OBJECTIVE: To explore the genotype-phenotype correlation of a case with GM1-gangliosidosis caused by compound heterogenic variants in GLB1. METHODS: Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples from the patient and her parents. Trio-based whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed for the family and suspected mutation was verified by Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: The proband, a 2-year-3-month old Chinese girl, presented with psychomotor deterioration, absent speech, intellectual disabilities and behavior problem. Trio-based WES has identified compound heterozygosity for 2 variants in the GLB1 gene: NM_000404.2:c.1343A>T, p.Asp448Val and c.1064A>C, p.Gln355Pro (GRCh37/hg19),which was inherited from the mother and father, respectively. Homozygous or compound heterozygous pathogenic variants in GLB1, encoding β-galactosidase, are responsible for GM1-gangliosidosis,an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disorder characterized by variable degrees of neurodegeneration and skeletal abnormalities. The p.Asp448Val variant has been classified as pathogenic for GM1 gangliosidosis in medical literatures for the reason that functional studies demonstrated that expression of the p.Asp448Val variant in COS-1 cells resulted in no detectable β-galactosidase activity compared to wild type GLB1. The p.Gln355Pro variant has not been reported in literatures or database. The variant is highly conserved residue (PM1), and was not found in either the Genome Aggregation Database or the 1000 Genomes Project (PM2) and was predicted to have a deleterious effect on the gene product by multiple in silico prediction tools (PP3). Next, the β-galactosidase activity of the patient's peripheral blood leukocytes was determined by fluorescent method. The result was 0.0 nmol/mg. It showed that the p.Gln355Pro variant also resulted in loss of β-galactosidase activity, thus the variant was classified into clinical pathogenic variant. CONCLUSION Our study expands the mutational spectrum of the GLB1 gene and provides genetic counseling for the family.
Asians/genetics* ; China ; Female ; G(M1) Ganglioside ; Gangliosidosis, GM1/genetics* ; Humans ; Mutation ; beta-Galactosidase/genetics*

OBJECTIVEThis study is to examine the secretion effects of beta-galactosidase in Lactococcus lactis.

METHODSThe usp45 and beta-galactosidase genes were cloned and inserted into plasmid pMG36e to obtain the recombinant plasmid pMG36e-usp-lacZ. This recombinant plasmid was transformed into both Escherichia coli DH5alpha and L. lactis MG1363. The enzyme activity, gene sequencing, SDS-PAGE and hereditary stability were assessed and studied.

RESULTSThe lacZ gene inserted into plasmids pMG36e-usp-lacZ was 99.37% similar to the GenBank sequence, and SDS-PAGE revealed an evident idio-strap at 116 KDa between L. lactis MG1363/pMG36e-usp-lacZ in both supernatant and cell samples. Beta-Galactosidase activity measured 0.225 U/mL in L. lactis pMG36e-usp-lacZ transformants, and its secretion rate was 10%. The plasmid pMG36e-usp-lacZ appeared more stable in MG1363.

CONCLUSIONThe authors concluded that these new recombinant bacteria well expressed and secreted beta-galactosidase, indicating that the beta-galactosidase expression system was successfully constructed, and this might provide a new solution for management of lactose intolerance specifically and promote the use of gene-modified organisms as part of the food-grade plasmid in general.

Base Sequence ; DNA Primers ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Lactobacillus ; genetics ; Plasmids ; beta-Galactosidase ; genetics

GM1 gangliosidosis is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by galactosidase beta1 (GLB1) gene variants which affect the activity of β-galactosidase (GLB). GLB dysfunction causes abnormalities in the degradation of GM1 and its accumulation in lysosome. This article reports the clinical and genetic features of a child with GM1 gangliosidosis. The girl, aged 2 years and 5 months, was referred to the hospital due to motor developmental regression for more than one year. Physical examination showed binocular deflection and horizontal nystagmus, but no abnormality was found on fundoscopy. The girl had increased muscular tone of the extremities, limitation of motion of the elbow, knee, and ankle joints, and hyperactive patellar tendon reflex. Blood biochemical examination showed a significant increase in aspartate aminotransferase. The 24-hour electroencephalographic monitoring detected frequent seizure attacks and diffuse θ wave activity, especially in the right hemisphere. Head magnetic resonance imaging showed thinner white matter in the periventricular region and diffuse high T2WI signal with unclear boundary. Three-dimensional reconstruction of white matter fiber tracts by diffusion tensor imaging showed smaller and thinner white matter fiber tracts, especially in the right hemisphere. Genetic analysis showed that the girl had compound heterozygous mutations of c.446C>T (p.Ser149Phe) and c.101T>C (p.Ile34Thr) in the GLB1 gene from her parents, among which c.101T>C (p.Ile34Thr) had not been reported in the literatures. The girl was finally diagnosed with GM1 gangliosidosis. Her conditions were not improved after antiepileptic treatment and rehabilitation training for 2 months.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging ; Female ; Gangliosidosis, GM1 ; genetics ; Humans ; Infant ; Mutation ; Virulence ; beta-Galactosidase ; genetics

