Medical Genetics Commons^™

Identifying A Stable And Generalizable Factor Structure Of Major Depressive Disorder Across Three Large Longitudinal Cohorts, Vincent W S Tseng, Jordan A Tharp, Jacob E Reiter, Weston Ferrer, David S Hong, P Murali Doraiswamy, Stefanie Nickels

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) is the current standard outpatient screening tool for measuring and tracking the nine symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD). While the PHQ-9 was originally conceptualized as a unidimensional measure, it has become clear that MDD is not a monolithic construct, as evidenced by high comorbidities with other theoretically distinct diagnoses and common symptom overlap between depression and other diagnoses. Therefore, identifying reliable and temporally stable subfactors of depressive symptoms could allow research and care to be tailored to different depression phenotypes. This study improved on previous factor analysis studies of the PHQ-9 by leveraging …

Examining Psychometric Properties Of The Metacognitions About Smoking Questionnaire Among Young E-Cigarette Users, Aslesha Sumbe, Robert Suchting, Baojiang Chen, Anna V Wilkinson, Bara Bataineh, Stephanie L Clendennen, Melissa B Harrell

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: Metacognition can be understood as 'cognition of cognition' or 'thinking about thinking'. Metacognition research has primarily focused on cigarette smoking, while e-cigarette use has been relatively unexplored. The study sought to examine the properties of the Metacognitions about Smoking Questionnaire (MSQ), as it was adapted for use among adolescent and young adult e-cigarette users. Further, the study sought to examine the ability of the Metacognitions about Smoking Questionnaire (MSQ) to predict past 30-day e-cigarette use among adolescent and young adult e-cigarette users.

Methods: The study analyzed data collected by the Texas Adolescent Tobacco and Marketing Surveillance System (TATAMS) in …

Outcomes In 14 Live Births Resulting From Pegvaliase-Treated Pregnancies In Pku-Affected Females, Caide Bier, Kaelin Dickey, Brittan Bibb, Angela Crutcher, Rebecca Sponberg, Richard Chang, Monica Boyer, Laura Davis-Keppen, Cindy Matthes, Michelle Tharp, Danielle Vice, Erin Cooney, Megan Morand, Joseph Ray, Melissa Lah, Markey Mcnutt, Hans C Andersson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Adults with PKU have difficulty maintaining plasma phenylalanine (Phe) in the range that is safe for neurologic function. Elevated plasma Phe is a risk factor for congenital anomalies and developmental delay in offspring resulting from pregnancies with poor Phe control in women with PKU. Enzyme supplementation with pegvaliase allows adults with PKU to eat an unrestricted diet and have plasma Phe levels in a safe range for pregnancy but pegvaliase has not been approved for use in pregnant females with PKU. We report the results of chart review of 14 living offspring of females affected with PKU who were …

Reducing Frame Rate And Pulse Rate For Routine Diagnostic Cerebral Angiography: Alara Principles In Practice, Arvin R Wali, Sarath Pathuri, Michael G Brandel, Ryan W Sindewald, Brian R Hirshman, Javier A Bravo, Jeffrey A Steinberg, Scott E Olson, Jeffrey S Pannell, Alexander Khalessi, David Santiago-Dieppa

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: Diagnostic cerebral angiograms (DCAs) are widely used in neurosurgery due to their high sensitivity and specificity to diagnose and characterize pathology using ionizing radiation. Eliminating unnecessary radiation is critical to reduce risk to patients, providers, and health care staff. We investigated if reducing pulse and frame rates during routine DCAs would decrease radiation burden without compromising image quality.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of prospectively acquired data after implementing a quality improvement protocol in which pulse rate and frame rate were reduced from 15 p/s to 7.5 p/s and 7.5 f/s to 4.0 f/s respectively. Radiation doses and …

