86 research outputs found

    Congenital tumors: imaging when life just begins

    Get PDF
    BACKGROUND: The technical developments of imaging methods over the last 2 decades are changing our knowledge of perinatal oncology. Fetal ultrasound is usually the first imaging method used and thus constitutes the reference prenatal study, but MRI seems to be an excellent complementary method for evaluating the fetus. The widespread use of both techniques has increased the diagnosis rates of congenital tumors. During pregnancy and after birth, an accurate knowledge of the possibilities and limits of the different imaging techniques available would improve the information obtainable, thus helping the medical team to make the most appropriate decisions about therapy and to inform the family about the prognosis. CONCLUSION: In this review article, we describe the main congenital neoplasms, their prognosis and their imaging characteristics with the different pre- and postnatal imaging methods available

    Evolution of sex-specific pace-of-life syndromes: genetic architecture and physiological mechanisms

    Get PDF
    Sex differences in life history, physiology, and behavior are nearly ubiquitous across taxa, owing to sex-specific selection that arises from different reproductive strategies of the sexes. The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis predicts that most variation in such traits among individuals, populations, and species falls along a slow-fast pace-of-life continuum. As a result of their different reproductive roles and environment, the sexes also commonly differ in pace-of-life, with important consequences for the evolution of POLS. Here, we outline mechanisms for how males and females can evolve differences in POLS traits and in how such traits can covary differently despite constraints resulting from a shared genome. We review the current knowledge of the genetic basis of POLS traits and suggest candidate genes and pathways for future studies. Pleiotropic effects may govern many of the genetic correlations, but little is still known about the mechanisms involved in trade-offs between current and future reproduction and their integration with behavioral variation. We highlight the importance of metabolic and hormonal pathways in mediating sex differences in POLS traits; however, there is still a shortage of studies that test for sex specificity in molecular effects and their evolutionary causes. Considering whether and how sexual dimorphism evolves in POLS traits provides a more holistic framework to understand how behavioral variation is integrated with life histories and physiology, and we call for studies that focus on examining the sex-specific genetic architecture of this integration

    Brain size regulations by cbp haploinsufficiency evaluated by in-vivo MRI based volumetry

