Talking genes

The worlds of genetics and speech pathology intersect in several places: some communication disorders clearly have a genetic basis, and many genetic conditions or syndromes have an effect on speech and language. The rapid changes in the world of genetics present a challenge to health professionals in maintaining their knowledge of this field. This paper will introduce genetics terminology and concepts that are useful in understanding genetics. With particular reference to paediatric genetic conditions, three important points in relation to speech and genetics will be discussed: (i) common disorders such as specific language impairment, cleft lip/palate and dyslexia have a multifactorial basis; (ii) the study of rare single gene syndromes can further the understanding of more common multifactorial conditions, and (iii) many syndromes have a speech and language phenotype as an important feature of the condition. Speech-language pathologists play an important role in recognising these phenotypes and assisting in the process of syndrome diagnosis.     

金黄色葡萄球菌耐药基因及致病毒素基因的相关性研究

目的研究携带TSST-1和PVL基因的金黄色葡萄球菌耐药特点、分布特征及与致病性的关系。方法临床收集74株金黄色葡萄球菌,采用PCR法检测TSST-1、PVL和mecA基因,纸片扩散法进行17种抗菌剂的耐药性检测。结果 74株金黄色葡萄球菌中mecA基因检出率为55.4%,其中22株检出PVL基因(30.3%),PVL阳性的耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌(MRSA)为15株(36.6%),甲氧西林敏感的金黄色葡萄球菌(MSSA)为7株(21.2%),两者间差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。5株金黄色葡萄球菌中检出TSST-1基因(6.3%),均为MRSA。MRSA耐药性严重,并呈多重耐药性,携带基因PVL和TSST-1的MRSA除对万古霉素敏感外,对其他抗菌剂均耐药。结论携带基因TSST-1和PVL的金黄色葡萄球菌耐药性及致病力更强,增加了临床抗感染治疗的难度。     

Human clock genes

Rhythmic variations in physiological and behavioural processes are mediated by both endogenous and exogenous factors. Endogenous factors include self-sustaining biological pacemakers or clocks which in the absence of strong external influences self-sustain periodic rhythms in such diverse physiological and psychological processes as core body temperature, food intake, cognitive performance and mood. Clocks with endogenous periods near or at 24 h (called circadian clocks from the Latin, circa dies, meaning about one day) have been documented from prokaryotes to single cell eukaryotes to multi-cellular, complex animals such as flies, rodents and humans. Over the past few years, a revolution in the understanding of the molecular basis of these clocks has led to the identification of a number of core clock genes and their proteins, and the development of elegant feedback models to explain the molecular gears of circadian clocks. At least eight human orthologs of mouse core clock genes have been identified, and polymorphisms in two of these, hClock and hPer2, have been implicated in human sleep disorders. Remarkably, knowledge of these core clock genes and the development of sophisticated reporter systems to monitor clock gene promoter activity have led to the astonishing observation that our body is actually composed of millions of cellular clocks and oscillators whose co-ordinated activity gives rise to pronounced daily, monthly, and seasonal rhythms in physiology and behaviour. An idea that is gaining favour is that our physical and mental well-being is probably determined by the appropriate phasing of these millions of cellular clocks with recurring, meaningful events in the environment.     

NIDDM susceptibility genes

Non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is a heterogeneous disorder and both genetic and nongenetic factors are associated with the development of diabetes. Until now five genes (HNF-4 alpha, glucokinase, HNF-1 alpha, IPF-1 and HNF-1 beta), whose mutation can result in MODY, insulin and insulin receptor genes, and mitochondria DNA have been reported to be responsible for diabetes. Furthermore the mutations in some genes which work for insulin secretion or action also have been reported. This review discusses our current knowledge of these NIDDM susceptibility genes.     

Melatonin receptor genes

Melatonin is produced rhythmically by the pineal gland and the retina with increased synthesis during darkness. Pineal melatonin serves as the ‘chemical expression of darkness’ conveying information on the ambient light-dark cycle into rhythmic bodily functions. On-going debate on modes and sites of action ranges from views of melatonin affecting each and every cell (‘cure-all’) to those of melatonin having restricted actions through specific high-affinity receptors. The present review deals with the latter view. The use of 2-[¹²⁵I]-iodomelatonin has allowed the exact localization and characterization of high-affinity melatonin receptors that signal through the G_i/o class of G proteins. Molecular cloning of melatonin receptor genes has confirmed that most, if not all, high-affinity melatonin-binding sites represent the G-protein-coupled melatonin receptors. Based on sequence dissimilarities, melatonin receptors are classified into three subtypes, Mel_la, Mel_lb and Mel_1c. A distribution wider than originally thought of melatonin receptors in the human brain and peripheral sites has brought these receptors into focus of several drug companies, promising exciting times for research on melatonin and new therapeutic possibilities.     

