GALC deletions increase the risk of primary open-angle glaucoma: the role of Mendelian variants in complex disease

DNA copy number variants (CNVs) have been reported in many human diseases including autism and schizophrenia. Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG) is a complex adult-onset disorder characterized by progressive optic neuropathy and vision loss. Previous studies have identified rare CNVs in POAG; however, their low frequencies prevented formal association testing. We present here the association between POAG risk and a heterozygous deletion in the galactosylceramidase gene (GALC). This CNV was initially identified in a dataset containing 71 Caucasian POAG cases and 478 ethnically matched controls obtained from dbGAP (study accession phs000126.v1.p1.) (p = 0.017, fisher's exact test). It was validated with array comparative genomic hybridization (arrayCGH) and realtime PCR, and replicated in an independent POAG dataset containing 959 cases and 1852 controls (p = 0.021, OR (odds ratio) = 3.5, 95% CI -1.1-12.0). Evidence for association was strengthened when the discovery and replication datasets were combined (p = 0.002; OR = 5.0, 95% CI 1.6-16.4). Several deletions with different endpoints were identified by array CGH of POAG patients. Homozygous deletions that eliminate GALC enzymatic activity cause Krabbe disease, a recessive Mendelian disorder of childhood displaying bilateral optic neuropathy and vision loss. Our findings suggest that heterozygous deletions that reduce GALC activity are a novel mechanism increasing risk of POAG. This is the first report of a statistically-significant association of a CNV with POAG risk, contributing to a growing body of evidence that CNVs play an important role in complex, inherited disorders. Our findings suggest an attractive biomarker and potential therapeutic target for patients with this form of POAG.     

Ephedrinium-based protic chiral ionic liquids for enantiomeric recognition

We report the synthesis of a series of novel structurally related protic chiral ionic liquids (PCILs) derived from ephedrines. Enantiopure norephedrine, ephedrine, and methylephedrine were neutralized by use of fluorinated acids, bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, and bis(pentafluoroethanesulfonyl)imide to afford six PCILs with protonated primary, secondary, and tertiary amines. The goal of this study is to investigate the influence of structure on both chiral recognition abilities and physicochemical properties of these closely related PCILs. The newly synthesized PCILs were characterized by use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), thermal gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, circular dichroism (CD), mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis. The PCILs were thermally stable up to 220°C and had glass transition temperatures between -60 and -30°C. Both enantiomers of the PCILs retained chirality throughout the synthesis as demonstrated by use of CD measurements. More interestingly, these ephedrinium PCILs displayed strong chiral recognition capabilities as evidenced by peak splitting of the chemical shift of the trifluoro group of potassium Mosher's salt by use of (19)F-NMR. In addition, these PCILs demonstrated enantiomeric recognition capabilities toward a range of structurally diverse analytes using steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy.     

Pulmonary metastases of recurrent intracranial hemangiopericytoma diagnosed on fine needle aspiration cytology: a case report

BACKGROUND: Meningeal hemangiopericytoma (HPC) is a rare neoplasm. It is closely related to hemangiopericytomas in systemic tissues, with a tendency to recur and metastasize outside the CNS. Only a few case reports describe the cytomorphologic appearance of these metastasizing lesions, most having primary tumor in deep soft tissues. We report a case of recurrent meningeal HPC metastasizing to lungs. CASE: A 48-year-old woman presented with a history of headache. She underwent primary surgery 10 years previously for left parietal tumor. Histopathologic diagnosis was HPC. Radiotherapy was given postoperatively. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at admission suggested local recurrence. She also complained of dry cough and shortness of breath. On evaluation, computed tomography (CT) scan lung showed multiple, bilateral, small nodules. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of a larger nodule revealed spindle-shaped cells arranged around blood vessels. Immunohistochemistry with CD34 on cell block confirmed metastatic HPC. CONCLUSION: FNAC is an easy, accurate, relatively noninvasive procedure for diagnosing metastases, especially in patients with a history of recurrent intracranial HPC. Immunohistochemistry on cell block material collected at the time of FNAC may aid in distinguishing HPC from other tumors that are close mimics cytologically.     

Drosophila Omi, a mitochondrial-localized IAP antagonist and proapoptotic serine protease

Although essential in mammals, in flies the importance of mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization for apoptosis remains highly controversial. Herein, we demonstrate that Drosophila Omi (dOmi), a fly homologue of the serine protease Omi/HtrA2, is a developmentally regulated mitochondrial intermembrane space protein that undergoes processive cleavage, in situ, to generate two distinct inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) binding motifs. Depending upon the proapoptotic stimulus, mature dOmi is then differentially released into the cytosol, where it binds selectively to the baculovirus IAP repeat 2 (BIR2) domain in Drosophila IAP1 (DIAP1) and displaces the initiator caspase DRONC. This interaction alone, however, is insufficient to promote apoptosis, as dOmi fails to displace the effector caspase DrICE from the BIR1 domain in DIAP1. Rather, dOmi alleviates DIAP1 inhibition of all caspases by proteolytically degrading DIAP1 and induces apoptosis both in cultured cells and in the developing fly eye. In summary, we demonstrate for the first time in flies that mitochondrial permeabilization not only occurs during apoptosis but also results in the release of a bona fide proapoptotic protein.     

Liquid chromatographic separation of darunavir enantiomers on coated and immobilized amylose tris(3, 5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) chiral stationary phases

Liquid chromatographic separation of darunavir enantiomers on covalently bonded and physically adsorbed polysaccharide chiral stationary phases was studied at different temperatures. The separations were accomplished under normal-phase conditions by using different combinations of hexane, organic modifiers (2-propanol, 1-propanol and ethanol), and diethylamine as mobile phase solvents. The effect of organic modifiers and the column temperature on retention, separation, and resolution was investigated. The observed differences were explained in terms of the coated and immobilized nature of the two columns. Van't Hoff plots (ln k' vs. 1/T, ln α vs. 1/T) and apparent thermodynamic parameters were derived to understand the effect of temperature on separation.     

Deoxynucleic guanidine; synthesis and incorporation of purine nucleosides into positively charged DNG oligonucleotides

The synthesis of purine nucleosides capable of making the guanidinium linkage is described for the first time starting from the corresponding 2'-deoxynucleosides. The positively charged mixed base DNG oligomer containing guanine was synthesized on solid-phase using CPG as support from 3' to 5' direction using the precursor building block nucleosides.