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Dysregulated secretion in neutrophil leukocytes associates with human inflammatory disease. The exocytosis response to triggering stimuli is sequential; gelatinase granules modulate the initiation of the innate immune response, followed by the release of pro-inflammatory azurophilic granules, requiring stronger stimulation. Exocytosis requires actin depolymerization which is actively counteracted under non-stimulatory conditions. Here we show that the actin nucleator, WASH, is necessary to maintain azurophilic granules in their refractory state by granule actin entrapment and interference with the Rab27a-JFC1 exocytic machinery. On the contrary, gelatinase granules of WASH-deficient neutrophil leukocytes are characterized by decreased Rac1, shortened granule-associated actin comets and impaired exocytosis. Rac1 activation restores exocytosis of these granules. In vivo, WASH deficiency induces exacerbated azurophilic granule exocytosis, inflammation, and decreased survival. WASH deficiency thus differentially impacts neutrophil granule subtypes, impairing exocytosis of granules that mediate the initiation of the neutrophil innate response while exacerbating pro-inflammatory granule secretion.

De novo somatic mutations are well documented in diseases such as neoplasia but are rarely reported in rare diseases. Hovewer, severe genetic diseases that are not compatible with embryonic development are caused exclusively by deleterious mutations that could only be found as mosaic and not as inherited mutations. We will review here the paradigmatic case of Incontinentia Pigmenti, a rare X-linked dominant disease caused by deficiency of the NEMO (also called IKKgamma) protein, which plays a pivotal role in tissue homeostasis. The loss-of-function mutations of NEMO are embryonically lethal in males while females survive because of unbalanced X-inactivation due to NEMO wild type (WT) expressing cells survival despite of NEMO mutant expressing cells. The few surviving IP males are obligatory mosaic mutants with the typical clinical presentation of IP in female. Indeed, the IP pathogenesis in the female and most likely also in the male somatic mosaics is based on the cellular effects of an impaired NEMO activity, but in the context of the interaction of genetically different cells in the affected tissue, which might underline the inflammatory status.

Incontinentia pigmenti (IP) is an X-linked dominant disease, generally lethal in males, caused by variants of the IKBKG/ NEMO gene (NM_001099856.4), which encodes for IKKgamma/NEMO, essential for NF-?B activation [1-3]. Although the classic IP phenotype is almost entirely restricted to females, occasionally males present an IP phenotype, including the typical skin alterations that are hallmarks of the disease. The rare cases of IP males are postzygotic genetic mosaics for the IKBKG/NEMO variant [4, 5] or have a 47, XXY karyotype (Klinefelter syndrome) [

The engagement of TNF on TNFR can result in cell survival or cell death depending on the different complex formation downstream this interaction. Here we describe reagents and assay procedures that can be used to study caspase-independent cell death (necroptosis) in cultured cells, in response to pharmacological interventions with NF-kappaB and death inhibitors. We provide protocol to detect death-specific proteins using immunoblot and to dissect necrosome complex by sequential co-immunoprecipitation of death-specific components during necroptosis.

Escaping programmed cell death is a hallmark of cancer. NF-κB transcription factors are key regulator of cell survival and aberrant NF-κB signaling has been involved in the pathogenesis of most human malignancies. Although NF-κB is best known for its antiapoptotic role, other processes regulating the life/death balance, such as autophagy and necroptosis, seem to network with NF-κB. This review discusses how the reciprocal regulation of NF-κB, autophagy and programmed cell death affect cancer development and progression.

Incontinentia pigmenti (IP; OMIM#308300) is a rare genetic disease resulting in neuroectodermal defects, which can lead to disability. At present, there is neither definitive cure available nor are there any sufficiently reliable insights to predict the severity of the disease. We launched the Incontinentia Pigmenti Genetic Biobank (IPGB) project ( http://www.igb.cnr.it/ipgb ) in 2015 to establish a large-scale deposit of biological samples, to provide detailed clinical information about children diagnosed with IP and to facilitate research. We have built a cohort comprising samples of 381 clinically confirmed patients with IP and 633 healthy individuals recruited through IP patients' associations. The collection includes 269 trios, 83 duos, and 95 families with at least two affected members and represents an extensive dataset (200 cooperative medical institutes, 139 in Italy and 61 worldwide) that enables a comprehensive phenotyping. Joining the IPGB guarantees all participants access to the results including the genetic testing of IP and the long-term storage of the samples. The IPGB is the largest IP sample collection and one of the largest rare-disease-oriented collections in the world and will be open to requests for access to data by the national and international scientific community.

N6-isopentenyladenosine (iPA) is an intermediate of the mevalonate pathway that exhibits various anti-cancer effects. However, studies on its anti-inflammatory activity are scarce and underlying molecular mechanisms are unknown. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the ability of iPA to exert anti-inflammatory effects in the human cystic fibrosis (CF) cell model of exacerbated inflammation. TNF alpha-stimulated CF cells CuFi-1 and its normal counterpart NuLi-1 were pre-treated with increasing concentrations of iPA and cell viability and proliferation were assessed by MTT and BrdU assays. The effect of iPA on IL-8 and RANTES secretion was determined by ELISA, and the activation and expression of signaling molecules and selenoproteins were studied by Western blot. To assess the direct effect of iPA on NF kappa B activity, luciferase assay was performed on TNF alpha-stimulated HEK293/T cells transfected with a NF kappa B reporter plasmid. We demonstrated for the first time that iPA prevents IL-8 and RANTES release in TNF alpha-stimulated CF cells and this effect is mediated by increasing the expression of the direct NF kappa B inhibitor I kappa B alpha and decreasing the levels of STAT3. Consistent with this, we showed that iPA inhibited TNF alpha-mediated NF kappa B activation in HEK/293T cells. Finally, we also found that iPA improved the levels of glutathione peroxidase 1 and thioredoxin reductase 1 only in CF cells suggesting its ability to maintain sufficient expression of these anti-oxidant selenoproteins. Our findings indicate that iPA can exert anti-inflammatory activity especially in the cases of excessive inflammatory response as in CF.

Human mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (hMSCs) emerged as a promising therapeutic tool for ischemic disorders, due to their ability to regenerate damaged tissues, promote angiogenesis and reduce inflammation, leading to encouraging, but still limited results. The outcomes in clinical trials exploring hMSC therapy are influenced by low cell retention and survival in affected tissues, partially influenced by lesion’s microenvironment, where low oxygen conditions (i.e. hypoxia) and inflammation coexist. Hypoxia and inflammation are pathophysiological stresses, sharing common activators, such as hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) and NF-κB. HIF1α and HIF2α respond essentially to hypoxia, activating pathways involved in tissue repair. Little is known about the regulation of HIF3α. Here we investigated the role of HIF3α in vitro and in vivo. Human MSCs expressed HIF3α, differentially regulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines in an oxygen-independent manner, a novel and still uncharacterized mechanism, where NF-κB is critical for its expression. We investigated if epigenetic modifications are involved in HIF3α expression by methylation-specific PCR and histone modifications. Robust hypermethylation of histone H3 was observed across HIF3A locus driven by pro-inflammatory cytokines. Experiments in a murine model of arteriotomy highlighted the activation of Hif3α expression in infiltrated inflammatory cells, suggesting a new role for Hif3α in inflammation in vivo.

Cerebral small-vessel diseases (SVD) are a common cause of vascular dementia and disability in the elderly. Apart from risk containment, little can be done to prevent or to treat SVD. Although most cases occur sporadically, hereditary forms of the disease provide the chance to elucidate the molecular and cellular mechanisms leading to microvascular pathology. Along this line, authoritative reviews on SVD have been published.1-3 Here, we would like to extend current concepts of SVD by highlighting a molecular pathway that seems to be involved in several well-defined SVD, some of which are hereditary. As a new piece of evidence, we will focus on incontinentia pigmenti (IP), which has recently been shown to be associated with microvascular pathology of the brain and retina.4,5 As will be elaborated below, IP is a SVD that does not present in the elderly but rather during infancy. The young age of onset and the nonprogressive microvascular pathology lead to a clinical picture that differs from other SVD. We suggest the term developmental SVD for this form of presentation. IP is caused by mutations in the NEMO gene (NF-kappaB essential modulator), an essential modulator of the transcription factor nuclear factor (NF)-?B.6 NEMO maintains the viability of brain endothelial cells and stabilizes the blood-brain barrier (BBB).5 In NEMO-deficient animals, there is rarefaction of cerebral capillaries and hypoperfusion of the central nervous system (CNS). Disruption of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-?-activated kinase (TAK1) upstream of NEMO produces a similar pathology.5 Interestingly, TGF-? has also been involved in the pathogenesis of cerebral autosomal recessive arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CARASIL), cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL), and the vascular changes of Alzheimer disease (AD),7-11 suggesting disturbed TGF-? signaling as a common ...

Incontinentia pigmenti (IP) is an X-linked-dominant Mendelian disorder caused by mutation in the IKBKG/NEMO gene, encoding for NEMO/IKKgamma, a regulatory protein of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kB) signaling. In more than 80% of cases, IP is due to recurrent or nonrecurrent deletions causing loss-of-function (LoF) of NEMO/IKKgamma. We review how the local architecture of the IKBKG/NEMO locus with segmental duplication and a high frequency of repetitive elements favor de novo aberrant recombination through different mechanisms producing genomic microdeletion. We report here a new microindel (c.436_471delinsT, p.Val146X) arising through a DNA-replication-repair fork-stalling-and-template-switching and microhomology-mediated-end-joining mechanism in a sporadic IP case. The LoF mutations of IKBKG/NEMO leading to IP include small insertions/deletions (indel) causing frameshift and premature stop codons, which account for 10% of cases. We here present 21 point mutations previously unreported, which further extend the spectrum of pathologic variants: 14/21 predict LoF because of premature stop codon (6/14) or frameshift (8/14), whereas 7/21 predict a partial loss of NEMO/IKKgamma activity (two splicing and five missense). We review how the analysis of IP-associated IKBKG/NEMO hypomorphic mutants has contributed to the understanding of the pathophysiological mechanism of IP disease and has provided important information on affected NF-kB signaling. We built a locus-specific database listing all IKBKG/NEMO variants, accessible at http://IKBKG.lovd.nl.

Incontinentia Pigmenti (IP, OMIM#308300) is a rare X-linked genomic disorder (about 1,400 cases) that affects the neuroectodermal tissue and Central Nervous System (CNS). The objective of this study was to describe the cognitive-behavioural profile in children in order to plan a clinical intervention to improve their quality of life. A total of 14 girls (age range: from 1 year and 2 months to 12 years and 10 months) with IP and the IKBKG/NEMO gene deletion were submitted to a cognitive assessment including intelligence scales, language and visuo-spatial competence tests, learning ability tests, and a behavioural assessment. Five girls had severe to mild intellectual deficiencies and the remaining nine had a normal neurodevelopment. Four girls were of school age and two of these showed no intellectual disability, but had specific disabilities in calculation and arithmetic reasoning. This is the first description of the cognitive-behavioural profile in relation to developmental age. We stress the importance of an early assessment of learning abilities in individuals with IP without intellectual deficiencies to prevent the onset of any such deficit.

Incontinentia pigmenti (IP; Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man catalog #308300) is an X-linked dominant ectodermal disorder caused by mutations of the inhibitor of κ polypeptide gene enchancer in B cells, kinase γ (IKBKG)/ nuclear factor κB, essential modulator (NEMO) gene. Hemizygous IKBKG/NEMO loss-of-function (LoF) mutations are lethal in males, thus patients are female, and the disease is always transmitted from an IP-affected mother to her daughter. We present 2 families with father-to-daughter transmission of IP and provide for the first time molecular evidence that the combination of somatic and germ-line mosaicism for IKBKG/NEMO loss of function mutations in IP males resulted in the transmission of the disease to a female child. We searched for the IKBKG/NEMO mutant allele in blood, urine, skin, and sperm DNA and found that the 2 fathers were somatic and germ-line mosaics for the p.Gln132×mutation or the exon 4–10 deletion of IKBKG/NEMO, respectively. The highest level of IKBKG/NEMO mutant cells was detected in the sperm, which might explain the recurrence of the disease. We therefore recommend careful clinical evaluation in IP male cases and the genetic investigation in sperm DNA to ensure correct genetic counseling and prevent the risk of paternal transmission of IP.

