MPS on 3.6 mL plasma from pregnant mothers could potentially provide the diagnosis of CAH, noninvasively, before the ninth week of gestation. Only affected female fetuses will thus be treated. Our strategy represents a generic approach for noninvasive prenatal testing for an array of autosomal recessive disorders.

Blockers of the renin-angiotensin system are effective in the treatment of experimental and clinical diabetic nephropathy. An approach different from blocking the formation or action of angiotensin II(1-8) that could also be effective involves fostering its degradation. Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a monocarboxypeptidase than cleaves angiotensin II (1-8) to form angiotensin (1-7). Therefore, we examined the renal effects of murine recombinant ACE2 in mice with streptozotocin-induced diabetic nephropathy as well as that of amplification of circulating ACE2 using minicircle DNA delivery prior to induction of experimental diabetes. This delivery resulted in a long-term sustained and profound increase in serum ACE2 activity and enhanced ability to metabolize an acute angiotensin II (1-8) load. In mice with streptozotocin-induced diabetes pretreated with minicircle ACE2, ACE2 protein in plasma increased markedly and this was associated with a more than 100-fold increase in serum ACE2 activity. However, minicircle ACE2 did not result in changes in urinary ACE2 activity as compared to untreated diabetic mice. In both diabetic groups, glomerular filtration rate increased significantly and to the same extent as compared to non-diabetic controls. Albuminuria, glomerular mesangial expansion, glomerular cellularity and glomerular size, were all increased to a similar extent in minicircle ACE2-treated and untreated diabetic mice, as compared to non-diabetic controls. Recombinant mouse ACE2 given for 4 weeks by intraperitoneal daily injections in mice with streptozotocin-induced diabetic nephropathy also failed to improve albuminuria or kidney pathology. Thus, a profound augmentation of ACE2 confined to the circulation failed to ameliorate the glomerular lesions and hyperfiltration characteristic of early diabetic nephropathy. These findings emphasize the importance of targeting the kidney rather than the circulatory renin angiotensin system to combat diabetic nephropathy.

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), resulting from mutations in CYP11B1, a gene encoding 11β-hydroxylase, represents a rare autosomal recessive Mendelian disorder of aberrant sex steroid production. Unlike CAH caused by 21-hydroxylase deficiency, the disease is far more common in the Middle East and North Africa, where consanguinity is common often resulting in identical mutations. Clinically, affected female newborns are profoundly virilized (Prader score of 4/5), and both genders display significantly advanced bone ages and are oftentimes hypertensive. We find that 11-deoxycortisol, not frequently measured, is the most robust biochemical marker for diagnosing 11β-hydroxylase deficiency. Finally, computational modeling of 25 missense mutations of CYP11B1 revealed that specific modifications in the heme-binding (R374W and R448C) or substrate-binding (W116C) site of 11β-hydroxylase, or alterations in its stability (L299P and G267S), may predict severe disease. Thus, we report clinical, genetic, hormonal, and structural effects of CYP11B1 gene mutations in the largest international cohort of 108 patients with steroid 11β-hydroxylase deficiency CAH.steroid hormones | missense mutations | classic CAH | ambiguous genitalia C ongenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a Mendelian disorder transmitted as an autosomal recessive trait. The most prevalent form of CAH arises from steroid 21-hydroxylase enzyme deficiency, accounting for ∼90-95% of all cases (1, 2). In contrast, CAH caused by steroid 11β-hydroxylase deficiency is considerably rare, with a prevalence of 5-8% (3), from which we estimate an overall frequency of 1 in 100,000 live births.Two homologous enzymes, 11β-hydroxylase and aldosterone synthase, are encoded by the CYP11B1 and CYP11B2 genes, respectively. The two genes are 40-kb apart, each comprising nine exons and mapped to chromosome 8q21-22 (3, 4) (Fig. 1A). In contrast to CYP21A2 and its CYP21A1P pseudogene, CYP11B1 and CYP11B2 are both active and do not have a pseudogene. The two encoded homologs, however, have distinct functions in cortisol and aldosterone synthesis, respectively (3). In the zona fasciculata, 11β-hydroxylase converts 11-deoxycortisol and 11-deoxycorticosterone to cortisol and corticosterone, respectively, and is regulated by adrenocorticotropic hormone secreted by the pituitary. In contrast, in the zona glomerulosa aldosterone synthase converts corticosterone to aldosterone with the intermediate production of 18-hydroxycorticosterone. These latter conversions are controlled mainly by the renin angiotensin II system and serum potassium concentration (3).Deficiency of 11β-hydroxylase prevents the conversion of 11-deoxycortisol to cortisol and 11-deoxycorticosterone to corticosterone. This results in high levels of 11-deoxycortisol and 11-deoxycorticosterone, respectively, which are shunted into the androgen synthesis pathway, resulting in high levels of the androgenic steroid, androstenedione. Female newborns are thus profoundly virilized and exhibit significant masculinization of the ex...

Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) encodes a 520 aa polypeptide, P6, which participates in several essential activities in the virus life cycle including suppressing RNA silencing and salicylic acid-responsive defence signalling. We infected Arabidopsis with CaMV mutants containing short in-frame deletions within the P6 ORF. A deletion in the distal end of domain D-I (the N-terminal 112 aa) of P6 did not affect virus replication but compromised symptom development and curtailed the ability to restore GFP fluorescence in a GFP-silenced transgenic Arabidopsis line. A deletion in the minimum transactivator domain was defective in virus replication but retained the capacity to suppress RNA silencing locally. Symptom expression in CaMV-infected plants is apparently linked to the ability to suppress RNA silencing. When transiently co-expressed with tomato bushy stunt virus P19, an elicitor of programmed cell death in Nicotiana tabacum, WT P6 suppressed the hypersensitive response, but three mutants, two with deletions within the distal end of domain D-I and one involving the N-terminal nuclear export signal (NES), were unable to do so. Deleting the N-terminal 20 aa also abolished the suppression of pathogen-associated molecular pattern-dependent PR1a expression following agroinfiltration. However, the two other deletions in domain D-I retained this activity, evidence that the mechanisms underlying these functions are not identical. The D-I domain of P6 when expressed alone failed to suppress either cell death or PR1a expression and is therefore necessary but not sufficient for all three defence suppression activities. Consequently, concerns about the biosafety of genetically modified crops carrying truncated ORFVI sequences appear unfounded.

Mutations in 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 gene () cause an extraordinarily rare autosomal recessive disorder, apparent mineralocorticoid excess (AME). AME is a form of low renin hypertension that is potentially fatal if untreated. Mutations in the gene result either in severe AME or a milder phenotype (type 2 AME). To date, ∼40 causative mutations have been identified. As part of the International Consortium for Rare Steroid Disorders, we have diagnosed and followed the largest single worldwide cohort of 36 AME patients. Here, we present the genotype and clinical phenotype of these patients, prominently from consanguineous marriages in the Middle East, who display profound hypertension and hypokalemic alkalosis. To correlate mutations with phenotypic severity, we constructed a computational model of the HSD11B2 protein. Having used a similar strategy for the in silico evaluation of 150 mutations of, the disease-causing gene in congenital adrenal hyperplasia, we now provide a full structural explanation for the clinical severity of AME resulting from each known missense mutation. We find that mutations that allow the formation of an inactive dimer, alter substrate/coenzyme binding, or impair structural stability of HSD11B2 yield severe AME. In contrast, mutations that cause an indirect disruption of substrate binding or mildly alter intramolecular interactions result in type 2 AME. A simple in silico evaluation of novel missense mutations could help predict the often-diverse phenotypes of an extremely rare monogenic disorder.

Collision avoidance and road safety applications require highly accurate vehicle localization techniques. Unfortunately, the existing localization techniques are not suitable for road safety applications as they rely on the error-prone Global Positioning System (GPS). Likewise, cooperative localization techniques that use intervehicle communications experience high errors due to hidden vehicles and the limited sensing/communication range. Recently, GPS-free localization based on vehicle communication with a low cost infrastructure installed on the roadsides has emerged as a more accurate alternative. However, existing techniques require the vehicle to communicate with two roadside units (RSUs) in order to achieve high localization accuracy. In contrast, this paper presents a GPS-free localization framework that uses two-way time of arrival to locate the vehicles based on communication with a single RSU. Furthermore, our framework uses the vehicle kinematics information obtained via the vehicle's onboard inertial navigation system (INS) to further improve the accuracy of the vehicle location using Kalman filters. Our results show that the localization error of the proposed framework is as low as 1.8 meters. The resulting localization accuracy is up to 65% and 47.5% better than GPS-based techniques used without/with INS, respectively. This accuracy gain becomes around 73.3% when compared to existing RSU-based techniques.

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency is caused by mutations in the CYP21A2 gene, located on the short arm of chromosome 6. The two main underlying mechanisms of CYP21A2 defects are large gene deletion and conversion. Anticipation of the phenotypes associated with different combinations of CYP21A2 mutations remains the most important determinant in prenatal diagnosis and counseling of the expectant couple who are determined to be at risk for congenital adrenal hyperplasia. (Fertil Steril Ò 2019;111:24-9. Ó2018 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

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