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic cause for a child with growth retardation by next generation sequencing (NGS). METHODS: Clinical data of the patient was collected. Peripheral venous blood samples were taken from the neonate and his parents. Targeted capturing and NGS were carried out to detect mutations of genes associated with inborn errors of metabolism. Suspected mutations were validated by Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: The 15-month-old female patient was admitted to hospital for growth retardation for 4 months. Hypomyelination was found upon cranium MRI. Genetic testing revealed two novel insertional mutations in the GLB1 gene in the patient, namely c.2006-2007insT and c.475-476 insGGTCC. CONCLUSION The c.2006-2007insT and c.475-476 insGGTCC mutations of the GLB1 gene probably underlie the GM1 gangliosidosis resulting in the growth retardation in the child.
Female ; Gangliosidosis, GM1 ; genetics ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Mutation ; Pedigree ; beta-Galactosidase ; genetics

To construct a prokaryotic promoter report system with wide applicability, a series of pFGH reporter vectors based on lacZ gene and pUC replicon were constructed from plasmid pFLX107 through the replacement of multiple cloning sites and sequence modifications. The plasmid with the lowest background activity was selected as the final report system with the lacZ gene deletion strain MC4100 as the host bacterium, following by testing with inducible promoter araBAD and the constitutive promoter rpsM. The background activity of pFGH06 was significantly lower than that of other plasmids of the same series, and even lower than that of reference plasmid pRCL at 28 °C (P<0.01). Further evaluation tests show that the plasmid pFGH06 could be used to clone and determine the activity of inducible promoter or constitutive promoter, and the complete recognition of the target promoter could be achieved through blue-white selection in the simulation test of promoter screening. Compared with the reported prokaryotic promoter report systems, pFGH06 has the advantages of smaller size, more multiple clone sites, adjustable background activity, high efficiency of promoter screening and recognition, thus with a wide application prospect.
Cloning, Molecular ; Escherichia coli/genetics* ; Genes, Reporter/genetics* ; Genetic Vectors/genetics* ; Lac Operon/genetics* ; Plasmids/genetics* ; beta-Galactosidase/genetics*

Genomic DNA and cDNA sequences of lactase from Aspergillus candidus were cloned. Sequences analysis revealed that the genomic DNA was 3458 bp containing eight introns, cDNA was 3015 bp and encoding a polypeptide of 1005 amino acid residues. Signal peptide was 19 amino acid residues, eleven potential N-glycosylation sites were assumed. Comparing the gene cDNA and amino acid sequences with other lactase sequences from various sources, it showed a very low homology with most of other sequences. Although the gene had a higher homology to Aspergillus oryzae lactase sequence, characterization of both enzymes exhibited obvious difference. The gene from Aspergillus candidus was a promising new gene for food industry.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Aspergillus ; enzymology ; genetics ; Cloning, Molecular ; Lactase ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Sequence Homology ; beta-Galactosidase ; chemistry ; genetics

The genus Rhodococcus is of considerable interest in recent years, stemming from their diverse applications in biodegradation, bioremediation, biotransformation and biosurfactant. Using Nocardia/Rhodococcus-Escherichia coli shuttle plasmid pNV18.1 as the backbone vector, we tested the driven efficiency of promoters Ptac and PlacZ of E. coli and Pami-1/Pami-2 of R. ruber in host R. rhodochrous ATCC 33278 by overexpression of nitrile hydratase. Results showed that the specific activity of nitrile hydratase per dry cell weight in engineered Rhodococcus strains driven by Ptac, Pami-1, Pami-2 and PlacZ was 7.5, 6.3, 5.3 and 1.8 times of that in the wild, respectively. It indicated that these promoters could be well recognized by RNA polymerase of Rhodococcus. We further expressed the beta-galactosidase reporter gene (lacZ) in R. ruber driven by promoter PlacZ. Results indicated that lacZ was an appropriate reporter gene for genetic or metabolic engineering research of Rhodococcus.
Escherichia coli ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial ; Genes, Reporter ; genetics ; Lac Operon ; genetics ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; genetics ; Rhodococcus ; enzymology ; genetics ; beta-Galactosidase ; genetics

