The Non-Coding Regulatory Variant rs2863002 at chr11p11.2 Increases Neuroblastoma Risk by Affecting HSD17B12 Expression and Lipid Metabolism.

A Genome-wide association study (GWAS) on a European-American cohort identified chr11p11.2 as a neuroblastoma predisposition locus. Combining in-house and public genomic data from neuroblastoma cell lines, this work implicates rs2863002 as the candidate causal variant at the 11p11.

Premature skeletal muscle aging in VPS13A deficiency relates to impaired autophagy.

VPS13A disease (chorea-acanthocytosis), is an ultra-rare autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder caused by mutations of the VPS13A gene encoding Vps13A. Increased serum levels of the muscle isoform of creatine kinase associated with often asymptomatic muscle pathology are among the poorly understood early clinical manifestations of VPS13A disease. Here, we carried out an integrated analysis of skeletal muscle from Vps13a mice and from VPS13A disease patient muscle biopsies.

COVID- 19 in patients affected by red blood cell disorders, results from the European registry ERN-EuroBloodNet.

Background: Despite several publications covering patients from multiple centers, no international registry covered all patients with red blood cell diseases (RBCD) affected by COVID- 19. The ERN-EuroBloodNet's registry provided real-time registration of SARS-CoV- 2 patients with RBCD, promoting timely disease-specific knowledge sharing during the pandemic's early stages.

Procedures: The study evaluated patient distribution, the infection across different RBCDs, and severity risk factors across similar healthcare systems, using data collected from the ERN-EuroBloodNet's REDCap platform.

The evolving landscape of hereditary stomatocytosis.

Hereditary stomatocytosis represents a heterogeneous group of inherited erythrocyte membrane defects characterized by hemolytic anemia of variable degree, with alterations in cellular salt and water, ranging from dehydration to overhydration, and the presence of stomatocytes on peripheral blood smear. This condition encompasses various subtypes, each with distinct clinical and genetic features. The pathophysiology underlying these conditions involves altered red blood cell membrane properties, leading to impaired deformability and alterations in cation permeability and volume, causing increased susceptibility to hemolysis.

Mitapivat metabolically reprograms human β-thalassemic erythroblasts, increasing their responsiveness to oxidation.

β-thalassemia (β-thal) is a worldwide hereditary red cell disorder characterized by severe chronic anemia. Recently, the pyruvate kinase (PK) activator mitapivat has been shown to improve anemia and ineffective erythropoiesis in a mouse model of β-thal and in patients with non-transfusion-dependent thalassemia. Here, we showed that in vitro CD34+-derived erythroblasts from patients with β-thal (codb039) are characterized by persistent expression of 2 PK isoforms, PKR and PKM2, compared with healthy cells.