Medical Genetics Commons^™

Mir-155 Expression And Correlation With Clinical Outcome In Pediatric Aml: A Report From Children's Oncology Group., Ranjani Ramamurthy, Maya Hughes, Valerie Morris, Hamid Bolouri, Robert B. Gerbing, Yi-Cheng Wang, Michael R. Loken, Susana C. Raimondi, Betsy A. Hirsch, A S. Gamis, Vivian G. Oehler, Todd A. Alonzo, Soheil Meshinchi

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Aberrant expression of microRNA-155 (miR-155) has been implicated in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and associated with clinical outcome.

PROCEDURE: We evaluated miR-155 expression in 198 children with normal karyotype AML (NK-AML) enrolled in Children's Oncology Group (COG) AML trial AAML0531 and correlated miR-155 expression levels with disease characteristics and clinical outcome. Patients were divided into quartiles (Q1-Q4) based on miR-155 expression level, and disease characteristics were then evaluated and correlated with miR-155 expression.

RESULTS: MiR-155 expression varied over 4-log10-fold range relative to its expression in normal marrow with a median expression level of 0.825 (range 0.043-25.630) for the entire …

Erratum To: High Expression Of Myocyte Enhancer Factor 2c (Mef2c) Is Associated With Adverse-Risk Features And Poor Outcome In Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Report From The Children's Oncology Group., George S. Laszlo, Todd A. Alonzo, Chelsea J. Gudgeon, Kimberly H. Harrington, Alex Kentsis, Robert B. Gerbing, Yi-Cheng Wang, Rhonda E. Ries, Susana C. Raimondi, Betsy A. Hirsch, A S. Gamis, Soheil Meshinchi, Roland B. Walter

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

No abstract provided.

Functional Validation Of Novel Compound Heterozygous Variants In B3gat3 Resulting In Severe Osteopenia And Fractures: Expanding The Disease Phenotype., Florian Job, Shuji Mizumoto, Laurie Smith, Natario Couser, Ashley Brazil, Howard Saal, Melanie Patterson, Margaret Gibson, Sarah E. Soden, Neil A. Miller, Isabelle Thiffault, Carol J. Saunders, Shuhei Yamada, Katrin Hoffmann, Kazuyuki Sugahara, Emily G. Farrow

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: A new disease class of syndromes, described as linkeropathies, which are derived from defects in the glycosaminoglycan-linker region as well as glycosaminoglycan-side chains of proteoglycans is increasingly being recognized as a cause of human disease. Proteoglycans are an essential component of the extracellular matrix. Defects in the enzymatic process of proteoglycan synthesis broadly occur due to the incorrect addition of side chains. Previously, homozygous missense variants within the B3GAT3 gene encoding beta 1,3 glucuronyltransferase 3(GlcAT-I) responsible for the biosynthesis of glycosaminoglycans have been described in 7 individuals.

CASE PRESENTATION: In this study, a 4-year-old patient with a severe phenotype …

The Emerging Genetics Workforce: A Study Of Physician Geneticists' Professional Lives, Heather Gosnell

Posters-at-the-Capitol

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to explore the current practice and geographic location trends of physicians certified in clinical genetics, clinical biochemical genetics, and medical biochemical genetics during the 2011, 2013, and 2015 certification cycles.

METHODS: Physicians’ personal data was collected from public internet domains including the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG) provider database, the CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System, publically available professional-biographies, and university affiliations. The search results were cross-referenced for the greatest accuracy. Geographic location data was plotted onto maps.

RESULTS: Approximately 27% (n=69) physicians board-certified in genetics are currently practicing …

Constitutively Activated Pi3k Accelerates Tumor Initiation And Modifies Histopathology Of Breast Cancer, M. R. Sheen, J. D. Marotti, M. J. Allegrezza, M. Rutkowski, J. R. Conejo-Garcia, S. Fiering

Dartmouth Scholarship

The gene encoding phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase catalytic subunit α-isoform (PIK3CA, p110α) is frequently activated by mutation in human cancers. Based on detection in some breast cancer precursors, PIK3CA mutations have been proposed to have a role in tumor initiation. To investigate this hypothesis, we generated a novel mouse model with a Cre-recombinase regulated allele of p110α (myristoylated-p110α, myr-p110α) along with p53fl/fl deletion and KrasG12D also regulated by Cre-recombinase. After instillation of adenovirus-expressing Cre-recombinase into mammary ducts, we found that myr-p110α accelerated breast tumor initiation in a copy number-dependent manner. Breast tumors induced by p53fl/fl;KrasG12D with no or one copy of myr-p110α …