IKBKG/NEMO gene mutations cause an X-linked, dominant neuroectodermal disorder named Incontinentia Pigmenti (IP). Located at Xq28, IKBKG/NEMO has a unique genomic organization, as it is part of a segmental duplication or low copy repeat (LCR1LCR2, 99 identical) containing the gene and its pseudogene copy (IKBKGP). In the opposite direction and outside LCR1, IKBKG/NEMO partially overlaps G6PD, whose mutations cause a common X-linked human enzymopathy. The two LCRs in the IKBKG/NEMO locus are able to recombine through non-allelic homologous recombination producing either a pathological recurrent exon 410 IKBKG/NEMO deletion (IKBKGdel) or benign small copy number variations. We here report that the local high frequency of micro/macro-homologies, tandem repeats and repeat/repetitive sequences make the IKBKG/NEMO locus susceptible to novel pathological IP alterations. Indeed, we describe the first two independent instances of inter-locus gene conversion, occurring between the two LCRs, that copies the IKBKGP pseudogene variants into the functional IKBKG/NEMO, causing the de novo occurrence of p.Glu390ArgfsX61 and the IKBKGdel mutations, respectively. Subsequently, by investigating a group of 20 molecularly unsolved IP subjects using a high-density quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay, we have identified seven unique de novo deletions varying from 4.8 to approximate to 115 kb in length. Each deletion removes partially or completely both IKBKG/NEMO and the overlapping G6PD, thereby uncovering the first deletions disrupting the G6PD gene which were found in patients with IP. Interestingly, the 4.8 kb deletion removes the conserved bidirectional promoterB, shared by the two overlapping IKBKG/NEMO and G6PD genes, leaving intact the alternative IKBKG/NEMO unidirectional promoterA. This promoter, although active in the keratinocytes of the basal dermal layer, is down-regulated during late differentiation. Genomic analysis at the breakpoint sites indicated that other mutational forces, such as non-homologous end joining, Alu-Alu-mediated recombination and replication-based events, might enhance the vulnerability of the IP locus to produce de novo pathological IP alleles.

Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED) consists of disorders resulting from molecular alterations of ectodysplasin-A (EDA) pathway. Hypomorphic mutations in NF-kB essential modulator, downstream EDA, result in HED with immunodeficiency (HED-ID), characterized by susceptibility to encapsulated pyogenic bacteria infections. Increased susceptibility to pneumococcal infections and poor response to polysaccharide antigens are associated with defect in T-independent B-cell immunity. We investigated B-cell differentiation and immunoglobulin secretion induced by the TLR9 ligand CpG in two HED-ID and in a HED patient caused by EDA mutations (XLHED). In HED-ID, only few B cells differentiated into plasma cells upon TLR9 stimulation and memory B cells did not produce IgG and IgA, but small amounts of IgM. Unexpectedly, memory B cells from XLHED patient failed to produce normal IgA or IgG amount upon TLR9 stimulation. Our findings expand the knowledge about the pathogenesis of humoral alterations in HED patients and help explain the susceptibility to pneumococcal infections.

The regulatory subunit NEMO is involved in the mechanism of activation of IkappaB kinase (IKK), the kinase complex that controls the NF-kappaB signaling pathway. During this process, NEMO is modified post-translationally through K63-linked polyubiquitination. We report the molecular characterization of a new missense mutation of NEMO (A323P) which causes a severe form of incontinentia pigmenti (OMIM#308300), an inherited disease characterized predominantly by skin inflammation. The A323P mutation was found to impair TNF-, IL-1-, LPS- and PMA/ionomycin-induced NF-kappaB activation, as well as to disrupt TRAF6-dependent NEMO polyubiquitination, due to a defective NEMO/TRAF6 interaction. Mutagenesis identified the affected ubiquitination sites as three lysine residues located in the vicinity of A323. Unexpectedly, these lysines were ubiquitinated together with two previously identified lysines not connected to TRAF6. Mutation of all these ubiquitination sites severely impaired NF-kappaB activation induced by stimulation with IL-1, LPS, Nod2/RICK or serum/LPA. In contrast, mutation at all of these sites had only a limited effect on stimulation by TNF. These findings indicate that post-translational modification of NEMO through K63-linked polyubiquitination is a key event in IKK activation and that perturbation of this step may cause human pathophysiology.

e-N-Trimethyllysine hydroxylase (TMLH) (EC 1.14.11.8) is a non-heme-ferrous iron hydroxylase, Fe++ and 2-oxoglutarate (2OG) dependent, catalyzing the first of four enzymatic reactions of the highly conserved carnitine biosynthetic pathway. Otherwise from all the other enzymes of carnitine biosynthesis, TMLH was found to be associated to the mitochondrial fraction. We here report molecular cloning of two alternative spliced forms of TMLH, which appear ubiquitously expressed in human adult and fetal tissues. The deduced proteins are designated TMLH-a and TMLH-b, and contain 421 and 399 amino acids, respectively. They share the first N-terminal 332 amino acids, including a mitochondrial targeting signal, but diverge at the C-terminal end. TMLH-a and TMLH-b exogenous expression in COS-1 cells shows that the first 15 amino acids are necessary and sufficient for mitochondrial import. Furthermore, comparative evolutionary analysis of the C-terminal portion of TMLH-a identifies a conserved domain characterized by a key triad of residues, His242-Glu244-His389 predicted to bind 2OG end. This sequence is conserved in the TMLH enzyme from all species but is partially substituted by a unique sequence in the TMLH-b variant. Indeed, TMLH-b is not functional by itself as well as a TMLH-H389L mutant produced by site directed mutagenesis. As great interest, we found that TMLH-b and TMLH-H389L, individually co-expressed with TMLH-a in COS-1 cells, negatively affect TMLH activity. Therefore, our studies on the TMLH alternative form provide relevant novel information, first that the C-terminal region of TMLH contains the main determinants for its enzymatic activity including a key H389 residue, and second that TMLH-b could act as a crucial physiological negative regulator of TMLH. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

NEMO/IKKγ is the regulatory subunit of the IκB Kinase (IKK) complex, required for the activation of the NF-κB pathway, which is involved in a variety of key processes, including immunity, inflammation, differentiation, and cell survival. Termination of NF-κB activity on specific -κB responsive genes, which is crucial for the resolution of inflammatory responses, can be achieved by direct degradation of the chromatin-bound NF-κB subunit RelA/p65, a process mediated by a protein complex that contains Copper Metabolism Murr1 Domain 1 (COMMD1). In this study, we identify COMMD7, another member of the COMMDs protein family, as a novel NEMO-interacting protein. We show that COMMD7 exerts an inhibitory effect on NF-κB activation upon TNFα stimulation. COMMD7 interacts with COMMD1 and together they cooperate to down-regulate NF-κB activity. Accordingly, termination of TNFα-induced NF-κB activity on the -κB responsive gene, Icam1, is defective in cells silenced for COMMD7 expression. Furthermore, this impairment is not greatly increased when we silence the expression of both COMMD7 and COMMD1 indicating that the two proteins participate in the same pathway of termination of TNFα-induced NF-κB activity. Importantly, we have demonstrated that COMMD7's binding to NEMO does not interfere with the binding to the IKKs, and that the disruption of the IKK complex through the use of the NBP competitor impairs the termination of NF-κB activity. We propose that an intact IKK complex is required for the termination of NF-κB-dependent transcription and that COMMD7 acts as a scaffold in the IKK-mediated NF-κB termination.

Anhidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia with ImmunoDeficiency (EDA-ID, OMIM 300291) and Incontinentia Pigmenti (IP, OMIM 308300) are two rare diseases, caused by mutations of the IKBKG/NEMO gene. The protein NEMO/IKKγ is essential for the NF-κB activation pathway, involved in a variety of physiological and cellular processes, such as immunity, inflammation, cell proliferation, and survival. A wide spectrum of IKBKG/NEMO mutations have been identified so far, and, on the basis of their effect on NF-κB activation, they are considered hypomorphic or amorphic (loss of function) mutations. IKBKG/NEMO hypomorphic mutations, reducing but not abolishing NF-κB activation, have been identified in EDA-ID and IP patients. Instead, the amorphic mutations, abolishing NF-κB activation by complete IKBKG/NEMO gene silencing, cause only IP. Here, we present an overview of IKBKG/NEMO mutations in EDA-ID and IP patients and describe similarities and differences between the clinical/immunophenotypic and genetic aspects, highlighting any T and B lymphocyte defect, and paying particular attention to the cellular and molecular defects that underlie the pathogenesis of both diseases.

Mendelian primary immunodeficiency diseases (MPIDs) are rare disorders affecting distinct constituents of the innate and adaptive immune system. Although they are genetically heterogeneous, a substantial group of MPIDs is due to mutations in genes affecting the nuclear factor-?B (NF-?B) transcription pathway, essential for cell proliferation and cell survival and involved in innate immunity and inflammation. Many of these genes encode for crucial regulatory components of the NF-?B pathway and their mutations are associated with immunological and developmental signs somehow overlapping in patients with MPIDs. At present, nine different MPIDs listed in the online mendelian inheritance in man (OMIM) are caused by mutations in at least nine different genes strictly involved in the NF-?B pathway that result in defects in immune responses. Here we report on the distinct function of each causative gene, on the impaired NF-?B step and more in general on the molecular mechanisms underlining the pathogenesis of the disease. Overall, the MPIDs affecting the NF-?B signalosome require a careful integrated diagnosis and appropriate genetic tests to be molecularly identified. Their discovery at an ever-increasing rate will help establish a common therapeutic strategy for a subclass of immunodeficient patients.Genes and Immunity advance online publication, 12 March 2015; doi:10.1038/gene.2015.3.

Familial incontinentia pigmenti (IP) is a rare X-linked dominant disorder that affects ectodermal tissues. Over 90% of IP carrier females have a recurrent genomic deletion of exons 4-10 of the NEMO (IKBKG-IKKgamma) gene, which encodes a regulatory component of the IkB kinase complex, required to activate the NF-kB pathway. In IP, mutations in NEMO lead to the complete loss of NF-kB activation creating a susceptibility to cellular apoptosis in response to TNF-alpha. This condition is lethal for males during embryogenesis while females, who are mosaic as a result of X-inactivation, can survive. Recently, a second nonfunctional copy of the gene, DeltaNEMO, was identified, opposite in direction to NEMO in a 35.5-kb duplicated sequence tract. PCR-based detection of the NEMO deletion is diagnostic for IP disease. However, we present instances in which ex 4-10 DeltaNEMO pseudogene deletion occurs in unaffected parents of two females with clinically characteristic IP These were missed by the currently standard PCR- based method, but can be easily discriminated by a new PCR-based test reported here that permits unambiguous molecular diagnosis and proper familial genetic counseling for IP.

SUMMARY Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by defect of T- and B-cell immunity. In many cases of autosomal recessive SCID, thus far described, the molecular alteration involves genes encoding for molecules that participate in the signal transduction. We report on a patient affected by a combined immunodeficiency, characterized by severe T-cell functional impairment, in spite of a close to normal number of circulating mature type T and B cells. NK cells were absent. Associated with the immunodeficiency, this patient also showed short stature characterized by very low growth velocity, delayed bone age and absence of increase of the plasma levels of Insulin growth factor-I (IGF-I) after growth hormone (GH) in vivo stimulation indicating peripheral hyporesponsiveness to GH. Evaluation of the protein tyrosine phosphorylation events occurring following either T-cell receptor (TCR) or GH receptor (GHR) triggering revealed striking abnormalities. No molecular alteration of GHR gene was found, thus suggesting the presence of postreceptorial blockage. Mutational screening and expression analysis failed to reveal any molecular alteration of JAK2 and STAT 5 A/B genes thus ruling out the involvement of these genes in the pathogenesis of this form of SCID. Mutational analysis of IL2Rγ chain gene revealed the presence of a L183S missense mutation, thus indicating an atypical and a more complex clinical presentation of this X-linked form of SCID. At our knowledge, this is the first report on the GH hyporesponsiveness in this disease.

STAT5A and STAT5B genes belong to the signal transducer and activators of transcription (STAT) family of transcription factors. They show a high degree of sequence homology at levels of mRNA, however, in spite of their supposed redundancy, each STAT5 has distinct biological functions mainly related to the immune system, hematopoiesis, growth and mammary development. We isolated and sequenced both STAT5A and STAT5B encoding human genes finding that they are segmented in 20 and 19 exons, respectively, of comparable size except for the extreme 5' exons and the 3' exons. Two CpG islands, 23.2% CpG for STAT5A and 30.2% for STAT5B, are present at the 5' of both STAT5 genes covering the 5' untranslated regions. More surprisingly, the two genes share two major regions of almost identical sequence which diverge between the different species indicating an intra-species specific mechanism of preservation. Furthermore, we identified two alternative 5' exons in STAT5B genes and thus two alternative promoters. The second putative promoter is not embedded in a CpG island and it shows a tissue specific pattern of expression. Finally, the STAT5B gene was assessed as a candidate gene in a human disorder related to growth failure.

