TY  - JOUR
A1  - Weber-Lassalle, Nana
A1  - Hauke, Jan
A1  - Ramser, Juliane
A1  - Richters, Lisa
A1  - Groß, Eva
A1  - Blümcke, Britta
A1  - Gehrig, Andrea
A1  - Kahlert, Anne-Karin
A1  - Müller, Clemens R.
A1  - Hackmann, Karl
A1  - Honisch, Ellen
A1  - Weber-Lassalle, Konstantin
A1  - Niederacher, Dieter
A1  - Borde, Julika
A1  - Thiele, Holger
A1  - Ernst, Corinna
A1  - Altmüller, Janine
A1  - Neidhardt, Guido
A1  - Nürnberg, Peter
A1  - Klaschik, Kristina
A1  - Schroeder, Christopher
A1  - Platzer, Konrad
A1  - Volk, Alexander E.
A1  - Wang-Gohrke, Shan
A1  - Just, Walter
A1  - Auber, Bernd
A1  - Kubisch, Christian
A1  - Schmidt, Gunnar
A1  - Horvath, Judit
A1  - Wappenschmidt, Barbara
A1  - Engel, Christoph
A1  - Arnold, Norbert
A1  - Dworniczak, Bernd
A1  - Rhiem, Kerstin
A1  - Meindl, Alfons
A1  - Schmutzler, Rita K.
A1  - Hahnen, Eric
T1  - BRIP1 loss-of-function mutations confer high risk for familial ovarian cancer, but not familial breast cancer
JF  - Breast Cancer Research
N2  - Background
Germline mutations in the BRIP1 gene have been described as conferring a moderate risk for ovarian cancer (OC), while the role of BRIP1 in breast cancer (BC) pathogenesis remains controversial.

Methods
To assess the role of deleterious BRIP1 germline mutations in BC/OC predisposition, 6341 well-characterized index patients with BC, 706 index patients with OC, and 2189 geographically matched female controls were screened for loss-of-function (LoF) mutations and potentially damaging missense variants. All index patients met the inclusion criteria of the German Consortium for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer for germline testing and tested negative for pathogenic BRCA1/2 variants.

Results
BRIP1 LoF mutations confer a high OC risk in familial index patients (odds ratio (OR) = 20.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 12.02–36.57, P < 0.0001) and in the subgroup of index patients with late-onset OC (OR = 29.91, 95% CI = 14.99–59.66, P < 0.0001). No significant association of BRIP1 LoF mutations with familial BC was observed (OR = 1.81 95% CI = 1.00–3.30, P = 0.0623). In the subgroup of familial BC index patients without a family history of OC there was also no apparent association (OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 0.70–2.90, P = 0.3030). In 1027 familial BC index patients with a family history of OC, the BRIP1 mutation prevalence was significantly higher than that observed in controls (OR = 3.59, 95% CI = 1.43–9.01; P = 0.0168). Based on the negative association between BRIP1 LoF mutations and familial BC in the absence of an OC family history, we conclude that the elevated mutation prevalence in the latter cohort was driven by the occurrence of OC in these families. Compared with controls, predicted damaging rare missense variants were significantly more prevalent in OC (P = 0.0014) but not in BC (P = 0.0693) patients.

Conclusions
To avoid ambiguous results, studies aimed at assessing the impact of candidate predisposition gene mutations on BC risk might differentiate between BC index patients with an OC family history and those without. In familial cases, we suggest that BRIP1 is a high-risk gene for late-onset OC but not a BC predisposition gene, though minor effects cannot be excluded.