Biallelic Mutations In Tbcd, Encoding The Tubulin Folding Cofactor D, Perturb Microtubule Dynamics And Cause Early-Onset Encephalopathy., Elisabetta Flex, Marcello Niceta, Serena Cecchetti, Isabelle Thiffault, Margaret G. Au, Alessandro Capuano, Emanuela Piermarini, Anna A. Ivanova, Joshua W. Francis, Giovanni Chillemi, Balasubramanian Chandramouli, Giovanna Carpentieri, Charlotte A. Haaxma, Andrea Ciolfi, Simone Pizzi, Ganka V. Douglas, Kara Levine, Antonella Sferra, Maria Lisa Dentici, Rolph R. Pfundt, Jean-Baptist Lepichon, Emily G. Farrow, Frank Baas, Fiorella Piemonte, Bruno Dallapiccola, John M. Graham, Carol J. Saunders, Enrico Bertini, Richard A. Kahn, David A. Koolen, Marco Tartaglia

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Microtubules are dynamic cytoskeletal elements coordinating and supporting a variety of neuronal processes, including cell division, migration, polarity, intracellular trafficking, and signal transduction. Mutations in genes encoding tubulins and microtubule-associated proteins are known to cause neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Growing evidence suggests that altered microtubule dynamics may also underlie or contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegeneration. We report that biallelic mutations in TBCD, encoding one of the five co-chaperones required for assembly and disassembly of the αβ-tubulin heterodimer, the structural unit of microtubules, cause a disease with neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative features characterized by early-onset cortical atrophy, secondary hypomyelination, microcephaly, thin …

Primary Care Clinicians Use Of Genomics And Pharmacogenomic Testing, Heather Bittner-Fagan Md, Mph, Brian Stello Md, Christopher V. Chambers Md, Geoffrey Mills Md, Phd, Beth Careyva Md, Melanie B. Johnson Mpa, Dierdre B. Axell-House Ba, Michael P. Rosenthal Md

Beth A. Careyva, M.D.

No abstract provided.

Pediatric Statin Administration: Navigating A Frontier With Limited Data., Jonathan B. Wagner, Susan M. Abdel-Rahman

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Increasingly, children and adolescents with dyslipidemia qualify for pharmacologic intervention. As they are for adults, 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) are the mainstay of pediatric dyslipidemia treatment when lifestyle modifications have failed. Despite the overall success of these drugs, the magnitude of variability in dose-exposure-response profiles contributes to adverse events and treatment failure. In children, the cause of treatment failures remains unclear. This review describes the updated guidelines for screening and management of pediatric dyslipidemia and statin disposition pathway to assist the provider in recognizing scenarios where alterations in dosage may be warranted to meet patients' specific needs.

Regulation Of Polycystin-1 Function By Calmodulin Binding, Nicholas Doerr, Yidi Wang, Kevin R. Kipp, Guangyi Liu, Jesse J. Benza, Vladimir Pletnev, Tengis S. Pavlov, Alexander Staruschenko, Ashraf M. Mohieldin, Maki Takahashi, Surya M. Nauli, Thomas Weimbs

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) is a common genetic disease that leads to progressive renal cyst growth and loss of renal function, and is caused by mutations in the genes encoding polycystin-1 (PC1) and polycystin-2 (PC2), respectively. The PC1/PC2 complex localizes to primary cilia and can act as a flow-dependent calcium channel in addition to numerous other signaling functions. The exact functions of the polycystins, their regulation and the purpose of the PC1/PC2 channel are still poorly understood. PC1 is an integral membrane protein with a large extracytoplasmic N-terminal domain and a short, ~200 amino acid C-terminal cytoplasmic tail. …

A Hypothesis For Using Pathway Genetic Load Analysis For Understanding Complex Outcomes In Bilirubin Encephalopathy, Sean M. Riordan, Douglas C. Bittel, Jean-Baptist Lepichon, Silvia Gazzin, Claudio Tiribelli, Jon F. Watchko, Richard P. Wennberg, Steven Shapiro

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

© 2016 Riordan, Bittel, Le Pichon, Gazzin, Tiribelli, Watchko, Wennberg and Shapiro.