Management Of Incomplete Microcirculatory Reperfusion After Endovascular Thrombectomy: Focus On Inhibition Of The Glycoprotein Iib/Iiia Receptor Pathway, Neeharika Krothapalli, Thomas Ortel, Devin Mcbride, Adam De Havenon, Lauren H Sansing, David Hasan, Brian Mac Grory

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) is one of the most effective therapies for acute ischemic stroke attributable to large-vessel occlusion but, despite successful treatment, there remains a significant number of patients with disability. The phenomenon of incomplete microcirculatory reperfusion or no reflow is thought to underlie a substantial proportion of cases with unfavorable outcome. This phenomenon likely arises from platelet aggregation and endothelial edema impacting the cerebral microvasculature, vessels that are below the resolution of digital subtraction angiography. Although incomplete microcirculatory reperfusion prevents tissue recovery and poses a significant clinical challenge, there are multiple therapeutic options administered early after recanalization that have …

Corrigendum To 'Molecular Identity Changes Of Tumor-Associated Macrophages And Microglia After Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided Focused Ultrasound-Induced Blood-Brain Barrier Opening In A Mouse Glioblastoma Model' [Ultrasound In Med & Biol 49 (2023) 1082-1090], Yanrong Zhang, Jing Wang, Sara Natasha Ghobadi, Haiyan Zhou, Ai Huang, Marco Gerosa, Qingyi Hou, Olivier Keunen, Anna Golebiewska, Frezghi G Habte, Gerald A Grant, Ramasamy Paulmurugan, Kevin S Lee, Max Wintermark

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Prenatal Vs Postnatal Diagnosis Of 22q112 Deletion Syndrome: Cardiac And Noncardiac Outcomes Through 1 Year Of Age, Lindsay R Freud, Stephanie Galloway, T Blaine Crowley, Julie Moldenhauer, Ann Swillen, Jeroen Breckpot, Antoni Borrell, Neeta L Vora, Bettina Cuneo, Hilary Hoffman, Lisa Gilbert, Beata Nowakowska, Maciej Geremek, Anna Kutkowska-Kaźmierczak, Joris R Vermeesch, Koen Devriendt, Tiffany Busa, Sabine Sigaudy, Trisha Vigneswaran, John M Simpson, Jeffrey Dungan, Nina Gotteiner, Karl-Philipp Gloning, Maria Cristina Digilio, Marta Unolt, Carolina Putotto, Bruno Marino, Gabriela Repetto, Magdalena Fadic, Sixto Garcia-Minaur, Ana Achón Buil, Mary Ann Thomas, Deborah Fruitman, Taylor Beecroft, Pui Wah Hui, Solveig Oskarsdottir, Rachael Bradshaw, Amanda Criebaum, Mary E Norton, Tiffany Lee, Miwa Geiger, Leslie Dunnington, Jacqueline Isaac, Louise Wilkins-Haug, Lindsey Hunter, Claudia Izzi, Marika Toscano, Tullio Ghi, Julie Mcglynn, Francesca Romana Grati, Beverly S Emanuel, Kimberly Gaiser, J William Gaynor, Elizabeth Goldmuntz, Daniel E Mcginn, Erica Schindewolf, Oanh Tran, Elaine H Zackai, Qi Yan, Anne S Bassett, Ronald Wapner, Donna M Mcdonald-Mcginn

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The 22q11.2 deletion syndrome is the most common microdeletion syndrome and is frequently associated with congenital heart disease. Prenatal diagnosis of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome is increasingly offered. It is unknown whether there is a clinical benefit to prenatal detection as compared with postnatal diagnosis.

Objective: This study aimed to determine differences in perinatal and infant outcomes between patients with prenatal and postnatal diagnosis of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.