KW  - breast cancer
KW  - ovarian cancer
KW  - BRIP1 gene
KW  - germline mutations
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-233433
VL  - 20
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Pluta, Natalie
A1  - Hoffjan, Sabine
A1  - Zimmer, Frederic
A1  - Köhler, Cornelia
A1  - Lücke, Thomas
A1  - Mohr, Jennifer
A1  - Vorgerd, Matthias
A1  - Nguyen, Hoa Huu Phuc
A1  - Atlan, David
A1  - Wolf, Beat
A1  - Zaum, Ann-Kathrin
A1  - Rost, Simone
T1  - Homozygous inversion on chromosome 13 involving SGCG detected by short read whole genome sequencing in a patient suffering from limb-girdle muscular dystrophy
JF  - Genes
N2  - New techniques in molecular genetic diagnostics now allow for accurate diagnosis in a large proportion of patients with muscular diseases. Nevertheless, many patients remain unsolved, although the clinical history and/or the muscle biopsy give a clear indication of the involved genes. In many cases, there is a strong suspicion that the cause must lie in unexplored gene areas, such as deep-intronic or other non-coding regions. In order to find these changes, next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods are constantly evolving, making it possible to sequence entire genomes to reveal these previously uninvestigated regions. Here, we present a young woman who was strongly suspected of having a so far genetically unsolved sarcoglycanopathy based on her clinical history and muscle biopsy. Using short read whole genome sequencing (WGS), a homozygous inversion on chromosome 13 involving SGCG and LINC00621 was detected. The breakpoint in intron 2 of SGCG led to the absence of γ-sarcoglycan, resulting in the manifestation of autosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophy 5 (LGMDR5) in the young woman.
KW  - inversion
KW  - sarcoglycanopathy
KW  - whole genome sequencing (WGS)
KW  - next generation sequencing (NGS)
KW  - LGMDR5
KW  - muscle disease
KW  - genetic diagnostics
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-288122
SN  - 2073-4425
VL  - 13
IS  - 10
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Nanda, Indrajit
A1  - Schröder, Sarah K.
A1  - Steinlein, Claus
A1  - Haaf, Thomas
A1  - Buhl, Eva M.
A1  - Grimm, Domink G.
A1  - Weiskirchen, Ralf
T1  - Rat hepatic stellate cell line CFSC-2G: genetic markers and short tandem repeat profile useful for cell line authentication
JF  - Cells
N2  - Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are also known as lipocytes, fat-storing cells, perisinusoidal cells, or Ito cells. These liver-specific mesenchymal cells represent about 5% to 8% of all liver cells, playing a key role in maintaining the microenvironment of the hepatic sinusoid. Upon chronic liver injury or in primary culture, these cells become activated and transdifferentiate into a contractile phenotype, i.e., the myofibroblast, capable of producing and secreting large quantities of extracellular matrix compounds. Based on their central role in the initiation and progression of chronic liver diseases, cultured HSCs are valuable in vitro tools to study molecular and cellular aspects of liver diseases. However, the isolation of these cells requires special equipment, trained personnel, and in some cases needs approval from respective authorities. To overcome these limitations, several immortalized HSC lines were established. One of these cell lines is CFSC, which was originally established from cirrhotic rat livers induced by carbon tetrachloride. First introduced in 1991, this cell line and derivatives thereof (i.e., CFSC-2G, CFSC-3H, CFSC-5H, and CFSC-8B) are now used in many laboratories as an established in vitro HSC model. We here describe molecular features that are suitable for cell authentication. Importantly, chromosome banding and multicolor spectral karyotyping (SKY) analysis demonstrate that the CFSC-2G genome has accumulated extensive chromosome rearrangements and most chromosomes exist in multiple copies producing a pseudo-triploid karyotype. Furthermore, our study documents a defined short tandem repeat (STR) profile including 31 species-specific markers, and a list of genes expressed in CFSC-2G established by bulk mRNA next-generation sequencing (NGS).
KW  - liver
KW  - extracellular matrix
KW  - hepatic stellate cell
KW  - myofibroblast
KW  - fibrosis
KW  - stress fibers
KW  - spectral karyotyping
KW  - rhodamine–phalloidin stain
KW  - next-generation sequencing
KW  - STR profile
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-288067
SN  - 2073-4409
VL  - 11
IS  - 18
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ferreira, Manuel A.
A1  - Gamazon, Eric R.
A1  - Al-Ejeh, Fares
A1  - Aittomäki, Kristiina
A1  - Andrulis, Irene L.
A1  - Anton-Culver, Hoda
A1  - Arason, Adalgeir
A1  - Arndt, Volker
A1  - Aronson, Kristan J.
A1  - Arun, Banu K.
A1  - Asseryanis, Ella
A1  - Azzollini, Jacopo
A1  - Balmaña, Judith
A1  - Barnes, Daniel R.
A1  - Barrowdale, Daniel
A1  - Beckmann, Matthias W.
