@article {574, title = {Biallelic mutations in valyl-tRNA synthetase gene VARS are associated with a progressive neurodevelopmental epileptic encephalopathy.}, journal = {Nat Commun}, volume = {10}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 02 12}, pages = {707}, abstract = {

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs) function to transfer amino acids to cognate tRNA molecules, which are required for protein translation. To date, biallelic mutations in 31 ARS genes are known to cause recessive, early-onset severe multi-organ diseases. VARS encodes the only known valine cytoplasmic-localized aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase. Here, we report seven patients from five unrelated families with five different biallelic missense variants in VARS. Subjects present with a range of global developmental delay, epileptic encephalopathy and primary or progressive microcephaly. Longitudinal assessment demonstrates progressive cortical atrophy and white matter volume loss. Variants map to the VARS tRNA binding domain and adjacent to the anticodon domain, and disrupt highly conserved residues. Patient primary cells show intact VARS protein but reduced enzymatic activity, suggesting partial loss of function. The implication of VARS in pediatric neurodegeneration broadens the spectrum of human diseases due to mutations in tRNA synthetase genes.

}, keywords = {Alleles, Anticodon, Child, Child, Preschool, Disease Progression, Epilepsy, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Loss of Function Mutation, Male, Microcephaly, Models, Molecular, Mutation, Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Pedigree, Protein Biosynthesis, Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs, RNA, Transfer, Valine-tRNA Ligase, Whole Exome Sequencing, Whole Genome Sequencing}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-018-07067-3}, author = {Friedman, Jennifer and Smith, Desiree E and Issa, Mahmoud Y and Stanley, Valentina and Wang, Rengang and Mendes, Marisa I and Wright, Meredith S and Wigby, Kristen and Hildreth, Amber and Crawford, John R and Koehler, Alanna E and Chowdhury, Shimul and Nahas, Shareef and Zhai, Liting and Xu, Zhiwen and Lo, Wing-Sze and James, Kiely N and Musaev, Damir and Accogli, Andrea and Guerrero, Kether and Tran, Luan T and Omar, Tarek E I and Ben-Omran, Tawfeg and Dimmock, David and Kingsmore, Stephen F and Salomons, Gajja S and Zaki, Maha S and Bernard, Genevi{\`e}ve and Gleeson, Joseph G} } @article {571, title = {Recessive mutations in muscle-specific isoforms of FXR1 cause congenital multi-minicore myopathy.}, journal = {Nat Commun}, volume = {10}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 02 15}, pages = {797}, abstract = {

FXR1 is an alternatively spliced gene that encodes RNA binding proteins (FXR1P) involved in muscle development. In contrast to other tissues, cardiac and skeletal muscle express two FXR1P isoforms that incorporate an additional exon-15. We report that recessive mutations in this particular exon of FXR1 cause congenital multi-minicore myopathy in humans and mice. Additionally, we show that while Myf5-dependent depletion of all FXR1P isoforms is neonatal lethal, mice carrying mutations in exon-15 display non-lethal myopathies which vary in severity depending on the specific effect of each mutation on the protein.

}, keywords = {Animals, Cells, Cultured, Exons, Gene Expression, Genes, Recessive, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, HEK293 Cells, HeLa Cells, Humans, Mice, Transgenic, Muscle, Skeletal, Mutation, Myopathies, Structural, Congenital, Ophthalmoplegia, RNA-Binding Proteins, Ryanodine Receptor Calcium Release Channel}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-019-08548-9}, author = {Esta{\~n}, Mar{\'\i}a Cristina and Fern{\'a}ndez-N{\'u}{\~n}ez, Elisa and Zaki, Maha S and Esteban, Mar{\'\i}a Isabel and Donkervoort, Sandra and Hawkins, Cynthia and Caparros-Martin, Jos{\'e} A and Saade, Dimah and Hu, Ying and Bolduc, Veronique and Chao, Katherine Ru-Yui and Nevado, Juli{\'a}n and Lamuedra, Ana and Largo, Raquel and Herrero-Beaumont, Gabriel and Regadera, Javier and Hernandez-Chico, Concepci{\'o}n and Tizzano, Eduardo F and Martinez-Glez, Victor and Carvajal, Jaime J and Zong, Ruiting and Nelson, David L and Otaify, Ghada A and Temtamy, Samia and Aglan, Mona and Issa, Mahmoud and B{\"o}nnemann, Carsten G and Lapunzina, Pablo and Yoon, Grace and Ruiz-Perez, Victor L} } @article {63, title = {PYCR2 Mutations cause a lethal syndrome of microcephaly and failure to thrive.}, journal = {Ann Neurol}, volume = {80}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 07}, pages = {59-70}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: A study was undertaken to characterize the clinical features of the newly described hypomyelinating leukodystrophy type 10 with microcephaly. This is an autosomal recessive disorder mapped to chromosome 1q42.12 due to mutations in the PYCR2 gene, encoding an enzyme involved in proline synthesis in mitochondria.

METHODS: From several international clinics, 11 consanguineous families were identified with PYCR2 mutations by whole exome or targeted sequencing, with detailed clinical and radiological phenotyping. Selective mutations from patients were tested for effect on protein function.

RESULTS: The characteristic clinical presentation of patients with PYCR2 mutations included failure to thrive, microcephaly, craniofacial dysmorphism, progressive psychomotor disability, hyperkinetic movements, and axial hypotonia with variable appendicular spasticity. Patients did not survive beyond the first decade of life. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed global brain atrophy and white matter T2 hyperintensities. Routine serum metabolic profiles were unremarkable. Both nonsense and missense mutations were identified, which impaired protein multimerization.

