chromatin signatures, nuclear RNA localisation and degradation pathways.

scholarly journals ABySS 2.0: Resource-Efficient Assembly of Large Genomes using a Bloom Filter

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun D Jackman ◽  
Benjamin P Vandervalk ◽  
Hamid Mohamadi ◽  
Justin Chu ◽  
Sarah Yeo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Genome ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Message Passing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Bloom Filter ◽  
Genomic Variation ◽  
De Bruijn Graph ◽  
Single Individual ◽  
Probabilistic Data Structure

AbstractThe assembly of DNA sequences de novo is fundamental to genomics research. It is the first of many steps towards elucidating and characterizing whole genomes. Downstream applications, including analysis of genomic variation between species, between or within individuals critically depends on robustly assembled sequences. In the span of a single decade, the sequence throughput of leading DNA sequencing instruments has increased drastically, and coupled with established and planned large-scale, personalized medicine initiatives to sequence genomes in the thousands and even millions, the development of efficient, scalable and accurate bioinformatics tools for producing high-quality reference draft genomes is timely.With ABySS 1.0, we originally showed that assembling the human genome using short 50 bp sequencing reads was possible by aggregating the half terabyte of compute memory needed over several computers using a standardized message-passing system (MPI). We present here its re-design, which departs from MPI and instead implements algorithms that employ a Bloom filter, a probabilistic data structure, to represent a de Bruijn graph and reduce memory requirements.We present assembly benchmarks of human Genome in a Bottle 250 bp Illumina paired-end and 6 kbp mate-pair libraries from a single individual, yielding a NG50 (NGA50) scaffold contiguity of 3.5 (3.0) Mbp using less than 35 GB of RAM, a modest memory requirement by today’s standard that is often available on a single computer. We also investigate the use of BioNano Genomics and 10x Genomics’ Chromium data to further improve the scaffold contiguity of this assembly to 42 (15) Mbp.

Measurement of Valve Lesion Morphology and Aorta / Flow-Jet Patterns in Bicuspid Aortic Valve Patients

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex J. Barker ◽  
Craig Lanning ◽  
Robin Shandas
Keyword(s):  
Aortic Valve ◽  
Bicuspid Aortic Valve ◽  
Complex Disease ◽  
Aortic Dilatation ◽  
Hemodynamic Forces ◽  
Significant Incidence ◽  
Valve Opening ◽  
Valve Lesion ◽  
And Function ◽  
Lesion Morphology

Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) patients are identified by a lesion of the tricuspid aortic leaflets in which only two ‘functional’ leaflets are visibly present. This lesion occurs in 0.5–2% of the population and is accompanied by a significant incidence of morbidity and mortality related to aortic valve dysfunction, aortic dilatation, aortic aneurysm, and aortic dissection. [1] The pathogenesis of the malformation has been postulated to be the result of a congenital or inflammatorily-mediated fusion of two of the three aortic leaflets. In addition, BAV is accompanied by a variety of heterogeneous complications and is considered a complex disease with many cofactors, the importance of which continue to be debated. Among these cofactors, the most commonly identified vascular manifestation is aortic dilatation. [1] There are two hypotheses for this manifestation: the first postulates the coexistence of BAV and genetically-based aortic fragility; the second proposes that BAV morphology and incomplete valve opening induces hemodynamic forces that influence structure and function at the aorta.

scholarly journals In silico analysis of CDC73 gene revealing 11 novel SNPs associated with Jaw Tumor Syndrome

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdelrahman H. Abdelmoneim ◽  
Alaa I. Mohammed ◽  
Esraa O. Gadim ◽  
Mayada A.Mohammed ◽  
Sara H. Hamza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
In Silico ◽  
Autosomal Dominant ◽  
In Silico Analysis ◽  
Autosomal Dominant Disorder ◽  
Variable Expression ◽  
Back Ground ◽  
And Function ◽  
Molecular Aberrations ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Silico Analysis