    Full text link
    The Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome (RSTS) is a congenital disease that affects brain development causing severe cognitive deficits. In most cases the disease is associated with dominant mutations in the gene encoding the CREB binding protein (CBP). In this work, we present the first quantitative analysis of brain abnormalities in a mouse model of RSTS using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and two novel self-developed automated algorithms for image volumetric analysis. Our results quantitatively confirm key syndromic features observed in RSTS patients, such as reductions in brain size (-16.31%, p < 0.05), white matter volume (-16.00%, p < 0.05), and corpus callosum (-12.40%, p < 0.05). Furthermore, they provide new insight into the developmental origin of the disease. By comparing brain tissues in a region by region basis between cbp(+/-) and cbp(+/+) littermates, we found that cbp haploinsufficiency is specifically associated with significant reductions in prosencephalic tissue, such us in the olfactory bulb and neocortex, whereas regions evolved from the embryonic rhombencephalon were spared. Despite the large volume reductions, the proportion between gray-, white-matter and cerebrospinal fluid were conserved, suggesting a role of CBP in brain size regulation. The commonalities with holoprosencephaly and arhinencephaly conditions suggest the inclusion of RSTS in the family of neuronal migration disorders.We are grateful to Begona Fernandez for her excellent technical assistance. We would like to thank S. Sawiak (Wolfson Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom) for the mouse brain tissue probability maps and the SPMmouse plug-in, and to N. Kovacevic (Mouse Imaging Centre, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) for the atlas of the mouse brain. Supported by grants from the Spanish MINECO to S.C. (BFU 2012-39958) and MINECO and FEDER to D.M. (TEC 2012-33778) and from MINECO (SAF2011-22855) and Generalitat Valenciana (Prometeo/2012/005) to A.B. The Instituto de Neurociencias is "Centre of Excellence Severo Ochoa".Ateca Cabarga, JC.; Cosa, A.; Pallares, V.; Lopez-Atalaya, JP.; Barco, A.; Canals, S.; Moratal Pérez, D. (2015). Brain size regulations by cbp haploinsufficiency evaluated by in-vivo MRI based volumetry. Scientific Reports. 5. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep16256S5Rubinstein, J. H. & Taybi, H. Broad thumbs and toes and facial abnormalities. A possible mental retardation syndrome. Am J Dis Child 105, 588–608 (1963).Van Belzen, M., Bartsch, O., Lacombe, D., Peters, D. J. & Hennekam, R. C. Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (CREBBP, EP300). Eur J Hum Genet. 19, preceeding 118–120 (2011).Hennekam, R. C. Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. Eur J Hum Genet. 14, 981–985 (2006).Wiley, S., Swayne, S., Rubinstein, J. H., Lanphear, N. E. & Stevens, C. A. Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome medical guidelines. Am J Med Genet A. 119A, 101–110 (2003).Michail, J., Matsoukas, J. & Theodorou, S. Pouce bot arqué en forte abduction-extension et autres symptomes concomitants. Rev Chir Orthop 43, 142–146 (1957).Barco A. The Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome: modeling mental impairment in the mouse. Genes Brain Behav 6, 32–39 (2007).Lopez-Atalaya, J. P., Valor, L. M. & Barco, A. Epigenetic factors in intellectual disability: the Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome as a paradigm of neurodevelopmental disorder with epigenetic origin. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci. 128, 139–176 (2014).Petrij, F., Giles, R. H., Dauwerse, H. G., Saris, J. J., Hennekam, R. C. M., Masuno, M., Tommerup, N., Van Ommen, G. J. B., Goodman, R. H., Peters, D. J. M. & Breuning, M. H. Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome caused by mutations in the transcriptional co-activator CBP. Nature 376, 348–351 (1995).Zimmermann, N., Acosta, A. M., Kohlhase, J. & Bartsch, O. Confirmation of EP300 gene mutations as a rare cause of Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. Eur J Hum Genet. 15, 837–842 (2007).Bartholdi, D. et al. Genetic heterogeneity in Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome: delineation of the phenotype of the first patients carrying mutations in EP300. J Med Genet. 44, 327–333 (2007).Roelfsema, J. H. et al. Genetic heterogeneity in Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome: mutations in both the CBP and EP300 genes cause disease. Am J Hum Genet. 76, 572–580 (2005).Tanaka, Y., Naruse, I., Maekawa, T., Masuya, H., Shiroishi, T. & Ishii, S. Abnormal skeletal patterning in embryos lacking a single Cbp allele: a partial similarity with Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 94, 10215–10220 (1997).López-Atalaya, J. P. et al. CBP is required for environmental enrichment-induced neurogenesis and cognitive enhancement. EMBO J 30, 4287–4298 (2011).Wang, J. et al. CBP histone acetyltransferase activity regulates embryonic neural differentiation in the normal and Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome brain. Dev Cell. 18, 114–125 (2010).Marzuillo, P. et al. Brain magnetic resonance in the routine management of Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RTS) can prevent life-threatening events and neurological deficits. Am J Med Genet A. 164A, 2129–2132 (2014).de Kort, E., Conneman, N. & Diderich, K. A case of Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome and congenital neuroblastoma. Am J Med Genet A. 164A, 1332–1333 (2014).Lee, J. S. et al. Clinical and mutational spectrum in Korean patients with Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome: the spectrum of brain MRI abnormalities. Brain Dev. 37, 402–408 (2015).Marzuillo, P. et al. Novel cAMP binding protein-BP (CREBBP) mutation in a girl with Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, GH deficiency, Arnold Chiari malformation and pituitary hypoplasia. BMC Med Genet. 14, 28 (2013). 10.1186/1471-2350-14-28.Li, Z. et al. Phenotypic expansion of the interstitial 16p13.3 duplication: a case report and review of the literature. Gene. 531, 502–505 (2013).Demeer, B. et al. Duplication 16p13.3 and the CREBBP gene: confirmation of the phenotype. Eur J Med Genet. 56, 26–31 (2013).Kumar, S., Suthar, R., Panigrahi, I. & Marwaha, R. K. Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome: Clinical profile of 11 patients and review of literature. Indian J Hum Genet. 