@article {446, title = {WNT Signaling Perturbations Underlie the Genetic Heterogeneity of Robinow Syndrome.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {102}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 01 04}, pages = {27-43}, abstract = {

Locus heterogeneity characterizes a variety of skeletal dysplasias often due to interacting or overlapping signaling pathways. Robinow syndrome is a skeletal disorder historically refractory to molecular diagnosis, potentially stemming from substantial genetic heterogeneity. All current known pathogenic variants reside in genes within the noncanonical Wnt signaling pathway including ROR2, WNT5A, and more recently, DVL1 and DVL3. However, \~{}70\% of autosomal-dominant Robinow syndrome cases remain molecularly unsolved. To investigate this missing heritability, we recruited 21 families with at least one family member clinically diagnosed with Robinow or Robinow-like phenotypes and performed genetic and genomic studies. In total, four families with variants in FZD2 were identified as well as three individuals from two families with biallelic variants in NXN that co-segregate with the phenotype. Importantly, both FZD2 and NXN are relevant protein partners in the WNT5A interactome, supporting their role in skeletal development. In addition to confirming that clustered -1 frameshifting variants in DVL1 and DVL3 are the main contributors to dominant Robinow syndrome, we also found likely pathogenic variants in candidate genes GPC4 and RAC3, both linked to the Wnt signaling pathway. These data support an initial hypothesis that Robinow syndrome results from perturbation of the Wnt/PCP pathway, suggest specific relevant domains of the proteins involved, and reveal key contributors in this signaling cascade during human embryonic development. Contrary to the view that non-allelic genetic heterogeneity hampers gene discovery, this study demonstrates the utility of rare disease genomic studies to parse gene function in human developmental pathways.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Base Sequence, Child, Child, Preschool, Chromosome Segregation, Craniofacial Abnormalities, Diagnosis, Differential, Dwarfism, Female, Genes, Dominant, Genetic Association Studies, Genetic Heterogeneity, Humans, Limb Deformities, Congenital, Male, Middle Aged, Mutation, Missense, Phenotype, Urogenital Abnormalities, Wnt Signaling Pathway}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2017.10.002}, author = {White, Janson J and Mazzeu, Juliana F and Coban-Akdemir, Zeynep and Bayram, Yavuz and Bahrambeigi, Vahid and Hoischen, Alexander and van Bon, Bregje W M and Gezdirici, Alper and Gulec, Elif Yilmaz and Ramond, Francis and Touraine, Renaud and Thevenon, Julien and Shinawi, Marwan and Beaver, Erin and Heeley, Jennifer and Hoover-Fong, Julie and Durmaz, Ceren D and Karabulut, Halil Gurhan and Marzioglu-Ozdemir, Ebru and Cayir, Atilla and Duz, Mehmet B and Seven, Mehmet and Price, Susan and Ferreira, Barbara Merfort and Vianna-Morgante, Angela M and Ellard, Sian and Parrish, Andrew and Stals, Karen and Flores-Daboub, Josue and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Gibbs, Richard A and Brunner, Han G and Sutton, V Reid and Lupski, James R and Carvalho, Claudia M B} } @article {390, title = {REST Final-Exon-Truncating Mutations Cause Hereditary Gingival Fibromatosis.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {101}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Jul 06}, pages = {149-156}, abstract = {

Hereditary gingival fibromatosis (HGF) is the most common genetic form of gingival fibromatosis that develops as a slowly progressive, benign, localized or generalized enlargement of keratinized gingiva. HGF is a genetically heterogeneous disorder and can be transmitted either as an autosomal-dominant or autosomal-recessive trait or appear sporadically. To date, four loci (2p22.1, 2p23.3-p22.3, 5q13-q22, and 11p15) have been mapped to autosomes and one gene (SOS1) has been associated with the HGF trait observed to segregate in a dominant inheritance pattern. Here we report 11 individuals with HGF from three unrelated families. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) revealed three different truncating mutations including two frameshifts and one nonsense variant in RE1-silencing transcription factor (REST) in the probands from all families and further genetic and genomic analyses confirmed the WES-identified findings. REST is a transcriptional repressor that is expressed throughout the body; it has different roles in different cellular contexts, such as oncogenic and tumor-suppressor functions and hematopoietic and cardiac differentiation. Here we show the consequences of germline final-exon-truncating mutations in REST for organismal development and the association with the HGF phenotype.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Base Sequence, Chromosome Segregation, Exons, Family, Female, Fibromatosis, Gingival, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Mutation, Pedigree, Repressor Proteins}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2017.06.006}, author = {Bayram, Yavuz and White, Janson J and Elcioglu, Nursel and Cho, Megan T and Zadeh, Neda and Gedikbasi, Asuman and Palanduz, Sukru and Ozturk, Sukru and Cefle, Kivanc and Kasapcopur, Ozgur and Coban Akdemir, Zeynep and Pehlivan, Davut and Begtrup, Amber and Carvalho, Claudia M B and Paine, Ingrid Sophie and Mentes, Ali and Bektas-Kayhan, Kivanc and Karaca, Ender and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Muzny, Donna M and Gibbs, Richard A and Lupski, James R} } @article {414, title = {De novo missense variants in PPP1CB are associated with intellectual disability and congenital heart disease.}, journal = {Hum Genet}, volume = {135}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 12}, pages = {1399-1409}, abstract = {

