The study of rare genetic diseases presents unique opportunity to uncover the genetic and molecular basis of human traits and greatly helped to the identification of genes, to the elucidation of their function and to the characterization of metabolic pathways and cellular processes. Over the past decades, linkage analysis has been appropriate approach to search for the genes causing Mendelian diseases and contributed to the identification of many genes, but the genetic cause of many diseases remains unknown. New methods of studying the human genome, microarray technology and massively parallel sequencing (next generation sequencing), represent a way to efficiently identify the cause of genetically determined diseases, based on direct observation of mutations in the genome of affected individuals. These techniques replaced the traditional method of disease gene identification represented by linkage analysis and sequencing of candidate genes and have become the standard approach to elucidate the molecular basis of diseases. In this work, i describe the the results achieved by using these methods - identification of the genes underlying mucopolysacharidosis type IIIC, isolated defect of ATP synthase, Rotor syndrome, autosomal dominat ANCL and GAPO syndrome.

The study of rare genetic diseases presents unique opportunity to uncover the genetic and molecular basis of human traits and greatly helped to the identification of genes, to the elucidation of their function and to the characterization of metabolic pathways and cellular processes. Over the past decades, linkage analysis has been appropriate approach to search for the genes causing Mendelian diseases and contributed to the identification of many genes, but the genetic cause of many diseases remains unknown. New methods of studying the human genome, microarray technology and massively parallel sequencing (next generation sequencing), represent a way to efficiently identify the cause of genetically determined diseases, based on direct observation of mutations in the genome of affected individuals. These techniques replaced the traditional method of disease gene identification represented by linkage analysis and sequencing of candidate genes and have become the standard approach to elucidate the molecular basis of diseases. In this work, i describe the the results achieved by using these methods - identification of the genes underlying mucopolysacharidosis type IIIC, isolated defect of ATP synthase, Rotor syndrome, autosomal dominat ANCL and GAPO syndrome.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The multi-protein complex of F0F1 ATP synthase has been of great interest in the fields of microbiology and biochemistry, due to the ubiquitous use of ATP as a biological energy source. Efforts to better understand this complex have been made through structural determination of segments based on NMR and crystallographic data. Some experiments have provided useful data, while others have brought up more questions, especially when structures and functions are compared between bacteria and species with chloroplasts or mitochondria. The epsilon subunit is thought to play a signi cant role in the regulation of ATP synthesis and hydrolysis, yet the exact pathway is unknown due to the experimental difficulty in obtaining data along the transition pathway. Given starting and end point protein crystal structures, the transition pathway of the epsilon subunit was examined through computer simulation.The purpose of this investigation is to determine the likelihood of one such proposed mechanism for the involvement of the epsilon subunit in ATP regulation in bacterial species such as E. coli.