Methylmalonic aciduria（MMA） is a common inherited autosomal recessive disorder resulting from defects in the enzyme methylmalonyl CoA mutase（MCM,mut complementation group） or in the synthesis of the MCM cofactor adenosylcobalamin（cbl complementation groups）.The defects in the mut complementation group accounts for the largest number of patients with isolated MMA.At least 200 mutations in the MUT gene on chromosome 6p12 have been identified in MMA patients until now.This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of MMA and genomic variations in the MUT gene of Chinese patients.Genomic DNA was extracted from 18 patients who were diagnosed as having isolated MMA by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry（GC-MS）,and from some of their parents as well.Amplification and direct sequencing of the MUT coding regions（exon 2-13） and their adjacent intronic consensus splice sites were performed in order to identify the disease causing mutations.In this group,six novel mutations in the MUT gene,c.424AG（p.T142A）,c.786TG（p.S262R）,c.808GC（p.G270R）,c.1323_1324insA,c.1445-1GA and c.1676＋77AC were identified.p.T142A and p.G270R were respectively detected at a heterozygous level in one patient.Two previously reported mutations,c.682CT（p.R228X） and c.323GA（p.R108H） were also found in this study.In addition,six previously described single nucleotide polymorphism（SNP）,c.636AG（p.K212K）,c.1495GA（p.A499T）,c.1595AG（p.H532R）,c.1992GA（p.A664A）,c.2011GA（p.V671I） and c.1677-53AG were identified.In this study,we updated the spectrum of MUT mutations and identified the main MMA-causing mutations in Chinese MMA patients.
AIM： To examine the role of Fibrinogen-like protein 2 （fgl2）/fibroleukin in tumor development. Fgl2 has been reported to play a vital role in the pathogenesis in MHV-3 （mouse hepatitis virus） induced fulminant and severe hepatitis, spontaneous abortion, allo- and xenograft rejection by mediating ＂immune coagulation＂.METHODS： Tumor tissues from 133 patients with six types of distinct cancers and the animal tumor tissues from human hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） model on nude mice （established from high metastasis HCC cell line MHCC97LM6） were obtained. RESULTS： HfgI2 was detected in tumor tissues from 127 out of 133 patients as well as tumor tissues collected from human HCC nude mice. Hfgl2 was highly expressed both in cancer cells and interstitial inflammatory cells including macrophages, NK cells, and CD8^＋ T lymphocytes and vascular endothelial cells. HfgI2 mRNA was localized in cells that expressed hfgI2 protein. Fibrin （nogen） colocalization with hfgl2 expression was determined by dual immunohistochemical staining. In vitro, IL-2 and IFN-γ, increased hfgl2 mRNA by 10-100 folds and protein expression in both THP-1 and HUVEC cell lines. One-stage clotting assays demonstrated that THP-1 and HUVEC cells expressing hfgl2 had increased procoagulant activity following cytokines stimulation. CONCLUSION： The hfgI2 contributes to the hypercoagulability in cancer and may induce tumor angiogenesis and metastasis via cytokine induction.
Kai Su Fang Chen Wei-Ming Yan Qi-Li Zeng Li Xu Dong Xi Bin Pi Xiao-Ping Luo Qin Ning
