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Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a complex and serious illness that is often misunderstood. Experts have noted that the terminology "chronic fatigue syndrome" can trivialize this illness and stigmatize persons who experience its symptoms (1). The name was coined by a group of clinicians convened by CDC in the late 1980s to develop a research case definition for the illness, which, at the time, was called chronic Epstein-Barr virus syndrome. The name CFS was suggested because of the characteristic persistent fatigue experienced by all those affected and the evidence that acute or reactivated Epstein-Barr virus infection was not associated with many cases (2). However, the fatigue in this illness is striking and quite distinct from the common fatigue everyone experiences. A variety of other names have been used, including myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), ME/CFS, chronic fatigue immune dysfunction, and most recently, systemic exertion intolerance disease (3). The lack of agreement about nomenclature need not be an impediment for advancing critically needed research and education. The term ME/CFS will be used in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome (SDS) is a multi-system genetic disorder with bone marrow failure. SBDS, the gene associated with SDS, has been postulated to play a role in ribosome biogenesis and RNA processing, but its functions are still unknown. To study whether these pathways are interrupted when Sbds protein is lost, we studied the expression of related genes in patient SBDS−/− cells by an oligonucleotide microarray. We first analysed ribosomal protein (RP) genes, which are normally co-regulated. In SDS, 27 of the 85 RP genes were downregulated. Among the downregulated RP genes, seven are known to be associated with the inhibition of apoptosis. RPS27L, which mediates p53-dependent induction of apoptosis, was the only upregulated RP gene. Interestingly, several genes involved in RP mRNA transcription were downregulated without affecting the expression of genes involved in mRNA degradation, suggesting that the downregulation of the RP gene expression might be at the transcriptional level. Importantly we also found dysregulation of multiple genes involved in rRNA transcription and pre-rRNA processing. We conclude that SDS marrow cells exhibit major dysregulation of RP, RNA processing and RNA transcription genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The syndrome of ataxia–pancytopenia is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by cerebellar ataxia, peripheral neuropathies, pancytopenia and a predilection to myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia. The genetic basis of this condition is unknown. We describe a child who presented with ataxia and pancytopenia and was found to have a heterozygous mutation, c.845G>A (Arg282His) in TINF2, a gene recently reported to be mutated in a subset of patients with autosomal dominant dyskeratosis congenita. We propose that some cases of ataxia–pancytopenia may be affected by DC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports the systematic identification of protein complexes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by mass spectrometry. Identification of protein complexes; Detection of associated proteins covering the yeast proteome; Success rate in detecting known complexes.