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Sarah Hart

Publications and source records attributed to Sarah Hart.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Characterization of the genotypic and phenotypic spectrum of TCF7L2-related neurodevelopmental disorder (TRND).

PURPOSE: TCF7L2 (OMIM 602228; HGNC:11641) is a transcription factor and a critical effector of the Wnt/ β-Catenin pathway. In 2021, 11 pediatric patients with monoallelic predicted loss-of-function (pLOF) TCF7L2 variants and syndromic features were observed. Characterization of patients with pLOF TCF7L2 variants and neurodevelopmental features-herein referred to as TCF7L2-related neurodevelopmental disorder-is urgently needed. METHODS: We leveraged multiple methods (eg, GeneMatcher, DECIPHER, literature review, and public/private repositories) to identify an international cohort of 76 patients with pLOF TCF7L2 variants and neurodevelopmental features and phenotypically characterized them. We also retrospectively searched for an independent cohort of adults with pLOF TCF7L2 variants (n = 11) from more than 60,000 PennMedicine BioBank patients. RESULTS: Among 76 patients with pLOF TCF7L2 variants, speech delay (95.3%), craniofacial dysmorphisms (73.3%), ophthalmologic conditions (65.5%), autism (62.1%), and orthopedic abnormalities (52.6%) were the most commonly observed. Phenotypic differences did not cluster by variant type or genomic locus. Among PennMedicine BioBank patients, an association of nominal significance with type 2 diabetes with renal manifestations (odds ratio = 5.8; P = .03) was detected, warranting further investigation. CONCLUSION: This study represents the most comprehensive characterization of TCF7L2-related neurodevelopmental disorder to date, a novel neurodevelopmental disorder, defining its genotypic and phenotypic spectra. We opened a Simons Searchlight natural history study that is now available for patient enrollment to enhance the understanding of this condition.

Neurodevelopmental syndrome↗

PEDRo: a database for storing, searching and disseminating experimental proteomics data.

BACKGROUND: Proteomics is rapidly evolving into a high-throughput technology, in which substantial and systematic studies are conducted on samples from a wide range of physiological, developmental, or pathological conditions. Reference maps from 2D gels are widely circulated. However, there is, as yet, no formally accepted standard representation to support the sharing of proteomics data, and little systematic dissemination of comprehensive proteomic data sets. RESULTS: This paper describes the design, implementation and use of a Proteome Experimental Data Repository (PEDRo), which makes comprehensive proteomics data sets available for browsing, searching and downloading. It is also serves to extend the debate on the level of detail at which proteomics data should be captured, the sorts of facilities that should be provided by proteome data management systems, and the techniques by which such facilities can be made available. CONCLUSIONS: The PEDRo database provides access to a collection of comprehensive descriptions of experimental data sets in proteomics. Not only are these data sets interesting in and of themselves, they also provide a useful early validation of the PEDRo data model, which has served as a starting point for the ongoing standardisation activity through the Proteome Standards Initiative of the Human Proteome Organisation.

Animals↗

Linking hemodynamic and electrophysiological measures of brain activity: evidence from functional MRI and intracranial field potentials.

We investigated the relation between electrophysiological and hemodynamic measures of brain activity through comparison of intracranially recorded event-related local field potentials (ERPs) and blood-oxygenation level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI). We manipulated the duration of visual checkerboard stimuli across trials and measured stimulus-duration-related changes in ERP and BOLD activity in three brain regions: peri-calcarine cortex, the fusiform gyrus and lateral temporal-occipital (LTO) cortex. ERPs were recorded from patients who had indwelling subdural electrodes as part of presurgical testing, while BOLD responses were measured in similar brain regions in a second set of subjects. Similar BOLD responses were measured in peri-calcarine and fusiform regions, with both showing monotonic but non-linear increases in hemodynamic amplitude with stimulus duration. In sharp contrast, very different ERP responses were observed in these same regions, such that calcarine electrodes exhibited onset potentials, sustained activity over the course of stimulus duration and prominent offset potentials, while fusiform electrodes only exhibited onset potentials that did not vary with stimulus duration. No duration-related ERP or BOLD changes were observed in LTO. Additional analyses revealed no consistent changes in the EEG spectrum across different brain sites that correlated with duration-related changes in the BOLD response. We conclude that the relation between ERPs and fMRI differs across brain regions.

Adult↗