Significance The molecular basis of morphological and physiological adaptations in snakes is largely unknown. Here, we study these phenotypes using the genome of the Burmese python ( Python molurus bivittatus ), a model for extreme phenotypic plasticity and metabolic adaptation. We discovered massive rapid changes in gene expression that coordinate major changes in organ size and function after feeding. Many significantly responsive genes are associated with metabolism, development, and mammalian diseases. A striking number of genes experienced positive selection in ancestral snakes. Such genes were related to metabolism, development, lungs, eyes, heart, kidney, and skeletal structure—all highly modified features in snakes. Snake phenotypic novelty seems to be driven by the system-wide coordination of protein adaptation, gene expression, and changes in genome structure.

Background Bronchial airway expression profiling has identified inflammatory subphenotypes of asthma, but invasiveness of this technique has limited its application to childhood asthma. Objectives To determine if the nasal transcriptome can proxy expression changes in the lung airway transcriptome in asthma. To determine if the nasal transcriptome can distinguish subphenotypes of asthma. Methods Whole transcriptome RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed on nasal airway brushings from 10 controls and 10 subjects with asthma, which was compared to established bronchial and small airway transcriptomes. Targeted RNA-seq nasal expression analysis was used to profile 105 genes in 50 subjects with asthma and 50 controls for differential expression and clustering analyses. Results We found 90.2% overlap in expressed genes and strong correlation in gene expression (ρ=0.87) between the nasal and bronchial transcriptomes. Previously observed asthmatic bronchial differential expression was strongly correlated with asthmatic nasal differential expression (ρ=0.77, p=5.6×10−9). Clustering analysis identified Th2-high and Th2-low subjects differentiated by expression of 70 genes including IL-13, IL-5, POSTN, CLCA1, and SERPINB2. Th2-high subjects were more likely to have atopy (O.R.=10.3, p=3.5×10−6), atopic asthma (OR=32.6, p=6.9×10−7), high blood eosinophils (OR=9.1, 2.6×10−6), and rhinitis (OR=8.3, p=4.1×10−6) compared to Th2-low subjects. Nasal IL-13 expression levels were 3.9-fold higher in asthmatic participants who experienced asthma exacerbation in the past year (p=0.01). Several differentially expressed nasal genes were specific to asthma and independent of atopic status. Conclusion Nasal airway gene expression profiles largely recapitulate expression profiles in the lung airways. Nasal expression profiling can be used to identify individuals with IL13-driven asthma and a Th2-skewed systemic immune response. Clinical Implications Nasal airway gene expression profiling can be used to easily identify the Th2-high subphenotype of asthma in children and also other genes dyregulated in the asthmatic airway but independent of atopic status.

Oligonucleotide directed misfolding of RNA (ODMiR) uses short oligonucleotides to inhibit RNA function by exploiting the ability of RNA to fold into different structures with similar free energies. It is shown that the 2 -O-methyl oligonucleotide, m(CAGCCUACCCGG), can trap Escherichia coli RNase P RNA (M1 RNA) in a nonfunctional structure in a transcription mixture containing RNase P protein (C5 protein). At about 200 nM, the 12-mer thus inhibits 50% of pre-tRNA processing by RNase P. Roughly 10-fold more 12-mer is required to inhibit RNase P containing full-length, renatured RNase P RNA. Diethyl pyrocarbonate modification in the presence of 12-mer reveals increased modification of sites in and interacting with P4, suggesting a structural rearrangement of a large pseudoknot important for catalytic activity. Thus, the ODMiR method can be applied to RNAs even when folding is facilitated by a cognate protein.

Study Design A hypothesis-driven study was conducted in a familial cohort to determine the potential association between variants within the TBX6 gene and Familial Idiopathic Scoliosis (FIS). Objective To determine if variants within exons of the TBX6 gene segregate with the FIS phenotype within a sample of families with FIS. Summary of Background Data Idiopathic Scoliosis (IS) is a structural curvature of the spine whose underlying genetic etiology has not been established. IS has been reported to occur at a higher rate than expected in family members of individuals with congenital scoliosis (CS), suggesting that the two diseases might have a shared etiology. The TBX6 gene on chromosome 16p, essential to somite development, has been associated with CS in a Chinese population. Previous studies have identified linkage to this locus in families with FIS, and specifically with rs8060511, located in an intron of the TBX6 gene. Methods Parent-offspring trios from 11 families (13 trios, 42 individuals) with FIS were selected for Sanger sequencing of the TBX6 gene. Trios were selected from a large population of families with FIS in which a genome-wide scan had resulted in linkage to 16p. Results Sequencing analyses of the subset of families resulted in the identification of five coding variants. Three of the five variants were novel; the remaining two variants were previously characterized and account for 90% of the observed variants in these trios. In all cases, there was no correlation between transmission of the TBX6 variant allele and FIS phenotype. However, an analysis of regulatory markers in osteoblasts showed that rs8060511 is in a putative enhancer element. Conclusions Although this study did not identify any TBX6 coding variants that segregate with FIS, we identified a variant that is located in a potential TBX6 enhancer element. Therefore, further investigation of the region is needed.