In this study we report on a patient affected by a brain migration disorder and a T-cell activation deficiency presumably inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. The immunological evaluation revealed that the mitogen stimulation failed to induce a proper up-regulation of membrane expression of T-cell activation markers, and cell proliferation. This functional impairment was associated with abnormalities of the signal transduction process that follows T-cell receptor stimulation. A constitutive hyperphosphorylation of the Fyn tyrosine kinase was documented. This is the first report on a T-cell signaling abnormality associated with a developmental brain disorder. Whether the alteration of Fyn, which plays a role in both neurological and immunological systems, is responsible for either disorder remains to be elucidated.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) is the key enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway that is responsible for the generation of NADPH, which is required in many detoxifying reactions. We have recently demonstrated that G6PD expression is induced by a variety of chemical agents acting at different steps in the biochemical pathway controlling the intracellular redox status. Although we obtained evidence that the oxidative stress-mediated enhancement of G6PD expression is a general phenomenon, the functional significance of such G6PD induction after oxidant insult is still poorly understood. In this report, we used a GSH-depleting drug that determines a marked decrease in the intracellular pool of reduced glutathione and a gradual but notable increase in G6PD expression. Both effects are seen soon after drug addition. Once G6PD activity has reached the maximum, the GSH pool is restored. We suggest and also provide the first direct evidence that G6PD induction serves to maintain and regenerate the intracellular GSH pool. We used HeLa cell clones stably transfected with the human G6PD gene that display higher G6PD activity than the parent HeLa cells. Although the activities of glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and catalase were comparable in all strains, the concentrations of GSH were significantly higher in G6PD-overexpressing clones. A direct consequence of GSH increase in these cells is a decreased reactive oxygen species production, which makes these cells less sensitive to the oxidative burst produced by external stimuli. Indeed, all clones that constitutively overexpress G6PD exhibited strong protection against oxidants-mediated cell killing. We also observe that NF-kappa B activation, in response to tumor necrosis factor-alpha treatment, is strongly reduced in human HeLa cells overexpressing G6PD.

The gene encoding glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), which plays a pivotal role in cell defense against oxidative stress, is ubiquitously expressed at widely different levels in various tissues; moreover, G6PD expression is regulated by a number of stimuli. In this study we have analyzed the molecular anatomy of the G6PD core promoter. Our results indicate that the G6PD promoter is more complex than previously assumed; G6PD expression is under the control of several elements that are all required for correct promoter functioning and, furthermore, a still unidentified mammalian specific factor is needed. Copyright (C) 1998 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

Studies suggest that genetic factors are associated with the etiology of learning disabilities. Incontinentia Pigmenti (IP, OMIM#308300), which is caused by mutations of the IKBKG/NEMO gene, is a rare X-linked genomic disorder (1:10000/20:000) that affects the neuroectodermal tissues. It always affects the skin and sometimes the hair, teeth, nails, eyes and central nervous system (CNS). Data from IP patients demonstrate the heterogeneity of the clinical phenotype; about 30% have CNS manifestations. This extreme variability suggests that IP patients might also have learning disabilities. However, no studies in the literature have evaluated the cognitive profile of IP patients. In fact, the learning disability may go unnoticed in general neurological analyses, which focus on major disabling manifestations of the CNS. Here, we investigated the neuropsychological outcomes of a selected group of IP-patients by focusing on learning disabilities. We enrolled 10 women with IP (7 without mental retardation and 3 with mild to severe mental retardation) whose clinical diagnosis had been confirmed by the presence of a recurrent deletion in the IKBKG/NEMO gene. The participants were recruited from the Italian patients' association (I.P.A.SS.I. Onlus). They were submitted to a cognitive assessment that included the Wechsler Adult Intelligence scale and a battery of tests examining reading, arithmetic and writing skills. We found that 7 patients had deficits in calculation/arithmetic reasoning and reading but not writing skills; the remaining 3 had severe to mild intellectual disabilities. Results of this comprehensive evaluation of the molecular and psychoneurological aspects of IP make it possible to place "learning disabilities'' among the CNS manifestations of the disease and suggest that the IKBKG/NEMO gene is a genetic determinant of this CNS defect. Our findings indicate the importance of an appropriate psychoneurological evaluation of IP patients, which includes early assessment of learning abilities, to prevent the onset of this deficit.

Recent reports have demonstrated that glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) activity in mammalian cells is necessary in order to ensure cell survival when damage is produced by reactive oxygen intermediates. In this paper we demonstrate that oxidative stress, caused by agents acting at different steps in the biochemical pathway controlling the intracellular redox status, determines the increase in G6PD-specific activity in human cell lines of different tissue origins. The intracellular level of G6PD-specific mRNA also increases, with kinetics compatible with the induction of new enzyme synthesis. We carried out experiments in which cells were exposed to oxidative stress in the presence of inhibitors of protein or RNA synthesis. These demonstrated that increased G6PD expression is mainly due to an increased rate of transcription, with a minor but significant contribution of regulatory mechanisms acting at post-transcriptional levels. These results provide new information on the defence systems that eukaryotic cells possess in order to prevent damage caused by potentially harmful oxygen derivatives.

We review here some recent data about glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), the first and key regulatory enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway. New evidence has been presented to suggest that malaria is a selective agent for G6PD deficiency, which is the most common enzymopathy in man, and that G6PD deficiency, generally considered to be a mild and benign condition, is significantly disadvantageous in certain environmental conditions. At the molecular level, the enzyme structure has recently been elucidated and mechanisms regulating G6PD gene expression have been determined. A G6PD knock-out mutation introduced in mouse cells makes them exquisitely sensitive to oxidative stress, indicating that this ubiquitous metabolic enzyme has a major role in the defence against oxidative stress, even in eukaryotic nucleated cells, which have several alternative routes for providing the same protection. Because of the high prevalence of G6PD deficiency in many populations, it is expected that these findings will prompt further studies to ascertain the putative role of G6PD deficiency in conditions such as carcinogenesis and ageing.

Familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHLH) is a rare, rapidly progressive disorder of early childhood characterized by uncontrolled activation of T cells and macrophages. Although perforin gene mutations have been described in a proportion of patients with FHLH, the genotype/phenotype correlation is still limited. Only a few patients with late onset clinical manifestations have been reported. The biochemical and immunologic alterations in the asymptomatic phase are not well known. We report on a family in which 2 fraternal twins both homozygous for a perforin mutation previously described as causative of the disease, markedly differed in phenotypic expression of FHLH. The twins also had a second novel heterozygous mutation. Natural killer (NK) activity was severely impaired in the patient and was normal in the asymptomatic fraternal twin. Our report highlights that FHLH may present after a long disease-free interval during which biochemical or immunologic alterations may be not evident, thus implying a role for interfering factors. (Blood. 2004;103:4610-4612)

International audience; Intellectual disability (ID) and epilepsy often occur together and have a dramatic impact on the development and quality of life of the affected children. Polyalanine (polyA)-expansion-encoding mutations of aristaless-related homeobox (ARX) cause a spectrum of X-linked ID (XLID) diseases and chronic epilepsy, including infantile spasms. We show that lysine-specific demethylase 5C (KDM5C), a gene known to be mutated in XLID-affected children and involved in chromatin remodeling, is directly regulated by ARX through the binding in a conserved noncoding element. We have studied altered ARX carrying various polyA elongations in individuals with XLID and/or epilepsy. The changes in polyA repeats cause hypomorphic ARX alterations, which exhibit a decreased trans-activity and reduced, but not abolished, binding to the KDM5C regulatory region. The altered functioning of the mutants tested is likely to correlate with the severity of XLID and/or epilepsy. By quantitative RT-PCR, we observed a dramatic Kdm5c mRNA downregulation in murine Arx-knockout embryonic and neural stem cells. Such Kdm5c mRNA diminution led to a severe decrease in the KDM5C content during in vitro neuronal differentiation, which inversely correlated with an increase in H3K4me3 signal. We established that ARX polyA alterations damage the regulation of KDM5C expression, and we propose a potential ARX-dependent path acting via chromatin remodeling.

Background The transcription factor FOXN1 is implicated in the differentiation of thymic and skin epithelial cells, and alterations in it are responsible for the Nude/SCID phenotype. During a genetic counselling programme offered to couples at risk in a community where a high frequency of mutated FOXN1 had been documented, the identification of a human FOXN1(-/-) fetus gave the unique opportunity to study T cell development in utero. Results Total blockage of CD4(+) T cell maturation and severe impairment of CD8(+) cells were documented. Evaluation of the variable-domain beta-chain (V beta) families' usage among T lymphocytes revealed that the generation of T cell receptor (TCR) diversity occurred to some extent in the FOXN1(-/-) fetus, although it was impaired compared with the control. A few non-functional CD8(+) cells, mostly bearing TCR gamma delta in the absence of CD3, were found. Discussion FOXN1 is crucial for in utero T cell development in humans. The identification of a limited number of CD8(+) cells suggests an extrathymic origin for these cells, implying FOXN1-independent lymphopoiesis.

A critical role of the FOX transcription factors in the development of different tissues has been shown. Among these genes, FOXN1 encodes a protein whose alteration is responsible for the Nude/SCID phenotype. Recently, our group reported on a human Nude/SCID fetus, which also had severe neural tube defects, namely anencephaly and spina bifida. This led to hypothesize that FOXN1 could have a role in the early stages of central nervous system development. Here we report on a second fetus that carried the R255X homozygous mutation in FOXN1 that has been examined for the presence of CNS developmental anomalies. At 16 postmenstrual weeks of gestation, the abdominal ultrasonography of the Nude/SCID fetus revealed a morphologically normal brain, but with absence of cavum septi pellucidi (CSP). Moreover, after confirmation of the diagnosis of severe Nude/SCID, the fetus was further examined postmortem and a first gross examination revealed an enlargement of the interhemispheric fissure. Subsequently, a magnetic resonance imaging failed to identify the corpus callosum in any section. In conclusion, our observations did not reveal any gross abnormalities in the CNS anatomy of the Nude/SCID fetus, but alteration of the corpus callosum, suggesting that FOXN1 alterations could play a role as a cofactor in CNS development in a similar fashion to other FOX family members.

International audience; NF-kappaB Essential MOdulator (NEMO) has been shown to play a critical role in NF-kappaB activation, as the regulatory subunit of IkappaB kinase. Upon cell stimulation, NEMO can be modified through phosphorylation, sumoylation or ubiquitination. In the latter case, not much is known regarding the exact function of this posttranslational modification. One of the E3 ligase responsible for K63-linked NEMO polyubiquitination is TRAF6, which participates in several signaling pathways controlling immunity, osteoclastogenesis, skin development and brain functions. We previously observed a potentially important interaction between NEMO and TRAF6. In this study, we defined in more detail the domains required for this interaction, uncovering a new binding site for TRAF6 located at the amino-terminus of NEMO and recognized by the coiled-coil domain of TRAF6. This site appears to work in concert with the previously identified NEMO ubiquitin-binding domain which binds polyubiquitinated chains, suggesting a dual mode of TRAF6 recognition. We also showed that E57K mutation of NEMO found in a mild form of the genetic disease incontinentia pigmenti, resulted in impaired TRAF6 binding and IL-1beta signaling. In contrast, activation of NF-kappaB by TNF-alpha was not affected. These data demonstrate that NEMO/TRAF6 interaction has physiological relevance and might represent a new target for therapeutic purposes.

