Editorial: Genotype-Phenotype Correlation in Parkinsonian Conditions

With the diffusion of cost-effective genetic analyses, an increase in the spectrum of reported genetic variants associated with sporadic Parkinson’s disease (sPD) (e.g., glucocerebrosidase— GBA) and monogenic parkinsonisms (dominant, recessive, and atypical forms) has been achieved. Each single variant may be associated to distinct prominent phenotypic characteristics helpful for diagnostic and prognostic purposes, thus ushering the era of precision medicine for movement disorders.Fil: Marsili, Luca. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Mata, Ignacio F.. Cleveland Clinic Foundation; Estados UnidosFil: Kauffman, Marcelo Andres. Universidad Austral. Facultad de Ciencias Biomédicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Centro Universitario de Neurología "Dr. José María Ramos Mejía".; Argentin

How have advances in genetic technology modified movement disorder nosology?

The role of genetics and its technological development have been fundamental in advancing the field of movement disorders, opening the door to precision medicine. Starting from the revolutionary discovery of the locus of the Huntington’s disease gene, we review the milestones of genetic discoveries in movement disorders and their impact on clinical practice and research efforts. Before the 1980s, early techniques did not allow the identification of genetic alteration in complex diseases. Further advances increasingly defined a large number of pathogenic genetic alterations. Moreover, these techniques allowed epigenomic, transcriptomic and microbiome analyses. In the 2020s, these new technologies are poised to displace phenotype-based classifications towards a nosology based on genetic/biological data. Advances in genetic technologies are engineering a reversal of the phenotype-to-genotype order of nosology development, replacing convergent clinicopathological disease models with the genotypic divergence required for future precision medicine applications.Fil: Sturchio, A.. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Marsili, L.. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Mahajan, A.. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Grimberg, M.B.. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Kauffman, Marcelo Andres. Universidad Austral. Facultad de Ciencias Biomédicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional; ArgentinaFil: Espay, A.J.. University of Cincinnati; Estados Unido

Holmes Tremor‐Like Phenotype in DYT1 Dystonia

Holmes tremor is characterized by a combination of a flexion‐extension resting postural and action tremor, most often due to mesencephalic lesions affecting the nigrostriatal and cerebello‐thalamo‐cortical pathways. On the other hand, dystonic tremor represents a jerky postural and action tremor, which if severe enough may include a resting component and may arise from cerebellar and nigrostriatal dysfunction. Here, we present a patient with a four‐decade history of progressive tremor, initially interpreted as Holmes tremor with a dystonic (pseudospastic) gait, in whom whole exome sequencing (WES) demonstrated a pathogenic TOR1A deletion. This case highlights two important clinical points, (1) the need for proper semiologic interpretation: direct DYT1 testing could have been entertained if tremor was properly categorized as dystonic rather than cerebellar at the outset; and (2) the phenotypic variability of DYT1 dystonia, with tremor as a presenting and disabling feature separate from the body part affected by dystonia (“tremor associated with dystonia”).Fil: Rodríguez Quiroga, Sergio Alejandro. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; ArgentinaFil: González Morón, Dolores. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Espay, Alberto J. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Kauffman, Marcelo Andres. Universidad Austral. Facultad de Ciencias Biomédicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional; Argentin

GenIO: A phenotype-genotype analysis web server for clinical genomics of rare diseases

Background: GenIO is a novel web-server, designed to assist clinical genomics researchers and medical doctors in the diagnostic process of rare genetic diseases. The tool identifies the most probable variants causing a rare disease, using the genomic and clinical information provided by a medical practitioner. Variants identified in a whole-genome, whole-exome or target sequencing studies are annotated, classified and filtered by clinical significance. Candidate genes associated with the patient's symptoms, suspected disease and complementary findings are identified to obtain a small manageable number of the most probable recessive and dominant candidate gene variants associated with the rare disease case. Additionally, following the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics and the Association of Molecular Pathology (ACMG-AMP) guidelines and recommendations, all potentially pathogenic variants that might be contributing to disease and secondary findings are identified. Results: A retrospective study was performed on 40 patients with a diagnostic rate of 40%. All the known genes that were previously considered as disease causing were correctly identified in the final inherit model output lists. In previously undiagnosed cases, we had no additional yield. Conclusion: This unique, intuitive and user-friendly tool to assists medical doctors in the clinical genomics diagnostic process is openly available at https://bioinformatics.ibioba-mpsp-conicet.gov.ar/GenIO/.Fil: Koile, Daniel Isaac. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; ArgentinaFil: Córdoba, Marta. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; Argentina. Universidad Austral. Facultad de Ciencias Biomédicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional; ArgentinaFil: de Sousa Serro, Maximiliano Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; ArgentinaFil: Kauffman, Marcelo Andres. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; Argentina. Universidad Austral. Facultad de Ciencias Biomédicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional; ArgentinaFil: Yankilevich, Patricio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; Argentin

