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A genome-wide scan of individuals affected with autosomal-recessive congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) is undertaken to identify the causative gene for the disorder. Results suggest that a 2 bp deletion mutation in the SLC24A1 gene located at chromosome 15q is associated with the cause of CSNB.

A splice-site mutation in an unknown exon of BBS8 (MIM 608132), one of the genes involved in pleiotropic Bardet-Biedi syndrome (BBS) which is to cause nonsyndromic recessive RP in a consanguineous Pakistani family is reported. The exon which represented the major BBS8 mRNA species in the mammalian photoreceptor indicated that the encoded 10 amino acids play a pivotal role in the function of BBS8 in retina.

A study uses targeted capture and next-generation sequencing to identify the gene which causes nonsyndromic deafness DFNB79. Results reveal that a nonsense mutation in the gene C9orf75, also called TPRN, which encodes the protein taperin, is responsible for the nonsyndromic deafness DFNB79.

Aims Oxidative microenvironment of burnt skin restricts the outcome of cell based therapies of thermal skin injuries. The aim of this study was to precondition human dermal fibroblasts with an antioxidant such as vitamin E to improve their survival and therapeutic abilities in heat induced oxidative in vitro environment. Main methods Fibroblasts were treated with 100 μM vitamin E for 24 h at 37 °C followed by heat shock for 10 min at 51 °C in fresh serum free medium. Key findings Preconditioning with vitamin E reduced cell injury as demonstrated by decreased expression of annexin-V, cytochrome p450 (CYP450) mediated oxidative reactions, senescence and release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) accomplished by down-regulated expression of pro-apoptotic BAX gene. Vitamin E preconditioned cells exhibited remarkable improvement in cell viability, release of paracrine factors such as epidermal growth factor (EGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), stromal derived factor-1alpha (SDF-1α) and also showed significantly up-regulated levels of PCNA, VEGF, BCL-XL, FGF7, FGF23, FLNβ and Col7α genes presumably through activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K)/Akt pathway. Significance The results suggest that pretreatment of fibroblasts with vitamin E prior to transplantation in burnt skin speeds up the wound healing process by improving the antioxidant scavenging responses in oxidative environment of transplanted burn wounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]