Science
Scientific articles
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Novel Genetic Cause for Neurodevelopmental Defects
Many proteins are crucial for proper brain development. By showing that certain neurodevelopmental defects are associated with mutations in TMX2, this study adds an enzyme of the redox signaling pathway to the list of vital proteins. These findings, which were partially based on data generated at…
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A controversy in Parkinsonism research
Parkinson disease (PD) can be associated with mutations that are usually found in patients with Gaucher disease (GD). Treatment options for GD are therefore considered also for PD, but there are reasons to question this approach. A pertinent commentary by experts in the field, which included the CEO…
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A new biomarker function for a long-known hormone
Adiponectin is a hormone with well-known relevance to cardiac and renal function. As Fabry disease (FD), a rare metabolic disorder, often manifests with cardiac and/or renal symptoms, researchers at CENTOGENE examined a potential link to adiponectin. Their finding of plasma adiponectin levels to…
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An unusual Gaucher family
A family in which all individuals over two generations suffer from an unexplained phenotype was recently referred to CENTOGENE for diagnostic workup. Comprehensive biochemical and genomic screening revealed the presence of four distinct GBA gene genotypes, each leading to Gaucher disease. This…
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Extended application of an old medication
While ambroxol has been in medical use for respiratory diseases for over 40 years, its recently understood mode of action suggests a wider applicability. For Gaucher disease (GD), a metabolic disorder, ambroxol has now been shown to improve neurological symptoms, and to reduce the levels of…
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Informing therapeutic decisions in a rare disorder
Therapy for Gaucher disease, a rare metabolic disorder, has been available for almost 30 years, but whether all patients should receive the costly treatment has remained controversial. Upon longitudinal analysis of untreated patients, those with mild disease have now been shown to remain clinically…
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Disturbed lipid metabolism causes congenital disease
Lipid metabolism is crucially involved in embryonic development, and recent research uncovered yet another link. Genetic screening revealed that inactivation of the enzyme sphingomyealinase-3 results in prenatal abnormalities, and in vitro studies defined the underlying pathophysiology. The study,…
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New genetic cause of severe heart disease
Heart disease is a clinically and genetically diverse condition. In two siblings with a fatal outcome, compound heterozygosity for variants in the ASNA1 gene was identified as the only plausible cause upon exome sequencing at CENTOGENE. Functional data that were contributed by academic collaborators…
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Fetal exome sequencing in a real world setting
Fetal exome sequencing (fES) has been available for some time, but systematic analyses of the outcome are scarce. Based on a series of cases evaluated at CENTOGENE, diagnostic yield of fES was found to be impacted by (i) presence of ultra-sound abnormalities, (ii) positive family history, and (iii)…
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Insights into the pathophysiology of Niemann-Pick disease
Lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are a central focus of research as performed at CENTOGENE. Characterization of a mouse model for the LSD Niemann-Pick disease suggested that defects in a cholesterol-associated signaling pathway may contribute to the neurological manifestations of this disorder.…