Genetic-based susceptibility to bilirubin neurotoxicity and chronic bilirubin encephalopathy (kernicterus) is still poorly understood. Neonatal jaundice affects 60-80% of newborns, and considerable effort goes into preventing this relatively benign condition from escalating into the development of kernicterus making the incidence of this potentially devastating condition very rare in more developed countries. The current understanding of the genetic background of kernicterus is largely comprised of mutations related to alterations of bilirubin production, elimination, or both. Less is known about mutations that may predispose or protect against CNS bilirubin neurotoxicity. …

Hiv Vaccines: Progress, Limitations And A Crispr/Cas9 Vaccine, Omar A. Garcia Martinez

Biology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

ABSTRACT: The HIV-1 pandemic continues to thrive due to ineffective HIV-1 vaccines. Historically, the world’s most infectious diseases, such as polio and smallpox, have been eradicated or have come close to eradication due to the advent of effective vaccines. Highly active antiretroviral therapy is able to delay the onset of AIDS but can neither rid the body of HIV-1 proviral DNA nor prevent further transmission. A prophylactic vaccine that prevents the various mechanisms HIV-1 has to evade and attack our immune system is needed to end the HIV-1 pandemic. Recent advances in engineered nuclease systems, like the CRISPR/Cas9 system, have …

Gene Expression Profiling In An Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model, Matthew R. Dalton

Senior Honors Theses

Explaining precisely how Alzheimer’s disease (AD)—the world’s most common form of dementia—materializes in the human brain has proven to be one of the most elusive ends in modern medicine. Progressive memory loss, neurodegeneration, and the presence of abnormal protein aggregates of amyloid-beta (Aβ) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) characterize this disease. Genome sequencing provides researchers with the ability to better identify disease-related changes in gene expression, some of which may play a role in the initiation and progression toward the AD-like state. Intimate interactions between tissues have been observed in many diseases, particularly between the brain and blood. This analysis seeks …

Intimin Likely Used To Cause Disease During Competition With Commensal Escherichia Coli, Dominique J. Richburg

Senior Honors Theses

The intimin gene in the Locus of Enterocyte Effacement (LEE) island of pathogenicity is the primary attachment mechanism in Citrobacter rodentium. Intimin is a bacterial adhesin (protein) that attaches to obtain a niche/nutrient and thrive within the intestine. Intimin was deleted within C. rodentium to study colonization and pathogenesis in the murine intestine. Additionally, C. rodentium is an attaching/effacing pathogen, and a useful murine model in understanding Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) infection in humans. E. coli and C. rodentium cause gastroenteritis in humans and mice, respectively. C. rodentium is a murine pathogen commonly used to model gastrointestinal disease because …

Variants In Cxcr4 Associate With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Susceptibility., Terri H. Finkel, Jin Li, Zhi Wei, Wei Wang, Haitao Zhang, Edward M. Behrens, Emma L. Reuschel, Sophie Limou, Carol Wise, Marilynn Punaro, Mara L. Becker, Jane E. Munro, Berit Flatø, Øystein Førre, Susan D. Thompson, Carl D. Langefeld, David N. Glass, Joseph T. Glessner, Cecilia E. Kim, Edward Frackelton, Debra K. Shivers, Kelly A. Thomas, Rosetta M. Chiavacci, Cuiping Hou, Kexiang Xu, James Snyder, Haijun Qiu, Frank Mentch, Kai Wang, Cheryl A. Winkler, Benedicte A. Lie, Justine A. Ellis, Hakon Hakonarson

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common chronic rheumatic disease among children, the etiology of which involves a strong genetic component, but much of the underlying genetic determinants still remain unknown. Our aim was to identify novel genetic variants that predispose to JIA.

METHODS: We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and replication in a total of 1166 JIA cases and 9500 unrelated controls of European ancestry. Correlation of SNP genotype and gene expression was investigated. Then we conducted targeted resequencing of a candidate locus, among a subset of 480 cases and 480 controls. SUM test was performed …

Expression Of Complement And Toll-Like Receptor Pathway Genes Is Associated With Malaria Severity In Mali: A Pilot Case Control Study, Rafal S. Sobota, Antoine Dara, Jessica E. Manning, Amadou Niangaly

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: The host response to infection by Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite most often responsible for severe malaria, ranges from asymptomatic parasitaemia to death. The clinical trajectory of malaria is influenced by host genetics and parasite load, but the factors determining why some infections produce uncomplicated malaria and some proceed to severe disease remain incompletely understood.

