ALBERT

Description: Whole exome sequencing has proven to be a powerful tool for understanding the genetic architecture of human disease. Here we apply it to more than 2,500 simplex families, each having a child with an autistic spectrum disorder. By comparing affected to unaffected siblings, we show that 13% of de novo missense mutations and 43% of de novo likely gene-disrupting (LGD) mutations contribute to 12% and 9% of diagnoses, respectively. Including copy number variants, coding de novo mutations contribute to about 30% of all simplex and 45% of female diagnoses. Almost all LGD mutations occur opposite wild-type alleles. LGD targets in affected females significantly overlap the targets in males of lower intelligence quotient (IQ), but neither overlaps significantly with targets in males of higher IQ. We estimate that LGD mutation in about 400 genes can contribute to the joint class of affected females and males of lower IQ, with an overlapping and similar number of genes vulnerable to contributory missense mutation. LGD targets in the joint class overlap with published targets for intellectual disability and schizophrenia, and are enriched for chromatin modifiers, FMRP-associated genes and embryonically expressed genes. Most of the significance for the latter comes from affected females.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4313871/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4313871/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Iossifov, Ivan -- O'Roak, Brian J -- Sanders, Stephan J -- Ronemus, Michael -- Krumm, Niklas -- Levy, Dan -- Stessman, Holly A -- Witherspoon, Kali T -- Vives, Laura -- Patterson, Karynne E -- Smith, Joshua D -- Paeper, Bryan -- Nickerson, Deborah A -- Dea, Jeanselle -- Dong, Shan -- Gonzalez, Luis E -- Mandell, Jeffrey D -- Mane, Shrikant M -- Murtha, Michael T -- Sullivan, Catherine A -- Walker, Michael F -- Waqar, Zainulabedin -- Wei, Liping -- Willsey, A Jeremy -- Yamrom, Boris -- Lee, Yoon-ha -- Grabowska, Ewa -- Dalkic, Ertugrul -- Wang, Zihua -- Marks, Steven -- Andrews, Peter -- Leotta, Anthony -- Kendall, Jude -- Hakker, Inessa -- Rosenbaum, Julie -- Ma, Beicong -- Rodgers, Linda -- Troge, Jennifer -- Narzisi, Giuseppe -- Yoon, Seungtai -- Schatz, Michael C -- Ye, Kenny -- McCombie, W Richard -- Shendure, Jay -- Eichler, Evan E -- State, Matthew W -- Wigler, Michael -- P30 CA016359/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- T32 GM007266/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- U54 HD083091/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ -- UL1 TR000142/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/ -- Canadian Institutes of Health Research/Canada -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2014 Nov 13;515(7526):216-21. doi: 10.1038/nature13908. Epub 2014 Oct 29.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724, USA. ; 1] Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA [2] Molecular &Medical Genetics, Oregon Health &Science University, Portland, Oregon 97208, USA. ; 1] Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, USA [2] Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA. ; Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. ; Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, USA. ; 1] Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA [2] Center for Bioinformatics, State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. ; Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA. ; Yale Center for Genomic Analysis, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA. ; 1] Center for Bioinformatics, State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China [2] National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing 102206, China. ; 1] Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724, USA [2] New York Genome Center, New York, New York 10013, USA. ; 1] Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724, USA [2] Department of Medical Biology, Bulent Ecevit University School of Medicine, 67600 Zonguldak, Turkey. ; Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461, USA. ; 1] Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA [2] Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. ; 1] Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, USA [2] Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA [3] Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA [4] Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25363768" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈p〉Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has facilitated the first genome-wide evaluations of the contribution of de novo noncoding mutations to complex disorders. Using WGS, we identified 255,106 de novo mutations among sample genomes from members of 1902 quartet families in which one child, but not a sibling or their parents, was affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In contrast to coding mutations, no noncoding functional annotation category, analyzed in isolation, was significantly associated with ASD. Casting noncoding variation in the context of a de novo risk score across multiple annotation categories, however, did demonstrate association with mutations localized to promoter regions. We found that the strongest driver of this promoter signal emanates from evolutionarily conserved transcription factor binding sites distal to the transcription start site. These data suggest that de novo mutations in promoter regions, characterized by evolutionary and functional signatures, contribute to ASD.〈/p〉

Description: Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has facilitated the first genome-wide evaluations of the contribution of de novo noncoding mutations to complex disorders. Using WGS, we identified 255,106 de novo mutations among sample genomes from members of 1902 quartet families in which one child, but not a sibling or their parents, was affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In contrast to coding mutations, no noncoding functional annotation category, analyzed in isolation, was significantly associated with ASD. Casting noncoding variation in the context of a de novo risk score across multiple annotation categories, however, did demonstrate association with mutations localized to promoter regions. We found that the strongest driver of this promoter signal emanates from evolutionarily conserved transcription factor binding sites distal to the transcription start site. These data suggest that de novo mutations in promoter regions, characterized by evolutionary and functional signatures, contribute to ASD.

Description: During the last half century, identification of an ideal (predominantly entropic) protein elastomer was generally thought to require that the ideal protein elastomer be a random chain network. Here, we report two new sets of data and review previous data. The first set of new data utilizes atomic force microscopy to report single-chain force-extension curves for (GVGVP) 251 and (GVGIP) 260 , and provides evidence for single-chain ideal elasticity. The second class of new data provides a direct contrast between low-frequency sound absorption (0.1-10 kHz) exhibited by random-chain network elastomers and by elastin protein-based polymers. Earlier composition, dielectric relaxation (1-1000 MHz), thermoelasticity, molecular mechanics and dynamics calculations and thermodynamic and statistical mechanical analyses are presented, that combine with the new data to contrast with random-chain network rubbers and to detail the presence of regular non-random structural elements of the elastin-based systems that lose entropic elastomeric force upon thermal denaturation. The data and analyses affirm an earlier contrary argument that components of elastin, the elastic protein of the mammalian elastic fibre, and purified elastin fibre itself contain dynamic, non-random, regularly repeating structures that exhibit dominantly entropic elasticity by means of a damping of internal chain dynamics on extension.

Description: A constant-output atomizer includes a body which has a generally frustoconical expansion nozzle for producing an air jet when a supply of pressurized air is connected to the nozzle upstream of the throat of the nozzle. A liquid feed line supplies liquid to be atomized by the air jet, and the body includes a groove which opens into the diffuser section of the nozzle downstream of the throat for conducting liquid from the feed line to the nozzle. The groove which extends in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the nozzle, and radially with respect to it, has a depth approximately equal to half the axial length of the nozzle. Liquid, conducted by capillary action in the groove to the nozzle, is atomized into a fine mist by the air jet in the nozzle; and the groove eliminates fluctuations in spray order.

Description: Improved constant-output atomizer has conical orifice that permits air to sweep out all liquid thoroughly and prevent any buildup of liquid or dissolved solids. Capillary groove guides liquid to gas jet. Simple new design eliminates clogging.

Description: In order to obtain identical samples participating CCN instruments and aerosol characterizing equipment were located along and connected to a 8.2 cm diameter aluminum tube through which the test aerosols were pumped directly from the source at very slight overpressure. Of the total of 29 experiments, 18 were carried out with artificial NaCl or (NH4)2SO4 aerosols. These were generated from salt solutions by pneumatic atomizers of special design to ensure high constancy of the aerosol output concentration. In three experiments with insoluble CCN (AgI, paraffin wax) the aerosols were generated thermally. In some of the tests, an electrostatic classifier was used for narrowing the particle size distributions.