Study design: This was a retrospective cohort study across multiple international centers (30 sites, 4 continents) from 2006 to 2019. Participants were fetuses, neonates, or infants with a genetic diagnosis of 22q11.2 …

Stroke And The Microbiome, Anik Banerjee, Swati Mohapatra, Louise D Mccullough

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Empirically Derived Principles For Research Funding Success: A Primer For Early Career Academic Investigators, Kareem A Wahid, Michael K Rooney, Jillian R Gunther, Amy C Moreno, Chelsea C Pinnix, Charles R Thomas, Clifton D Fuller

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Clinical And Dosimetric Results Of Proton Or Photon Radiation Therapy For Large (>5 Cm) Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Retrospective Analysis, Rodney Cheng-En Hsieh, Ching-Hsin Lee, Hsiao-Chieh Huang, Shu-Wei Wu, Chen-Yu Chou, Sheng-Ping Hung, Chao-Wei Lee, Sunil Krishnan, Bhanu Prasad Venkatesulu, Jin-Chiao Lee, Yung-Chih Chou, Kun-Ming Chan, Po-Ting Lin, Wei-Chen Lee, Chen-Chun Lin, Shen-Yen Lin, Ji-Hong Hong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Our purpose was to report the clinical and dosimetric attributes of patients with large unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing proton or photon radiation therapy.

Methods and materials: We retrospectively analyzed the outcomes and dosimetric indices of 159 patients with >5 cm nonmetastatic HCC who underwent definitive radiation therapy using either protons (N = 105) or photons (N = 54) between 2014 and 2018. Additional photon plans were performed in the 105 proton-treated patients using the same dose prescription criteria for intragroup dosimetric comparison.

Results: After a median follow-up of 47 months, patients with biologically effective dose (BED10) ≥ 75 …

Preclinical Efficacy Of Targeting Epigenetic Mechanisms In Aml With 3q26 Lesions And Evi1 Overexpression, Christine E Birdwell, Warren Fiskus, Tapan M Kadia, Christopher P Mill, Koji Sasaki, Naval Daver, Courtney D Dinardo, Naveen Pemmaraju, Gautam Borthakur, John A Davis, Kaberi Das, Sunil Sharma, Stephen Horrigan, Xinjia Ruan, Xiaoping Su, Joseph D Khoury, Hagop Kantarjian, Kapil N Bhalla

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

AML with chromosomal alterations involving 3q26 overexpresses the transcription factor (TF) EVI1, associated with therapy refractoriness and inferior overall survival in AML. Consistent with a CRISPR screen highlighting BRD4 dependency, treatment with BET inhibitor (BETi) repressed EVI1, LEF1, c-Myc, c-Myb, CDK4/6, and MCL1, and induced apoptosis of AML cells with 3q26 lesions. Tegavivint (TV, BC-2059), known to disrupt the binding of nuclear β-catenin and TCF7L2/LEF1 with TBL1, also inhibited co-localization of EVI1 with TBL1 and dose-dependently induced apoptosis in AML cell lines and patient-derived (PD) AML cells with 3q26.2 lesions. TV treatment repressed EVI1, attenuated enhancer activity at ERG, TCF7L2, …

Polygenic Risk Scores, Radiation Treatment Exposures And Subsequent Cancer Risk In Childhood Cancer Survivors, Todd M Gibson, Danielle M Karyadi, Stephen W Hartley, Michael A Arnold, Amy Berrington De Gonzalez, Miriam R Conces, Rebecca M Howell, Vidushi Kapoor, Wendy M Leisenring, Joseph P Neglia, Joshua N Sampson, Lucie M Turcotte, Stephen J Chanock, Gregory T Armstrong, Lindsay M Morton

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Survivors of childhood cancer are at increased risk for subsequent cancers attributable to the late effects of radiotherapy and other treatment exposures; thus, further understanding of the impact of genetic predisposition on risk is needed. Combining genotype data for 11,220 5-year survivors from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study and the St Jude Lifetime Cohort, we found that cancer-specific polygenic risk scores (PRSs) derived from general population, genome-wide association study, cancer loci identified survivors of European ancestry at increased risk of subsequent basal cell carcinoma (odds ratio per s.d. of the PRS: OR = 1.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.29-1.46), …

