The transcriptional induction of the a or immediate-early gene class of herpes simplex virus type 1 effected by the a trans-induction factor (aTIF, ICP25, VP16, Vmw65) requires an a-specific cis-acting site. Increased transcription does not result from the direct, independent binding of aTIF, but rather from an aTIFdependent formation of a protein-DNA complex containing, in addition to aTIF, at least one host cell factor. One of the host factors is a POU domain protein which recognizes an octamer element in the a-specific consensus. There is evidence that aTIF may drive the formation of multiple protein-DNA complexes containing a POU protein and additional host factors. Previously, the gene products of UL46 and UL47 have been implicated in modulating the aTIF-dependent transcriptional induction of a genes. Our current studies have extended these analyses from a transient-expression system to a series of viral deletion mutants. In these studies we demonstrate that neither UL46nor UL47-encoded gene product, either separately or in combination, is required for viral growth in cell culture. The absence of UL47 reduces by up to 80% the ability of the virus to induce an a-regulated thymidine kinase reporter gene resident in 143TK-cells. Autoradiograms of [35S]methionine pulse-labeled infected cell proteins, separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, show that deleting UL46 and/or UL47 has no discernable effect on the synthesis of aTIF or aTIF-containing proteins. Subsequent Western immunoblot analysis, with rabbit anti-aTIF antibodies made to an otTIF-Staphylococcus aureus protein A fusion, demonstrated that the accumulation and steady-state levels of aTIF or aTIF-containing proteins was indistinguishable from that of the thymidine kinase-negative isogenic parental virus, RA305. * Corresponding author. able to complex with aTIF (3,12,21,23,24,32,37,44,49). Complex formation appears to be mediated through the POU domain present in these proteins, which recognizes an octamer element contained within the a element (gyATGN TAATgarattcyttgnggg) (3,12,18,21,24,36). A recent report suggests that aTIF may drive the formation of multiple protein-DNA complexes containing a POU protein and additional host factors, one of which may be cell type specific (21).Previous work has identified a role for at least two additional viral factors, encoded by HSV-1 UL46 and UL47, in aTIF-dependent transcriptional induction (33,34). In transient-expression assays the gene product of UL46 was able to enhance aTIF-mediated induction of an aTK reporter construct 2to 3-fold, while the gene product of UL47 acted to reduce the levels of aTIF-mediated induction 2.5to 3-fold in the presence or absence of UL46. These results were the first report of additional viral factors involved in a-gene induction, and they predicted the presence of a regulatory gene cluster composed of UL46, UL47, and aTIF (UL48) (33,34).The goals of our current study were to investigate the roles of UL46 and UL47 in the context of the virus to determi...

Papillon Lefèvre syndrome (PLS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by palmoplantar hyperkeratosis and severe periodontitis. The disease is caused by mutations in the cathepsin C gene (CTSC) that maps to chromosome 11q14. CTSC gene mutations associated with PLS have been correlated with significantly decreased enzyme activity. Mutational analysis of the CTSC gene in three North American families segregating PLS identified four mutations, including a novel mutation p.G139R. All mutations were associated with dramatically reduced CTSC protease enzyme activity. A homozygous c.96T>G transversion resulting in a p.Y32X change was present in a Mexican PLS proband, while one Caucasian PLS proband was a compound heterozygote for the p.Y32X and p.R272P (c.815G>C) mutations. The other Caucasian PLS proband was a compound heterozygote for c.415G>A transition and c.1141delC mutations that resulted in a p.G139R and a frameshift and premature termination (p.L381fsX393), respectively. The c.415G>A was not present in more than 300 controls, suggesting it is not a CTSC polymorphism. Biochemical analysis demonstrated almost no detectable CTSC activity in leukocytes of all three probands. These mutations altered restriction enzyme sites in the highly conserved CTSC gene. Sequence analysis of CTSC exon 3 confirmed the previously reported p.T153I polymorphism in 4 of the 5 ethnically diverse populations studied.

Background Deficits in GABA neuron-related markers, including the GABA synthesizing enzyme GAD67, the calcium-binding protein parvalbumin, the neuropeptide somatostatin, and the transcription factor Lhx6, are most pronounced in a subset of schizophrenia subjects identified as having a "low GABA marker" (LGM) molecular phenotype. Furthermore, schizophrenia shares degrees of genetic liability, clinical features and cortical circuitry abnormalities with schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder. Therefore, we determined the extent to which a similar LGM molecular phenotype may also exist in subjects with these disorders. Method Transcript levels for GAD67, parvalbumin, somatostatin, and Lhx6 were quantified using quantitative PCR in prefrontal cortex area 9 of 184 subjects with a diagnosis of schizophrenia (n=39), schizoaffective disorder (n=23) or bipolar disorder (n=35), or with a confirmed absence of any psychiatric diagnoses (n=87). A blinded clustering approach was employed to determine the presence of a LGM molecular phenotype across all subjects. Results Approximately 49% of the subjects with schizophrenia, 48% of the subjects with schizoaffective disorder, and 29% of the subjects with bipolar disorder, but only 5% of unaffected subjects, clustered in the cortical LGM molecular phenotype. Conclusions These findings support the characterization of psychotic and bipolar disorders by cortical molecular phenotype which may help elucidate more pathophysiologically-informed and personalized medications.

The rapid development of general-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU) is allowing the implementation of highly-parallelized Monte Carlo simulation chains for particle physics experiments. This technique is particularly suitable for the simulation of a pixelated charge readout for time projection chambers, given the large number of channels that this technology employs. Here we present the first implementation of a full microphysical simulator of a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) equipped with light readout and pixelated charge readout, developed for the DUNE Near Detector. The software is implemented with an end-to-end set of GPU-optimized algorithms. The algorithms have been written in Python and translated into CUDA kernels using Numba, a just-in-time compiler for a subset of Python and NumPy instructions. The GPU implementation achieves a speed up of four orders of magnitude compared with the equivalent CPU version. The simulation of the current induced on 10^3 pixels takes around 1 ms on the GPU, compared with approximately 10 s on the CPU. The results of the simulation are compared against data from a pixel-readout LArTPC prototype.

As part of our studies to identify the gene responsible for hereditary gingival fibromatosis, GINGF (OMIM 135300), we have identified and cloned a novel human gene that contains the highly conserved methyltransferase domain characteristic of S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferases. We localized this gene (C2orf8 encoding 288L6 SAM-methyltransferase) to chromosome 2p22→p21 by FISH, and sublocalized it to BAC RP11 288L6 flanked by D2S2238 and D2S2331. Computational analysis of aligned ESTs identified ten exons in the hypothetical C2orf8 gene. Results of RACE analyses in placenta identified multiple transcripts of this gene with heterogeneity at the 5′-UTR. Alternative transcription and tissue specific expression of C2orf8 were detected by RT-PCR and Northern blot analyses. C2orf8 is expressed in a variety of tissues including brain, colon, gingiva, heart, kidney, liver, lung, placenta, small intestine, spleen, and thymus. Open reading frame analysis of the alternative transcripts identified a shared coding region spanning exons 6–10. This ORF consists of 732 nucleotides encoding a putative 244 amino acid protein. Bioinformational searches of both C2orf8 and the putative protein product identified three methyltransferase motifs conserved across many prokaryotic and eukaryotic species. Sequence analyses of C2orf8 excluded coding region mutations as causative of GINGF.