A Family with Late-Onset and Predominant Choreic Niemann Pick Type C: A Treatable Piece in the Etiological Puzzle of Choreas

Niemman Pick type C (NPC) is a treatable neurodegenerative lysosomal disorder characterized by the widespread age of onset and clinical presentation. The adult NPC phenotype frequently includes ataxia, supranuclear gaze palsy, and cognitive and behavioral problems.1 Movement disorders are also often observed in these patients. Among them, chorea has been rarely described as a dominant sign.1, 2 On the other hand, a phenotype dominated by chorea and cognitive and behavioral manifestations is suggestive of Huntington's disease (HD).3, 4 The rare cases showing this phenotype proved to be negative for the CAG expansion in HTT and are categorized as Huntington-like disorders (HDL).5 Although the list of HDL genetic etiologies has grown considerably during the past few years, the diagnostic yield for these conditions is still limited.3, 5 Noteworthy, NPC is neither routinely considered in the differential diagnosis of chorea nor among the HDL disorders. We present 2 siblings presenting with a late onset and predominate choreic phenotype, where the final diagnosis was NPC.Fil: Rodriguez Quiroga, Sergio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Centro Universitario de Neurología "Dr. José María Ramos Mejía".; ArgentinaFil: Zavala, Lucía. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Centro Universitario de Neurología "Dr. José María Ramos Mejía".; ArgentinaFil: Perez Maturo, Josefina. Universidad Austral. Facultad de Ciencias Biomédicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Centro Universitario de Neurología "Dr. José María Ramos Mejía".; ArgentinaFil: González Morón, Dolores. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Centro Universitario de Neurología "Dr. José María Ramos Mejía".; ArgentinaFil: Garretto, Nelida Susana. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Centro Universitario de Neurología "Dr. José María Ramos Mejía".; ArgentinaFil: Kauffman, Marcelo Andres. Universidad Austral. Facultad de Ciencias Biomédicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Centro Universitario de Neurología "Dr. José María Ramos Mejía".; Argentin

ApoE ε4 might modify the silent interval of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis

El gen de la apolipoproteína E (ApoE) presenta polimorfismos en su secuencia odificante que modulan distintos mecanismos de regeneración neuronal. La epilepsia mesial temporal con esclerosis del hipocampo (EMT-EH) frecuentemente se desarrolla años después de una injuria cerebral, habiéndose sucedido fenómenos plásticos neuro-regenerativos potencialmente epileptogénicos durante este intervalo denominado «período silente». Estudios previos han sido controversiales en cuanto al rol de esta variante genética en la EMT-EH. En particular, podría modificar la edad de comienzo de la patología. Objetivos: Nuestro objetivo fue explorar en mayor profundidad el rol de la variación genética de ApoE en el intervalo silente de la epileptogenesis de la EMT-EH. Pacientes y Métodos: Se realizó un estudio de epidemiología molecular que incluyó 78 pacientes con EMT-EH, investigando el efecto del polimorfismo sobre la edad de comienzo de la patología. La genotipificación fue hecho mediante PCR-RFLP. Se realizó un análisis limitado a nuestra población y un meta-análisis de la evidencia acumulada incluyendo nuestros datos (574 pacientes en total). Resultados: En nuestra población, los sujetos portadores de la variante ApoE E4 evidenciaron una tendencia a comenzar sus crisis a más temprana edad. En el meta-análisis se confirmó esta tendencia, aquellos sujetos portadores de la variante ApoE ε4 comienzan sus crisis casi 4 años antes que los sujetos portadores de las isoformas 2 y 3 de ApoE (p=0,005). Conclusión: ApoE ε4 es un factor genético que modifica la edad de comienzo de la EMT-EH, pudiendo estar implicado en los procesos epileptogénicos que se suceden en el período silente del desarrollo de la Epilepsia Mesial Temporal con Esclerosis del Hipocampo.Background: ApoE has a role in the maintenance and repair of neurons, but its three isoforms have different efficiency for these tasks. MTE-HS typically begins many years after an early cerebral insult. During this so called “silent interval” different epileptogenic proccesses occur that might involve the damage and repairing of neurons. Previous studies have evaluated the role of ApoE variants as modifiers of the clinical features of MTE-HS, but the results obtained have been controversial so far. Specifically, ApoE ε4 isoform might modulate the epileptic syndrome age of onset, suggesting a shorter “silent interval”. Aims: Our aim was to explore the role of Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) ε4 isoform as a modifier of the “silent interval” of Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (MTE-HS) development. Patients and Methods: We included a population of 78 MTE-HS patients in a molecular epidemiology study that investigated the effect of ApoE ε4 in the syndrome age of onset. Genotyping was done by a PCR-RFLP assay. In order to better estimate the role of this variant as a modifier of this clinical feature, we performed a systematic review of the literature, incorporating into a meta-analysis our results along data available (6 studies; 574 patients) in published studies that have investigated the role of ApoE ε4 in Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Results: In our population, ApoE ε4 carriers showed a trend to begin their epilepsy at a shorter age than non-carriers. The meta-analysis confirmed this trend, where ApoE ε4 carriers had an onset of habitual seizures almost 4 years earlier than non-carriers (mean difference 3.7 years; CI 95% 1.66-5.74; p=0.0001). Conclusions: ApoE ε4 is a genetic modifier of the age of onset of MTE-HS syndrome, that might have a role in the epileptogenic processes that occur during the «silent interval» of this pathology development.Fil: Kauffman, Marcelo Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia "Prof. Eduardo de Robertis". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia; Argentina. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; ArgentinaFil: Consalvo, Damian. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; ArgentinaFil: González Morón, Dolores. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia "Prof. Eduardo de Robertis". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia; ArgentinaFil: Pujol, Virginia. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; ArgentinaFil: Solis, Patricia Cristina Lourdes. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; ArgentinaFil: Oddo, Silvia Andrea. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Lomlomdjian, Carolina. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; ArgentinaFil: Kochen, Sara Silvia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia "Prof. Eduardo de Robertis". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia; Argentina. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; Argentin

Neither a novel tau proteinopathy nor an expansion of a phenotype: Reappraising clinicopathology-based nosology

The gold standard for classification of neurodegenerative diseases is postmortem histopathol-ogy; however, the diagnostic odyssey of this case challenges such a clinicopathologic model. We evaluated a 60-year-old woman with a 7-year history of a progressive dystonia–ataxia syndrome with supranuclear gaze palsy, suspected to represent Niemann–Pick disease Type C. Postmortem evaluation unexpectedly demonstrated neurodegeneration with 4-repeat tau deposition in a distribution diagnostic of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Whole-exome sequencing revealed a new het-erozygous variant in TGM6, associated with spinocerebellar ataxia type 35 (SCA35). This novel TGM6 variant reduced transglutaminase activity in vitro, suggesting it was pathogenic. This case could be interpreted as expanding: (1) the PSP phenotype to include a spinocerebellar variant; (2) SCA35 as a tau proteinopathy; or (3) TGM6 as a novel genetic variant underlying a SCA35 phenotype with PSP pathology. None of these interpretations seem adequate. We instead hypothesize that impairment in the crosslinking of tau by the TGM6-encoded transglutaminase enzyme may compromise tau functionally and structurally, leading to its aggregation in a pattern currently classified as PSP. The lessons from this case study encourage a reassessment of our clinicopathology-based nosology.Fil: Marsili, Luca. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Sharma, Jennifer. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Espay, Alberto J.. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Migazzi, Alice. Universita degli Studi di Trento; ItaliaFil: Abdelghany, Elhusseini. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Hill, Emily J.. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Duque, Kevin R.. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Hagen, Matthew C.. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Stephen, Christopher D.. Harvard Medical School; Estados UnidosFil: Kovacs, Gabor G.. University of Toronto; CanadáFil: Lang, Anthony E.. University of Toronto; CanadáFil: Hadjivassiliou, Marios. University Of Sheffield (university Of Sheffield);Fil: Basso, Manuela. Universita degli Studi di Trento; ItaliaFil: Kauffman, Marcelo Andres. Universidad Austral. Facultad de Ciencias Biomédicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional; ArgentinaFil: Sturchio, Andrea. University of Cincinnati; Estados Unido