Targeted Inhibition Of Scfskp2 Confers Anti-Tumor Activities Resulting In A Survival Benefit In Osteosarcoma, Jichuan Wang, Alexander Ferrena, Ranxin Zhang, Swapnil Singh, Valentina Viscarret, Waleed Al-Harden, Osama Aldahamsheh, Hasibagan Borjihan, Amit Singla, Simon Yaguare, Janet Tingling, Xiaolin Zi, Yungtai Lo, Richard Gorlick, Edward L Schwartz, Hongling Zhao, Rui Yang, David S Geller, Deyou Zheng, Bang H Hoang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Osteosarcoma(OS) is a highly aggressive bone cancer for which treatment has remained essentially unchanged for decades. Although OS is characterized by extensive genomic heterogeneity and instability, RB1 and TP53 have been shown to be the most commonly inactivated tumor suppressors in OS. We previously generated a mouse model with a double knockout (DKO) of Rb1 and Trp53 within cells of the osteoblastic lineage, which largely recapitulates human OS with nearly complete penetrance. SKP2 is a repression target of pRb and serves as a substrate recruiting subunit of the SCFSKP2 complex. In addition, SKP2 plays a central role in regulating the …

Cardiovascular Events After Cancer Immunotherapy As Oncologic Emergencies: Analyses Of 610 Head And Neck Cancer Patients Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors, Cielito C Reyes-Gibby, Aiham Qdaisat, Renata Ferrarotto, Anecita Fadol, Jason J Bischof, Christopher J Coyne, Demis N Lipe, Ehab Y Hanna, Sanjay Shete, Jun-Ichi Abe, Sai-Ching J Yeung

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Cardio-oncology and emergency medicine are closely collaborative, as many cardiac events in cancer patients require evaluation and treatment in the emergency department (ED). Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have become a common treatment for patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). However, the immune-related adverse events (irAEs) from ICIs can be clinically significant.

Methods: We reviewed and analyzed cardiovascular diagnoses among HNC patients who received ICI during the period April 1, 2016-December 31, 2020 in a large tertiary cancer center. Demographics, clinical and cancer-related data were abstracted, and billing databases were queried for cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related diagnosis using International Classification …

The Fatigue-Inducing Effects Of Cancer And Its Therapy Are Characterized By Decreased Physical Activity In The Absence Of Any Motivational Deficit, Thien T Phan, Kiersten S Scott, Brandon Chelette, A Phillip West, Robert Dantzer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Although cancer and its therapy are well known to be associated with fatigue, the exact nature of cancer-related fatigue remains ill-defined. We previously reported that fatigue-like behavior induced independently by tumor growth and by the chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin is characterized by reduced voluntary wheel running and an intact motivation to expand effort for food rewards. The present set of experiments was initiated to characterize the functional consequences of fatigue induced by chemoradiotherapy in tumor-bearing mice and relate them to changes in the expression of genes coding for inflammation, mitochondria dynamics and metabolism. Two syngeneic murine models of cancer were selected …

Bardoxolone Methyl Ameliorates Chemotherapy-Induced Neuropathic Pain By Activation Of Phosphorylated Nuclear Factor Erythroid 2-Related Factor 2 In The Dorsal Root Ganglia, Hee Kee Kim, Qi Wang, Seon-Hee Hwang, Patrick M Dougherty, Jing Wang, Salahadin Abdi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Many chemotherapeutic drugs, including paclitaxel, produce neuropathic pain in patients with cancer, which is a dose-dependent adverse effect. Such chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain (CINP) is difficult to treat with existing drugs. Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a major regulator of antioxidative responses and activates phosphorylated Nrf2 (pNrf2). We determined the analgesic effects of bardoxolone methyl (BM), an Nrf2 activator, and the role of pNrf2 on CINP.

