We have established stably transfected HEK 293 cell lines expressing high levels of functional human ether-a go-go-related gene (HERG) channels. We used these cells to study biochemical characteristics of HERG protein, and to study electrophysiological and pharmacological properties of HERG channel current at 35 degrees C. HERG-transfected cells expressed an mRNA band at 4.0 kb. Western blot analysis showed two protein bands (155 and 135 kDa) slightly larger than the predicted molecular mass (127 kDa). Treatment with N-glycosidase F converted both bands to smaller molecular mass, suggesting that both are glycosylated, but at different levels. HERG current activated at voltages positive to -50 mV, maximum current was reached with depolarizing steps to -10 mV, and the current amplitude declined at more positive voltages, similar to HERG channel current expressed in other heterologous systems. Current density at 35 degrees C, compared with 23 degrees C, was increased by more than twofold to a maximum of 53.4 +/- 6.5 pA/pF. Activation, inactivation, recovery from inactivation, and deactivation kinetics were rapid at 35 degrees C, and more closely resemble values reported for the rapidly activating delayed rectifier K+ current (I(Kr)) at physiological temperatures. HERG channels were highly selective for K+. When we used an action potential clamp technique, HERG current activation began shortly after the upstroke of the action potential waveform. HERG current increased during repolarization to reach a maximum amplitude during phases 2 and 3 of the cardiac action potential. HERG contributed current throughout the return of the membrane to the resting potential, and deactivation of HERG current could participate in phase 4 depolarization. HERG current was blocked by low concentrations of E-4031 (IC50 7.7 nM), a value close to that reported for I(Kr) in native cardiac myocytes. Our data support the postulate that HERG encodes a major constituent of I(Kr) and suggest that at physiological temperatures HERG contributes current throughout most of the action potential and into the postrepolarization period.

Background-Congenital long-QT syndrome (LQTS) is a primary arrhythmogenic syndrome stemming from perturbed cardiac repolarization. LQTS, which affects Ϸ1 in 3000 persons, is 1 of the most common causes of autopsy-negative sudden death in the young. Since the sentinel discovery of cardiac channel gene mutations in LQTS in 1995, hundreds of mutations in 8 LQTS susceptibility genes have been identified. All 8 LQTS genotypes represent primary cardiac channel defects (ie, ion channelopathy) except LQT4, which is a functional channelopathy because of mutations in ankyrin-B. Approximately 25% of LQTS remains unexplained pathogenetically. We have pursued a "final common pathway" hypothesis to elicit novel LQTS-susceptibility genes. With the recent observation that the LQT3-associated, SCN5A-encoded cardiac sodium channel localizes in caveolae, which are known membrane microdomains whose major component in the striated muscle is caveolin-3, we hypothesized that mutations in caveolin-3 may represent a novel pathogenetic mechanism for LQTS. Methods and Results-Using polymerase chain reaction, denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography, and direct DNA sequencing, we performed open reading frame/splice site mutational analysis on CAV3 in 905 unrelated patients referred for LQTS genetic testing. CAV3 mutations were engineered by site-directed mutagenesis and the molecular phenotype determined by transient heterologous expression into cell lines that stably express the cardiac sodium channel hNa v 1.5. We identified 4 novel mutations in CAV3-encoded caveolin-3 that were absent in Ͼ1000 control alleles. Electrophysiological analysis of sodium current in HEK293 cells stably expressing hNa v 1.5 and transiently transfected with wild-type and mutant caveolin-3 demonstrated that mutant caveolin-3 results in a 2-to 3-fold increase in late sodium current compared with wild-type caveolin-3. Our observations are similar to the increased late sodium current associated with LQT3-associated SCN5A mutations. Conclusions-The present study reports the first CAV3 mutations in subjects with LQTS, and we provide functional data demonstrating a gain-of-function increase in late sodium current. (Circulation. 2006;114:2104-2112.)

The UK Biobank is a prospective study of 502,543 individuals, combining extensive phenotypic and genotypic data with streamlined access for researchers around the world1. Here we describe the release of exome-sequence data for the first 49,960 study participants, revealing approximately 4 million coding variants (of which around 98.6% have a frequency of less than 1%). The data include 198,269 autosomal predicted loss-of-function (LOF) variants, a more than 14-fold increase compared to the imputed sequence. Nearly all genes (more than 97%) had at least one carrier with a LOF variant, and most genes (more than 69%) had at least ten carriers with a LOF variant. We illustrate the power of characterizing LOF variants in this population through association analyses across 1,730 phenotypes. In addition to replicating established associations, we found novel LOF variants with large effects on disease traits, including PIEZO1 on varicose veins, COL6A1 on corneal resistance, MEPE on bone density, and IQGAP2 and GMPR on blood cell traits. We further demonstrate the value of exome sequencing by surveying the prevalence of pathogenic variants of clinical importance, and show that 2% of this population has a medically actionable variant. Furthermore, we characterize the penetrance of cancer in carriers of pathogenic BRCA1 and BRCA2 variants. Exome sequences from the first 49,960 participants highlight the promise of genome sequencing in large population-based studies and are now accessible to the scientific community.