AbstractBack groundhyperparathyroidism-jaw tumor (HPT-JT) is an autosomal dominant disorder with variable expression, with an estimated prevalence of 6.7 per 1,000 population. Genetic testing for predisposing CDC73 (HRPT2) mutations has been an important clinical advance, aimed at early detection and/or treatment to prevent advanced disease. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of SNPs on CDC73 structure and function using different bioinformatics tools.MethodComputational analysis using eight different in-silico tools including SIFT, PROVEAN, PolyPhen-2, SNAP2, PhD-SNP, SNPs&GO, PMut and Imutant were used to identify the impact on the structure and/or function of CDC73 gene that might be causing jaw tumour.ResultsFrom (733) SNPs identified in the CDC73 gene we found that only Eleven were deleterious to the function and structure of protein and expected to cause syndrome.ConclusionEleven substantial genetic/molecular aberrations in CDC73 gene were identified that could serve as actionable targets for chemotherapeutic intervention in patients whose disease is no longer surgically curable.

scholarly journals Diagnostic high-throughput sequencing of 2,390 patients with bleeding, thrombotic and platelet disorders

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Downes ◽  
Karyn Megy ◽  
Daniel Duarte ◽  
Minka Vries ◽  
Johanna Gebhart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Throughput ◽  
High Throughput Sequencing ◽  
Clinical Phenotype ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Clinical Diagnostics ◽  
Genomic Variation ◽  
Panel Test ◽  
Platelet Disorders ◽  
Normal Hemostasis ◽  
And Function

A targeted high-throughput sequencing (HTS) panel test for clinical diagnostics requires careful consideration of the inclusion of appropriate diagnostic-grade genes, the ability to detect multiple types of genomic variation with high levels of analytic sensitivity and reproducibility, and variant interpretation by a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) in the context of the clinical phenotype. We have sequenced 2,390 index patients using the ThromboGenomics HTS panel test of diagnostic-grade genes known to harbour variants associated with rare bleeding, thrombotic or platelet disorders (BPD). The diagnostic rate was determined by the clinical phenotype, with an overall rate of 50.4% for all thrombotic, coagulation, platelet count and function disorder patients and a rate of 6.2% for patients with unexplained bleeding disorders characterized by normal hemostasis test results. The MDT classified 756 unique variants, including copy number and intronic variants, as Pathogenic, Likely Pathogenic or Variants of Uncertain Significance. Almost half (49.7%) of these variants are novel and 41 unique variants were identified in 7 genes recently found to be implicated in BPD. Inspection of canonical hemostasis pathways identified 29 patients with evidence of oligogenic inheritance. A molecular diagnosis has been reported for 897 index patients providing evidence that introducing a HTS genetic test for BPD patients is meeting an important unmet clinical need.

scholarly journals Emerging evidence implicating a role for neurexins in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders

Open Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katelyn Cuttler ◽  
Maryam Hassan ◽  
Jonathan Carr ◽  
Ruben Cloete ◽  
Soraya Bardien
Keyword(s):  
Cell Adhesion ◽  
Neurodegenerative Disorders ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Disorders ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Synaptic Proteins ◽  
Brain Disorders ◽  
Binding Partners ◽  
Expression Studies ◽  
And Function ◽  
Cell Adhesion Proteins

Synaptopathies are brain disorders characterized by dysfunctional synapses, which are specialized junctions between neurons that are essential for the transmission of information. Synaptic dysfunction can occur due to mutations that alter the structure and function of synaptic components or abnormal expression levels of a synaptic protein. One class of synaptic proteins that are essential to their biology are cell adhesion proteins that connect the pre- and post-synaptic compartments. Neurexins are one type of synaptic cell adhesion molecule that have, recently, gained more pathological interest. Variants in both neurexins and their common binding partners, neuroligins, have been associated with several neuropsychiatric disorders. In this review, we summarize some of the key physiological functions of the neurexin protein family and the protein networks they are involved in. Furthermore, examination of published literature has implicated neurexins in both neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. There is a clear link between neurexins and neuropsychiatric disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. However, multiple expression studies have also shown changes in neurexin expression in several neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Therefore, this review highlights the potential importance of neurexins in brain disorders and the importance of doing more targeted studies on these genes and proteins.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document