Methods: CINP was induced in rats by intraperitoneally injecting paclitaxel on 4 alternate days in rats. BM was injected systemically as single or repeated injections after pain fully developed. RNA transcriptome, …

Systematic Evaluation Of Mri-Based Characterization Of Tumor-Associated Vascular Morphology And Hemodynamics Via A Dynamic Digital Phantom, Chengyue Wu, David A Hormuth, Ty Easley, Federico Pineda, Gregory S Karczmar, Thomas E Yankeelov

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Validation of quantitative imaging biomarkers is a challenging task, due to the difficulty in measuring the ground truth of the target biological process. A digital phantom-based framework is established to systematically validate the quantitative characterization of tumor-associated vascular morphology and hemodynamics based on dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI).

Approach: A digital phantom is employed to provide a ground-truth vascular system within which 45 synthetic tumors are simulated. Morphological analysis is performed on high-spatial resolution DCE-MRI data (spatial/temporal resolution = 30 to 300μm/60s" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; line-height: 0; font-size: 18.08px; font-size-adjust: none; overflow-wrap: normal; word-spacing: normal; text-wrap-mode: …

Familial Hypercholesterolemia Variant And Cardiovascular Risk In Individuals With Elevated Cholesterol, Yiyi Zhang, Jacqueline S Dron, Brandon K Bellows, Amit V Khera, Junxiu Liu, Pallavi P Balte, Elizabeth C Oelsner, Sami Samir Amr, Matthew S Lebo, Anna Nagy, Gina M Peloso, Pradeep Natarajan, Jerome I Rotter, Cristen Willer, Eric Boerwinkle, Christie M Ballantyne, Pamela L Lutsey, Myriam Fornage, Donald M Lloyd-Jones, Lifang Hou, Bruce M Psaty, Joshua C Bis, James S Floyd, Ramachandran S Vasan, Nancy L Heard-Costa, April P Carson, Michael E Hall, Stephen S Rich, Xiuqing Guo, Dhruv S Kazi, Sarah D De Ferranti, Andrew E Moran

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

IMPORTANCE: Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a genetic disorder that often results in severely high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high risk of premature coronary heart disease (CHD). However, the impact of FH variants on CHD risk among individuals with moderately elevated LDL-C is not well quantified.

OBJECTIVE: To assess CHD risk associated with FH variants among individuals with moderately (130-189 mg/dL) and severely (≥190 mg/dL) elevated LDL-C and to quantify excess CHD deaths attributable to FH variants in US adults.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 21 426 individuals without preexisting CHD from 6 US cohort studies (Atherosclerosis Risk …

Biallelic Variants In Slc4a10 Encoding A Sodium-Dependent Bicarbonate Transporter Lead To A Neurodevelopmental Disorder, Reza Maroofian, Mina Zamani, Rauan Kaiyrzhanov, Lutz Liebmann, Ehsan Ghayoor Karimiani, Barbara Vona, Antje K Huebner, Daniel G Calame, Vinod K Misra, Saeid Sadeghian, Reza Azizimalamiri, Mohammad Hasan Mohammadi, Jawaher Zeighami, Sogand Heydaran, Mehran Beiraghi Toosi, Javad Akhondian, Meisam Babaei, Narges Hashemi, Rhonda E Schnur, Mohnish Suri, Jonas Setzke, Matias Wagner, Theresa Brunet, Christopher M Grochowski, Lisa Emrick, Wendy K Chung, Ute A Hellmich, Miriam Schmidts, James R Lupski, Hamid Galehdari, Mariasavina Severino, Henry Houlden, Christian A Hübner

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE: SLC4A10 encodes a plasma membrane-bound transporter, which mediates Na+-dependent HCO3− import, thus mediating net acid extrusion. Slc4a10 knockout mice show collapsed brain ventricles, an increased seizure threshold, mild behavioral abnormalities, impaired vision, and deafness.