Intellectual disabilities are genetically heterogeneous and can be associated with congenital anomalies. Using whole-exome sequencing (WES), we identified five different de novo missense variants in the protein phosphatase-1 catalytic subunit beta (PPP1CB) gene in eight unrelated individuals who share an overlapping phenotype of dysmorphic features, macrocephaly, developmental delay or intellectual disability (ID), congenital heart disease, short stature, and skeletal and connective tissue abnormalities. Protein phosphatase-1 (PP1) is a serine/threonine-specific protein phosphatase involved in the dephosphorylation of a variety of proteins. The PPP1CB gene encodes a PP1 subunit that regulates the level of protein phosphorylation. All five altered amino acids we observed are highly conserved among the PP1 subunit family, and all are predicted to disrupt PP1 subunit binding and impair dephosphorylation. Our data suggest that our heterozygous de novo PPP1CB pathogenic variants are associated with syndromic intellectual disability.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Child, Child, Preschool, Exome, Female, Genetic Association Studies, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Heart Defects, Congenital, Humans, Intellectual Disability, Male, Mutation, Missense, Phosphorylation, Protein Phosphatase 1}, issn = {1432-1203}, doi = {10.1007/s00439-016-1731-1}, author = {Ma, Lijiang and Bayram, Yavuz and McLaughlin, Heather M and Cho, Megan T and Krokosky, Alyson and Turner, Clesson E and Lindstrom, Kristin and Bupp, Caleb P and Mayberry, Katey and Mu, Weiyi and Bodurtha, Joann and Weinstein, Veronique and Zadeh, Neda and Alcaraz, Wendy and Powis, Z{\"o}e and Shao, Yunru and Scott, Daryl A and Lewis, Andrea M and White, Janson J and Jhangiani, Shalani N and Gulec, Elif Yilmaz and Lalani, Seema R and Lupski, James R and Retterer, Kyle and Schnur, Rhonda E and Wentzensen, Ingrid M and Bale, Sherri and Chung, Wendy K} } @article {79, title = {DVL3 Alleles Resulting in a -1 Frameshift of the Last Exon Mediate Autosomal-Dominant Robinow Syndrome.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {98}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Mar 03}, pages = {553-561}, abstract = {

Robinow syndrome is a rare congenital disorder characterized by mesomelic limb shortening, genital hypoplasia, and distinctive facial features. Recent reports have identified, in individuals with dominant Robinow syndrome, a specific type of variant characterized by being uniformly located in the penultimate exon of DVL1 and resulting in a -1 frameshift allele with a premature termination codon that escapes nonsense-mediated decay. Here, we studied a cohort of individuals who had been clinically diagnosed with Robinow syndrome but who had not received a molecular diagnosis from variant studies of DVL1, WNT5A, and ROR2. Because of the uniform location of frameshift variants in DVL1-mediated Robinow syndrome and the functional redundancy of DVL1, DVL2, and DVL3, we elected to pursue direct Sanger sequencing of the penultimate exon of DVL1 and its paralogs DVL2 and DVL3 to search for potential disease-associated variants. Remarkably, targeted sequencing identified five unrelated individuals harboring heterozygous, de novo frameshift variants in DVL3, including two splice acceptor mutations and three 1 bp deletions. Similar to the variants observed in DVL1-mediated Robinow syndrome, all variants in DVL3 result in a -1 frameshift, indicating that these highly specific alterations might be a common cause of dominant Robinow syndrome. Here, we review the current knowledge of these peculiar variant alleles in DVL1- and DVL3-mediated Robinow syndrome and further elucidate the phenotypic features present in subjects with DVL1 and DVL3 frameshift mutations.

