Molecular diagnostic in genetic diseases (2011/2012)

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Course code
4S000713
Name of lecturer
Cristina Bombieri
Coordinator
Cristina Bombieri
Number of ECTS credits allocated
6
Academic sector
BIO/13 - EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
Language of instruction
Italian
Location
VERONA
Period
II semestre dal Mar 1, 2012 al Jun 15, 2012.

Lesson timetable

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide the proper knowledge of medical genetics for the understanding of human diseases and of advanced technologies and methods used in research and molecular diagnosis of genetic diseases.

Syllabus

FUNDAMENTALS OF CLASSICAL GENETICS. Mendelian inheritance and atypical inheritance patterns. Mitocondrial inheritance.
BASES OF HUMAN GENETICS. Human genome organization, genetic markers and DNA polymorphisms, repetitive DNA, physical and genetic maps. Linkage Disequilibrium. Structure of eucariotic genes. Cytogenetics: human chomosomes, normal karyotype, parent-of-origin effects, chromosomal polymorphisms and CNV.
MEDICAL GENETICS. Genetic and hereditary diseases, congenital defects, teratogenesis and mutagenesis. Examples of single-gene diseases. Preparation and interpretation of pedigrees. Modifier genes and complexity in single-gene disorders. Heteroplasmy and mitochondrial diseases.
MEDICAL CYTOGENETICS. Chromosomal abnormalities, numerical and structural. Mosaicism. Chromosomic syndromes and Genome disorders. Uniparental disomy. Uniparental diploidy: hydatiform moles and ovarian teratomas.
DISEASES DUE TO EXPANSION OF UNSTABLE REPEAT SEQUENCES (dynamic mutations). Unstable repeat expansion, premutation and full mutation, Sherman's paradox, anticipation, molecular analysis of repeat expansion.
EPIGENETICS. X chromosome inactivation, DNA metilation, imprinting and diseases due to genomic imprinting defect.
MOLECULAR GENETICS IN MEDICINE. Gene and chromosomal mutations, mutation nomenclature. DNA polymorphisms: RFLP, SNP, VNTR, minisatellites, microsatellites. Molecular pathology of the gene: biological relevance and effect on the phenotype of mutations, role and action of mutations on genetic diseases, methods for mutation classification as disease-causing. Genotype-phenotype correlation.
THE INHERITANCE OF MULTIFACTORIAL TRAITS. Genetics of common disorders with complex inheritance, genetic and environmental factors, qualitative and quantitative traits, genetic predisposition to common diseases.
MENDELIAN DISEASE GENE IDENTIFICATION. Positional and functional cloning. Linkage analysis, human gene mapping, sequencing. Mutation identification.
IDENTIFICATION OF GENETIC FACTORS IN COMPLEX DISEASES. Mapping of complex traits. Linkage and association analyses. Candidate gene studies. Transmission Disequilibrium Test (TDT). SNP, haplotype and genome wide association studies (GWAS). Allelic Identity by State (IBS) and Identity by Descent (IBD).
PHARMACOGENETICS. Individual variation of drug response. Genes and polymorphisms of drug metabolism and mechanism of drug action. Molecular diagnostics of pharmacogenetic traits.
CANCER GENETICS. Cancer as genetic, somatic and multifactorial disease, hereditary and sporadic cancers, Two-Hits model. Classification and characterization of cancer genes (oncogenes, gatekeeper and caretaker tumor soppressor genes). Loss of heterozygosity (LOH), microsatellite instability (MIN).
METHODS OF NUCLEIC ACID MOLECULAR ANALYSIS. PCR, real-time-PCR, electrophoresis, Sanger sequencing, Reverse Dot Blot, OLA, microarray analysis. Molecular diagnosis of genetic diseases, direct and indirect mutation analysis, diagnosis by linkage analysis.
METHODS OF CHROMOSOME ANALYSIS. Banding methods, karyotype analysis, Fluorescence in Situ hybridization (FISH), Array CGH.
GENETIC TESTING. Diagnostic, presymptomatic, susceptibility, heterozygote identification, and pharmacogenetic tests. Applications and quality controls of genetic testing. Determination of genetic risks. Bayesian analysis. Consanguinity. Pre and post-natal diagnosis, population genetic screening, neonatal screening. Individual identification, paternity testing. Total and partial chimerism after bone marrow transplantation.
GENETIC VARIATION IN INDIVIDUALS AND POPULATIONS. Mutation and polymorphism. The Hardy-Weinberg law, allele and genotype frequency calculation. From human genome project to HapMap, 1000 Genome Project, Biological Encode Project , HGV project.



REFERENCE TEXTBOOKS:
G. Neri e M. Genuardi. Genetica Umana e Medica. II Ed. Elsevier Masson 2010 (Italian language).
R.L. Nussbaum, R.R. McInnes, H.F. Willard. Thompson & Thompson Genetics in Medicine. 7th ed. Saunders Elsevier 2007 (English language).
Andrew Read and Dian Donnai. Genetica Clinica. I ed. Zanichelli 2007 (Italian language) or the new edition: “Andrew Read and Dian Donnai. New Clinical Genetics. 2nd ed. Scion Publishing Ltd. 2010” (English language).

TO DEEPEN THE PROPOSED TOPICS:
Tom Strachan and Andrew Read. Human Molecular Genetics. 4th ed. Garland Science - Taylor and Francis Group, 2010 (English language).


Possible updatings or communications will be available during the course on the e-learnig webpage of University of Verona

Assessment methods and criteria

Oral examination

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