A1  - Behrens, Sabine
A1  - Benitez, Javier
A1  - Bermisheva, Marina
A1  - Bialkowska, Katarzyna
A1  - Blomqvist, Carl
A1  - Bogdanova, Natalia V.
A1  - Bojesen, Stig E.
A1  - Bolla, Manjeet K.
A1  - Borg, Ake
A1  - Brauch, Hiltrud
A1  - Brenner, Hermann
A1  - Broeks, Annegien
A1  - Burwinkel, Barbara
A1  - Caldés, Trinidad
A1  - Caligo, Maria A.
A1  - Campa, Daniele
A1  - Campbell, Ian
A1  - Canzian, Federico
A1  - Carter, Jonathan
A1  - Carter, Brian D.
A1  - Castelao, Jose E.
A1  - Chang-Claude, Jenny
A1  - Chanock, Stephen J.
A1  - Christiansen, Hans
A1  - Chung, Wendy K.
A1  - Claes, Kathleen B. M.
A1  - Clarke, Christine L.
A1  - Couch, Fergus J.
A1  - Cox, Angela
A1  - Cross, Simon S.
A1  - Czene, Kamila
A1  - Daly, Mary B.
A1  - de la Hoya, Miguel
A1  - Dennis, Joe
A1  - Devilee, Peter
A1  - Diez, Orland
A1  - Dörk, Thilo
A1  - Dunning, Alison M.
A1  - Dwek, Miriam
A1  - Eccles, Diana M.
A1  - Ejlertsen, Bent
A1  - Ellberg, Carolina
A1  - Engel, Christoph
A1  - Eriksson, Mikael
A1  - Fasching, Peter A.
A1  - Fletcher, Olivia
A1  - Flyger, Henrik
A1  - Friedman, Eitan
A1  - Frost, Debra
A1  - Gabrielson, Marike
A1  - Gago-Dominguez, Manuela
A1  - Ganz, Patricia A.
A1  - Gapstur, Susan M.
A1  - Garber, Judy
A1  - García-Closas, Montserrat
A1  - García-Sáenz, José A.
A1  - Gaudet, Mia M.
A1  - Giles, Graham G.
A1  - Glendon, Gord
A1  - Godwin, Andrew K.
A1  - Goldberg, Mark S.
A1  - Goldgar, David E.
A1  - González-Neira, Anna
A1  - Greene, Mark H.
A1  - Gronwald, Jacek
A1  - Guenél, Pascal
A1  - Haimann, Christopher A.
A1  - Hall, Per
A1  - Hamann, Ute
A1  - He, Wei
A1  - Heyworth, Jane
A1  - Hogervorst, Frans B. L.
A1  - Hollestelle, Antoinette
A1  - Hoover, Robert N.
A1  - Hopper, John L.
A1  - Hulick, Peter J.
A1  - Humphreys, Keith
A1  - Imyanitov, Evgeny N.
A1  - Isaacs, Claudine
A1  - Jakimovska, Milena
A1  - Jakubowska, Anna
A1  - James, Paul A.
A1  - Janavicius, Ramunas
A1  - Jankowitz, Rachel C.
A1  - John, Esther M.
A1  - Johnson, Nichola
A1  - Joseph, Vijai
A1  - Karlan, Beth Y.
A1  - Khusnutdinova, Elza
A1  - Kiiski, Johanna I.
A1  - Ko, Yon-Dschun
A1  - Jones, Michael E.
A1  - Konstantopoulou, Irene
A1  - Kristensen, Vessela N.
A1  - Laitman, Yael
A1  - Lambrechts, Diether
A1  - Lazaro, Conxi
A1  - Leslie, Goska
A1  - Lester, Jenny
A1  - Lesueur, Fabienne
A1  - Lindström, Sara
A1  - Long, Jirong
A1  - Loud, Jennifer T.
A1  - Lubiński, Jan
A1  - Makalic, Enes
A1  - Mannermaa, Arto
A1  - Manoochehri, Mehdi
A1  - Margolin, Sara
A1  - Maurer, Tabea
A1  - Mavroudis, Dimitrios
A1  - McGuffog, Lesley
A1  - Meindl, Alfons
A1  - Menon, Usha
A1  - Michailidou, Kyriaki
A1  - Miller, Austin
A1  - Montagna, Marco
A1  - Moreno, Fernando
A1  - Moserle, Lidia
A1  - Mulligan, Anna Marie
A1  - Nathanson, Katherine L.