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria were isolated from the stems of wild and cultivated rice on a modified Rennie medium. Based on 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequences, the diazotrophic isolates were phylogenetically close to four genera: Herbaspirillum, Ideonella, Enterobacter, and Azospirillum. Phenotypic properties and signature sequences of 16S rDNA indicated that three isolates (B65, B501, and B512) belong to the Herbaspirillum genus. To examine whether Herbaspirillum sp. strain B501 isolated from wild rice, Oryza officinalis, endophytically colonizes rice plants, the gfp gene encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) was introduced into the bacteria. Observations by fluorescence stereomicroscopy showed that the GFP-tagged bacteria colonized shoots and seeds of aseptically grown seedlings of the original wild rice after inoculation of the seeds. Conversely, for cultivated rice Oryza sativa, no GFP fluorescence was observed for shoots and only weak signals were observed for seeds. Observations by fluorescence and electron microscopy revealed that Herbaspirillum sp. strain B501 colonized mainly intercellular spaces in the leaves of wild rice. Colony counts of surface-sterilized rice seedlings inoculated with the GFP-tagged bacteria indicated significantly more bacterial populations inside the original wild rice than in cultivated rice varieties. Moreover, after bacterial inoculation, in planta nitrogen fixation in young seedlings of wild rice, O. officinalis, was detected by the acetylene reduction and 15 N 2 gas incorporation assays. Therefore, we conclude that Herbaspirillum sp. strain B501 is a diazotrophic endophyte compatible with wild rice, particularly O. officinalis.

Background-Congenital long-QT syndrome (LQTS) is potentially lethal secondary to malignant ventricular arrhythmias and is caused predominantly by mutations in genes that encode cardiac ion channels. Nearly 25% of patients remain without a genetic diagnosis, and genes that encode cardiac channel regulatory proteins represent attractive candidates. Voltage-gated sodium channels have a pore-forming ␣-subunit associated with 1 or more auxiliary ␤-subunits. Four different ␤-subunits have been described. All are detectable in cardiac tissue, but none have yet been linked to any heritable arrhythmia syndrome. Methods and Results-We present a case of a 21-month-old Mexican-mestizo female with intermittent 2:1 atrioventricular block and a corrected QT interval of 712 ms. Comprehensive open reading frame/splice mutational analysis of the 9 established LQTS-susceptibility genes proved negative, and complete mutational analysis of the 4 Na v␤ -subunits revealed a L179F (C535T) missense mutation in SCN4B that cosegregated properly throughout a 3-generation pedigree and was absent in 800 reference alleles. After this discovery, SCN4B was analyzed in 262 genotype-negative LQTS patients (96% white), but no further mutations were found. L179F was engineered by site-directed mutagenesis and heterologously expressed in HEK293 cells that contained the stably expressed SCN5A-encoded sodium channel ␣-subunit (hNa V 1.5). Compared with the wild-type, L179F-␤4 caused an 8-fold (compared with SCN5A alone) and 3-fold (compared with SCN5A ϩ WT-␤4) increase in late sodium current consistent with the molecular/electrophysiological phenotype previously shown for LQTS-associated mutations. Conclusions-We provide the seminal report of SCN4B-encoded Na v␤ 4 as a novel LQT3-susceptibility gene. (Circulation.

