0000000000420428

AUTHOR

Marcella Zollino

0000-0003-4871-9519

Genome-wide Analyses Identify KIF5A as a Novel ALS Gene

© 2018 Elsevier Inc.

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Sex reversal from functional disomy of Xp: Prenatal and post-mortem findings.

Translocations involving the short arms of the X and Y chromosomes are uncommon and are often associated with anomalies in gonadal development. Segmental duplications of the X chromosome interfere with the formation of the testis in patients with a 46,XY karyotype. The gene products located within the duplicated segment, when present in double dose, may affect on male sex development. We report on a fetus with karyotype 46,XY,der (14)t(X;14) (p10;p10)dn. Attached to chromosome 14 is the entire short arm of the X chromosome. Therefore, the fetus is affected with a disomy of Xp, resulting in complete male to female sex reversal, as well as other structural defects. To the best of our knowledg…

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BCL11A intellectual developmental disorder: defining the clinical spectrum and genotype-phenotype correlations

AbstractPurposeHeterozygous variants in BCL11A underlie an intellectual developmental disorder with persistence of fetal hemoglobin (BCL11A-IDD, a.k.a. Dias-Logan syndrome). We sought to delineate the genotypic and phenotypic spectrum of BCL11A-IDD.MethodsWe performed an in-depth analysis of 42 patients with BCL11A-IDD ascertained through a collaborative network of clinical and research colleagues. We also reviewed 33 additional affected individuals previously reported in the literature or available through public repositories with clinical information.ResultsMolecular and clinical data analysis of 75 patients with BCL11A-IDD identified 60 unique variants (30 frameshift, 7 missense, 6 splic…

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HFE p.H63D polymorphism does not influence ALS phenotype and survival.

It has been recently reported that the p.His63Asp polymorphism of the HFE gene accelerates disease progression both in the SOD1 transgenic mouse and in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. We have evaluated the effect of HFE p.His63Asp polymorphism on the phenotype in 1351 Italian ALS patients (232 of Sardinian ancestry). Patients were genotyped for the HFE p.His63Asp polymorphism (CC, GC, and GG). All patients were also assessed for C9ORF72, TARDBP, SOD1, and FUS mutations. Of the 1351 ALS patients, 363 (29.2%) were heterozygous (GC) for the p.His63Asp polymorphism and 30 (2.2%) were homozygous for the minor allele (GG). Patients with CC, GC, and GG polymorphisms did not significa…

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Intragenic KANSL1 mutations and chromosome 17q21.31 deletions: broadening the clinical spectrum and genotype-phenotype correlations in a large cohort of patients

Background The 17q21.31 deletion syndrome phenotype can be caused by either chromosome deletions or point mutations in the KANSL1 gene. To date, about 60 subjects with chromosome deletion and 4 subjects with point mutation in KANSL1 have been reported. Prevalence of chromosome deletions compared with point mutations, genotype–phenotype correlations and phenotypic variability have yet to be fully clarified. Methods We report genotype–phenotype correlations in 27 novel subjects with 17q21.31 deletion and in 5 subjects with KANSL1 point mutation , 3 of whom were not previously reported. Results The prevalence of chromosome deletion and KANSL1 mutation was 83% and 17%, respectively. All patient…

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C9ORF72 in a Large Series of Italian and Sardinian Familial and Sporadic ALS Patients (IN9-1.003)

Objective: To assess the frequency and the phenotype of a large series of Italian sALS and fALS with C9ORF72 repeat expansions. Background Recently we found that large expansions of hexanucleotide repeats (GGGGCC) in the first intron of the C9ORF72 gene, located in the chromosome 9p21, are related to familial and sporadic ALS cases(Renton et al, 2011). Design/Methods: We assessed 126 index fALS (106 Italians, 20 of Sardinians) and 601 sALS (485 Italians, 116 Sardinians), negative for other ALS-related genes mutations. Patients were collected through the ITALSGEN consortium. Repeat primer PCR to screen the presence of the hexanucleotide expansion in the first intron of C9ORF72 have been perf…

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Specifications and validation of the ACMG/AMP criteria for clinical interpretation of sequence variants in collagen genes associated with joint hypermobility

Deleterious variants in collagen genes are the most common cause of hereditary connective tissue disorders (HCTD). Adaptations of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics/Association for Molecular Pathology (ACMG/AMP) criteria are still lacking. A multidisciplinary team was set up for developing specifications of the ACMG/AMP criteria for COL1A1, COL1A2, COL2A1, COL3A1, COL5A1, COL5A2, COL11A1, COL11A2 and COL12A1, associated with various forms of HCTD featuring joint hypermobility, which is becoming one of the most common reasons of referral for molecular testing in this field. Such specifications were validated against 209 variants, and resulted effective for classifying as p…

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De novo SMARCA2 variants clustered outside the helicase domain cause a new recognizable syndrome with intellectual disability and blepharophimosis distinct from Nicolaides-Baraitser syndrome.

International audience; Purpose: Nontruncating variants in SMARCA2, encoding a catalytic subunit of SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, cause Nicolaides-Baraitser syndrome (NCBRS), a condition with intellectual disability and multiple congenital anomalies. Other disorders due to SMARCA2 are unknown.Methods: By next-generation sequencing, we identified candidate variants in SMARCA2 in 20 individuals from 18 families with a syndromic neurodevelopmental disorder not consistent with NCBRS. To stratify variant interpretation, we functionally analyzed SMARCA2 variants in yeasts and performed transcriptomic and genome methylation analyses on blood leukocytes.Results: Of 20 individuals, 14 showed…

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Congenital generalized hypertrichosis: the skin as a clue to complex malformation Syndromes.

Hypertrichosis is defined as an excessive growth in body hair beyond the normal variation compared with individuals of the same age, race and sex and affecting areas not predominantly androgen-dependent. The term hirsutism is usually referred to patients, mainly women, who show excessive hair growth with male pattern distribution. Hypertrichosis is classified according to age of onset (congenital or acquired), extent of distribution (generalized or circumscribed), site involved, and to whether the disorder is isolated or associated with other anomalies. Congenital hypertrichosis is rare and may be an isolated condition of the skin or a component feature of other disorders. Acquired hypertri…

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