Mutations in the inhibitor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells, kinase gamma (IKBKG), also called nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kB) essential modulator (NEMO), gene are the most common single cause of incontinentia pigmenti (IP) in females and anhydrotic ectodermal dysplasia with immunodeficiency (EDA-ID) in males. The IKBKG gene, located in the Xq28 chromosomal region, encodes for the regulatory subunit of the inhibitor of kappaB (IkB) kinase (IKK) complex required for the activation of the NF-kB pathway. Therefore, the remarkably heterogeneous and often severe clinical presentation reported in IP is due to the pleiotropic role of this signaling transcription pathway. A recurrent exon 4_10 genomic rearrangement in the IKBKG gene accounts for 60 to 80% of IP-causing mutations. Besides the IKBKG rearrangement found in IP females (which is lethal in males), a total of 69 different small mutations (missense, frameshift, nonsense, and splice-site mutations) have been reported, including 13 novel ones in this work. The updated distribution of all the IP- and EDA-ID-causing mutations along the IKBKG gene highlights a secondary hotspot mutation in exon 10, which contains only 11% of the protein. Furthermore, familial inheritance analysis revealed an unexpectedly high incidence of sporadic cases (465%). The sum of the observations can aid both in determining the molecular basis of IP and EDA-ID allelic diseases, and in genetic counseling in affected families. Hum Mutat 29(5), 595–604, 2008. r 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

A 2850-base-pair-long DNA segment containing the transcriptional start site of the human X-linked gene coding for the housekeeping enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase has been fused to the reporter chloramphenicol acetyl transferase gene. This fusion was introduced into three different mammalian cell lines (HepG2, CVI and HeLa). Strong expression was detected and transcription initiated at the natural start site. By deletion analysis, we determined that a 436 base pair region of this promoter is sufficient for full expression of the chimaeric construct and therefore the remainder of the CpC island surrounding the transcriptional start site and differentially methylated in the active and inactive X chromosome is not necessary for transcriptional activity in this assay. Further sequence deletions from −436 to −116 base pairs decrease the promoter-directed chloramphenicol acetyl transferase activity. Site-directed mutagenesis of a TATA-like sequence present in the G6PD promoter shows that this site is required for a correct start of transcription but not for determining the level of gene expression.

Background The association between premature ovarian failure (POF) and the FMR1 repeat number (41> CGGn< 200) has been widely investigated. Current findings suggest that the risk estimation for POF can be calculated in the offspring of women with pre-mutated FMR1 alleles. Case presentation We describe the coexistence in a large Italian kindred of Fragile X syndrome and familial POF in females with ovarian dysfunctions who carried normal or expanded FMR1 alleles. Genetic analysis of the FMR1 gene in over three generations of females revealed that six carried pre-mutated alleles (61–200), of which two were also affected by POF. However a young woman, who presented a severe ovarian failure with early onset, carried normal FMR1 alleles ( Conclusion Our case study represents a helpful observation and will provide familial cases with heterogeneous etiology that could be further studied when candidate genes in addition to the FMR1 premutation will be available.

Background Cognitive impairments are heterogeneous conditions, and it is estimated that 10% may be caused by a defect of mental function genes on the X chromosome. One of those genes is Aristaless related homeobox (ARX) encoding a polyA-rich homeobox transcription factor essential for cerebral patterning and its mutations cause different neurologic disorders. We reported on the clinical and genetic analysis of an Italian family with X-linked mental retardation (XLMR) and intra-familial heterogeneity, and provided insight into its molecular defect. Methods We carried out on linkage-candidate gene studies in a new MRX family (MRX87). All coding regions and exon-intron boundaries of ARX gene were analysed by direct sequencing. Results MRX87 patients had moderate to profound cognition impairment and a combination of minor congenital anomalies. The disease locus, MRX87, was mapped between DXS7104 and DXS1214, placing it in Xp22-p21 interval, a hot spot region for mental handicap. An in frame duplication of 24 bp (ARXdup24) in the second polyAlanine tract (polyA_II) in ARX was identified. Conclusion Our study underlines the role of ARXdup24 as a critical mutational site causing mental retardation linked to Xp22. Phenotypic heterogeneity of MRX87 patients represents a new observation relevant to the functional consequences of polyAlanine expansions enriching the puzzling complexity of ARXdup24-linked diseases.

Eighteen male patients with incontinentia pigmenti (IP) showed the characteristic clinical features and, when examined, histologic skin defects observed in female patients with IP. Six of the patients had neurologic, ophthalmologic, or dental manifestations as well. Three patients showed evidence by polymerase chain reaction analysis of both the normal NEMO gene and the exon 4-10 deletion in NEMO that occurs in the majority of affected girls with IP, confirming postzygotic mosaicism for the NEMO gene.

NEMO/IKKgamma gene, which is responsible of two allelic diseases in human, EDA-ID and IP, encodes for a protein with a central regulatory role in the activation of the NF-kB pathway. We here provide insights into the molecular mechanism governing NEMO/IKKgamma expression. We mapped 4 distinctive NEMO/IKKgamma transcription start sites each corresponding to an alternative first exon, controlled by two conserved promoters. A distal promoter, named promoter A, located 10 kb upstream of the coding region and a proximal promoter, promoter B, with strong bi-directional activity driving also the transcription of G6PD gene in the opposite direction. The promoter B is housekeeping, it is embedded in a CpG island, required for proper expression and it is down-regulated by methylation. The promoter A is active in cells of hepatic origin and it directs transcription of the main NEMO/IKKgamma 5' UTR alternative transcript in liver, which starts at a tissue-specific site. Qualitative and quantitative expression analysis revealed that each NEMO/IKKgamma 5' UTR alternative transcript has different expression profiles indicating that the control of NEMO/IKKgamma expression is mediated through tissue-specific transcription initiation sites and multiple regulatory regions.

Summary Familial haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHLH) is a heterogeneous autosomal recessive disorder characterized by hyperactivation of monocytes/macrophages. Perforin (PRF1) gene alterations have been documented in 40% of patients with FHLH. Although several mutations have been identified, a clear correlation between the individual molecular alteration and the phenotypic expression of the disease is still unclear. In particular, the role that the A91V substitution plays in the pathogenesis of the disease is still controversial. In the effort to make a conclusive remark to this issue, we here report on the frequency of the A91V mutation in a group of unrelated healthy families obtained from the ‘Centre d’Etude du Polymorphisme Humain’ (CEPH), which are considered representative of the worldwide population. This frequency was compared to that observed in FHLH patients recruited through the Italian National Registry. The frequency in CEPH healthy subjects is 3.7%, thus indicating that the alteration represents a polymorphism. However, the frequency of this alteration in FHLH patients associated with PRF1 mutation is much higher than that observed in controls (26.2%, P = 0.0002), suggesting that the alteration is an important genetic susceptibility factor.

Background: Deletions of Xq chromosome are reported for a number of familial conditions exhibiting premature ovarian failure (POF) and early menopause (EM). Methods and results: We describe the inheritance of an interstitial deletion of the long arm of the X chromosome associated with either POF or EM in the same family. Cytogenetic studies and heterozygosity mapping by quantitative fluorescent PCR revealed a 46,X,del(X)(q26.2-q28) karyotype in a POF female, in her EM mother, and also in her aborted fetus with severe cardiopathy. Applying a microsatellite approach, we have narrowed the extension of an identical interstitial deletion located between DXS1187 and DXS1073. These data, in line with other mapped deletions, single out the proximal Xq28 as the region most frequently involved in ovarian failure. We also propose that other factors may influence the phenotypic effect of this alteration. Indeed, skewed X inactivation has been ascertained in EM and POF to be associated with different X haplotypes. Conclusion: Our analysis indicates that Xq26.2-q28 deletion is responsible for gonad dysgenesis in a family with EM/POF. The dissimilar deletion penetrance may be due to epigenetic modifications of other X genes that can contribute to human reproduction, highlighting that ovarian failure should be considered as a multifactorial disease. © The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved.

Incontinentia Pigmenti (IP) is an X-linked genodermatosis that is lethal for males and present in females with abnormal skin pigmentation and high variable clinical signs, including retinal detachment, anodontia, alopecia, nail dystrophy and nervous system defects. The NF-kappaB essential modulator (NEMO) gene, responsible for IP, encodes the regulatory subunit of the IkappaB kinase (IKK) complex required for nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation. We analyzed the NEMO gene in 122 IP patients and identified mutations in 83 (36 familiar and 47 sporadic cases). The recurrent NEMO exon 4-10 deletion that is the major cause of the disease was present in 73 females (59.8%). In addition 10 point alterations (8.2% of females) were identified: three frameshift, three nonsense, three missense and one in-frame deletion of a single amino acid. We measured the effects of these NEMO point-mutations on NF-kappaB signaling in nemo(-/-) deficient murine pre-B cells. A mutation in the N-terminal domain, required for IKK assembly, reduced but did not abolish NF-kappaB activation following lipopolysaccharide stimulation. Mutations that disrupt the C-terminal domain, required for the recruitment of upstream factors, showed lower or no NF-kappaB activation. A phenotype score based on clinical features of our IP patients was applied for summarizing disease severity. The score did not correlate with mutation type or domain affected indicating that other factors influence the severity of IP. Such a factor is likely to be X-inactivation. Indeed, 64% of our patients have extremely skewed X-inactivation pattern (>/=80 : 20). Overall IP pathogenesis thus depends on a combination of X-inactivation and protein domain that recruit upstream factors and activate NF-kappaB.

4 páginas, 1 figura, 1 tabla., Genetic alterations of the FOXN1 transcription factor, selectively expressed in thymic epithelia and skin, are responsible in both mice and humans for the Nude/SCID phenotype. The first described human FOXN1 mutation was a C792T transition in exon 5 resulting in the nonsense mutation R255X, and was detected in two probands originated from a small community in southern Italy. In this community, four additional children affected with congenital alopecia died in early childhood because of severe infections. In this study, we report on the screening for this mutation in 30% of the village population. This analysis led us to identify 55 heterozygous carriers (6.52%) of the R255X mutation out of 843 inhabitants screened. A genealogical study revealed that these subjects, belonging to 39 families, were linked in an extended 7-generational pedigree comprising 483 individuals. Through the archival database a single ancestral couple, born at the beginning of the 19th century, was identified. To confirm the ancestral origin of the mutation we genotyped two microsatellite markers, D17S2187 and D17S1880, flanking the FOXN1 gene on chromosome 17. The three haplotypes identified, 3/R255X/3, 3/R255X/2 and 3/R255X/1, are consistent with a single ancestral origin for the mutation R255X., This work was supported by the Grants “Ministero della Salute - Roma and Regione Campania, Legge 502”, MIUR-PRIN 2002 and Telethon #E0934.

We report here on the building-up of a database of information related to 386 cases of Incontinentia Pigmenti collected in a thirteen-year activity (2000–2013) at our centre of expertise. The database has been constructed on the basis of a continuous collection of patients (27.6/year), the majority diagnosed as sporadic cases (75.6%). This activity has generated a rich source of information for future research studies by integrating molecular/clinical data with scientific knowledge. We describe the content, architecture and future utility of this collection of data on IP to offer comprehensive anonymous information to the international scientific community.

Peripheral GH insensitivity may underlie idiopathic short stature in children. As the clinical and biochemical hallmarks of partial GH insensitivity have not yet been clearly elucidated, the identification of such patients is still difficult. We integrated functional, biochemical, and molecular studies to define the more reliable marker(s) of GH insensitivity. In particular, we measured GH receptor transducing properties through GH-induced protein tyrosine phosphorylation in patients' peripheral blood mononuclear cells and performed direct sequencing analysis of GH receptor-coding exons. Five of 14 idiopathic short stature patients with low basal IGF-I levels showed low or absent IGF-I increment after 4 d of GH administration. However, a prolonged GH stimulation induced in 3 of them an increase in IGF-I 40% above the baseline value. The IGF-binding protein-3 behavior paralleled that of IGF-I. The 2 GH-unresponsive subjects showed an abnormal tyrosine phosphorylation pattern after GH challenge. Sequence analysis of the GH receptor gene revealed a heterozygous mutation resulting in an Arg to Cys change (R161C) in exon 6 in only 1 patient, who had normal GH receptor responsiveness. Our findings indicate that abnormal GH receptor signaling may underlie idiopathic short stature even in the absence of GH receptor mutations. Thus, combining the 4-d IGF-I generation test and the analysis of GH-induced protein tyrosine phosphorylation is a useful tool to help identify idiopathic short stature patients with partial GH insensitivity.

The protective activity of small stress proteins (sHsp) against H2O2-mediated cell death in the highly sensitive murine L929 fibroblast has been analyzed. We report here that the human Hsp27- and murine Hsp25-mediated rise in glutathione (GSH) levels as well as the maintenance of this redox modulator in its reduced form was directly responsible for the protection observed at the level of cell morphology and mitochondrial membrane potential. sHsp expression also buffered the increase in protein oxidation following H2O2 treatment and protected several key enzymes against inactivation. In this case, however, the protection necessitated both an increase in GSH and the presence of sHsp per se since the pattern of protection against protein oxidation mediated by a simple GSH increase was different from that induced by sHsp expression. Among the enzymes analyzed, we noticed that sHsp significantly increased glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) activity and to a lesser extent glutathione reductase and glutathione transferase activities. Moreover, an increased GSH level was observed in G6PD-overexpressing L929 cell clones. Taken together our results suggest that sHsp protect against oxidative stress through a G6PD-dependent ability to increase and uphold GSH in its reduced form and by using this redox modulator as an essential parameter of their in vivo chaperone activity against oxidized proteins.