Methods: To identify molecular markers of severe falciparum malaria, human gene expression patterns were compared between children aged 6 months to 5 years with severe and uncomplicated malaria who were enrolled in a case–control study in Bandiagara, Mali. Microarrays were used to obtain expression …

Role Of Heme Oxygenase-1 In The Pathogenesis And Tumorigenicity Of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus, Lu Dai, Jing Qiao, David Nguyen, Amanda P. Struckhoff, Lisa Doyle, Karlie Bonstaff, Luis Del Valle, Chris Parsons, Bryan P. Toole, Rolf Renne, Zhiqiang Qin

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus (KSHV) is the etiologic agent of several malignancies, including Kaposi's Sarcoma (KS), which preferentially arise in immunocompromised patients such as HIV+ subpopulation and lack effective therapeutic options. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) has been reported as an important regulator of endothelial cell cycle control, proliferation and angiogenesis. HO-1 has also been found to be highly expressed in KSHV-infected endothelial cells and oral AIDS-KS lesions. We previously demonstrate that the multifunctional glycoprotein CD147 is required for KSHV/LANA-induced endothelial cell invasiveness. During the identification of CD147 controlled downstream genes by microarray analysis, we found that the expression of HO-1 is significantly …

Cd33 Expression And Its Association With Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin Response: Results From The Randomized Phase Iii Children's Oncology Group Trial Aaml0531., Jessica A. Pollard, Michael Loken, Robert B. Gerbing, Susana C. Raimondi, Betsy A. Hirsch, Richard Aplenc, Irwin D. Bernstein, Alan S. Gamis, Todd A. Alonzo, Soheil Meshinchi

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

PURPOSE: CD33 is variably expressed on acute myeloid leukemia (AML) blasts and is targeted by gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO). GO has shown benefit in both adult and pediatric AML trials, yet limited data exist about whether GO response correlates with CD33 expression level.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: CD33 expression levels were prospectively quantified by multidimensional flow cytometry in 825 patients enrolled in Children's Oncology Group AAML0531 and correlated with response to GO.

RESULTS: Patients with low CD33 expression (lowest quartile of expression [Q1]) had no benefit with the addition of GO to conventional chemotherapy (relapse risk [RR]: GO 36% v No-GO 34%, …

Molecular Evolution And Intraclade Recombination Of Enterovirus D68 During The 2014 Outbreak In The United States., Yi Tan, Ferdaus Hassan, Jennifer E. Schuster, Ari Simenauer, Rangaraj Selvarangan, Rebecca A. Halpin, Xudong Lin, Nadia Fedorova, Timothy B. Stockwell, Tommy Tsan-Yuk Lam, James D. Chappell, Tina V. Hartert, Edward C. Holmes, Suman R. Das

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

In August 2014, an outbreak of enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) occurred in North America, causing severe respiratory disease in children. Due to a lack of complete genome sequence data, there is only a limited understanding of the molecular evolution and epidemiology of EV-D68 during this outbreak, and it is uncertain whether the differing clinical manifestations of EV-D68 infection are associated with specific viral lineages. We developed a high-throughput complete genome sequencing pipeline for EV-D68 that produced a total of 59 complete genomes from respiratory samples with a 95% success rate, including 57 genomes from Kansas City, MO, collected during the 2014 …

Raav2/5 Gene-Targeting To Rods: Dose-Dependent Efficiency And Complications Associated With Different Promoters, William Beltran, Sanford L. Boye, Shannon E. Boye, Vince A. Chiodo, Alfred S. Lewin, William W. Hauswirth, Gustavo D. Aguirre

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

A prerequisite for using corrective gene therapy to treat humans with inherited retinal degenerative diseases that primarily affect rods is to develop viral vectors that target specifically this population of photoreceptors. The delivery of a viral vector with photoreceptor tropism coupled with a rod-specific promoter is likely to be the safest and most efficient approach to target expression of the therapeutic gene to rods. Three promoters that included a fragment of the proximal mouse opsin promoter (mOP), the human G-protein-coupled receptor protein kinase 1 promoter (hGRK1), or the cytomegalovirus immediate early enhancer combined with the chicken β actin proximal promoter …

Exonic Sine Insertion In Stk38l Causes Canine Early Retinal Degeneration (Erd), Orly Goldstein, Anna V. Kukekova, Gustavo D. Aguirre, Gregory M. Acland

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

Fine mapping followed by candidate gene analysis of erd — a canine hereditary retinal degeneration characterized by aberrant photoreceptor development — established that the disease cosegregates with a SINE insertion in exon 4 of the canine STK38L/NDR2 gene. The mutation removes exon 4 from STK38L transcripts and is predicted to remove much of the N terminus from the translated protein, including binding sites for S100B and Mob proteins, part of the protein kinase domain, and a Thr-75 residue critical for autophosphorylation. Although known to have roles in neuronal cell function, the STK38L pathway has not previously been implicated in normal …

