From ‘pats on the back’ to ‘dummy sucking’: a critique of the changing social, cultural and political significance of football goal celebrations

The essay offers a critique of the changing social, cultural and political significance of goal celebrations by considering how, during the transition from football as a local, proletarian, masculine industry and product of Fordist modernity to a global, mediated, paradoxical entertainment spectacle, a postmodern culture of goal celebration has emerged, which acts as a comment on or reaction to modernity. In many cases, individual postmodern goal scorers have shifted their interest from a concern with the ultimate end of scoring a goal and restarting the game as soon as possible, to a pragmatic concern relating to the optimal performance of celebration. Through a series of genres, the essay discusses how the postmodern goal celebration in creative modernity has several styles, all of which demonstrate the way in which football culture ‘has become increasingly self-reflexive, juxtapositional and parodic through the growing irrelevance of a stable conception of reality’

Germline intergenic duplications at Xq26.1 underlie Bazex-Dupré-Christol basal cell carcinoma susceptibility syndrome

BACKGROUND: Bazex-Dupré-Christol syndrome (BDCS; MIM301845) is a rare X-linked dominant genodermatosis characterized by follicular atrophoderma, congenital hypotrichosis and multiple basal cell carcinomas (BCCs). Previous studies have linked BDCS to an 11.4 Mb interval on chromosome Xq25-q27.1. However, the genetic mechanism of BDCS remains an open question. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the genetic etiology and molecular mechanisms underlying BDCS. METHODS: We ascertained multiple individuals, from eight unrelated families, affected with BDCS (F1-F8). Whole exome (F1 and F2) and genome sequencing (F3) were performed to identify putative disease-causing variants within the linkage region. Array-comparative genomic hybridization and quantitative PCR were used to explore copy number variations (CNV), followed by long-range gap-PCR and Sanger sequencing to amplify the duplication junctions and to define the head-tail junctions. Hi-C was performed on dermal fibroblasts from two affected individuals with BDCS and one control. Public datasets and tools were used to identify regulatory elements and transcription factor binding sites within the minimal duplicated region. Immunofluorescence was performed in hair follicles, BCCs and trichoepitheliomas from BDCS patients and sporadic BCCs. The ACTRT1 variant (p.Met183Asnfs*17), previously proposed to cause BDCS, was evaluated with allele frequency calculator. RESULTS: In eight BDCS families, we identified overlapping 18-135kb duplications (six inherited and two de novo) at Xq26.1, flanked by ARHGAP36 and IGSF1. Hi-C showed the duplications didn't affect the topologically associated domain (TAD), but may alter the interactions between flanking genes and putative enhancers located in the minimal duplicated region. We detected ARHGAP36 expression near the control hair follicular stem cells compartment, and found increased ARHGAP36 levels in hair follicles in telogen, BCCs and trichoepitheliomas from patients with BDCS. ARHGAP36 was also detected in sporadic BCCs from individuals without BDCS. Our modelling showed the predicted ACTRT1 variants maximum tolerated minor allele frequency in control populations to be orders of magnitude higher than expected for a high-penetrant ultra-rare disorder, suggesting loss-of-function of ACTRT1 variants to be an unlikely cause for BDCS. CONCLUSIONS: Noncoding Xq26.1 duplications cause BDCS., The BDCS duplications most likely lead to dysregulation of ARHGAP36. ARHGAP36 is a potential therapeutic target for both inherited and sporadic BCCs

Germline intergenic duplications at Xq26.1 underlie Bazex–Dupré–Christol basal cell carcinoma susceptibility syndrome

BACKGROUND: Bazex-Dupré-Christol syndrome (BDCS; MIM301845) is a rare X-linked dominant genodermatosis characterized by follicular atrophoderma, congenital hypotrichosis and multiple basal cell carcinomas (BCCs). Previous studies have linked BDCS to an 11.4 Mb interval on chromosome Xq25-q27.1. However, the genetic mechanism of BDCS remains an open question. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the genetic etiology and molecular mechanisms underlying BDCS. METHODS: We ascertained multiple individuals, from eight unrelated families, affected with BDCS (F1-F8). Whole exome (F1 and F2) and genome sequencing (F3) were performed to identify putative disease-causing variants within the linkage region. Array-comparative genomic hybridization and quantitative PCR were used to explore copy number variations (CNV), followed by long-range gap-PCR and Sanger sequencing to amplify the duplication junctions and to define the head-tail junctions. Hi-C was performed on dermal fibroblasts from two affected individuals with BDCS and one control. Public datasets and tools were used to identify regulatory elements and transcription factor binding sites within the minimal duplicated region. Immunofluorescence was performed in hair follicles, BCCs and trichoepitheliomas from BDCS patients and sporadic BCCs. The ACTRT1 variant (p.Met183Asnfs*17), previously proposed to cause BDCS, was evaluated with allele frequency calculator. RESULTS: In eight BDCS families, we identified overlapping 18-135kb duplications (six inherited and two de novo) at Xq26.1, flanked by ARHGAP36 and IGSF1. Hi-C showed the duplications didn't affect the topologically associated domain (TAD), but may alter the interactions between flanking genes and putative enhancers located in the minimal duplicated region. We detected ARHGAP36 expression near the control hair follicular stem cells compartment, and found increased ARHGAP36 levels in hair follicles in telogen, BCCs and trichoepitheliomas from patients with BDCS. ARHGAP36 was also detected in sporadic BCCs from individuals without BDCS. Our modelling showed the predicted ACTRT1 variants maximum tolerated minor allele frequency in control populations to be orders of magnitude higher than expected for a high-penetrant ultra-rare disorder, suggesting loss-of-function of ACTRT1 variants to be an unlikely cause for BDCS. CONCLUSIONS: Noncoding Xq26.1 duplications cause BDCS., The BDCS duplications most likely lead to dysregulation of ARHGAP36. ARHGAP36 is a potential therapeutic target for both inherited and sporadic BCCs