As the key component of immune system, dendritic cells (DCs) are the most competent antigen presenting cells. Compared with the conventional direct vaccination, in vitro treatment of DCs with tumor antigens generates more potent APC to stimulate antitumor response in vivo. This efficient cellular immuno-therapy is gaining increasing popularity in tumor vaccine preparation.

Next-generation sequencing has boosted the development and application of non-invasive prenatal testing.Non-invasive prenatal screening of fetal aneuploidies (T21/T18/T13) has been widely applied around the world as the well-recognized best screening method because of its high sensitivity, low false-positive rate and false-negative rate.Non-invasive prenatal testing of fetal sex chromosome aneuploidies, common chromosome deletion-duplication syndromes and several monogenic disorders has also become technically feasible.It can be expected that primary challenges in the future would be the issues of clinical services and proper managements.

Objective:To explore the clinical features and genetic etiology for a child with developmental delay, impaired growth, facial dysmorphism, and axonal neuropathy (DIGFAN).Methods:A child who was admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University on March 22, 2021 was selected the study subject. Clinical data of the child was collected. Following extraction of genomic DNA, the child and his parents were subjected to whole exome sequencing (WES), and candidate variant was verified by Sanger sequencing and bioinformatic analysis.Results:The child, a 10-year-and-9-month-old boy, had manifested with short stature, intellectual disability, delayed speech, motor and language development, and facial dysmorphism. WES and Sanger sequencing revealed that he has harbored a novel de novo c. 800T>C (p.Leu267Pro) variant of the MORC2 gene. The Leucine at position 267, which is highly conserved among various species, is located in the S5 domain of ribosome protein in the ATPase binding region of MORC2. And the Leu267Pro may affect the function of MORC2 by altering the spatial conformation and activity of ATPase. Based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, the c. 800T>C variant was classified as likely pathogenic (PS2+ PM2_Supporting+ PP2+ PP3). Conclusion:The MORC2: c. 800T>C (p.Leu267Pro) variant probably underlay the pathogenesis of DIGFAN syndrome in this child.

OBJECTIVETo detect mutations of the XPC (XPC complex subunit, DNA damage recognition and repair factor) gene in a family affected with xeroderma pigmentosum group C (XP-C).

METHODSThe patient was subjected to next-generation sequencing and Sanger sequencing. Suspected mutations were validated by Sanger sequencing. Effect of splicing mutation was confirmed by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR).

RESULTSCompound heterozygous mutations of c.2098G to T and c.2034-7_2040del were found in the XPC gene in the proband. Among these, c.2098G to T (p.G700X) is a nonsense mutation resulting in a truncated XPC protein. C.2034-7_2040del involves the -1 position, which may alter the splice donor site of the intron 11 of XPC and result in a truncated XPC protein with loss of amino acids from 940 to 679 positions. The two mutations were not detected among 100 unrelated healthy controls.

CONCLUSIONMutations of c.2098 G to T and c.2034-7_2040del of the XPC gene may lead to abnormal XPC expression and reduction or elimination of normal XPC functions, which may underlie the disease in this family.