Abstract-Amino acid sequence variations in SCN5A are known to affect function of wild-type channels and also those with coexisting mutations; therefore, it is important to know the exact sequence and function of channels most commonly present in human myocardium. SCN5A was analyzed in control panels of human alleles, demonstrating that the existing clones (hH1, hH1a, hH1b) each contained a rare variant and thus none represented the common sequence. Confirming prior work, the H558R polymorphism was present in Ϸ30% of subjects. Quantitative mRNA analysis from human hearts showed that a shorter 2015 amino acid splice variant lacking glutamine at position 1077 (Q1077del) made up 65% of the transcript in every heart examined. Age, sex, race, or structural heart disease did not affect this proportion of Q1077del. Estimated population frequencies for the four common variants were 25% SCN5A, 10% [H558R], 45% [Q1077del], and 20% [H558R;Q1077del], where the reference sequence SCN5A is GenBank AC137587. When expressed in HEK-293 cells, these common variants had a more positive mid-point of the voltage dependence of inactivation than the standard clone hH1. Also, channels containing Q1077 expressed smaller currents. When H558R was present with Q1077 ([H558R]), current expression was profoundly reduced despite normal trafficking to the cell surface. Thus, four variant sequences for SCN5A are commonly present in human myocardium and they exhibit functional differences among themselves and with the previous standard clone. SCN5A encodes the voltage-dependent sodium channel ␣-subunit protein SCN5A, also called hNa v 1.5, 1 found predominantly in human heart muscle. This channel is responsible for large peak inward sodium current (I Na ) that underlies excitability and conduction in working myocardium (atrial and ventricular cells) and special conduction tissue (Purkinje cells and others), and also for late I Na that influences repolarization and refractoriness. Three complete cDNA clones for this channel hH1, 2 hH1a, 3 and hH1b 4 differ in amino acid sequence in 5 of the 2016 positions (Table 1). In addition, these three clones differ from the deduced amino acid sequence for SCN5A obtained from the two human genome databases: Celera and the International Human Genome Sequencing Collaboration (IHGSC). Before the present study, it was not clear whether or not these differences are present in human population as common variants. From previous studies, we know that dramatic differences in current expression can be found when arrhythmia mutations are expressed in different background clones. 4 This study was designed to answer the questions: What is the common background sequence for SCN5A? Do common variations affect channel function? Does it matter which Na ϩ channel clone (ie, background sequence) is used for functional studies of wild-type and mutated channels? Materials and MethodsProtocols used in this investigation are more fully described in the expanded Materials and Methods section in the online data supplement available...

A noninvasive screening test would significantly facilitate early detection of epithelial ovarian cancer. This study used a combination of high-throughput selection and arraybased serologic detection of many antigens indicative of the presence of cancer, thereby using the immune system as a biosensor. This high-throughput selection involved biopanning of an ovarian cancer phage display library using serum immunoglobulins from an ovarian cancer patient as bait. Protein macroarrays containing 480 of these selected antigen clones revealed 65 clones that interacted with immunoglobulins in sera from 32 ovarian cancer patients but not with sera from 25 healthy women or 14 patients having other benign or malignant gynecologic diseases. Sequence analysis data of these 65 clones revealed 62 different antigens. Among the markers, we identified some known antigens, including RCAS1, signal recognition protein-19, AHNAK-related sequence, nuclear autoantogenic sperm protein, Nijmegen breakage syndrome 1 (Nibrin), ribosomal protein L4, Homo sapiens KIAA0419 gene product, eukaryotic initiation factor 5A, and casein kinase II, as well as many previously uncharacterized antigenic gene products. Using these 65 antigens on protein microarrays, we trained neural networks on two-color fluorescent detection of serum IgG binding and found an average sensitivity and specificity of 55% and 98%, respectively. In addition, the top 6 of the most specific clones resulted in an average sensitivity and specificity of 32% and 94%, respectively. This global approach to antigenic profiling, epitomics, has applications to cancer and autoimmune diseases for diagnostic and therapeutic studies. Further work with larger panels of antigens should provide a comprehensive set of markers with sufficient sensitivity and specificity suitable for clinical testing in high-risk populations. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(2): 1181-90)

Ovarian cancer is asymptomatic at early stages and most patients present with advanced levels of disease. Lack of cost-effective methods that can achieve frequent, simple and non-invasive testing hinders early detection and causes high mortality in ovarian cancer patients. Here, we report a simple and inexpensive microchip ELISA-based detection module that employs a portable detection system, i.e., a cell phone/charge-coupled device (CCD) to quantify an ovarian cancer biomarker, HE4, in urine. Integration of a mobile application with a cell phone enabled immediate processing of microchip ELISA results, which eliminated the need for a bulky, expensive spectrophotometer. The HE4 level detected by a cell phone or a lensless CCD system was significantly elevated in urine samples from cancer patients (n = 19) than normal healthy controls (n = 20) (p < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses showed that the microchip ELISA coupled with a cell phone running an automated analysis application had a sensitivity of 89.5% at a specificity of 90%. Under the same specificity, the microchip ELISA coupled with a CCD had a sensitivity of 84.2%. In conclusion, integration of microchip ELISA with cell phone/CCD-based colorimetric measurement technology can be used to detect HE4 biomarker at the point-of-care (POC), paving the way to create bedside technologies for diagnostics and treatment monitoring.