The Hyper-immunoglobulin M syndromes (HIGM) are a heterogeneous group of genetic disorders resulting in defects of immunoglobulin class switch recombination. Affected patients show humoral immunodeficiency and high susceptibility to opportunistic infections. Elevated serum IgM levels are the hallmark of the disease, even though in few rare cases they may be in the normal range. Hyper IgM is associated with low to undetectable levels of serum IgG, IgA, and IgE. In some cases, alterations in different genes may be identified. Mutations in five genes have so far been associated to the disease, which can be inherited with an X-linked (CD40 ligand, and nuclear factor-kB essential modulator defects) or an autosomal recessive (CD40, activation-induced cytidine deaminase, and uracil-DNA glycosylase mutation) pattern. The patient herein described presented with recurrent upper and lower respiratory infections and evidence of suppurative lung disease at the conventional chest imaging. The presence of low serum IgG and IgA levels, elevated IgM levels, and a marked reduction of in vivo switched memory B cells led to a clinical and functional diagnosis of HIGM although the genetic cause was not identified.

We recently published the genomic characterization of the STAT5A and STAT5B paralogous genes that are located head to head in the 17q21 chromosome and share large regions of sequence identity. We here demonstrate by transient in vitro transfection that STAT5A and STAT5B promoters are able to direct comparable levels of transcription. The expression of basal promoters is enhanced after Sp1 up-regulation in HeLa and SL2 cells while DNA methylation associated to the recruitment of MeCP2 methyl CpG binding protein down-regulates STAT5A and B promoters by interfering with Sp1-induced transcription. In addition, cross-species sequence comparison identified a bi-directional negative cis-acting regulatory element located in the STAT5 intergenic region.