Identification Of Genetic Variation And Haplotype Structure Of The Canine Abca4 Gene For Retinal Disease Association Studies, Barbara Zangerl, Sarah J. Lindauer, Gregory M. Acland, Gustavo D. Aguirre

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

Over 200 mutations in the retina specific member of the ATP-binding cassette transporter superfamily (ABCA4) have been associated with a diverse group of human retinal diseases. The disease mechanisms, and genotype–phenotype associations, nonetheless, remain elusive in many cases. As orthologous genes are commonly mutated in canine models of human blinding disorders, canine ABCA4 appears to be an ideal candidate gene to identify and study sequence changes in dogs affected by various forms of inherited retinal degeneration. However, the size of the gene and lack of haplotype assignment significantly limit targeted association and/or linkage approaches. This study assessed the naturally observed …

Modeling The Structural Consequences Of Best1 Missense Mutations, Karina E. Guziewicz, Gustavo D. Aguirre, Barbara Zangerl

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

Mutations in the bestrophin-1 gene (BEST1) are an important cause of inherited retinal disorders. Hitherto, over 100 unique allelic variants have been linked to the human BEST1 (hBEST1), and associated with disease phenotypes, broadly termed as bestrophinopathies. A spontaneous animal model recapitulating BEST1-related phenotypes, canine multifocal retinopathy (cmr), is caused by mutations in the canine gene ortholog (cBEST1). We have recently characterized molecular consequences of cmr, demonstrating defective protein trafficking as a result of G161D (cmr2) mutation. To further investigate the pathological effects of BEST1 missense mutations, canine and human peptide fragments derived from the protein sequence have been studied …

Identical Mutation In A Novel Retinal Gene Causes Progressive Rod-Cone Degeneration In Dogs And Retinitis Pigmentosa In Humans, Barbara Zangerl, Orly Goldstein, Alisdair R. Philip, Sarah J. P Lindauer, Susan E. Pearce-Kelling, Roberts F. Mullins, Alexander S. Graphodatsky, Daniel Ripoll, Jeanette S. Felix, Edwin M. Stone, Gregory M. Acland, Gustavo D. Aguirre

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

Progressive rod–cone degeneration (prcd) is a late-onset, autosomal recessive photoreceptor degeneration of dogs and a homolog for some forms of human retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Previously, the disease-relevant interval was reduced to a 106-kb region on CFA9, and a common phenotype-specific haplotype was identified in all affected dogs from several different breeds and breed varieties. Screening of a canine retinal EST library identified partial cDNAs for novel candidate genes in the disease-relevant interval. The complete cDNA of one of these, PRCD, was cloned in dog, human, and mouse. The gene codes for a 54-amino-acid (aa) protein in dog and human and …

Canine Rd3 Mutation Establishes Rod-Cone Dysplasia Type 2 (Rcd2) As Ortholog Of Human And Murine Rd3, Anna V. Kukekova, Orly Goldstein, Jennifer L. Johnson, Malcolm A. Richardson, Susan E. Pearce-Kelling, Anand Swaroop, James S. Friedman, Gustavo D. Aguirre, Gregory M. Acland

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

Rod-cone dysplasia type 2 (rcd2) is an autosomal recessive disorder that segregates in collie dogs. Linkage disequilibrium and meiotic linkage mapping were combined to take advantage of population structure within this breed and to fine map rcd2 to a 230-kb candidate region that included the gene C1orf36 responsible for human and murine rd3, and within which all affected dogs were homozygous for one haplotype. In one of three identified canine retinal RD3 splice variants, an insertion was found that cosegregates with rcd2 and is predicted to alter the last 61 codons of the normal open reading frame and further extend …

Development And Validation Of A Canine-Specific Profiling Array To Examine Expression Of Pro-Apoptotic And Pro-Survival Genes In Retinal Degenerative Diseases, Sem Genini, William Beltran, Gustavo D. Aguirre

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

We developed an expression profiling array to examine pro-apoptotic and pro-survival genes in dog retinal degeneration models. Gene-specific canine TaqMan assays were developed and included in a custom real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) array. Of the 96 selected genes, 93 belonged to known relevant pro-apoptotic and pro-survival pathways, and/or were positive controls expressed in retina, while three were housekeeping genes. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) showed that the selected genes belonged to expected biological functions (cell death, cell-mediated immune response, cellular development, function, and maintenance) and pathways (death receptor signaling, apoptosis, TNFR1 signaling, and induction of apoptosis by HIV1). Validation of …