METHODS: Utilizing exome/genome sequencing in families with undiagnosed neurodevelopmental disorders and international data sharing, 11 patients from 6 independent families with biallelic variants in SLC4A10 were identified. Clinico-radiological and dysmorphology assessments were conducted. A minigene assay, localization studies, intracellular pH recordings, and protein modeling were performed to study the possible functional consequences of the variant alleles.

RESULTS: The families harbor 8 segregating ultra-rare biallelic SLC4A10 …

Building Effective Mentoring Relationships During Clinical Ethics Fellowships: Pedagogy, Programs, And People, Trevor M Bibler, Ryan H Nelson, Bryanna Moore, Janet Malek, Mary A Majumder

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

How should clinical ethicists be trained? Scholars have stated that clinical ethics fellowships create well-trained, competent ethicists. While this appears intuitive, few features of fellowship programs have been publicly discussed, let alone debated. In this paper, we examine how fellowships can foster effective mentoring relationships. These relationships provide the foundation for the fellow's transition from novice to competent professional. In this essay, we begin by discussing our pedagogical commitments. Next, we describe the structures our program has created to assist our fellows in becoming competent ethicists. We then outline the kinds of knowledge, skills, and professional attributes mentors should possess. …

Advances In Immunocompetent Mouse And Rat Models, Wen Bu, Yi Li

Center on Aging Staff Publications

Rodent models of breast cancer have played critical roles in our understanding of breast cancer development and progression as well as preclinical testing of cancer prevention and therapeutics. In this article, we first review the values and challenges of conventional genetically engineered mouse (GEM) models and newer iterations of these models, especially those with inducible or conditional regulation of oncogenes and tumor suppressors. Then, we discuss nongermline (somatic) GEM models of breast cancer with temporospatial control, made possible by intraductal injection of viral vectors to deliver oncogenes or to manipulate the genome of mammary epithelial cells. Next, we introduce the …

Cognitive, Emotional, And Other Non-Motor Symptoms Of Spinocerebellar Ataxias, Chi-Ying R Lin, Sheng-Han Kuo, Puneet Opal

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Purpose of review: Spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are autosomal dominant degenerative syndromes that present with ataxia and brain stem abnormalities. This review describes the cognitive and behavioral symptoms of SCAs in the context of recent knowledge of the role of the cerebellum in higher intellectual function.

Recent findings: Recent studies suggest that patients with spinocerebellar ataxia can display cognitive deficits even early in the disease. These have been given the term cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome (CCAS). CCAS can be tracked using newly developed rating scales. In addition, patients with spinocerebellar ataxia also display impulsive and compulsive behavior, depression, anxiety, fatigue, and …

A Study Of Dietary Patterns Derived By Cluster Analysis And Their Association With Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Severity Among Hispanic Patients, Xiaotao Zhang, Carrie R Daniel, Valeria Soltero, Ximena Vargas, Shilpa Jain, Fasiha Kanwal, Aaron P Thrift, Maya Balakrishnan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Diet is a modifiable metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) risk factor, but few studies have been conducted among Hispanic patients, despite the fact that MASLD prevalence and severity are highest among this ethnic subgroup. We aimed to identify prevalent dietary patterns among Hispanic patients using cluster analysis and to investigate associations with MASLD severity.

Methods: This cross-sectional analysis included 421 Harris County MASLD Cohort participants who self-reported Hispanic ethnicity and completed baseline food frequency questionnaires. All included patients had MASLD, diagnosed per standard clinical criteria. K-means analysis was used to identify clusters of patients sharing similar dietary habits. …

Foxp1 Haploinsufficiency Contributes To The Development Of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, Katherine E Pendleton, Andres Hernandez-Garcia, Jennifer M Lyu, Ian M Campbell, Chad A Shaw, Julie Vogt, Frances A High, Patricia K Donahoe, Wendy K Chung, Daryl A Scott