A1  - Neuhausen, Susan L.
A1  - Nevanlinna, Heli
A1  - Nevelsteen, Ines
A1  - Nielsen, Finn C.
A1  - Nikitina-Zake, Liene
A1  - Nussbaum, Robert L.
A1  - Offit, Kenneth
A1  - Olah, Edith
A1  - Olopade, Olufunmilayo I.
A1  - Olsson, Håkan
A1  - Osorio, Ana
A1  - Papp, Janos
A1  - Park-Simon, Tjoung-Won
A1  - Parsons, Michael T.
A1  - Pedersen, Inge Sokilde
A1  - Peixoto, Ana
A1  - Peterlongo, Paolo
A1  - Pharaoh, Paul D. P.
A1  - Plaseska-Karanfilska, Dijana
A1  - Poppe, Bruce
A1  - Presneau, Nadege
A1  - Radice, Paolo
A1  - Rantala, Johanna
A1  - Rennert, Gad
A1  - Risch, Harvey A.
A1  - Saloustros, Emmanouil
A1  - Sanden, Kristin
A1  - Sawyer, Elinor J.
A1  - Schmidt, Marjanka K.
A1  - Schmutzler, Rita K.
A1  - Sharma, Priyanka
A1  - Shu, Xiao-Ou
A1  - Simard, Jaques
A1  - Singer, Christian F.
A1  - Soucy, Penny
A1  - Southey, Melissa C.
A1  - Spinelli, John J.
A1  - Spurdle, Amanda B.
A1  - Stone, Jennifer
A1  - Swerdlow, Anthony J.
A1  - Tapper, William J.
A1  - Taylor, Jack A.
A1  - Teixeira, Manuel R.
A1  - Terry, Mary Beth
A1  - Teulé, Alex
A1  - Thomassen, Mads
A1  - Thöne, Kathrin
A1  - Thull, Darcy L.
A1  - Tischkowitz, Marc
A1  - Toland, Amanda E.
A1  - Torres, Diana
A1  - Truong, Thérèse
A1  - Tung, Nadine
A1  - Vachon, Celine M.
A1  - van Asperen, Christi J.
A1  - van den Ouweland, Ans M. W.
A1  - van Rensburg, Elizabeth J.
A1  - Vega, Ana
A1  - Viel, Alexandra
A1  - Wang, Qin
A1  - Wappenschmidt, Barbara
A1  - Weitzel, Jeffrey N.
A1  - Wendt, Camilla
A1  - Winqvist, Robert
A1  - Yang, Xiaohong R.
A1  - Yannoukakos, Drakoulis
A1  - Ziogas, Argyrios
A1  - Kraft, Peter
A1  - Antoniou, Antonis C.
A1  - Zheng, Wei
A1  - Easton, Douglas F.
A1  - Milne, Roger L.
A1  - Beesley, Jonathan
A1  - Chenevix-Trench, Georgia
T1  - Genome-wide association and transcriptome studies identify target genes and risk loci for breast cancer
JF  - Nature Communications
N2  - Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 170 breast cancer susceptibility loci. Here we hypothesize that some risk-associated variants might act in non-breast tissues, specifically adipose tissue and immune cells from blood and spleen. Using expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) reported in these tissues, we identify 26 previously unreported, likely target genes of overall breast cancer risk variants, and 17 for estrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancer, several with a known immune function. We determine the directional effect of gene expression on disease risk measured based on single and multiple eQTL. In addition, using a gene-based test of association that considers eQTL from multiple tissues, we identify seven (and four) regions with variants associated with overall (and ER-negative) breast cancer risk, which were not reported in previous GWAS. Further investigation of the function of the implicated genes in breast and immune cells may provide insights into the etiology of breast cancer.
KW  - cancer
KW  - genetics
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228024
VL  - 10
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Dubail, Johanne
A1  - Huber, Céline
A1  - Chantepie, Sandrine
A1  - Sonntag, Stephan
A1  - Tüysüz, Beyhan
A1  - Mihci, Ercan
A1  - Gordon, Christopher T.
A1  - Steichen-Gersdorf, Elisabeth
A1  - Amiel, Jeanne
A1  - Nur, Banu
A1  - Stolte-Dijkstra, Irene
A1  - van Eerde, Albertien M.
