YCU PR Office

2019-07-23

Long-read sequencing identifies GGC repeat expansions in NOTCH2NLC associated with neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease

Neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease (NIID) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by eosinophilic hyaline intranuclear inclusions in neuronal and somatic cells. The wide range of clinical manifestations in NIID makes ante-mortem diagnosis difficult1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, but skin biopsy enables its ante-mortem diagnosis9,10,11,12.
2019-07-11

South Africa before 1994, after 1994 and Collaboration with Japan

H.E. Mr. Lulama Smuts Ngonyama, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of South Africa, delivered a lecture titled “South Africa before 1994, after 1994 and Collaboration with Japan” on 11 July 2019. Professor Eiichi Yoshida, who is an expert in African Studies, served as a moderator.
2019-06-28

Lubiprostone as a potential therapeutic agent to improve intestinal permeability and prevent the development of atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice

The interaction between atherosclerosis and commensal microbes through leaky gut syndrome (LGS), which is characterized by impaired intestinal permeability and the introduction of undesired pathogens into the body, has not been fully elucidated. Our aim was to investigate the potential role of a ClC-2 chloride channel activator, lubiprostone, which is reported to have beneficial effects on LGS, in the development of atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E–deficient (ApoE-/-) mice.
2019-06-10

Comprehensive analysis of coding variants highlights genetic complexity in developmental and epileptic encephalopathy

Although there are many known Mendelian genes linked to epileptic or developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (EE/DEE), its genetic architecture is not fully explained. Here, we address this incompleteness by analyzing exomes of 743 EE/DEE cases and 2366 controls. We observe that damaging ultra-rare variants (dURVs) unique to an individual are significantly overrepresented in EE/DEE, both in known EE/DEE genes and the other non-EE/DEE genes.