HGID Lab Andrés Augusto Arias1,3, Bertrand Boisson1,2, Soraya Boucherit2, Jacinta Bustamante1,2, Marwa Chbihi2, Jie Chen1, Maya Chrabieh2, Tatiana Kochetkov1, Tom Le Voyer2, Dana Liu1, Yelena Nemirovskaya1, Masato Ogishi1, Dominick Papandrea1, Cécile Patissier2, Franck Rapaport1, Manon Roynard2, Natasha Vladikine2, Mark Woollett1, Peng Zhang1 1St. Giles Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Rockefeller Branch, The Rockefeller University. 2Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Necker Branch, INSERM U1163, Necker Hospital for Sick Children. 3School of Microbiology and Group of Primary Immunodeficiencies, University of Antioquia UdeA, Medellin, Colombia., NIAID-USUHS Immune Response to COVID Group Anuj Kashyap1, Li Ding1, Marita Bosticardo1, Qinlu Wang2, Sebastian Ochoa1, Hui Liu1, Samuel D. Chauvin3, Michael Stack1, Galina Koroleva4, Neha Bansal5, Clifton L. Dalgard6,7, Andrew L. Snow8 1Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Microbiology, Division of Intramural Research, NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA. 2Bioinformatics and Computational Biosciences Branch, NIAID Office of Cyber Infrastructure and Computational Biology, NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA. 3Laboratory of Immune System Biology, Division of Intramural Research, NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA. 4NIH Center for Human Immunology, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA. 5Multiscale Systems Biology Section, Laboratory of Immune System Biology, NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA. 6PRIMER, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA. 7Department of Anatomy, Physiology & Genetics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA. 8Department of Pharmacology & Molecular Therapeutics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA., COVID Clinicians Jorge Abad1, Sergio Aguilera-Albesa2, Ozge Metin Akcan3, Ilad Alavi Darazam4, Juan C. Aldave5, Miquel Alfonso Ramos6, Seyed Alireza Nadji7, Gulsum Alkan8, Jerome Allardet-Servent9, Luis M. Allende10, Laia Alsina11, Marie-Alexandra Alyanakian12, Blanca Amador-Borrero13, Zahir Amoura14, Arnau Antolí15, Sevket Arslan16, Sophie Assant17, Terese Auguet18, Axelle Azot19, Fanny Bajolle20, Aurélie Baldolli21, Maite Ballester22, Hagit Baris Feldman23, Benoit Barrou24, Alexandra Beurton25, Agurtzane Bilbao26, Geraldine Blanchard-Rohner27, Ignacio Blanco1, Adeline Blandinières28, Daniel Blazquez-Gamero29, Marketa Bloomfield30, Mireia Bolivar-Prados31, Raphael Borie32, Ahmed A. Bousfiha33, Claire Bouvattier34, Oksana Boyarchuk35, Maria Rita P. Bueno36, Jacinta Bustamante20, Juan José Cáceres Agra37, Semra Camli38, Ruggero Capra39, Maria Carrabba40, Carlos Casasnovas41, Marion Caseris42, Martin Castelle43, Francesco Castelli44, Martín Castillo de Vera45, Mateus V. Castro36, Emilie Catherinot46, Martin Chalumeau47, Bruno Charbit48, Matthew P. Cheng49, Père Clavé31, Bonaventura Clotet50, Anna Codina51, Fatih Colkesen52, Fatma Colkesen53, Roger Colobran 54, Cloé Comarmond55, Angelo G. Corsico56, David Dalmau57, David Ross Darley58, Nicolas Dauby59, Stéphane Dauger60, Loic de Pontual61, Amin Dehban62, Geoffroy Delplancq63, Alexandre Demoule64, Antonio Di Sabatino65, Jean-Luc Diehl66, Stephanie Dobbelaere67, Sophie Durand68, Waleed Eldars69, Mohamed Elgamal70, Marwa H. Elnagdy71, Melike Emiroglu72, Emine Hafize Erdeniz73, Selma Erol Aytekin74, Romain Euvrard75, Recep Evcen76, Giovanna Fabio40, Laurence Faivre77, Antonin Falck42, Muriel Fartoukh78, Morgane Faure79, Miguel Fernandez Arquero80, Carlos Flores81, Bruno Francois82, Victoria Fumadó83, Francesca Fusco84, Blanca Garcia Solis85, Pascale Gaussem86, Juana Gil-Herrera87, Laurent Gilardin88, Monica Girona Alarcon89, Mónica Girona-Alarcón89, Jean-Christophe Goffard90, Funda Gok91, Rafaela González-Montelongo92, Antoine Guerder93, Yahya Gul94, Sukru Nail Guner94, Marta Gut95, Jérôme Hadjadj96, Filomeen Haerynck97, Rabih Halwani98, Lennart Hammarström99, Nevin Hatipoglu100, Elisa Hernandez-Brito101, María Soledad Holanda-Peña102, Juan Pablo Horcajada103, Sami Hraiech104, Linda Humbert105, Alejandro D. Iglesias106, Antonio Íñigo-Campos92, Matthieu Jamme107, María Jesús Arranz108, Iolanda Jordan109, Fikret Kanat110, Hasan Kapakli111, Iskender Kara112, Adem Karbuz113, Kadriye Kart Yasar114, Sevgi Keles115, Yasemin Kendir Demirkol116, Adam Klocperk117, Zbigniew J. Król118, Paul Kuentz119, Yat Wah M. Kwan120, Jean-Christophe Lagier121, Yu-Lung Lau122, Fleur Le Bourgeois60, Yee-Sin Leo123, Rafael Leon Lopez124, Daniel Leung122, Michael Levin125, Michael Levy60, Romain Lévy20, Zhi Li48, Agnes Linglart126, José M. Lorenzo-Salazar92, Céline Louapre127, Catherine Lubetzki127, Charles-Edouard Luyt128, David C. Lye129, Davood Mansouri130, Majid Marjani131, Jesus Marquez Pereira132, Andrea Martin133, David Martínez Pueyo134, Javier Martinez-Picado135, Iciar Marzana136, Alexis Mathian14, Larissa R. B. Matos36, Gail V. Matthews137, Julien Mayaux138, Jean-Louis Mège139, Isabelle Melki140, Jean-François Meritet141, Ozge Metin142, Isabelle Meyts143, Mehdi Mezidi144, Isabelle Migeotte145, Maude Millereux146, Tristan Mirault147, Clotilde Mircher68, Mehdi Mirsaeidi148, Abián Montesdeoca Melián149, Antonio Morales Martinez150, Pierre Morange151, Demence Mordacq105, Guillaume Morelle152, Stéphane Mouly13, Adrián Muñoz-Barrera92, Cyril Nafati153, João Farela Neves154, Lisa F. P. Ng155, Yeray Novoa Medina156, Esmeralda Nuñez Cuadros157, J. Gonzalo Ocejo-Vinyals158, Zerrin Orbak159, Mehdi Oualha20, Tayfun Özçelik160, Qiang Pan Hammarström161, Christophe Parizot138, Tiffany Pascreau162, Estela Paz-Artal163, Sandra Pellegrini48, Rebeca Pérez de Diego85, Aurélien Philippe164, Quentin Philippot78, Laura Planas-Serra165, Dominique Ploin166, Julien Poissy167, Géraldine Poncelet42, Marie Pouletty168, Paul Quentric138, Didier Raoult139, Anne-Sophie Rebillat68, Ismail Reisli169, Pilar Ricart170, Jean-Christophe Richard171, Nadia Rivet28, Jacques G. Rivière172, Gemma Rocamora Blanch15, Carlos Rodrigo1, Carlos Rodriguez-Gallego173, Agustí Rodríguez-Palmero174, Carolina Soledad Romero175, Anya Rothenbuhler176, Flore Rozenberg177, Maria Yolanda Ruiz del Prado178, Joan Sabater Riera15, Oliver Sanchez179, Silvia Sánchez-Ramón180, Agatha Schluter165, Matthieu Schmidt181, Cyril E. Schweitzer182, Francesco Scolari183, Anna Sediva184, Luis M. Seijo185, Damien Sene13, Sevtap Senoglu114, Mikko Seppänen186, Alex Serra Ilovich187, Mohammad Shahrooei62, David Smadja188, Ali Sobh189, Xavier Solanich Moreno15, Jordi Solé-Violán190, Catherine Soler191, Pere Soler-Palacín133, Yuri Stepanovskiy192, Annabelle Stoclin193, Fabio Taccone145, Yacine Tandjaoui-Lambiotte194, Jean-Luc Taupin195, Simon J. Tavernier196, Benjamin Terrier197, Caroline Thumerelle105, Gabriele Tomasoni198, Julie Toubiana47, Josep Trenado Alvarez199, Sophie Trouillet-Assant200, Jesús Troya201, Alessandra Tucci202, Matilde Valeria Ursini‬84, Yurdagul Uzunhan203, Pierre Vabres204, Juan Valencia-Ramos205, Ana Maria Van Den Rym85, Isabelle Vandernoot206, Hulya Vatansev207, Valentina Vélez-Santamaria41, Sébastien Viel166, Cédric Vilain208, Marie E. Vilaire68, Audrey Vincent34, Guillaume Voiriot209, Fanny Vuotto105, Alper Yosunkaya91, Barnaby E. Young123, Fatih Yucel210, Faiez Zannad211, Mayana Zatz36, Alexandre Belot212* 1University Hospital and Research Institute “Germans Trias i Pujol”, Badalona, Spain. 2Navarra Health Service Hospital, Pamplona, Spain. 3Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Necmettin Erbakan University, Meram Medical Faculty, Konya, Turkey. 4Department of Infectious Diseases, Loghman Hakim Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 5Hospital Nacional Edgardo Rebagliati Martins, Lima, Peru. 6Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat Spain. 7Virology Research Center, National institutes of Tuberculosis and Lung diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 8Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey. 9Intensive care unit, Hôpital Européen, Marseille, France. 10Immunology Department, University Hospital 12 de Octubre. Research Institute imas12. Complutense University, Madrid, Spain. 11Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain. 12Department of Biological Immunology, Necker Hospital for Sick Children, APHP and INEM, Paris, France. 13Internal medicine department, Hôpital Lariboisière, APHP; Université de Paris, Paris, France. 14Internal medicine department, Pitié-Salpétrière Hospital, Paris, France. 15Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Barcelona, Spain. 16Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, Necmettin Erbakan University, Meram Medical Faculty, Konya, Turkey. 17Joint Research Unit, Hospices Civils de Lyon-bio Mérieux, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon Sud Hospital, Lyon, France. 18Hospital U. de Tarragona Joan XXIII. Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV). IISPV, Tarragona, Spain. 19Private practice, Paris, France. 20Necker Hospital for Sick Children, AP-HP, Paris, France. 21Department of Infectious Diseases, CHU de Caen, Caen, France. 22Consorcio Hospital General Universitario, Valencia, Spain. 23The Genetics Institute, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. 24Dept Urology, Nephrology, Transplantation, APHP-SU, Sorbonne Université, INSERM U 1082, Paris, France. 25Service de Médecine Intensive–Réanimation et Pneumologie, APHP Hôpital Pitié–Salpêtrière, Paris, France. 26Cruces University Hospital, Bizkaia, Spain. 27Paediatric Immunology and Vaccinology Unit, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland. 28Hematology, Georges Pompidou Hospital, APHP, Paris, France. 29Pediatric Infectious Diseases Unit. Instituto de Investigación 12 de Octubre (imas12). Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain. 30Department of Immunology, Motol University Hospital, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Department of Pediatrics, Thomayer’s Hospital, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. 31Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepàticas y Digestivas (Ciberehd). Hospital de Mataró, Consorci Sanitari del Maresme, Mataró, Spain. 32Service de Pneumologie, Hopital Bichat, APHP, Paris, France. 33Clinical immunology unit, pediatric infectious disease departement, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Averroes University Hospital. LICIA Laboratoire d'immunologie clinique, d'inflammation et d'allergie, Hassann Ii University, Casablanca, Morocco. 34Endocrinology unit, APHP Hôpitaux Universitaires Paris-Sud, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France. 35Department of Children's Diseases and Pediatric Surgery, I.Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University, Ternopil, Ukraine. 36Human Genome and stem-cell research center- University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. 37Hospital Insular, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. 38Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Konya State Hospital, Konya, Turkey. 39MS Center, Spedali Civili, Brescia, Italy. 40Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy. 41Bellvitge University Hospital, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain. 42Hopital Robert Debré, Paris, France. 43Pediatric Immuno-hematology Unit, Necker Enfants Malades Hospital, AP-HP, Paris, France. 44Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, University of Brescia, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, Brescia, Italy. 45Doctoral Health Care Center, Canarian Health System, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. 46Hôpital Foch, Suresnes, France. 47Necker Hospital for Sick Children, Paris University, AP-HP, Paris, France. 48Pasteur Institute, Paris, France. 49McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada. 50University Hospital and Research Institute “Germans Trias i Pujol”, IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, UVic-UCC, Badalona, Spain. 51Clinical Biochemistry, Pathology, Paediatric Neurology and Molecular Medicine Departments and Biobank, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu and CIBERER-ISCIII, Esplugues, Spain. 52Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University, Meram Medical Faculty, Konya, Turkey. 53Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Konya Training and Research Hospital, Konya, Turkey. 54Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain. 55Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France. 56Respiratory Diseases Division, IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo Foundation and University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy. 57Fundació Docència i Recerca Mútua Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain. 58UNSW Medicine, St Vincent's Clinical School; Department of Thoracic Medicine, St Vincent's Hospital Darlinghurst, Sidney, Australia. 59CHU Saint-Pierre, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium. 60Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Robert-Debré University Hospital, APHP, Paris, France. 61Sorbonne Paris Nord, Hôpital Jean Verdier, APHP, Bondy, France. 62Specialized Immunology Laboratory of Dr. Shahrooei, Sina Medical Complex, Ahvaz, Iran. 63Centre de génétique humaine, CHU Besançon, Besançon, France. 64Sorbonne Université médecine and APHP Sorbonne université site Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France. 65Department of Internal Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy. 66Intensive Care unit, Georges Pompidou Hospital, APHP, Paris, France. 67Department of Pneumology, AZ Delta, Roeselare, Belgium. 68Institut Jérôme Lejeune, Paris, France. 69Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt. 70Department of Chest, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt. 71Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt. 72Faculty of Medicine, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey. 73Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Turkey. 74Necmettin Erbakan University, Meram Medical Faculty, Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Konya, Turkey. 75Centre Hospitalier Fleyriat, Bourg-en-Bresse, France. 76Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University, Meram Medical Faculty, Konya, Turkey. 77Centre de Génétique, CHU Dijon, Dijon, France. 78APHP Tenon Hospital, Paris, France. 79Sorbonne Universités, UPMC University of Paris, Paris, France. 80Department of Clinical Immunology, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain. 81Genomics Division, Instituto Tecnológico y de Energías Renovables (ITER), Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain; CIBER de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain; Research Unit, Hospital Universitario N.S. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain; Instituto de Tecnologías Biomédicas (ITB), Universidad de La Laguna, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain. 82CHU Limoges and Inserm CIC 1435 & UMR 1092, Limoges, France. 83Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Spain; Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain. 84Institute of Genetics and Biophysics ‘Adriano Buzzati-Traverso’, IGB-CNR, Naples, Italy. 85Laboratory of Immunogenetics of Human Diseases, IdiPAZ Institute for Health Research, La Paz Hospital, Madrid, Spain. 86Hematology, APHP, Hopital Européen Georges Pompidou and Inserm UMR-S1140, Paris, France. 87Hospital General Universitario and Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria "Gregorio Marañón", Madrid, Spain. 88Bégin military Hospital, Bégin, France. 89Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain. 90Department of Internal Medicine, Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium. 91Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Necmettin Erbakan University, Meram Medical Faculty, Konya, Turkey. 92Genomics Division, Instituto Tecnológico y de Energías Renovables (ITER), Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. 93Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France. 94Division of Allergy and Immunology, Necmettin Erbakan University, Meram Medical Faculty, Konya, Turkey. 95CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST); Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain. 96Department of Internal Medicine, National Reference Center for Rare Systemic Autoimmune Diseases, AP-HP, APHP-CUP, Hôpital Cochin, Paris, France. 97Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium. 98Sharjah Institute of Medical Research, College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE. 99Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, SE14183, Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. 100Pediatric Infectious Diseases Unit, Bakirkoy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey. 101Department of Immunology, Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Dr. Negrín, Canarian Health System, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. 102IntensivenCare Unit. Marqués de Valdecilla Hospital, Santander, Spain. 103Hospital del Mar, Parc de Salut Mar, Barcelona, Spain. 104Intensive care unit, APHM, Marseille, France. 105CHU Lille, Lille, France. 106Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. 107Centre hospitalier intercommunal Poissy Saint Germain en Laye, Poissy, France. 108Division of Respiratory Diseases, Fundació Docència i Recerca Mútua Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain. 109Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Kids Corona Platfform, Barcelona, Spain. 