0000000000187682

AUTHOR

Tjitske Kleefstra

Mutation-specific pathophysiological mechanisms define different neurodevelopmental disorders associated with SATB1 dysfunction

AbstractWhereas large-scale statistical analyses can robustly identify disease-gene relationships, they do not accurately capture genotype-phenotype correlations or disease mechanisms. We use multiple lines of independent evidence to show that different variant types in a single gene,SATB1, cause clinically overlapping but distinct neurodevelopmental disorders. Clinical evaluation of 42 individuals carryingSATB1variants identified overt genotype-phenotype relationships, associated with different pathophysiological mechanisms, established by functional assays. Missense variants in the CUT1 and CUT2 DNA-binding domains result in stronger chromatin binding, increased transcriptional repression…

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Genome-wide variant calling in reanalysis of exome sequencing data uncovered a pathogenic TUBB3 variant.

Almost half of all individuals affected by intellectual disability (ID) remain undiagnosed. In the Solve-RD project, exome sequencing (ES) datasets from unresolved individuals with (syndromic) ID (n = 1,472 probands) are systematically reanalyzed, starting from raw sequencing files, followed by genome-wide variant calling and new data interpretation. This strategy led to the identification of a disease-causing de novo missense variant in TUBB3 in a girl with severe developmental delay, secondary microcephaly, brain imaging abnormalities, high hypermetropia, strabismus and short stature. Interestingly, the TUBB3 variant could only be identified through reanalysis of ES data using a genome-wi…

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De Novo and Inherited Pathogenic Variants in KDM3B Cause Intellectual Disability, Short Stature, and Facial Dysmorphism

Contains fulltext : 202646.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) By using exome sequencing and a gene matching approach, we identified de novo and inherited pathogenic variants in KDM3B in 14 unrelated individuals and three affected parents with varying degrees of intellectual disability (ID) or developmental delay (DD) and short stature. The individuals share additional phenotypic features that include feeding difficulties in infancy, joint hypermobility, and characteristic facial features such as a wide mouth, a pointed chin, long ears, and a low columella. Notably, two individuals developed cancer, acute myeloid leukemia and Hodgkin lymphoma, in childhood. KDM3B encodes for a histone …

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Translocations Disrupting PHF21A in the Potocki-Shaffer-Syndrome Region Are Associated with Intellectual Disability and Craniofacial Anomalies

Contains fulltext : 110038.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Potocki-Shaffer syndrome (PSS) is a contiguous gene disorder due to the interstitial deletion of band p11.2 of chromosome 11 and is characterized by multiple exostoses, parietal foramina, intellectual disability (ID), and craniofacial anomalies (CFAs). Despite the identification of individual genes responsible for multiple exostoses and parietal foramina in PSS, the identity of the gene(s) associated with the ID and CFA phenotypes has remained elusive. Through characterization of independent subjects with balanced translocations and supportive comparative deletion mapping of PSS subjects, we have uncovered evidence that t…

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Evaluation of DNA Methylation Episignatures for Diagnosis and Phenotype Correlations in 42 Mendelian Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Contains fulltext : 218274.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Genetic syndromes frequently present with overlapping clinical features and inconclusive or ambiguous genetic findings which can confound accurate diagnosis and clinical management. An expanding number of genetic syndromes have been shown to have unique genomic DNA methylation patterns (called "episignatures"). Peripheral blood episignatures can be used for diagnostic testing as well as for the interpretation of ambiguous genetic test results. We present here an approach to episignature mapping in 42 genetic syndromes, which has allowed the identification of 34 robust disease-specific episignatures. We examine emerging pa…

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