A1  - van Gassen, Koen L.
A1  - Breugem, Corstiaan C.
A1  - Stegmann, Alexander
A1  - Lekszas, Caroline
A1  - Maroofian, Reza
A1  - Karimiani, Ehsan Ghayoor
A1  - Bruneel, Arnaud
A1  - Seta, Nathalie
A1  - Munnich, Arnold
A1  - Papy-Garcia, Dulce
A1  - De La Dure-Molla, Muriel
A1  - Cormier-Daire, Valérie
T1  - SLC10A7 mutations cause a skeletal dysplasia with amelogenesis imperfecta mediated by GAG biosynthesis defects
JF  - Nature Communications
N2  - Skeletal dysplasia with multiple dislocations are severe disorders characterized by dislocations of large joints and short stature. The majority of them have been linked to pathogenic variants in genes encoding glycosyltransferases, sulfotransferases or epimerases required for glycosaminoglycan synthesis. Using exome sequencing, we identify homozygous mutations in SLC10A7 in six individuals with skeletal dysplasia with multiple dislocations and amelogenesis imperfecta. SLC10A7 encodes a 10-transmembrane-domain transporter located at the plasma membrane. Functional studies in vitro demonstrate that SLC10A7 mutations reduce SLC10A7 protein expression. We generate a Slc10a7−/− mouse model, which displays shortened long bones, growth plate disorganization and tooth enamel anomalies, recapitulating the human phenotype. Furthermore, we identify decreased heparan sulfate levels in Slc10a7−/− mouse cartilage and patient fibroblasts. Finally, we find an abnormal N-glycoprotein electrophoretic profile in patient blood samples. Together, our findings support the involvement of SLC10A7 in glycosaminoglycan synthesis and specifically in skeletal development.
KW  - bone development
KW  - disease genetics
KW  - medical genetics
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-226377
VL  - 9
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Haertle, Larissa
A1  - Maierhofer, Anna
A1  - Böck, Julia
A1  - Lehnen, Harald
A1  - Böttcher, Yvonne
A1  - Blüher, Matthias
A1  - Schorsch, Martin
A1  - Potabattula, Ramya
A1  - El Hajj, Nady
A1  - Appenzeller, Silke
A1  - Haaf, Thomas
T1  - Hypermethylation of the non-imprinted maternal MEG3 and paternal MEST alleles is highly variable among normal individuals
JF  - PLoS ONE
N2  - Imprinted genes show parent-specific activity (functional haploidy), which makes them particularly vulnerable to epigenetic dysregulation. Here we studied the methylation profiles of oppositely imprinted genes at single DNA molecule resolution by two independent parental allele-specific deep bisulfite sequencing (DBS) techniques. Using Roche (GSJunior) next generation sequencing technology, we analyzed the maternally imprinted MEST promoter and the paternally imprinted MEG3 intergenic (IG) differentially methylated region (DMR) in fetal cord blood, adult blood, and visceral adipose tissue. Epimutations were defined as paternal or maternal alleles with >50% aberrantly (de)methylated CpG sites, showing the wrong methylation imprint. The epimutation rates (range 2–66%) of the paternal MEST and the maternal MEG3 IG DMR allele, which should be completely unmethylated, were significantly higher than those (0–15%) of the maternal MEST and paternal MEG3 alleles, which are expected to be fully methylated. This hypermethylation of the non-imprinted allele (HNA) was independent of parental origin. Very low epimutation rates in sperm suggest that HNA occurred after fertilization. DBS with Illumina (MiSeq) technology confirmed HNA for the MEST promoter and the MEG3 IG DMR, and to a lesser extent, for the paternally imprinted secondary MEG3 promoter and the maternally imprinted PEG3 promoter. HNA leads to biallelic methylation of imprinted genes in a considerable proportion of normal body cells (somatic mosaicism) and is highly variable between individuals. We propose that during development and differentiation maintenance of differential methylation at most imprinting control regions may become to some extent redundant. The accumulation of stochastic and environmentally-induced methylation errors on the non-imprinted allele may increase epigenetic diversity between cells and individuals.