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

FOXP1 encodes a transcription factor involved in tissue regulation and cell-type-specific functions. Haploinsufficiency of FOXP1 is associated with a neurodevelopmental disorder: autosomal dominant mental retardation with language impairment with or without autistic features. More recently, heterozygous FOXP1 variants have also been shown to cause a variety of structural birth defects including central nervous system (CNS) anomalies, congenital heart defects, congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract, cryptorchidism, and hypospadias. In this report, we present a previously unpublished case of an individual with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) who carries an approximately 3.8 Mb deletion. Based on this deletion, and deletions …

Novel Avenues Of Tau Research, Claire E Sexton, Gal Bitan, Kathryn R Bowles, Miroslaw Brys, Luc Buée, Mahmoud Bukar Maina, Claire D Clelland, Ann D Cohen, John F Crary, Jeffrey L Dage, Kristophe Diaz, Bess Frost, Li Gan, Alison M Goate, Lawrence I Golbe, Oskar Hansson, Celeste M Karch, Hartmuth C Kolb, Renaud La Joie, Suzee E Lee, Diana Matallana, Bruce L Miller, Chiadi U Onyike, Yakeel T Quiroz, Jessica E Rexach, Jonathan D Rohrer, Amy Rommel, Ghazaleh Sadri-Vakili, Suzanne E Schindler, Julie A Schneider, Reisa A Sperling, Charlotte E Teunissen, Stacie C Weninger, Susan L Worley, Hui Zheng, Maria C Carrillo

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: The pace of innovation has accelerated in virtually every area of tau research in just the past few years.

METHODS: In February 2022, leading international tau experts convened to share selected highlights of this work during Tau 2022, the second international tau conference co-organized and co-sponsored by the Alzheimer's Association, CurePSP, and the Rainwater Charitable Foundation.

RESULTS: Representing academia, industry, and the philanthropic sector, presenters joined more than 1700 registered attendees from 59 countries, spanning six continents, to share recent advances and exciting new directions in tau research.

DISCUSSION: The virtual meeting provided an opportunity to foster cross-sector collaboration …

Cub Domains Are Not Required For Ovch2 Function In Sperm Maturation In The Mouse Epididymis, Katarzyna Kent, Kaori Nozawa, Courtney Sutton, Frey Daniel, Masahito Ikawa, Thomas X Garcia, Martin M Matzuk

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Ovochymase 2 (Ovch2) is an epididymis-specific gene that is required for male fertility. While a multitude of reproductive tract-specific genes required for male fertility have been identified, OVCH2 is thus far the first protein required for male fertility that contains Complement C1r/C1s, Uegf, Bmp1 (CUB) domains located in tandem in the C-terminus of the protein. Identifying the functional significance of this unique domain has implications in better understanding fertility and infertility and as a potential contraceptive target.

OBJECTIVE: The goals of these studies were to understand the influence and requirement of OVCH2 CUB domains in the localization and functional …

Tex46 Knockout Male Mice Are Sterile Secondary To Sperm Head Malformations And Failure To Penetrate Through The Zona Pellucida, Yoshitaka Fujihara, Haruhiko Miyata, Ferheen Abbasi, Tamara Larasati, Kaori Nozawa, Zhifeng Yu, Masahito Ikawa, Martin M Matzuk

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Each year, infertility affects 15% of couples worldwide, with 50% of cases attributed to men. It is assumed that sperm head shape is important for sperm-zona pellucida (ZP) penetration but research has yet to elucidate why. We generated testis expressed 46 (Tex46) knockout mice to investigate the essential roles of TEX46 in mammalian reproduction. We used RT-PCR to demonstrate that Tex46 was expressed exclusively in the male reproductive tract in mice and humans. We created Tex46−/− mice using the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) system and analyzed their fertility. Tex46 null spermatozoa …

