The expression profile of cardiovascular disease associated microRNAs in pregnancies with clinical manifestation of gestational hypertension, preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction

MicroRNA (miRNA) jsou krátké nekódující 21-23 nukleotidů dlouhé jednořetězcové RNA. Patří mezi významné posttranskripční regulátory genové exprese, které regulují jak fyziologické, tak patologické procesy. Některé microRNA, resp. výše jejich exprese, jsou specifické pouze pro určitý typ tkáně nebo pro patologický stav. Předpokladem mé diplomové práce bylo, že genová exprese vybraných 28 kardiovaskulárních microRNA (miR-1-3p, miR-16-5p, miR-17-5p, miR-20a-5p, miR- 20b-5p, miR-21-5p, miR-23a-3p, miR-24-3p, miR-26a-5p, miR-29a-3p, miR-92a-3p, miR-100-5p, miR-103a-3p, miR-125b-5p, miR-126-3p, miR-130b-3p, miR-133a-3p, miR-143-3p, miR-145-5p, miR-146a-5p, miR-181-5p, miR-195-5p, miR-199a-5p, miR- 210-3p, miR-221-3p, miR-342-3p, miR-499a-5p, miR-574-3p) se liší v pupečníkové krvi těhotných žen s fyziologickým průběhem gravidity (FG), gestační hypertenzí (GH), preeklampsií (PE) a fetální růstovou retardací (FGR). Soubor pacientek čítal 184 těhotných žen, z toho 44 kontrol, 47 s diagnózou GH, 56 s diagnózou PE a 37 s diagnózou FGR. Relativní kvantifikace microRNA byla provedena metodou kvantitativní PCR v reálném čase. Výsledky ukázaly trend k down-regulaci miR-195-5p v pupečníkové krvi pacientek s GH. Dále trend k up-regulaci miR-92a-3p u pacietek s mírnou formou preeklampsie. Oproti tomu pacientky se...MicroRNA (miRNA) are small non-coding 21-23 nucleotides long one strand RNAs. They are among the major posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression that regulate both physiological and pathological processes. Some of microRNAs, amount of their expression respectively, are specific only for certain type of tissue or pathological condition. The hypothesis for my diploma thesis was that gene expression of 28 cardiovascular disease associated microRNAs (miR-1-3p, miR-16-5p, miR-17-5p, miR- 20a-5p, miR-20b-5p, miR-21-5p, miR-23a-3p, miR-24-3p, miR-26a-5p, miR-29a-3p, miR-92a-3p, miR-100-5p, miR-103a-3p, miR-125b-5p, miR-126-3p, miR-130b-3p, miR-133a-3p, miR-143-3p, miR-145-5p, miR-146a-5p, miR-181-5p, miR-195-5p, miR- 199a-5p, miR-210-3p, miR-221-3p, miR-342-3p, miR-499a-5p, miR-574-3p) would differ in umbilical cord blood between groups of women with physiological pregnancies (FG), gestational hypertension (GH), preeclampsia (PE) and fetal growth restriciton (FGR). The studied cohort consisted of 184 pregnant women involving 44 controls, 47 GH pregnancies, 56 PE pregnancies and 37 FGR pregnancies. Relative quantification of microRNAs was performed by quantitative real-time PCR. Results showed a trend to miR-195-5p down-regulation in umbilical cord blood of GH patients. On the other hand, mild PE...Katedra antropologie a genetiky člověkaDepartment of Anthropology and Human GeneticsFaculty of SciencePřírodovědecká fakult