KW  - DNA methylation
KW  - genomic imprinting
KW  - polymerase chain reaction
KW  - blood
KW  - epigenetics
KW  - sequence alignment
KW  - sperm
Y1  - 2017
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-170433
VL  - 12
IS  - 8
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Klughammer, Johanna
A1  - Dittrich, Marcus
A1  - Blom, Jochen
A1  - Mitesser, Vera
A1  - Vogel, Ulrich
A1  - Frosch, Matthias
A1  - Goesmann, Alexander
A1  - Müller, Tobias
A1  - Schoen, Christoph
T1  - Comparative genome sequencing reveals within-host genetic changes in Neisseria meningitidis during invasive disease
JF  - PLoS ONE
N2  - Some members of the physiological human microbiome occasionally cause life-threatening disease even in immunocompetent individuals. A prime example of such a commensal pathogen is Neisseria meningitidis, which normally resides in the human nasopharynx but is also a leading cause of sepsis and epidemic meningitis. Using N. meningitidis as model organism, we tested the hypothesis that virulence of commensal pathogens is a consequence of within host evolution and selection of invasive variants due to mutations at contingency genes, a mechanism called phase variation. In line with the hypothesis that phase variation evolved as an adaptation to colonize diverse hosts, computational comparisons of all 27 to date completely sequenced and annotated meningococcal genomes retrieved from public databases showed that contingency genes are indeed enriched for genes involved in host interactions. To assess within-host genetic changes in meningococci, we further used ultra-deep whole-genome sequencing of throat-blood strain pairs isolated from four patients suffering from invasive meningococcal disease. We detected up to three mutations per strain pair, affecting predominantly contingency genes involved in type IV pilus biogenesis. However, there was not a single (set) of mutation(s) that could invariably be found in all four pairs of strains. Phenotypic assays further showed that these genetic changes were generally not associated with increased serum resistance, higher fitness in human blood ex vivo or differences in the interaction with human epithelial and endothelial cells in vitro. In conclusion, we hypothesize that virulence of meningococci results from accidental emergence of invasive variants during carriage and without within host evolution of invasive phenotypes during disease progression in vivo.
KW  - blood
KW  - comparative genomics
KW  - throat
KW  - genetic loci
KW  - Neisseria meningitidis
KW  - genomic libraries
KW  - genome sequencing
KW  - sequence assembly tools
Y1  - 2017
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-159547
VL  - 12
IS  - 1
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Nanda, Indrajit
A1  - Schories, Susanne
A1  - Simeonov, Ivan
A1  - Adolfi, Mateus Contar
A1  - Du, Kang
A1  - Steinlein, Claus
A1  - Alsheimer, Manfred
A1  - Haaf, Thomas
A1  - Schartl, Manfred
T1  - Evolution of the degenerated Y-chromosome of the swamp guppy, Micropoecilia picta
JF  - Cells
N2  - The conspicuous colour sexual dimorphism of guppies has made them paradigmatic study objects for sex-linked traits and sex chromosome evolution. Both the X- and Y-chromosomes of the common guppy (Poecilia reticulata) are genetically active and homomorphic, with a large homologous part and a small sex specific region. This feature is considered to emulate the initial stage of sex chromosome evolution. A similar situation has been documented in the related Endler’s and Oropuche guppies (P. wingei, P. obscura) indicating a common origin of the Y in this group. A recent molecular study in the swamp guppy (Micropoecilia. picta) reported a low SNP density on the Y, indicating Y-chromosome deterioration. We performed a series of cytological studies on M. picta to show that the Y-chromosome is quite small compared to the X and has accumulated a high content of heterochromatin. Furthermore, the Y-chromosome stands out in displaying CpG clusters around the centromeric region. These cytological findings evidently illustrate that the Y-chromosome in M. picta is indeed highly degenerated. Immunostaining for SYCP3 and MLH1 in pachytene meiocytes revealed that a substantial part of the Y remains associated with the X. A specific MLH1 hotspot site was persistently marked at the distal end of the associated XY structure. These results unveil a landmark of a recombining pseudoautosomal region on the otherwise strongly degenerated Y chromosome of M. picta. Hormone treatments of females revealed that, unexpectedly, no sexually antagonistic color gene is Y-linked in M. picta. All these differences to the Poecilia group of guppies indicate that the trajectories associated with the evolution of sex chromosomes are not in parallel.
