RESUMEN
BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aim of the present study is to probe the potential association between previously-reported GARP2 mutations and retinitis pigmentosa (RP) using Scottish RP patients and controls. METHODS: Exons 4, 5 and 8 in DNA from blood or buccal samples (130 autosomal recessive and simplex RP patients, 31 controls) were amplified and analysed for single-strand conformational polymorphism by capillary electrophoresis (CE-SSCP) and confirmed by sequencing. RESULTS: The p.Arg86Gln mutation in exon 4 was found in just one patient (out of 130), and in 10 of the 31 unaffected subjects. All of these occurrences were in people of West African origin (patient and controls). Two polymorphisms in exon 5, p.His100Arg and p.Gly109Gly, and a c.534+20A>G change in the intronic region flanking the 3' end of exon 8 were also found not to be associated with RP. CONCLUSIONS: The Scottish population examined here had no mutations in the GARP2 exons surveyed that could be associated with RP. The p.Arg86Gln mutation actually appears to be a polymorphism common in ethnic West Africans and not associated with RP. This change may provide a useful marker for West African ancestry.
Asunto(s)
Sustitución de Aminoácidos , Población Negra/genética , Polimorfismo de Nucleótido Simple , África Occidental , Secuencia de Aminoácidos , Secuencia de Bases , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Canales Catiónicos Regulados por Nucleótidos Cíclicos , Exones , Humanos , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Retinitis Pigmentosa/genética , Escocia , Alineación de Secuencia , Población Blanca/genéticaRESUMEN
Gene therapy requires safe and efficient gene delivery systems. Towards this aim both the gene formulation and tumour transfection ability of C12 spermine amphiphiles were tested. Five amphiphiles were synthesised and characterised: 1-[N,N-bis(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-butane diamine] dodecane (12G0--a C12 spermine amphiphile), a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG, MW = 2 kDa) derivative of 12G0, 1,12-[N,N-bis(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-butane diamine] dodecane (12G1--a C12 spermine bolaamphiphile) and N-methyl quaternary ammonium derivatives of both 12G0 (12QG0) and 12G1 (12QG1). All amphiphiles except 12G0, which precipitates, yield nanoparticles in aqueous media with and without DNA. Thus when 12G0 is substituted with either quaternary ammonium or PEG groups it forms nanoparticles both with and without DNA. The minimum nitrogen, phosphate ratio required to completely condense DNA (NP) was inversely proportional to the particles' zeta potential (zeta), NP = 1626/zeta(0.98). Biological testing showed that both PEG and quaternary ammonium groups diminished the membrane lytic ability of these C12 amphiphiles. On intratumoural injection, while PEG groups hamper gene transfer, the quaternary ammonium amphiphile (12QG0) produces tumour confined gene expression that is 80% of that produced by linear poly(ethylenimine) (LPEI, MW = 22 kDa); while the intratumoural injection of LPEI produced significant gene expression in the liver and lung, making 12QG0 suitable for the administration of cytotoxic tumouricidal genes.
Asunto(s)
Sistemas de Liberación de Medicamentos , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica , Terapia Genética/métodos , Neoplasias/terapia , Tensoactivos/farmacología , Animales , Ratas , Relación Estructura-Actividad , Tensoactivos/síntesis químicaRESUMEN
Interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP), which binds retinoids and fatty acids, is the major soluble protein in the interphotoreceptor matrix (IPM) but its role remains ambiguous. Using competitive fluorescence and tryptophan-quenching assays we found oleic acid and other cis-monounsaturated fatty acids bind much more strongly than does docosahexaenoic acid to bovine IRBP. IPM's fatty acid composition was determined: it was richer in oleic acid than either the retinal pigment epithelium or rod outer segments. This may imply oleic acid has a key role in the balance and transport of retinoids and fatty acids in the retina.