18, 161–166 (2012).Giussani, C. et al. The association of neural axis and craniovertebral junction anomalies with scoliosis in Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. Childs Nerv Syst. 28, 2163–2168 (2012).Parsley, L., Bellus, G., Handler, M. & Tsai, A. C. Identical twin sisters with Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome associated with Chiari malformations and syrinx. Am J Med Genet A. 155A, 2766–2770 (2011).Thienpont, B. et al. Duplications of the critical Rubinstein-Taybi deletion region on chromosome 16p13.3 cause a novel recognisable syndrome. J Med Genet. 47, 155–161 (2010).Kim, S. H., Lim, B. C., Chae, J. H., Kim, K. J. & Hwang, Y. S. A case of Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome with a CREB-binding protein gene mutation. Korean J Pediatr. 53, 718–721 (2010).Wójcik, C. et al. Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome associated with Chiari type I malformation caused by a large 16p13.3 microdeletion: a contiguous gene syndrome? Am J Med Genet A. 152A, 479–483 (2010).Wachter-Giner, T., Bieber, I., Warmuth-Metz, M., Bröcker, E. B. & Hamm, H. Multiple pilomatricomas and gliomatosis cerebri--a new association? Pediatr Dermatol. 26, 75–78 (2009).Verstegen, M. J., van den Munckhof, P., Troost, D. & Bouma, G. J. Multiple meningiomas in a patient with Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. Case report. J Neurosurg. 102, 167–168 (2005).Agarwal, R., Aggarwal, R., Kabra, M. & Deorari, A. K. Dandy-Walker malformation in Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome: a rare association. Clin Dysmorphol. 11, 223–224 (2002).Ihara, K., Kuromaru, R., Takemoto, M. & Hara, T. Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome: a girl with a history of neuroblastoma and premature thelarche. Am J Med Genet. 83, 365–366 (1999).Sener, R. N. Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome: cranial MR imaging findings. Comput Med Imaging Graph 19, 417–418 (1995).Robinson, T. W., Stewart, D. L. & Hersh, J. H. Monozygotic twins concordant for Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome and implications for genetic counseling. Am J Med Genet. 45, 671–673 (1993).Guion-Almeida, M. L. & Richieri-Costa, A. Callosal agenesis, iris coloboma and megacolon in a Brazilian boy with Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. Am J Med Genet. 43, 929–931 (1992).Albanese, A. et al. [Role of diagnostic imaging in Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. personal experience with 8 cases]. Radiol Med. 81, 253–261 (1991).Rubinstein, J. H. Broad thumb-hallux (Rubinstein-Taybi) syndrome 1957-1988. Am J Med Genet Suppl. 6, 3–16 (1990).Hennekam, R. C., Stevens, C. A. & Van de Kamp, J. J. Etiology and recurrence risk in Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. Am J Med Genet Suppl. 6, 56–64 (1990).Bonioli, E., Bellini, C. & Di Stefano, A. Unusual association: Dandy-Walker-like malformation in the Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. Am J Med Genet. 33, 420–421 (1989).Beluffi, G., Pazzaglia, U. E., Fiori, P., Pricca, P. & Poznanski, A. K. [Oto-palato-digital syndrome. Clinico-radiological study]. Radiol Med. 74, 176–184 (1987).Cantani, A. & Gagliesi, D. Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. Review of 732 cases and analysis of the typical traits. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2, 81–87 (1998).Viosca, J., Lopez-Atalaya, J. P., Olivares, R., Eckner, R. & Barco, A. Syndromic features and mild cognitive impairment in mice with genetic reduction on p300 activity: Differential contribution of p300 and CBP to Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome etiology. Neurobiol Dis. 37, 186–194 (2010).Martínez-Martínez, M. A., Pacheco-Torres, J., Borrell, V. & Canals, S. Phenotyping the central nervous system of the embryonic mouse by magnetic resonance microscopy. Neuroimage. 97, 95–106 (2014).Heikkinen, T. et al. Characterization of neurophysiological and behavioral changes, MRI brain volumetry and 1H MRS in zQ175 knock-in mouse model of Huntington’s disease. PLoS One. 7, e50717 (2012), 10.1371/journal.pone.0050717.Alarcón, J. M. et al. Chromatin acetylation, memory and LTP are impaired in CBP+/− mice: a model for the cognitive deficit in Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome and its amelioration. Neuron. 42, 947–959 (2004).Smith, S. M. et al. Advances in functional and structural MR image analysis and implementation as FSL. Neuroimage 23 Supp 1, S208–19 (2004).Smith, S. M. Fast robust automated brain extraction. Hum Brain Mapp 17, 143–155 (2002).Ashburner, J. & Friston, K. J. Unified segmentation. Neuroimage 26, 839–851 (2005).Sawiak, S. J., Wood, N. I., Williams, G. B., Morton, A. J. & Carpenter, T. A. Voxel-based morphometry in the R6/2 transgenic mouse reveals differences between genotypes not seen with manual 2D morphometry. Neurobiol Dis 33, 20–27 (2009).Kovačević, N. et al. A three-dimensional MRI atlas of the mouse brain with estimates of the average and variability. Cereb Cortex 15, 639–645 (2005).Zacharoff, L. et al. Cortical metabolites as biomarkers in the R6/2 model of Huntington’s disease. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 32, 502–514 (2012).Petryk, A., Graf, D. & Marcucio, R. Holoprosencephaly: signaling interactions between the brain and the face, the environment and the genes and the phenotypic variability in animal models and humans. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Dev Biol. 4, 17–32 (2015).Solomon, B. D., Gropman, A. & Muenke, M. Holoprosencephaly Overview. In: GeneReviews (eds Pagon, R. A. et al.), Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993-2014, 2000 Dec 27 [Updated 2013 Aug 29]. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1530/ [Date of access: September 4, 2015].Mazzone, D., Milana, A., Praticò, G. & Reitano, G. Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome associated with Dandy-Walker cyst. Case report in a newborn. J Perinat Med. 17, 381–384 (1989).Barson, A. J. Proceedings: Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. Arch Dis Child. 49, 495 (1974).Tsui, D. et al. CBP regulates the differentiation of interneurons from ventral forebrain neural precursors during murine development. Dev Biol. 385, 230–241 (2014).Ross, M. E. & Walsh, C. A. Human brain malformations and their lessons for neuronal migration. Annu Rev Neurosci. 24, 1041–1070 (2001).Tanaka, T., Ling, B. C., Rubinstein, J. H. & Crone, K. R. Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome in children with tethered spinal cord. J Neurosurg. 105, 261–264 (2006).Dubourg, C. et al. Holoprosencephaly. Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2, 2–8 (2007)