Linkage Disequilibrium Mapping In Domestic Dog Breeds Narrows The Progressive Rod-Cone Degeneration Interval And Identifies Ancestral Disease-Transmitting Chromosome, Orly Goldstein, Barbara Zangerl, Sue Pearce-Kelling, Duska J. Sidjanin, James W. Kijas, Jeanette Felix, Gregory M. Acland, Gustavo D. Aguirre

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

Canine progressive rod–cone degeneration (prcd) is a retinal disease previously mapped to a broad, gene-rich centromeric region of canine chromosome 9. As allelic disorders are present in multiple breeds, we used linkage disequilibrium (LD) to narrow the ∼6.4-Mb interval candidate region. Multiple dog breeds, each representing genetically isolated populations, were typed for SNPs and other polymorphisms identified from BACs. The candidate region was initially localized to a 1.5-Mb zero recombination interval between growth factor receptor-bound protein 2 (GRB2) and SEC14-like 1 (SEC14L). A fine-scale haplotype of the region was developed, which reduced the LD interval to 106 kb and identified …

Long-Term Restoration Of Rod And Cone Vision By Single Dose Raav-Mediated Gene Transfer To The Retina In A Canine Model Of Childhood Blindness, Gregory M. Acland, Gustavo D. Aguirre, Jean Bennett, Tomas S. Aleman, Artur V. Cideciyan, Jeannette Bennicelli, Nadine S. Dejneka, Susan E. Pearce-Kelling, Albert M. Maguire, Krzysztof Palczewski, William W. Hauswirth, Samuel G. Jacobson

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

The short- and long-term effects of gene therapy using AAV-mediated RPE65 transfer to canine retinal pigment epithelium were investigated in dogs affected with disease caused by RPE65 deficiency. Results with AAV 2/2, 2/1, and 2/5 vector pseudotypes, human or canine RPE65 cDNA, and constitutive or tissue-specific promoters were similar. Subretinally administered vectors restored retinal function in 23 of 26 eyes, but intravitreal injections consistently did not. Photoreceptoral and postreceptoral function in both rod and cone systems improved with therapy. In dogs followed electroretinographically for 3 years, responses remained stable. Biochemical analysis of retinal retinoids indicates that mutant dogs have no …

Genetic And Phenotypic Variations Of Inherited Retinal Diseases In Dogs: The Power Of Within- And Across-Breed Studies, Keiko Miyadera, Gregory M. Acland, Gustavo D. Aguirre

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

Considerable clinical and molecular variations have been known in retinal blinding diseases in man and also in dogs. Different forms of retinal diseases occur in specific breed(s) caused by mutations segregating within each isolated breeding population. While molecular studies to find genes and mutations underlying retinal diseases in dogs have benefited largely from the phenotypic and genetic uniformity within a breed, within- and across-breed variations have often played a key role in elucidating the molecular basis. The increasing knowledge of phenotypic, allelic, and genetic heterogeneities in canine retinal degeneration has shown that the overall picture is rather more complicated than …

Cloning Of Canine Galactokinase (Galk1) And Evaluation As A Candidate Gene For Hereditary Cataracts In Labrador Retrievers, Duska J. Sidjanin, John L. Mcelwee, Brian Miller, Gustavo D. Aguirre

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

We identified a pedigree of Labrador retrievers (LR) that develop hereditary cataracts between 6 and 18 months of age. In humans, galactokinase deficiency is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by juvenile onset of cataracts.1 In order to evaluate GALK1 as a candidate gene, we cloned and sequenced the canine GALK1 gene and tested a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the gene for segregation with cataracts in the LR pedigree.

Canine Multifocal Retinopathy In The Australian Shepherd: A Case Report, Ingo Hoffmann, Karina E. Guziewicz, Barbara Zangerl, Gustavo D. Aguirre, Christian Y. Mardin

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

A 1-year-old Australian Shepherd (AS) was presented for a routine hereditary eye examination. During the examination multiple raised, brown to orange lesions were noted in the fundus, which could not be attributed to a known retinal disease in this breed. As they clinically most closely resembled canine multifocal retinopathy (cmr) and no indication of an acquired condition was found, genetic tests for BEST1 gene mutations were performed. These showed the dog to be homozygous for the cmr1 (C73T/R25X) gene defect. Furthermore, ultrasound (US), electroretinography (ERG), and optical coherence tomography were performed, confirming changes typical for cmr. Subsequently, the AS pedigree …