}, keywords = {Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing, Alleles, Base Sequence, Codon, Nonsense, Craniofacial Abnormalities, Dishevelled Proteins, Dwarfism, Exons, Female, Frameshift Mutation, Genetic Variation, Humans, Limb Deformities, Congenital, Male, Molecular Sequence Data, Phosphoproteins, Proto-Oncogene Proteins, Receptor Tyrosine Kinase-like Orphan Receptors, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Sequence Deletion, Urogenital Abnormalities, Wnt Proteins, Wnt-5a Protein}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2016.01.005}, author = {White, Janson J and Mazzeu, Juliana F and Hoischen, Alexander and Bayram, Yavuz and Withers, Marjorie and Gezdirici, Alper and Kimonis, Virginia and Steehouwer, Marloes and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Muzny, Donna M and Gibbs, Richard A and van Bon, Bregje W M and Sutton, V Reid and Lupski, James R and Brunner, Han G and Carvalho, Claudia M B} } @article {9, title = {Identification of a RAI1-associated disease network through integration of exome sequencing, transcriptomics, and 3D genomics.}, journal = {Genome Med}, volume = {8}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Nov 01}, pages = {105}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) is a developmental disability/multiple congenital anomaly disorder resulting from haploinsufficiency of RAI1. It is characterized by distinctive facial features, brachydactyly, sleep disturbances, and stereotypic behaviors.

METHODS: We investigated a cohort of 15 individuals with a clinical suspicion of SMS who showed neither deletion in the SMS critical region nor damaging variants in RAI1 using whole exome sequencing. A combination of network analysis (co-expression and biomedical text mining), transcriptomics, and circularized chromatin conformation capture (4C-seq) was applied to verify whether modified genes are part of the same disease network as known SMS-causing genes.

RESULTS: Potentially deleterious variants were identified in nine of these individuals using whole-exome sequencing. Eight of these changes affect KMT2D, ZEB2, MAP2K2, GLDC, CASK, MECP2, KDM5C, and POGZ, known to be associated with Kabuki syndrome 1, Mowat-Wilson syndrome, cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome, glycine encephalopathy, mental retardation and microcephaly with pontine and cerebellar hypoplasia, X-linked mental retardation 13, X-linked mental retardation Claes-Jensen type, and White-Sutton syndrome, respectively. The ninth individual carries a de novo variant in JAKMIP1, a regulator of neuronal translation that was recently found deleted in a patient with autism spectrum disorder. Analyses of co-expression and biomedical text mining suggest that these pathologies and SMS are part of the same disease network. Further support for this hypothesis was obtained from transcriptome profiling that showed that the expression levels of both Zeb2 and Map2k2 are perturbed in Rai1 mice. As an orthogonal approach to potentially contributory disease gene variants, we used chromatin conformation capture to reveal chromatin contacts between RAI1 and the loci flanking ZEB2 and GLDC, as well as between RAI1 and human orthologs of the genes that show perturbed expression in our Rai1 mouse model.

CONCLUSIONS: These holistic studies of RAI1 and its interactions allow insights into SMS and other disorders associated with intellectual disability and behavioral abnormalities. Our findings support a pan-genomic approach to the molecular diagnosis of a distinctive disorder.

}, keywords = {Animals, Embryo, Mammalian, Exome, Female, Gene Regulatory Networks, Genomics, Humans, Male, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mice, Knockout, Mutation, Phenotype, Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, RNA, Messenger, Smith-Magenis Syndrome, Trans-Activators, Transcription Factors, Transcriptome}, issn = {1756-994X}, doi = {10.1186/s13073-016-0359-z}, author = {Loviglio, Maria Nicla and Beck, Christine R and White, Janson J and Leleu, Marion and Harel, Tamar and Guex, Nicolas and Niknejad, Anne and Bi, Weimin and Chen, Edward S and Crespo, Isaac and Yan, Jiong and Charng, Wu-Lin and Gu, Shen and Fang, Ping and Coban-Akdemir, Zeynep and Shaw, Chad A and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Muzny, Donna M and Gibbs, Richard A and Rougemont, Jacques and Xenarios, Ioannis and Lupski, James R and Reymond, Alexandre} }