KW  - sex chromosomes
KW  - heterochromatin
KW  - Y chromosome degeneration
KW  - meiosis
KW  - synaptonemal complex
KW  - recombination
KW  - 5-methylcytosine
KW  - testosterone
KW  - sexual antagonistic genes
KW  - sex linked pigmentation pattern
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-267242
SN  - 2073-4409
VL  - 11
IS  - 7
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Prell, Andreas
A1  - Sen, Mustafa Orkun
A1  - Potabattula, Ramya
A1  - Bernhardt, Laura
A1  - Dittrich, Marcus
A1  - Hahn, Thomas
A1  - Schorsch, Martin
A1  - Zacchini, Federica
A1  - Ptak, Grazyna Ewa
A1  - Niemann, Heiner
A1  - Haaf, Thomas
T1  - Species-specific paternal age effects and sperm methylation levels of developmentally important genes
JF  - Cells
N2  - A growing number of sperm methylome analyses have identified genomic loci that are susceptible to paternal age effects in a variety of mammalian species, including human, bovine, and mouse. However, there is little overlap between different data sets. Here, we studied whether or not paternal age effects on the sperm epigenome have been conserved in mammalian evolution and compared methylation patterns of orthologous regulatory regions (mainly gene promoters) containing both conserved and non-conserved CpG sites in 94 human, 36 bovine, and 94 mouse sperm samples, using bisulfite pyrosequencing. We discovered three (NFKB2, RASGEF1C, and RPL6) age-related differentially methylated regions (ageDMRs) in humans, four (CHD7, HDAC11, PAK1, and PTK2B) in bovines, and three (Def6, Nrxn2, and Tbx19) in mice. Remarkably, the identified sperm ageDMRs were all species-specific. Most ageDMRs were in genomic regions with medium methylation levels and large methylation variation. Orthologous regions in species not showing this age effect were either hypermethylated (>80%) or hypomethylated (<20%). In humans and mice, ageDMRs lost methylation, whereas bovine ageDMRs gained methylation with age. Our results are in line with the hypothesis that sperm ageDMRs are in regions under epigenomic evolution and may be part of an epigenetic mechanism(s) for lineage-specific environmental adaptations and provide a solid basis for studies on downstream effects in the genes analyzed here.
KW  - age-related differentially methylated regions (ageDMRs)
KW  - bisulfite pyrosequencing
KW  - mammalian male germline
KW  - paternal age effect
KW  - species-specific epigenetic marks
KW  - sperm DNA methylation
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-262301
SN  - 2073-4409
VL  - 11
IS  - 4
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Liedtke, Daniel
A1  - Hofmann, Christine
A1  - Jakob, Franz
A1  - Klopocki, Eva
A1  - Graser, Stephanie
T1  - Tissue-Nonspecific Alkaline Phosphatase—A Gatekeeper of Physiological Conditions in Health and a Modulator of Biological Environments in Disease
JF  - Biomolecules
N2  - Tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP) is a ubiquitously expressed enzyme that is best known for its role during mineralization processes in bones and skeleton. The enzyme metabolizes phosphate compounds like inorganic pyrophosphate and pyridoxal-5′-phosphate to provide, among others, inorganic phosphate for the mineralization and transportable vitamin B6 molecules. Patients with inherited loss of function mutations in the ALPL gene and consequently altered TNAP activity are suffering from the rare metabolic disease hypophosphatasia (HPP). This systemic disease is mainly characterized by impaired bone and dental mineralization but may also be accompanied by neurological symptoms, like anxiety disorders, seizures, and depression. HPP characteristically affects all ages and shows a wide range of clinical symptoms and disease severity, which results in the classification into different clinical subtypes. This review describes the molecular function of TNAP during the mineralization of bones and teeth, further discusses the current knowledge on the enzyme’s role in the nervous system and in sensory perception. An additional focus is set on the molecular role of TNAP in health and on functional observations reported in common laboratory vertebrate disease models, like rodents and zebrafish.
KW  - TNAP
KW  - hypophosphatasia
KW  - HPP
KW  - zebrafish
KW  - mineralization
KW  - ALPL
KW  - craniosynostosis
KW  - teeth
KW  - nervous system
Y1  - 2020
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-220096
SN  - 2218-273X
VL  - 10
IS  - 12
PB  - MDPI
ER  -