110Selcuk University, Faculty of Medicine, Chest Diseases Department, Konya, Turkey. 111Division of Allergy and Immunology, Balikesir Ataturk City Hospital, Balikesir, Turkey. 112Division of Critical Care Medicine, Selcuk University, Faculty of Medicine, Konya, Turkey. 113Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascıoglu City Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. 114Departments of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Bakirkoy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey. 115Meram Medical Faculty, Necmettin Erbakan University, Meram Medical Faculty, Konya, Turkey. 116Health Sciences University, Umraniye Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. 117Department of Immunology, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and University Hospital in Motol, Prague, Czech Republic. 118Central Clinical Hospital of Ministry of the Interior and Administration in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland. 119Oncobiologie Génétique Bioinformatique, PC Bio, CHU Besançon, Besançon, France. 120Paediatric Infectious Disease Unit, Hospital Authority Infectious Disease Center, Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region), China. 121Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, MEPHI, IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France. 122Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. 123National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore. 124Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, Cordoba, Spain. 125Imperial College, London, England. 126Endocrinology and diabetes for children, AP-HP, Bicêtre Paris-Saclay hospital, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France. 127Neurology unit, APHP Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris University, Paris, France. 128Intensive care unit, APHP Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris University, Paris, France. 129National Centre for Infectious Diseases; Tan Tock Seng Hospital; Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine; Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Singapore. 130Department of Clinical Immunology and Infectious Diseases, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 131Clinical Tuberculosis and Epidemiology Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 132Hospital Sant Joan de Déu and University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. 133Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunodeficiencies Unit, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Research Institute, Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain. 134Hospital Universitari Mutua de Terrassa, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. 135IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, ICREA, UVic-UCC, Research Institute “Germans Trias i Pujol”, Badalona, Spain. 136Department of Laboratory, Cruces University Hospital, Barakaldo, Bizkaia, Spain. 137University of New South Wales, Australia. 138APHP Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France. 139Aix-Marseille University, APHM, Marseille, France. 140Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France. 141APHP Cohin Hospital, Paris, France. 142Necmettin Erbakan University Meram Faculty of Medicine Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Konya, Turkey. 143University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. 144Hospices Civils de Lyon, Hôpital de la Croix-Rousse, Lyon, France. 145Hôpital Erasme, Brussels, Belgium. 146CH Gonesse, Gonesse, France. 147Vascular Medicine, Georges Pompidou Hospital, APHP, Paris, France. 148Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, University of Miami, Miami, USA. 149Guanarteme Health Care Center, Canarian Health System, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. 150Regional University Hospital of Malaga, Malaga, Spain. 151Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France. 152Department of General Paediatrics, Hôpital Bicêtre, AP-HP, University of Paris Saclay, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France. 153CHU de La Timone, Marseille, France. 154Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Lisboa Central, Lisbon, Portugal. 155Infectious Diseases Horizontal Technlogy Centre, A*STAR; Singapore Immunology Network, A*STAR, Singapore. 156Department of Pediatrics, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario Insular-Materno Infantil, Canarian Health System, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. 157Regional Universitary Hospital of Malaga, Málaga, Spain. 158Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla, Santander, Spain. 159Ataturk University Medical Faculty, Erzurum, Turkey. 160Bilkent University, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Ankara, Turkey. 161Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, SE14186, Stockholm, Sweden. 162L'Hôpital Foch, Suresnes, France. 163Department of Immunology, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital 12 de Octubre (imas12), Madrid, Spain. 164APHP Hôpitaux Universitaires Paris-Sud, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France. 165Neurometabolic Diseases Laboratory, IDIBELL-Hospital Duran i Reynals, Barcelona; CIBERER U759, ISCiii Madrid, Spain. 166Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France. 167Université de Lille, Inserm U1285, CHU Lille, Paris, France. 168Departement of General Pediatrics, University Hospital Robert Debré, APHP, Paris, France. 169Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey. 170Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital, Badalona, Spain. 171Medical intensive care unit. Hopital de la Croix-Rousse. Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France. 172Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunodeficiencies Unit, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Research Institute, Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus., Barcelona, Spain. 173Department of Immunology, Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Dr. Negrín, Canarian Health System, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, EU. University Fernando Pessoa Canarias, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. 174Neurometabolic Diseases Laboratory, IDIBELL-Hospital Duran i Reynals, Barcelona, Spain. 175Consorcio Hospital General Universitario, Valencia, Spain. 176APHP Hôpitaux Universitaires Paris-Sud, Paris, France. 177Virology unit, Université de Paris, Cohin Hospital, APHP, Paris, France. 178Hospital San Pedro, Logroño, Spain. 179Respiratory medicine, Georges Pompidou Hospital, APHP, Paris, France. 180Dept. Immunology, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain. 181Service de Médecine Intensive Réanimation, Institut de Cardiologie, Hopital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France. 182CHRU de Nancy, Hôpital d'Enfants, Vandoeuvre, France. 183Chair of Nephrology, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy. 184Department of Immunology, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Motol University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic. 185Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Madrid, Spain. 186HUS Helsinki University Hospital, Children and Adolescents, Rare Disease Center, and Inflammation Center, Adult Immunodeficiency Unit, Majakka, Helsinki, Finland. 187Fundació Docència i Recerca Mútua Terrassa, Terrassa, Spain. 188Hopital Européen Georges Pompidou, Paris, France. 189Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt. 190Critical Care Unit, Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Dr. Negrín, Canarian Health System, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. 191CHU de Saint Etienne, Saint-Priest-en-Jarez, France. 192Shupyk National Medical Academy for Postgraduate Education, Kiev, Ukraine. 193Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus, Villejuif, France. 194Intensive Care Unit, Avicenne Hospital, APHP, Bobigny, France. 195Laboratory of Immunology and Histocompatibility, Saint-Louis Hospital, Paris University, Paris, France. 196Department of Internal Diseases and Pediatrics, Primary Immune Deficiency Research Lab, Centre for Primary Immunodeficiency Ghent, Jeffrey Modell Diagnosis and Research Centre, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium. 197Department of Internal Medicine, Université de Paris, INSERM, U970, PARCC, F-75015, Paris, France. 198First Division of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, University of Brescia, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, Brescia, Italy. 199Intensive Care Department, Hospital Universitari MutuaTerrassa, Universitat Barcelona, Terrassa, Spain. 200Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon Sud Hospital, Lyon, France. 201Infanta Leonor University Hospital, Madrid, Spain. 202Hematology Department, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, Brescia, Italy. 203Pneumologie, Hôpital Avicenne, APHP, INSERM U1272, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Bobigny, France. 204Dermatology unit, Laboratoire GAD, INSERM UMR1231 LNC, université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France. 205University Hospital of Burgos, Burgos, Spain. 206Center of Human Genetics, Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium. 207Department of Chest Diseases, Necmettin Erbakan University, Meram Medical Faculty, Konya, Turkey. 208CHU de Caen, Caen, France. 209Sorbonne Université, Service de Médecine Intensive Réanimation, Hôpital Tenon, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France. 210General Intensive Care Unit, Konya Training and Research Hospital, Konya, Turkey. 211CHU de Nancy, Nancy, France. 212University of Lyon, CIRI, INSERM U1111, National referee centre RAISE, Pediatric Rheumatology, HFME, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France. *Leader of the COVID-clinicians group., COVID-STORM Clinicians Giuseppe Foti1, Giacomo Bellani1, Giuseppe Citerio1, Ernesto Contro1, Alberto Pesci2, Maria Grazia Valsecchi3, Marina Cazzaniga4 1Department of Emergency, Anesthesia and Intensive Care, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza IT. 2Department of Pneumology, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza IT. 3Center of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza IT. 4Phase I Research Center, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza IT., Imagine COVID Group Christine Bole-Feysot1, Stanislas Lyonnet1*, Cécile Masson1, Patrick Nitschke1, Aurore Pouliet1, Yoann Schmitt1, Frederic Tores1, Mohammed Zarhrate1 1Imagine Institute, Université de Paris, INSERM UMR 1163, Paris, France. *Leader of the Imagine COVID group., French COVID Cohort Study Group Laurent Abel1, Claire Andrejak2, François Angoulvant3, Delphine Bachelet4, Romain Basmaci5, Sylvie Behillil6, Marine Beluze7, Dehbia Benkerrou8, Krishna Bhavsar4, François Bompart9, Lila Bouadma4, Maude Bouscambert10, Mireille Caralp11, Minerva Cervantes-Gonzalez12, Anissa Chair4, Alexandra Coelho13, Camille Couffignal4, Sandrine Couffin-Cardiergues14, Eric D’ortenzio12, Charlene Da Silveira4, Marie-Pierre Debray4, Dominique Deplanque15, Diane Descamps16, Mathilde Desvallées17, Alpha Diallo18, Alphonsine Diouf13, Céline Dorival8, François Dubos19, Xavier Duval4, Philippine Eloy4, Vincent V. E. Enouf20, Hélène Esperou21, Marina Esposito-Farese4, Manuel Etienne22, Nadia Ettalhaoui4, Nathalie Gault4, Alexandre Gaymard10, Jade Ghosn4, Tristan Gigante23, Isabelle Gorenne4, Jérémie Guedj24, Alexandre Hoctin13, Isabelle Hoffmann4, Salma Jaafoura21, Ouifiya Kafif4, Florentia Kaguelidou25, Sabina Kali4, Antoine Khalil4, Coralie Khan17, Cédric Laouénan4, Samira Laribi4, Minh Le4, Quentin Le Hingrat4, Soizic Le Mestre18, Hervé Le Nagard24, François-Xavier Lescure4, Yves Lévy26, Claire Levy-Marchal27, Bruno Lina10, Guillaume Lingas24, Jean Christophe Lucet4, Denis Malvy28, Marina Mambert13, France Mentré4, Noémie Mercier18, Amina Meziane8, Hugo Mouquet20, Jimmy Mullaert4, Nadège Neant24, Marion Noret29, Justine Pages30, Aurélie Papadopoulos21, Christelle Paul18, Nathan Peiffer-Smadja4, Ventzislava Petrov-Sanchez18, Gilles Peytavin4, Olivier Picone31, Oriane Puéchal12, Manuel Rosa-Calatrava10, Bénédicte Rossignol23, Patrick Rossignol32, Carine Roy4, Marion Schneider4, Caroline Semaille12, Nassima Si Mohammed4, Lysa Tagherset4, Coralie Tardivon4, Marie-Capucine Tellier4, François Téoulé8, Olivier Terrier10, Jean-François Timsit4, Théo Treoux4, Christelle Tual33, Sarah Tubiana4, Sylvie van der Werf34, Noémie Vanel35, Aurélie Veislinger33, Benoit Visseaux16, Aurélie Wiedemann26, Yazdan Yazdanpanah36 1Inserm UMR 1163, Paris, France. 2CHU Amiens, France. 3Hôpital Necker, Paris, France. 4Hôpital Bichat, Paris, France. 5Hôpital Louis Mourrier, Colombes, France. 6Institut Pasteur, Paris, France. 7F-CRIN Partners Platform, AP-HP, Université de Paris, Paris, France. 8Inserm UMR 1136, Paris, France. 9Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, Geneva, Switzerland. 10Inserm UMR 1111, Lyon, France. 11Inserm Transfert, Paris, France. 12REACTing, Paris, France. 13Inserm UMR 1018, Paris, France. 14Inserm, Pôle Recherche Clinique, France. 15CIC 1403 Inserm-CHU Lille, Paris, France. 16Université de Paris, IAME, INSERM UMR 1137, AP-HP, University hospital Bichat Claude Bernard, Virology, F-75018 Paris, France. 17Inserm UMR 1219, Bordeaux, France. 18ANRS, Paris, France. 19CHU Lille, France. 20Pasteur Institute, Paris, France. 21Inserm sponsor, Paris, France. 22Rouen - SMIT, France. 23FCRIN INI-CRCT, Nancy, France. 24Inserm UMR 1137, Paris, France. 25Centre d'Investigation Clinique, Inserm CIC1426, Hôpital Robert Debré, Paris, France. 26Inserm UMR 955, Créteil, France; Vaccine Research Instiute (VRI), Paris, France. 27F-CRIN INI-CRCT, Paris, France. 28Bordeaux - SMIT, France. 29RENARCI, Annecy, France. 30Hôpital Robert Debré, Paris, France. 31Colombes - Louis Mourier - Gynécologie, France. 32University of Lorraine, Plurithematic Clinical Investigation Centre Inserm CIC-P; 1433, Inserm U1116, CHRU Nancy Hopitaux de Brabois, F-CRIN INI-CRCT; (Cardiovascular and Renal Clinical Trialists), Nancy, France. 33Inserm CIC-1414, Rennes, France. 34Institut Pasteur, UMR 3569 CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France. 35hôpital la timone, Marseille, France. 36Paris - Bichat - SMIT, France., The Milieu Intérieur Consortium Laurent Abel1, Andres Alcover2, Hugues Aschard2, Kalla Astrom3, Philippe Bousso2, Pierre Bruhns2, Ana Cumano2, Caroline Demangel2, Ludovic Deriano2, James Di Santo2, Françoise Dromer2, Gérard Eberl2, Jost Enninga2, Jacques Fellay4, Ivo Gomperts-Boneca2, Milena Hasan2, Serge Hercberg5, Olivier Lantz6, Hugo Mouquet2, Etienne Patin2, Sandra Pellegrini2, Stanislas Pol7, Antonio Rausell8, Lars Rogge2, Anavaj Sakuntabhai2, Olivier Schwartz2, Benno Schwikowski2, Spencer Shorte2, Frédéric Tangy2, Antoine Toubert9, Mathilde Touvier10, Marie-Noëlle Ungeheuer2, Matthew L. Albert11*, Darragh Duffy2*, Lluis Quintana-Murci2* 1INSERM U1163, University of Paris, Imagine Institute, Paris, France. 2Pasteur Institute, Paris, France. 3Lund University, Lund, Sweden. 4EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland. 5Université Paris 13, Paris, France. 6Curie Institute, Paris, France. 7Cochin Hospital, Paris, France. 8INSERM UMR 1163 – Institut Imagine. 9Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, France. 10Université Paris 13, Paris, France. 11In Sitro. *Co-coordinators of the Milieu Intérieur Consortium. Additional information can be found at: https://www.pasteur.fr/labex/milieu-interieur., CoV-Contact Cohort Loubna Alavoine1, Karine K. A. Amat2, Sylvie Behillil3, Julia Bielicki4, Patricia Bruijning5, Charles Burdet6, Eric Caumes7, Charlotte Charpentier8, Bruno Coignard9, Yolande Costa1, Sandrine Couffin-Cardièrgues10, Florence Damond8, Aline Dechanet11, Christelle Delmas10, Diane Descamps8, Xavier Duval1, Jean-Luc Ecobichon1, Vincent Enouf3, Hélène Espérou10, Wahiba Frezouls1, Nadhira Houhou11, Emila Ilic-Habensus1, Ouifiya Kafif11, John Kikoine11, Quentin Le Hingrat8, David Lebeaux12, Anne Leclercq1, Jonathan Lehacaut1, Sophie Letrou1, Bruno Lina13, Jean-Christophe Lucet14, Denis Malvy15, Pauline Manchon11, Milica Mandic1, Mohamed Meghadecha16, Justina Motiejunaite17, Mariama Nouroudine1, Valentine Piquard11, Andreea Postolache11, Caroline Quintin1, Jade Rexach1, Layidé Roufai10, Zaven Terzian11, Michael Thy18, Sarah Tubiana1, Sylvie van der Werf3, Valérie Vignali1, Benoit Visseaux8, Yazdan Yazdanpanah14 1Centre d'Investigation Clinique, Inserm CIC 1425, Hôpital Bichat Claude Bernard, APHP, Paris, France. 2IMEA Fondation Léon M'Ba, Paris, France. 3Institut Pasteur, UMR 3569 CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France. 4University of Basel Children’s Hospital. 5Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, Utrecht. 6Université de Paris, IAME, Inserm UMR 1137, F-75018, Paris, France, Hôpital Bichat Claude Bernard, APHP, Paris, France. 7Hôpital Pitiè Salpétriere, APHP, Paris. 8Université de Paris, IAME, INSERM UMR 1137, AP-HP, University hospital Bichat Claude Bernard, Virology, F-75018 Paris, France. 9Santé Publique France, Saint Maurice, France. 10Pole Recherche Clinique, Inserm, Paris France. 11Hôpital Bichat Claude Bernard, APHP, Paris, France. 12APHP, Paris, France. 13Virpath Laboratory, International Center of Research in Infectiology, Lyon University, INSERM U1111, CNRS UMR 5308, ENS, UCBL, Lyon, France . 14IAME Inserm UMR 1138, Hôpital Bichat Claude Bernard, APHP, Paris, France. 