Recent developments in genetics and medically assisted reproduction : from research to clinical applications

Two leading European professional societies, the European Society of Human Genetics and the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology, have worked together since 2004 to evaluate the impact of fast research advances at the interface of assisted reproduction and genetics, including their application into clinical practice. In September 2016, the expert panel met for the third time. The topics discussed highlighted important issues covering the impacts of expanded carrier screening, direct-to-consumer genetic testing, voiding of the presumed anonymity of gamete donors by advanced genetic testing, advances in the research of genetic causes underlying male and female infertility, utilisation of massively parallel sequencing in preimplantation genetic testing and non-invasive prenatal screening, mitochondrial replacement in human oocytes, and additionally, issues related to cross-generational epigenetic inheritance following IVF and germline genome editing. The resulting paper represents a consensus of both professional societies involved.Peer reviewe

Supplementary Material for: RASopathies: Presentation at the Genome, Interactome, and Phenome Levels

Clinical symptoms often reflect molecular correlations between mutated proteins. Alignment between interactome and phenome levels reveals new disease genes and connections between previously unrelated diseases. Despite a great potential for novel discoveries, this approach is still rarely used in genomics. In the present study, we analyzed the data of 6 syndromes belonging to the RASopathy class of disorders (RASopathies) and presented them as a model to study associations between genome, interactome, and phenome levels. Causative genes and clinical symptoms were collected from OMIM and NCBI GeneReviews databases for 6 syndromes: Noonan, Noonan syndrome with multiple lentigines, neurofibromatosis type 1, cardiofaciocutaneous, and Legius and Costello syndrome. The STRING tool was used for the identification of protein interactions. Six RASopathy syndromes were found to be associated with 12 causative genes. We constructed an interactome of RASopathy proteins and their neighbors and developed a database of 328 clinical symptoms. The collected data was presented at genome, interactome, and phenome levels and as an integrated network of all 3 data types. The present study provides a baseline for future studies of associations between interactome and phenome in RASopathies and could serve as a novel approach to analyze phenotypically and genetically related diseases

Crystallographic Evidence of Nitrate-p Interactions Involving the Electron-Deficient 1,3,5-Triazine Ring.

The reaction of Zn(NO3)2·6H2O or Cu(NO3)2·3H2O with the star-shaped ligand 2,4,6-tris(di-2-picolylamino)[1,3,5]triazine (dipicatriz) in acetonitrile results in the formation of the mono- or trinuclear coordination compounds [Zn(dipicatriz)(NO3)2] (1), [Zn3(dipicatriz)(NO3)6](CH3CN)3 (2), and [Cu3(dipicatriz)(NO3)2(H2O)6](NO3)4 (3), depending on the metal-to-ligand ratios used during the crystallization process. Their crystal structures exhibit unique supramolecular interactions. Compounds 1 and 2 show anion−π interactions between coordinated nitrate ions and the s-triazine ring. Compound 3 exhibits remarkable interactions between two noncoordinated nitrate anions and the two faces of the electron-deficient heteroaromatic ring, corroborating earlier theoretical investigations in this area. New theoretical investigations have been carried out on nitrate−π interactions, taking into account the particular position of the anion toward the aromatic ring observed in the crystal structures