Bi-Allelic Variants In Celsr3 Are Implicated In Central Nervous System And Urinary Tract Anomalies, Jil D Stegmann, Jeshurun C Kalanithy, Gabriel C Dworschak, Nina Ishorst, Enrico Mingardo, Filipa M Lopes, Yee Mang Ho, Phillip Grote, Tobias T Lindenberg, Öznur Yilmaz, Khadija Channab, Steve Seltzsam, Shirlee Shril, Friedhelm Hildebrandt, Felix Boschann, André Heinen, Angad Jolly, Katherine Myers, Kim Mcbride, Mir Reza Bekheirnia, Nasim Bekheirnia, Marcello Scala, Manuela Morleo, Vincenzo Nigro, Annalaura Torella, Tudp Consortium, Michele Pinelli, Valeria Capra, Andrea Accogli, Silvia Maitz, Alice Spano, Rory J Olson, Eric W Klee, Brendan C Lanpher, Se Song Jang, Jong-Hee Chae, Philipp Steinbauer, Dietmar Rieder, Andreas R Janecke, Julia Vodopiutz, Ida Vogel, Jenny Blechingberg, Jennifer L Cohen, Kacie Riley, Victoria Klee, Laurence E Walsh, Matthias Begemann, Miriam Elbracht, Thomas Eggermann, Arzu Stoppe, Kyra Stuurman, Marjon Van Slegtenhorst, Tahsin Stefan Barakat, Maureen S Mulhern, Tristan T Sands, Cheryl Cytrynbaum, Rosanna Weksberg, Federica Isidori, Tommaso Pippucci, Giulia Severi, Francesca Montanari, Michael C Kruer, Somayeh Bakhtiari, Hossein Darvish, Heiko Reutter, Gregor Hagelueken, Matthias Geyer, Adrian S Woolf, Jennifer E Posey, James R Lupski, Benjamin Odermatt, Alina C Hilger

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

CELSR3 codes for a planar cell polarity protein. We describe twelve affected individuals from eleven independent families with bi-allelic variants in CELSR3. Affected individuals presented with an overlapping phenotypic spectrum comprising central nervous system (CNS) anomalies (7/12), combined CNS anomalies and congenital anomalies of the kidneys and urinary tract (CAKUT) (3/12) and CAKUT only (2/12). Computational simulation of the 3D protein structure suggests the position of the identified variants to be implicated in penetrance and phenotype expression. CELSR3 immunolocalization in human embryonic urinary tract and transient suppression and rescue experiments of Celsr3 in fluorescent zebrafish reporter lines further support an …

Transient Generalized Osteosclerosis In A Newborn Mimicking Congenital Osteopetrosis With Negative Comprehensive Genetic Workup: A Case Report, Jeffrey Hauck, Amanda Gerard, James E Crowe, Caridad A Martinez, Keren Machol

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

We present a newborn with transient generalized osteosclerosis and negative genetic workup. The etiology of this condition is unknown. Given overlapping radiologic signs with severe forms of osteopetrosis, familiarity with this condition is crucial for correct diagnosis and management.

Mechanisms Of Sleep Disturbances In Long-Term Cancer Survivors: A Childhood Cancer Survivor Study Report, Lauren C Daniel, Huiqi Wang, Tara M Brinkman, Kathy Ruble, Eric S Zhou, Oxana Palesh, Robyn Stremler, Rebecca Howell, Daniel A Mulrooney, Valerie M Crabtree, Sogol Mostoufi-Moab, Kevin Oeffinger, Joseph Neglia, Yutaka Yasui, Gregory T Armstrong, Kevin Krull

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Sleep problems following childhood cancer treatment may persist into adulthood, exacerbating cancer-related late effects and putting survivors at risk for poor physical and psychosocial functioning. This study examines sleep in long-term survivors and their siblings to identify risk factors and disease correlates.

Methods: Childhood cancer survivors (≥5 years from diagnosis; n = 12 340; 51.5% female; mean [SD] age = 39.4 [9.6] years) and siblings (n = 2395; 57.1% female; age = 44.6 [10.5] years) participating in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Multivariable Poisson-error generalized estimating equation compared prevalence of binary sleep …