INTERPRETATION: PYCR2-related syndrome represents a clinically recognizable condition in which PYCR2 mutations lead to protein dysfunction, not detectable on routine biochemical assessments. Mutations predict a poor outcome, probably as a result of impaired mitochondrial function. Ann Neurol 2016;80:59-70.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Child, Child, Preschool, Codon, Nonsense, Exome, Failure to Thrive, Female, Fibroblasts, Gene Expression, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genotype, Humans, Infant, Male, Microcephaly, Mutation, Missense, Phenotype, Primary Cell Culture, Pyrroline Carboxylate Reductases, Syndrome, Transfection, Young Adult}, issn = {1531-8249}, doi = {10.1002/ana.24678}, author = {Zaki, Maha S and Bhat, Gifty and Sultan, Tipu and Issa, Mahmoud and Jung, Hea-Jin and Dikoglu, Esra and Selim, Laila and G Mahmoud, Imam and Abdel-Hamid, Mohamed S and Abdel-Salam, Ghada and Marin-Valencia, Isaac and Gleeson, Joseph G} } @article {159, title = {Functional genome-wide siRNA screen identifies KIAA0586 as mutated in Joubert syndrome.}, journal = {Elife}, volume = {4}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 May 30}, pages = {e06602}, abstract = {

Defective primary ciliogenesis or cilium stability forms the basis of human ciliopathies, including Joubert syndrome (JS), with defective cerebellar vermis development. We performed a high-content genome-wide small interfering RNA (siRNA) screen to identify genes regulating ciliogenesis as candidates for JS. We analyzed results with a supervised-learning approach, using SYSCILIA gold standard, Cildb3.0, a centriole siRNA screen and the GTex project, identifying 591 likely candidates. Intersection of this data with whole exome results from 145 individuals with unexplained JS identified six families with predominantly compound heterozygous mutations in KIAA0586. A c.428del base deletion in 0.1\% of the general population was found in trans with a second mutation in an additional set of 9 of 163 unexplained JS patients. KIAA0586 is an orthologue of chick Talpid3, required for ciliogenesis and Sonic hedgehog signaling. Our results uncover a relatively high frequency cause for JS and contribute a list of candidates for future gene discoveries in ciliopathies.

}, keywords = {Abnormalities, Multiple, Cell Cycle Proteins, Cerebellum, Eye Abnormalities, Gene Frequency, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genetic Testing, Genome-Wide Association Study, Heterozygote, Humans, Kidney Diseases, Cystic, Mutant Proteins, Retina, RNA, Small Interfering}, issn = {2050-084X}, doi = {10.7554/eLife.06602}, author = {Roosing, Susanne and Hofree, Matan and Kim, Sehyun and Scott, Eric and Copeland, Brett and Romani, Marta and Silhavy, Jennifer L and Rosti, Rasim O and Schroth, Jana and Mazza, Tommaso and Miccinilli, Elide and Zaki, Maha S and Swoboda, Kathryn J and Milisa-Drautz, Joanne and Dobyns, William B and Mikati, Mohamed A and {\.I}ncecik, Faruk and Azam, Matloob and Borgatti, Renato and Romaniello, Romina and Boustany, Rose-Mary and Clericuzio, Carol L and D{\textquoteright}Arrigo, Stefano and Str{\o}mme, Petter and Boltshauser, Eugen and Stanzial, Franco and Mirabelli-Badenier, Marisol and Moroni, Isabella and Bertini, Enrico and Emma, Francesco and Steinlin, Maja and Hildebrandt, Friedhelm and Johnson, Colin A and Freilinger, Michael and Vaux, Keith K and Gabriel, Stacey B and Aza-Blanc, Pedro and Heynen-Genel, Susanne and Ideker, Trey and Dynlacht, Brian D and Lee, Ji Eun and Valente, Enza Maria and Kim, Joon and Gleeson, Joseph G} } @article {309, title = {Mutations in LAMB1 cause cobblestone brain malformation without muscular or ocular abnormalities.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {92}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Mar 07}, pages = {468-74}, abstract = {

Cobblestone brain malformation (COB) is a neuronal migration disorder characterized by protrusions of neurons beyond the first cortical layer at the pial surface of the brain. It is usually seen in association with dystroglycanopathy types of congenital muscular dystrophies (CMDs) and ocular abnormalities termed muscle-eye-brain disease. Here we report homozygous deleterious mutations in LAMB1, encoding laminin subunit beta-1, in two families with autosomal-recessive COB. Affected individuals displayed a constellation of brain malformations including cortical gyral and white-matter signal abnormalities, severe cerebellar dysplasia, brainstem hypoplasia, and occipital encephalocele, but they had less apparent ocular or muscular abnormalities than are typically observed in COB. LAMB1 is localized to the pial basement membrane, suggesting that defective connection between radial glial cells and the pial surface mediated by LAMB1 leads to this malformation.

}, keywords = {Basement Membrane, Brain, Cerebellum, Cerebral Cortex, Encephalocele, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Homozygote, Humans, Laminin, Male, Muscular Dystrophies, Nervous System Malformations, Neuroglia, Neurons, Sequence Deletion, Walker-Warburg Syndrome}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.02.005}, author = {Radmanesh, Farid and {\c C}a{\u g}layan, Ahmet Okay and Silhavy, Jennifer L and Yilmaz, Cahide and Cantagrel, Vincent and Omar, Tarek and Rosti, Basak and Kaymak{\c c}alan, Hande and Gabriel, Stacey and Li, Mingfeng and {\v S}estan, Nenad and Bilguvar, Kaya and Dobyns, William B and Zaki, Maha S and G{\"u}nel, Murat and Gleeson, Joseph G} }