For metabolic engineering of cyanobacteria, there is an urgent need to construct a group of efficient heterologous gene expression platforms and to evaluate their expression efficiencies. Here we constructed three integrative vectors, the pKW1188-derived pFQ9F, pFQ9R and pFQ20, for integration of heterologous genes into the genome of the model cyanobacteria strain Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803. The pFQ16, an RSF1010-derived broad host range shuttle vector, was constructed for conjugative transfer of genes to various cyanobacteria strains. All the four platforms constructed here applied the rbc (encodes Ribulose-1, 5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) and the rbc terminator to promote and terminate the gene transcription. Besides, a "Shine-Dalgarno -AUG" fusion translation strategy was used to keep the high protein translation efficiency. Using lacZ as a reporter gene, the expression efficiency of pFQ20 was evaluated and showed a strong beta-galactosidase expression (109 Miller). Furthermore, the platform pFQ20 was used to express the E. coli tesA' gene and showed significant protein bands through the Western Blot test. The expression platforms constructed in this study offer useful molecular tools for metabolic engineering of cyanobacteria in the future.
Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Industrial Microbiology ; methods ; Metabolic Engineering ; methods ; Palmitoyl-CoA Hydrolase ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Synechocystis ; genetics ; metabolism ; beta-Galactosidase ; biosynthesis ; genetics

To improve the stability and gene-carried capability of gene-attached microbubbles, the method for manufacture of albumin microbubbles was modified and new gene-loaded microbubbles were synthesized by incorporated gene-PEI complex into the shell of microbubbles. Agarose gel electrophoresis and bacteria transformation showed that PEI had the ability to provide the protection of plasmid DNA from ultrasonic degradation. The new gene-loaded microbubbles exhibited excellent acoustical and hemorheological properties. Moreover, they could carry more plasmid DNA than gene-attached microbubbles. beta-galactosidase plasmid transfection into cardiac myocytes was performed by using ultrasound targeted destruction of new gene-loaded microbubbles or gene-attached microbubbles. Gene expression in cardiac myocytes was detected by beta-galactosidase in situ staining and quantitive assay. It was shown that beta-galactosidase activity in cardiac myocytes was enhanced 107-fold by ultrasonic destruction of gene-loaded microbubbles compared with naked plasmid transfection and new gene-loaded microbubbles resulted in 6.85-fold increase in beta-galactosidase activity compared with optimal transfection mediated by gene-attached microbubbles. These results suggested that ultrasonic destruction of the gene-loaded microbubbles can enhance the cardiac myocytes exogenous gene transfer efficiency significantly and new gene-loaded microbubbles is an efficient and safe gene delivery vehicle.
Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Genes, Reporter ; genetics ; Genetic Vectors ; Imines ; Microbubbles ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; metabolism ; Plasmids ; genetics ; Polyethylenes ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Sonication ; Transfection ; methods ; beta-Galactosidase ; biosynthesis ; genetics

BACKGROUNDIt has been proven that ultrasonic destruction of microbubbles can enhance gene transfection efficiency into the noncardiac cells, but there are few reports about cardiac myocytes. Moreover, the exact mechanisms are not yet clear; whether the characteristic of microbubbles can affect the gene transfection efficiency or not is still controversial. This study was designed to investigate whether the ultrasound destruction of gene-loaded microbubbles could enhance the plasmids carried reporter gene transfection in primary cultured myocardial cell, and evaluate the effects of microbubbles characteristics on the transgene expression in cardiac myocytes.

METHODSThe &beta;-galactosidase plasmids attached to the two types of microbubbles, air-contained sonicated dextrose albumin (ASDA) and perfluoropropane-exposed sonicated dextrose albumin (PESDA) were prepared. The gene transfection into cardiac myocytes was performed in vitro by naked plasmids, ultrasound exposure, ultrasonic destruction of gene-loaded microbubbles and calcium phosphate precipitation, and then the gene expression and cell viability were analyzed.

RESULTSThe ultrasonic destruction of gene-loaded microbubbles enhanced gene expression in cardiac myocytes compared with naked plasmid transfection ((51.95 ± 2.41) U/g or (29.28 ± 3.65) U/g vs. (0.84 ± 0.21) U/g, P < 0.01), and ultrasonic destruction PESDA resulted in more significant gene expression than ASDA ((51.95 ± 2.41) U/g vs. (29.28 ± 3.65) U/g, P < 0.05). Ultrasonic destruction of microbubbles during calcium phosphate precipitation gene transfection enhanced &beta;-galactosidase activity nearly 8-fold compared with calcium phosphate precipitation gene transfection alone ((111.35 ± 11.21) U/g protein vs. (14.13 ± 2.58) U/g protein, P < 0.01). Even 6 hours after calcium phosphate precipitation gene transfection, ultrasound-mediated microbubbles destruction resulted in more intense gene expression ((35.63 ± 7.65) U/g vs. (14.13 ± 2.58) U/g, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSUltrasonic destruction of microbubbles might be a promising method for the delivery of non-viral DNA into cardiac myocytes, and the gene tranfection is related to the characteristics of microbubbles.

Albumins ; Animals ; Cell Survival ; genetics ; physiology ; Cells, Cultured ; Microbubbles ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; cytology ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Transfection ; methods ; Ultrasonics ; methods ; beta-Galactosidase ; genetics ; metabolism