    Population genetics of sexual conflict in the genomic era

    Get PDF
    Sexual conflict occurs when selection acts in opposing directions on males and females. Case studies in both vertebrates and invertebrates indicate that sexual conflict maintains genetic diversity through balancing selection, which might explain why many populations show more genetic variation than expected. Recent population genomic approaches based on different measures of balancing selection have suggested that sexual conflict can arise over survival, not just reproductive fitness as previously thought. A fuller understanding of sexual conflict will provide insight into its contribution to adaptive evolution and will reveal the constraints it might impose on populations

    On Reciprocal Causation in the Evolutionary Process

    Get PDF

    Auditory localizing acuity during acute exposure to altitude.

    No full text
    We have investigated the effects of hypoxia in an altitude chamber on auditory localization. Ten volunteers were tested at 18,000 ft (5,486 m), and through 12,000, 8,000, and 5,000 ft (3,657, 2,438, and 1,524 m) with directional sounds recorded via a dummy head microphone and presented binaurally. The sequence encompassed the horizontal plane. We found large intersubject variation in the response to altitude but absolute error (unsigned error) was always increased: at 18,000 ft the mean effect for the group was highly significant (p < 0.00001). The effect persisted during descent (p < 0.001 at 12,000 ft). Directional bias (mean signed error) was also substantially affected in four subjects, in that sounds originally presented in the lateral quadrants were mislocated further to the rear (p < 0.05). The incidence of front/behind confusion was not affected by altitude. We discuss these findings in relation to the proposed use of directional sounds for flight navigation and warning systems

    Diastematomyelia and Teratomas

    No full text

    Descriptive study of the differences in the level of the conus medullaris in four different age groups

    No full text
    In performing neuraxial procedures, knowledge of the location of the conus medullaris in patients of all ages is important. The aim of this study was to determine the location of conus medullaris in a sample of newborn/infant cadavers and sagittal MRIs of children, adolescents and young adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The subjects of both the samples were subdivided into four developmental stages. No statistical difference was seen between the three older age groups (p>0.05). A significant difference was evident when the newborn/infant stage was compared with the other, older stages (p<0.001 for all comparisons). RESULTS: In the newborn/infant group the spinal cord terminated most frequently at the level of L2/L3 (16%). In the childhood stage, the spinal cord terminated at the levels of T12/L1 and the lower third of L1 (21%). In the adolescent population, it was most often found at the level of the middle third of L1 and L1/L2 (19%). Finally, in the young adult group, the spinal cord terminated at the level of L1/L2 (25%). This study confirmed the different level of spinal cord termination between newborns/infants less than one year old and subjects older than one year. In this sample the conus medullaris was not found caudal to the L3 vertebral body, which is more cranial than the prescribed level of needle insertion recommended for lumbar neuraxial procedures. CONCLUSION: It is recommended that the exact level of spinal cord termination should be determined prior to attempting lumbar neuraxial procedures in newborns or infants.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1098-23532016-07-31hb201
    corecore