Molecular Pathophysiology of Primary Hyperuricemia and Gout

Primární hyperurikemie, jako stav zvýšené hladiny sérové kyseliny močové, je způsobena rozličnými faktory a nutně předchází formě zánětlivé artritidy označované jako dna. Kyselina močová je finálním produktem katabolismu purinů a pro svůj transport vyžaduje specializované proteiny. Patogenní varianty v genech pro tyto transportní proteiny mohou mít zásadní negativní dopad na jejich funkci, a tím ovlivňovat výsledné hladiny sérové kyseliny močové. Chronicky zvýšené hodnoty kyseliny močové ovšem nejsou jedinou predispozicí k rozvoji dny. Roli v progresi onemocnění pravděpodobně hrají další faktory, jako např. epigenetické mechanismy či vrozené predispozice k zánětlivým stavům, způsobeným dysregulací imunitního systému. Cílem práce byla analýza poškozujících variant v genech pro významné urátové transportéry ABCG2, SLC22A12 a SLC2A9, které mohou zapříčinit poruchu v exkreci či reabsorpci kyseliny močové a tím přispět ke vzniku primární hyperurikemie, potažmo dny, nebo vzácné dědičné renální hypourikemie. Další oblastí zájmu byly cirkulující miRNA v plazmě pacientů s primární hyperurikemií, dnou a dnavou atakou. V genu ABCG2 jsme identifikovali a funkčně charakterizovali přes deset vzácných nesynonymních variant. Většina z těchto variant měla negativní dopad na expresi, lokalizaci nebo funkci proteinu....Primary hyperuricemia, as a condition of elevated serum uric acid levels, is caused by various factors and necessarily precedes a form of inflammatory arthritis referred to as gout. Uric acid is the end product of purine catabolism and requires specialized proteins for its transport. Pathogenic variants in the genes for these transport proteins can have a major negative impact on their function, thereby affecting the resulting serum uric acid levels. However, chronically elevated uric acid levels are not the only predisposition to the development of gout. Other factors, such as epigenetic mechanisms or genetic predispositions to inflammatory conditions caused by immune dysregulation, are likely to play a role in disease progression. The aim of the study was to analyse damaging variants in genes for important urate transporters ABCG2, SLC22A12 and SLC2A9, which may cause impaired excretion or reabsorption of uric acid and thus contribute to the development of primary hyperuricemia and gout, or rare hereditary renal hypouricemia. We also focused on circulating miRNAs in the plasma of patients with primary hyperuricemia, gout and gout attack. We identified and functionally characterized over ten rare nonsynonymous variants in the ABCG2 gene. Most of these variants had a negative impact on protein...Institute of Inherited Metabolic Disorders First Faculty of Medicine Charles University in PragueÚstav dědičných metabolických poruch 1.LF a VFN v Praze1. lékařská fakultaFirst Faculty of Medicin

Identification of a dysfunctional exon-skipping splice variant in GLUT9/SLC2A9 causal for renal hypouricemia type 2

Renal hypouricemia (RHUC) is a pathological condition characterized by extremely low serum urate and overexcretion of urate in the kidney; this inheritable disorder is classified into type 1 and type 2 based on causative genes encoding physiologically-important urate transporters, URAT1 and GLUT9, respectively; however, research on RHUC type 2 is still behind type 1. We herein describe a typical familial case of RHUC type 2 found in a Slovak family with severe hypouricemia and hyperuricosuria. Via clinico-genetic analyses including whole exome sequencing and in vitro functional assays, we identified an intronic GLUT9 variant, c.1419+1G>A, as the causal mutation that could lead the expression of p.Gly431GlufsTer28, a functionally-null variant resulting from exon 11 skipping. The causal relationship was also confirmed in another unrelated Macedonian family with mild hypouricemia. Accordingly, non-coding regions should be also kept in mind during genetic diagnosis for hypouricemia. Our findings provide a better pathogenic understanding of RHUC and pathophysiological importance of GLUT9

Molecular Pathophysiology of Primary Hyperuricemia and Gout

Primary hyperuricemia, as a condition of elevated serum uric acid levels, is caused by various factors and necessarily precedes a form of inflammatory arthritis referred to as gout. Uric acid is the end product of purine catabolism and requires specialized proteins for its transport. Pathogenic variants in the genes for these transport proteins can have a major negative impact on their function, thereby affecting the resulting serum uric acid levels. However, chronically elevated uric acid levels are not the only predisposition to the development of gout. Other factors, such as epigenetic mechanisms or genetic predispositions to inflammatory conditions caused by immune dysregulation, are likely to play a role in disease progression. The aim of the study was to analyse damaging variants in genes for important urate transporters ABCG2, SLC22A12 and SLC2A9, which may cause impaired excretion or reabsorption of uric acid and thus contribute to the development of primary hyperuricemia and gout, or rare hereditary renal hypouricemia. We also focused on circulating miRNAs in the plasma of patients with primary hyperuricemia, gout and gout attack. We identified and functionally characterized over ten rare nonsynonymous variants in the ABCG2 gene. Most of these variants had a negative impact on protein..

Spinal muscular atrophy

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive neuromuscular disorder which affects α-motor neurons in anterior horns of spinal cord resulting in progressive muscle weakness. The estimated incidence is 1:10 000 and carrier frequency 1:40-1:60. SMA is classified into four grades depending on the age of onset and its severity. Life expectancy differs according to grade of SMA, patients suffering from the most serious grades live about two years, milder could live to adulthood. This disorder is caused by mutation of the SMN1 gene which is located on the fifth chromosome. In the majority of cases the type of mutation is homozygous deletion in SMN1 gene. Keywords: Spinal muscular atrophy; neuromuscular disorder; alpha motor neurons; autosomal recessive disorder; SMN1; SMN

The expression profile of cardiovascular disease associated microRNAs in pregnancies with clinical manifestation of gestational hypertension, preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction

MicroRNA (miRNA) are small non-coding 21-23 nucleotides long one strand RNAs. They are among the major posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression that regulate both physiological and pathological processes. Some of microRNAs, amount of their expression respectively, are specific only for certain type of tissue or pathological condition. The hypothesis for my diploma thesis was that gene expression of 28 cardiovascular disease associated microRNAs (miR-1-3p, miR-16-5p, miR-17-5p, miR- 20a-5p, miR-20b-5p, miR-21-5p, miR-23a-3p, miR-24-3p, miR-26a-5p, miR-29a-3p, miR-92a-3p, miR-100-5p, miR-103a-3p, miR-125b-5p, miR-126-3p, miR-130b-3p, miR-133a-3p, miR-143-3p, miR-145-5p, miR-146a-5p, miR-181-5p, miR-195-5p, miR- 199a-5p, miR-210-3p, miR-221-3p, miR-342-3p, miR-499a-5p, miR-574-3p) would differ in umbilical cord blood between groups of women with physiological pregnancies (FG), gestational hypertension (GH), preeclampsia (PE) and fetal growth restriciton (FGR). The studied cohort consisted of 184 pregnant women involving 44 controls, 47 GH pregnancies, 56 PE pregnancies and 37 FGR pregnancies. Relative quantification of microRNAs was performed by quantitative real-time PCR. Results showed a trend to miR-195-5p down-regulation in umbilical cord blood of GH patients. On the other hand, mild PE..

Functional Characterization of Rare Variants in OAT1/<i>SLC22A6</i> and OAT3/<i>SLC22A8</i> Urate Transporters Identified in a Gout and Hyperuricemia Cohort

The OAT1 (SLC22A6) and OAT3 (SLC22A8) urate transporters are located on the basolateral membrane of the proximal renal tubules, where they ensure the uptake of uric acid from the urine back into the body. In a cohort of 150 Czech patients with primary hyperuricemia and gout, we examined the coding regions of both genes using PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing. Variants p.P104L (rs11568627) and p.A190T (rs146282438) were identified in the gene for solute carrier family 22 member 6 (SLC22A6) and variants p.R149C (rs45566039), p.V448I (rs11568486) and p.R513Q (rs145474422) in the gene solute carrier family 22 member 8 (SLC22A8). We performed a functional study of these rare non-synonymous variants using the HEK293T cell line. We found that only p.R149C significantly reduced uric acid transport in vitro. Our results could deepen the understanding of uric acid handling in the kidneys and the molecular mechanism of uric acid transport by the OAT family of organic ion transporters

Functional Characterization of Rare Variants in OAT1/SLC22A6 and OAT3/SLC22A8 Urate Transporters Identified in a Gout and Hyperuricemia Cohort

The OAT1 (SLC22A6) and OAT3 (SLC22A8) urate transporters are located on the basolateral membrane of the proximal renal tubules, where they ensure the uptake of uric acid from the urine back into the body. In a cohort of 150 Czech patients with primary hyperuricemia and gout, we examined the coding regions of both genes using PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing. Variants p.P104L (rs11568627) and p.A190T (rs146282438) were identified in the gene for solute carrier family 22 member 6 (SLC22A6) and variants p.R149C (rs45566039), p.V448I (rs11568486) and p.R513Q (rs145474422) in the gene solute carrier family 22 member 8 (SLC22A8). We performed a functional study of these rare non-synonymous variants using the HEK293T cell line. We found that only p.R149C significantly reduced uric acid transport in vitro. Our results could deepen the understanding of uric acid handling in the kidneys and the molecular mechanism of uric acid transport by the OAT family of organic ion transporters

Dissemination of Isaria fumosorosea Spores by Steinernema feltiae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora

Entomopathogenic nematodes and fungi are globally distributed soil organisms that are frequently used as bioagents in biological control and integrated pest management. Many studies have demonstrated that the combination of biocontrol agents can increase their efficacy against target hosts. In our study, we focused on another potential benefit of the synergy of two species of nematodes, Steinernema feltiae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, and the fungus Isaria fumosorosea. According to our hypothesis, these nematodes may be able to disseminate this fungus into the environment. To test this hypothesis, we studied fungal dispersal by the nematodes in different arenas, including potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates, sand heaps, sand barriers, and glass tubes filled with soil. The results of our study showed, for the first time, that the spreading of both conidia and blastospores of I. fumosorosea is significantly enhanced by the presence of entomopathogenic nematodes, but the efficacy of dissemination is negatively influenced by the heterogeneity of the testing arena. We also found that H. bacteriophora spread fungi more effectively than S. feltiae. This phenomenon could be explained by the differences in the presence and persistence of second-stage cuticles or by different foraging behavior. Finally, we observed that blastospores are disseminated more effectively than conidia, which might be due to the different adherence of these spores (conidia are hydrophobic, while blastospores are hydrophilic). The obtained results showed that entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) can enhance the efficiency of fungal dispersal