15Service des Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales; Groupe Pellegrin-Place Amélie-Raba-Léon, BORDEAUX. 16Hôpital Hotel Dieu, APHP, Paris, France. 17ervice des explorations fonctionnelles, Hôpital Bichat- Claude Bernard, APHP, Paris, France. 18Center for Clinical Investigation, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Bichat-Claude Bernard University Hospital., Amsterdam UMC Covid-19 Biobank Michiel van Agtmael1, Anne Geke Algera2, Frank van Baarle2, Diane Bax3, Martijn Beudel4, Harm Jan Bogaard5, Marije Bomers1, Lieuwe Bos2, Michela Botta2, Justin de Brabander6, Godelieve Bree6, Matthijs C. Brouwer4, Sanne de Bruin2, Marianna Bugiani7, Esther Bulle2, O. Chouchane1, Alex Cloherty3, Paul Elbers2, Lucas Fleuren2, Suzanne Geerlings1, Bart Geerts8, Theo Geijtenbeek9, Armand Girbes2, Bram Goorhuis1, Martin P. Grobusch1, Florianne Hafkamp9, Laura Hagens2, Jorg Hamann10, Vanessa Harris1, Robert Hemke11, Sabine M. Hermans1, Leo Heunks2, Markus Hollmann8, Janneke Horn2, Joppe W. Hovius1, Menno de Jong12, Rutger Koning4, Mourik van Mourik2, Jeaninne Nellen1, Frederique Paulus2, Edgar Peters1, Tom van der Poll1, Bennedikt Preckel8, Jan M. Prins1, Jorinde Raasveld2, Tom Reijnders1, Michiel Schinkel1, Marcus Schultz2, Alex Schuurman13, Kim Sigaloff1, Marry Smit2, Cornelis S. Stijnis1, Willemke Stilma2, Charlotte Teunissen14, Patrick Thoral2, Anissa Tsonas2, Marc van der Valk1, Denise Veelo8, Alexander P. J. Vlaar15, Heder de Vries2, Michèle van Vugt1, W. Joost Wiersinga1, Dorien Wouters16, A. H. (Koos) Zwinderman17, Diederik van de Beek18* 1Department of Infectious Diseases, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 2Department of Intensive Care, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 3Experimental Immunology, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 4Department of Neurology, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 5Department of Pulmonology, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 6Department of Infectious Diseases, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 7Department of Pathology, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 8Department of Anesthesiology, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 9Department of Experimental Immunology, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 10Amsterdam UMC, THE NETHERLANDS Biobank Core Facility, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 11Department of Radiology, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 12Department of Medical Microbiology, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 13Department of Internal Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 14Neurochemical Laboratory, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 15Deparment of Intensive Care, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 16Department of Clinical Chemistry, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 17Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. 18Department of Neurology, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands. *Leader of the AMC consortium., COVID Human Genetic Effort Laurent Abel1, Alessandro Aiuti2, Saleh Al Muhsen3, Fahd Al-Mulla4, Mark S. Anderson5, Andrés Augusto Arias6, Hagit Baris Feldman7, Dusan Bogunovic8, Alexandre Bolze9, Anastasiia Bondarenko10, Ahmed A. Bousfiha11, Petter Brodin12, Yenan Bryceson12, Carlos D. Bustamante13, Manish Butte14, Giorgio Casari15, Samya Chakravorty16, John Christodoulou17, Elizabeth Cirulli9, Antonio Condino Neto18, Megan A. Cooper19, Clifton L. Dalgard20, Joseph L. DeRisi21, Murkesh Desai22, Beth A. Drolet23, Sara Espinosa24, Jacques Fellay25, Carlos Flores26, Jose Luis Franco27, Peter K. Gregersen28, Filomeen Haerynck29, David Hagin30, Rabih Halwani​31, Jim Heath32, Sarah E. Henrickson33, Elena Hsieh34, Kohsuke Imai35, Yuval Itan8, Timokratis Karamitros36, Kai Kisand37, Cheng-Lung Ku38, Yu-Lung Lau39, Yun Ling40, Carrie L. Lucas41, Tom Maniatis42, Davoud Mansouri43, Laszlo Marodi44, Isabelle Meyts45, Joshua Milner46, Kristina Mironska47, Trine Mogensen48, Tomohiro Morio49, Lisa P. Ng50, Luigi D. Notarangelo51, Giuseppe Novelli52, Antonio Novelli53, Cliona O'Farrelly54, Satoshi Okada55, Tayfun Ozcelik56, Rebeca Perez de Diego57, Anna M. Planas58, Carolina Prando59, Aurora Pujol60, Lluis Quintana-Murci61, Laurent Renia62, Alessandra Renieri63, Carlos Rodríguez-Gallego64, Vanessa Sancho-Shimizu65, Vijay Sankaran66, Kelly Schiabor Barrett9, Mohammed Shahrooei67, Andrew Snow68, Pere Soler-Palacín69, András N. Spaan70, Stuart Tangye71, Stuart Turvey72, Furkan Uddin73, Mohammed J. Uddin74, Diederik van de Beek75, Sara E. Vazquez76, Donald C. Vinh77, Horst von Bernuth78, Nicole Washington9, Pawel Zawadzki79, Helen C. Su51*, Jean-Laurent Casanova80* 1INSERM U1163, University of Paris, Imagine Institute, Paris, France. 2San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy. 3King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 4Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait. 5University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. 6Universidad de Antioquia, Group of Primary Immunodeficiencies, Antioquia, Colombia. 7The Genetics Institute, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. 8Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. 9Helix, San Mateo, CA, USA. 10Shupyk National Medical Academy for Postgraduate Education, Kiev, Ukraine. 11Clinical immunology unit, pediatric infectious disease departement, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Averroes University Hospital. LICIA Laboratoire d'immunologie clinique, d'inflammation et d'allergie, Hassann Ii University., Casablanca, Morocco. 12Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. 13Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. 14University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. 15Medical Genetics, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy. 16Emory, Atlanta, GA, USA. 17Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Victoria, Australia. 18University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. 19Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA. 20The American Genome Center; Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA. 21University of California San Francisco; Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, United States. 22Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children, Mumbai, India. 23 School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA. 24Instituto Nacional de Pediatria (National Institute of Pediatrics), Mexico City, Mexico. 25Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. 26Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria, Canarian Health System, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. 27University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia. 28Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Northwell Health USA, Manhasset, NY, USA. 29Department of Paediatric Immunology and Pulmonology, Centre for Primary Immunodeficiency Ghent (CPIG), PID research lab, Jeffrey Modell Diagnosis and Research Centre, Ghent University Hospital, Edegem, Belgium. 30The Genetics Institute Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel. 31Sharjah Institute of Medical Research, College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE. 32Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA, USA. 33Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA. 34Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA. 35Riken, Tokyo, Japan. 36Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, Greece. 37University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia. 38Chang Gung University, Taoyuan County, Taiwan. 39The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. 40Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. 41Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. 42New York Genome Center, New York, NY, USA. 43Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 44Semmelweis University Budapest, Budapest, Hungary. 45KU Leuven, Department of Immunology, Microbiology and Transplantation, Leuven, Belgium. 46Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA. 47University Clinic for Children's Diseases, Skopje, North Macedonia. 48Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. 49Tokyo Medical & Dental University Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. 50Singapore Immunology Network, Singapore. 51National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. 52Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy; Dept. Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy. 53Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy, Rome, Italy, Italy. 54Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. 55Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan. 56Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey. 57Laboratory of Immunogenetics of Human Diseases, Innate Immunity Group, IdiPAZ Institute for Health Research, La Paz Hospital, Madrid 28046, Spain, EU, Madrid, Spain, Spain. 58IIBB-CSIC, IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain. 59Faculdades Pequeno Príncipe e Instituto de Pesquisa Pelé Pequeno Príncipe, Curitiba, Brazil. 60Neurometabolic Diseases Laboratory, IDIBELL- Hospital Duran I Reynals; Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA); CIBERER U759, ISCiii Madrid Spain, Barcelona, Spain. 61Institut Pasteur (CNRS UMR2000) and Collège de France, Paris, France. 62Infectious Diseases Horizontal Technology Center and Singapore Immunology Network, Agency for Science Technology (A*STAR), Singapore. 63University of Siena, Siena, Italy. 64Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Dr Negrín, Canarian Health System, Canary Islands, Spain. 65Imperial College London, London, UK. 66Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. 67Saeed Pathobiology and Genetic Lab, Tehran, Iran. 68Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), Bethesda, MD, USA. 69Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain. 70University Medical Center Utrecht, Amsterdam, Netherlands. 71Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia. 72The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. 73Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College; Centre for Precision Therapeutics, NeuroGen Children's Healthcare; Genetics and Genomic Medicine Centre, NeuroGen Children's Healthcare, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 74Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, College of Medicine, Dubai, UAE; The Centre for Applied Genomics, Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 75Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Netherlands. 76University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States. 77McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada. 78Charité - Berlin University Hospital Center, Berlin, Germany. 79Molecular Biophysics Division, Faculty of Physics, A. Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznanskiego 2, Poznań, Poland. 80Rockefeller University, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Necker Hospital, New York, NY, USA. *Leaders of the COVID Human Genetic Effort., Interindividual clinical variability in the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection is immense. We report that at least 101 of 987 patients with life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia had neutralizing IgG auto-Abs against IFN-ω (13 patients), the 13 types of IFN-α (36), or both (52), at the onset of critical disease; a few also had auto-Abs against the other three type I IFNs. The auto-Abs neutralize the ability of the corresponding type I IFNs to block SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. These auto-Abs were not found in 663 individuals with asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and were present in only 4 of 1,227 healthy individuals. Patients with auto-Abs were aged 25 to 87 years and 95 were men. A B cell auto-immune phenocopy of inborn errors of type I IFN immunity underlies life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia in at least 2.6% of women and 12.5% of men., The Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Rockefeller University, the St. Giles Foundation, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (R01AI088364), the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program (UL1 TR001866), a Fast Grant from Emergent Ventures, Mercatus Center at George Mason University, the Yale Center for Mendelian Genomics and the GSP Coordinating Center funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) (UM1HG006504 and U24HG008956), the French National Research Agency (ANR) under the “Investments for the Future” program (ANR-10-IAHU-01), the Integrative Biology of Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory of Excellence (ANR-10-LABX-62- IBEID), the French Foundation for Medical Research (FRM) (EQU201903007798), the FRM and ANR GENCOVID project, ANRS-COV05, the Square Foundation, Grandir - Fonds de solidarité pour l’enfance, the SCOR Corporate Foundation for Science, Institut Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) and the University of Paris. Samples from San Raffaele Hospital were obtained within the Covid-BioB project and healthcare personnel of San Raffaele Hospital, San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (SR-TIGET) clinical lab and clinical research Unit; funded by the Program Project COVID-19 OSR-UniSR and Fondazione Telethon. The French COVID Cohort study group was sponsored by Inserm and supported by the REACTing consortium and by a grant from the French Ministry of Health (PHRC 20-0424). The Cov-Contact Cohort was supported by the REACTing consortium, the French Ministry of Health, and the European Commission (RECOVER WP 6). The “Milieu Intérieur” cohort was supported by was supported by the French Government’s Investissement d’Avenir Program, Laboratoire d’Excellence “Milieu Intérieur” Grant (ANR-10-LABX-69-01) (PI: L QuintanaMurci & D Duffy). The Simoa experiment was supported by the PHRC-20-0375 COVID-19 grant “DIGITAL COVID” (PI: G Gorochov). SGT is supported by a Leadership 3 Investigator Grant awarded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, and a COVID19 Rapid Response Grant awarded by UNSW Sydney. CRG and colleagues were supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (COV20_01333 and COV20_01334, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation -RTC-2017-6471-1; AEI/FEDER, UE), and Cabildo Insular de Tenerife (CGIEU0000219140 and “Apuestas científicas del ITER para colaborar en la lucha contra la COVID-19”). SA and AB were supported by ANR-20-COVI-0064 (PI: A Belot). This work is supported by the French Ministry of Health “Programme Hospitalier de Recherche Clinique Inter regional 2013”, by the Contrat de Plan Etat-Lorraine and FEDER Lorraine, and a public grant overseen by the French National Research Agency (ANR) as part of the second “Investissements d’Avenir” program FIGHT-HF (reference: ANR-15-RHU-0004) and by the French PIA project “Lorraine Université d’Excellence”, reference ANR15-IDEX-04-LUE (45) and biobanking is performed by the Biological Resource Center Lorrain BB-0033-00035. This study was supported by the Fonds IMMUNOV, for Innovation in Immunopathology and by a grant from the Agence National de la Recherche (ANR-flash Covid19 “AIROCovid” to FRL), and by the FAST Foundation (French Friends of Sheba Tel Hashomer Hospital). Work in the Laboratory of Virology and Infectious Disease was supported by NIH grants P01AI138398-S1, 2U19AI111825, and R01AI091707-10S1, a George Mason University Fast Grant, and the G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Charitable Foundation. The Amsterdam UMC Covid-19 Biobank was supported by grants of the Amsterdam Corona Research Fund, Dr. C.J. Vaillant Fund, and Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw; NWO-Vici-Grant [grant number 918·19·627 to DvdB]. This work was also supported by the Division of Intramural Research of the National Institute of Dental Craniofacial Research and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, and by Regione Lombardia, Italy (project “Risposta immune in pazienti con COVID-19 e comorbidita”). The opinions and assertions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Uniformed Services University or the Department of Defense. JH holds an Institut Imagine MD-PhD fellowship from the Fondation Bettencourt Schueller. JR is supported by the Inserm PhD program (“poste d’accueil Inserm”). PB was supported by the French Foundation for Medical Research (FRM, EA20170638020) and the MD-PhD program of the Imagine Institute (with the support of the Fondation Bettencourt-Schueller). We thank the Association “Turner et vous” for their help and support. Sample processing at IrsiCaixa was possible thanks to the crowdfunding initiative YoMeCorono. DCV is supported by the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec clinician-scientist scholar program. K. Kisand was supported by the Estonian Research Council grant PUT1367. We thank the GEN-COVID Multicenter Study (https://sites.google.com/dbm.unisi.it/gen-covid). We thank the NIAID Office of Cyber Infrastructure and Computational Biology, Bioinformatics and Computational Biosciences Branch (Contract HHSN316201300006W/HHSN27200002 to MSC, Inc) and Operations Engineering Branch for developing the HGRepo system to enable streamlined access to the data and the NCI Advanced Biomedical Computational Science (ABCS) for data transformation support.