PPARs target genes

PPAR(alpha, beta/delta, gamma) are ligand-dependent nuclear receptors and regulate homeostasis, cell proliferation/differentiation and associate with hypolipidemia, atherosclerosis, diabetes, and obesity. Through heterodimerization with retinoid X receptors (RXRs), PPARs bind the same consensus response element, formed by a direct repeat of two AGGTCA hexamers separated by one base. Recently, many PPAR direct and indirect target genes have been reported. Here, we summarize the PPAR direct/indirect target genes, and their functions related to lipid metabolism, adipocyte differentiation.     

Human clock genes

Rhythmic variations in physiological and behavioural processes are mediated by both endogenous and exogenous factors. Endogenous factors include self-sustaining biological pacemakers or clocks which in the absence of strong external influences self-sustain periodic rhythms in such diverse physiological and psychological processes as core body temperature, food intake, cognitive performance and mood. Clocks with endogenous periods near or at 24 h (called circadian clocks from the Latin, circa dies, meaning about one day) have been documented from prokaryotes to single cell eukaryotes to multi-cellular, complex animals such as flies, rodents and humans. Over the past few years, a revolution in the understanding of the molecular basis of these clocks has led to the identification of a number of core clock genes and their proteins, and the development of elegant feedback models to explain the molecular gears of circadian clocks. At least eight human orthologs of mouse core clock genes have been identified, and polymorphisms in two of these, hClock and hPer2, have been implicated in human sleep disorders. Remarkably, knowledge of these core clock genes and the development of sophisticated reporter systems to monitor clock gene promoter activity have led to the astonishing observation that our body is actually composed of millions of cellular clocks and oscillators whose co-ordinated activity gives rise to pronounced daily, monthly, and seasonal rhythms in physiology and behaviour. An idea that is gaining favour is that our physical and mental well-being is probably determined by the appropriate phasing of these millions of cellular clocks with recurring, meaningful events in the environment.     

Finding schizophrenia genes

Genetic epidemiological studies suggest that individual variation in susceptibility to schizophrenia is largely genetic, reflecting alleles of moderate to small effect in multiple genes. Molecular genetic studies have identified a number of potential regions of linkage and 2 associated chromosomal abnormalities, and accumulating evidence favors several positional candidate genes. These findings are grounds for optimism that insight into genetic factors associated with schizophrenia will help further our understanding of this disease and contribute to the development of new ways to treat it.     

耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌耐药基因及致病毒素基因的研究进展

金葡菌是临床最常见的病原菌之一，在临床分离菌中分离率位居前列，其中以MRSA临床意义尤为重要。由于其多重耐药性和易造成医院感染的暴发流行，已成为临床抗感染治疗的一大难题。金葡菌可引起一系列的化脓性感染、食物中毒及中毒性休克综合征等，其化脓性感染从小的皮肤感染病变如疖、痈到严重的感染如组织坏死、坏死性肺炎、骨髓炎和心内膜炎等。     

Dopamine genes and migraine

Migraine is a common chronic disorder with an etiology still mostly unknown. Several neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin are considered to be involved in the pathogenesis of the disease and the study of their systems is crucial in the understanding of migraine. Dopaminergic receptors are variously represented in human CNS and periphery. The hypothesis that a hypersensitivity of the dopaminergic system may have a role in migraine is based on clinical and genetic data. Genetic data are represented by association studies using dopaminergic genes as candidate genes which show that the D2 receptor gene appears to be involved in the pathogenesis of migraine.     

Impaired spermatogenesis and genes

The crucial genes for spermatogenesis have not yet been identified, but the AZF regions in the Y chromosome are now thought to show a major correlation with spermatogenesis. Recently, a complex of palindromes exists in the Yq, and is conserved in a highly repetitive sequence. Therefore, the PCR based sequence tagged site (STS) could not be accurately decided their unique position. This review demonstrated that there was not a high frequency of deletion of AZF-specific genes than expected using usual STS-PCR. However, the frequency of expression in AZF genes is relatively low. This discrepancy is probably due to repetitive sequence of complex palindromes in the Yq.