Biomarker-driven phenotyping in Parkinson's disease: A translational missing link in disease-modifying clinical trials

Past clinical trials of putative neuroprotective therapies have targeted PD as a single pathogenic disease entity. From an Oslerian clinicopathological perspective, the wide complexity of PD converges into Lewy bodies and justifies a reductionist approach to PD: A single-mechanism therapy can affect most of those sharing the classic pathological hallmark. From a systems-biology perspective, PD is a group of disorders that, while related by sharing the feature of nigral dopamine-neuron degeneration, exhibit unique genetic, biological, and molecular abnormalities, which probably respond differentially to a given therapeutic approach, particularly for strategies aimed at neuroprotection. Under this model, only biomarker-defined, homogenous subtypes of PD are likely to respond optimally to therapies proven to affect the biological processes within each subtype. Therefore, we suggest that precision medicine applied to PD requires a reevaluation of the biomarker-discovery effort. This effort is currently centered on correlating biological measures to clinical features of PD and on identifying factors that predict whether various prodromal states will convert into the classical movement disorder. We suggest, instead, that subtyping of PD requires the reverse view, where abnormal biological signals (i.e., biomarkers), rather than clinical definitions, are used to define disease phenotypes. Successful development of disease-modifying strategies will depend on how relevant the specific biological processes addressed by an intervention are to the pathogenetic mechanisms in the subgroup of targeted patients. This precision-medicine approach will likely yield smaller, but well-defined, subsets of PD amenable to successful neuroprotection.Fil: Espay, Alberto J.. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Schwarzschild, Michael A.. Massachusetts General Hospital; Estados UnidosFil: Tanner, Caroline M.. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Fernandez, Hubert H.. Cleveland Clinic; Estados UnidosFil: Simon, David K.. Harvard Medical School; Estados UnidosFil: Leverenz, James B.. Cleveland Clinic; Estados UnidosFil: Merola, Aristide. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Chen Plotkin, Alice. University of Pennsylvania; Estados UnidosFil: Brundin, Patrik. Van Andel Research Institute. Center for Neurodegenerative Science; Estados UnidosFil: Kauffman, Marcelo Andres. Universidad Austral; Argentina. Universidad Austral. Facultad de Ciencias Biomédicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional; Argentina. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; ArgentinaFil: Erro, Roberto. Universita di Verona; Italia. University College London; Reino UnidoFil: Kieburtz, Karl. University of Rochester Medical Center; Estados UnidosFil: Woo, Daniel. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Macklin, Eric A.. Massachusetts General Hospital; Estados UnidosFil: Standaert, David G.. University of Alabama at Birmingahm; Estados UnidosFil: Lang, Anthony E.. University of Toronto; Canad

About kabbalah and somatic mosaicism in the central nervous system

La «enumeración» permite a Borges representar el universo en un punto que lleva el nombre de la primera letra del Abyad semítico. Esta letra simboliza la Totalidad para la Cabalá, encargada de la búsqueda de significados codificados en un universo de letras y signos en la Torá. Previo a la revolución tecnológica de la imprenta de tipos móviles, la persistencia del mensaje descansaba en la tarea de los copistas. Todo copista de la Torá debía ser en extremo exacto en su trabajo. Su oficio no toleraba el mínimo error porque en esta escritura cada palabra, cada letra y cada signo ortográfico era indispensable e irremplazable...Fil: Kauffman, Marcelo Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia "Prof. Eduardo de Robertis". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia; Argentin

Reflections about genomes and genetic information in Babel and Buenos Aires

Fil: Kauffman, Marcelo Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia "Prof. Eduardo de Robertis". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia; Argentin