The contribution of genetic factors to the presence of an overactive bladder is recognized. This study aimed to (1) assemble and synthesize available data from studies assessing differential gene ...expression in patients with overactive bladder vs controls without overactive bladder and (2) determine possible correlations and functional pathways between genes.
We searched PubMed, Ovid or Medline, and Wiley Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases between January 1, 2000, and December 15, 2021.
Studies were included if gene expression was detected and quantified using molecular approaches performed on human bladder tissue specimens directly and excluded if the gene expression analysis was carried out from blood and urine specimens alone.
A systematic review was completed to identify publications that reported differently expressed gene candidates among patients with overactive bladder vs healthy individuals. Gene networking connections and pathway analysis were performed employing Metascape software, where inputs were identified from our systematic review of differentially expressed genes in overactive bladder.
A total of 9 studies were included in the final analysis and 11 genes were identified as being up-regulated (purinergic receptor P2X 2 P2RX2, smoothelin SMTN, growth-associated protein 43 GAP43, transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M member 8 TRPM8, cadherin 11 CDH1, gap junction protein gamma 1 GJC1, cholinergic receptor muscarinic 2 CHRM2, cholinergic receptor muscarinic 3 CHRM3, and transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 4 TRPV4) or down-regulated (purinergic receptor P2X 2 P2RX3 and purinergic receptor P2X 5 P2RX5) in patients with overactive bladder. Gene network analysis showed that genes are involved in chemical synaptic transmission, smooth muscle contraction, blood circulation, and response to temperature stimulus. Network analysis demonstrated a significant genetic interaction between TRPV4, TRPM8, P2RX3, and PR2X2 genes.
Outcomes of this systematic review highlighted potential biomarkers for treatment efficacy and have laid the groundwork for developing future gene therapies for overactive bladder in clinical settings.
Neurogenic bladder is caused by disruption of neuronal pathways regulating bladder relaxation and contraction. In severe cases, neurogenic bladder can lead to vesicoureteral reflux, hydroureter, and ...chronic kidney disease. These complications overlap with manifestations of congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT). To identify novel monogenic causes of neurogenic bladder, we applied exome sequencing (ES) to our cohort of families with CAKUT. By ES, we have identified a homozygous missense variant (p.Gln184Arg) in CHRM5 (cholinergic receptor, muscarinic, 5) in a patient with neurogenic bladder and secondary complications of CAKUT. CHRM5 codes for a seven transmembrane‐spanning G‐protein‐coupled muscarinic acetylcholine receptor. CHRM5 is shown to be expressed in murine and human bladder walls and is reported to cause bladder overactivity in Chrm5 knockout mice. We investigated CHRM5 as a potential novel candidate gene for neurogenic bladder with secondary complications of CAKUT. CHRM5 is similar to the cholinergic bladder neuron receptor CHRNA3, which Mann et al. published as the first monogenic cause of neurogenic bladder. However, functional in vitro studies did not reveal evidence to strengthen the status as a candidate gene. Discovering additional families with CHRM5 variants could help to further assess the genes' candidate status.
Spina bifida (SB) is the second most common nonlethal congenital malformation. The existence of monogenic SB mouse models and human monogenic syndromes with SB features indicate that human SB may be ...caused by monogenic genes. We hypothesized that whole exome sequencing (WES) allows identification of potential candidate genes by (i) generating a list of 136 candidate genes for SB, and (ii) by unbiased exome‐wide analysis. We generated a list of 136 potential candidate genes from three categories and evaluated WES data of 50 unrelated SB cases for likely deleterious variants in 136 potential candidate genes, and for potential SB candidate genes exome‐wide. We identified 6 likely deleterious variants in 6 of the 136 potential SB candidate genes in 6 of the 50 SB cases, whereof 4 genes were derived from mouse models, 1 gene was derived from human nonsyndromic SB, and 1 gene was derived from candidate genes known to cause human syndromic SB. In addition, by unbiased exome‐wide analysis, we identified 12 genes as potential candidates for SB. Identification of these 18 potential candidate genes in larger SB cohorts will help decide which ones can be considered as novel monogenic causes of human SB.
Effective information technology (IT) project managers (PMs) are recognized as being essential for project success. However, little research has focused on the roles IT PMs must play. Utilizing a ...qualitative field study, we found 4 IT PM archetypes (checklist, technical lead, organizational process lead, and poly-synchronous) employed in practice. We discuss our findings regarding the assignment of multiple PMs in the presence of complex IT projects and provide organizations with practical inferences to consider.
High-throughput sequencing of related individuals has become an important tool for studying human disease. However, owing to technical complexity and lack of available tools, most pedigree-based ...sequencing studies rely on an ad hoc combination of suboptimal analyses. Here we present pedigree-VAAST (pVAAST), a disease-gene identification tool designed for high-throughput sequence data in pedigrees. pVAAST uses a sequence-based model to perform variant and gene-based linkage analysis. Linkage information is then combined with functional prediction and rare variant case-control association information in a unified statistical framework. pVAAST outperformed linkage and rare-variant association tests in simulations and identified disease-causing genes from whole-genome sequence data in three human pedigrees with dominant, recessive and de novo inheritance patterns. The approach is robust to incomplete penetrance and locus heterogeneity and is applicable to a wide variety of genetic traits. pVAAST maintains high power across studies of monogenic, high-penetrance phenotypes in a single pedigree to highly polygenic, common phenotypes involving hundreds of pedigrees.
Preterm birth (PTB), defined as birth prior to a gestational age (GA) of 37 completed weeks, affects more than 10 % of births worldwide. PTB is the leading cause of neonatal mortality and is ...associated with a broad spectrum of lifelong morbidity in survivors. The etiology of spontaneous PTB (SPTB) is complex and has an important genetic component. Previous studies have compared monozygotic and dizygotic twin mothers and their families to estimate the heritability of SPTB, but these approaches cannot separate the relative contributions of the maternal and the fetal genomes to GA or SPTB. Using the Utah Population Database, we assessed the heritability of GA in more than 2 million post-1945 Utah births, the largest familial GA dataset ever assembled. We estimated a narrow-sense heritability of 13.3 % for GA and a broad-sense heritability of 24.5 %. A maternal effect (which includes the effect of the maternal genome) accounts for 15.2 % of the variance of GA, and the remaining 60.3 % is contributed by individual environmental effects. Given the relatively low heritability of GA and SPTB in the general population, multiplex SPTB pedigrees are likely to provide more power for gene detection than will samples of unrelated individuals. Furthermore, nongenetic factors provide important targets for therapeutic intervention.
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