@article {514, title = {Loss of Protocadherin-12 Leads to Diencephalic-Mesencephalic Junction Dysplasia Syndrome.}, journal = {Ann Neurol}, volume = {84}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 Nov}, pages = {638-647}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: To identify causes of the autosomal-recessive malformation, diencephalic-mesencephalic junction dysplasia (DMJD) syndrome.

METHODS: Eight families with DMJD were studied by whole-exome or targeted sequencing, with detailed clinical and radiological characterization. Patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells were derived into neural precursor and endothelial cells to study gene expression.

RESULTS: All patients showed biallelic mutations in the nonclustered protocadherin-12 (PCDH12) gene. The characteristic clinical presentation included progressive microcephaly, craniofacial dysmorphism, psychomotor disability, epilepsy, and axial hypotonia with variable appendicular spasticity. Brain imaging showed brainstem malformations and with frequent thinned corpus callosum with punctate brain calcifications, reflecting expression of PCDH12 in neural and endothelial cells. These cells showed lack of PCDH12 expression and impaired neurite outgrowth.

INTERPRETATION: DMJD patients have biallelic mutations in PCDH12 and lack of protein expression. These patients present with characteristic microcephaly and abnormalities of white matter tracts. Such pathogenic variants predict a poor outcome as a result of brainstem malformation and evidence of white matter tract defects, and should be added to the phenotypic spectrum associated with PCDH12-related conditions. Ann Neurol 2018;84:646-655.

}, issn = {1531-8249}, doi = {10.1002/ana.25327}, author = {Guemez-Gamboa, Alicia and {\c C}a{\u g}layan, Ahmet Okay and Stanley, Valentina and Gregor, Anne and Zaki, Maha S and Saleem, Sahar N and Musaev, Damir and McEvoy-Venneri, Jennifer and Belandres, Denice and Akizu, Naiara and Silhavy, Jennifer L and Schroth, Jana and Rosti, Rasim Ozgur and Copeland, Brett and Lewis, Steven M and Fang, Rebecca and Issa, Mahmoud Y and Per, H{\"u}seyin and G{\"u}m{\"u}{\c s}, Hakan and Bayram, Ayse Kacar and Kumanda{\c s}, Sefer and Akg{\"u}m{\"u}{\c s}, G{\"o}zde Tu{\u g}ce and Erson-Omay, Emine Z and Yasuno, Katsuhito and Bilguvar, Kaya and Heimer, Gali and Pillar, Nir and Shomron, Noam and Weissglas-Volkov, Daphna and Porat, Yuval and Einhorn, Yaron and Gabriel, Stacey and Ben-Zeev, Bruria and G{\"u}nel, Murat and Gleeson, Joseph G} } @article {342, title = {MECR Mutations Cause Childhood-Onset Dystonia and Optic Atrophy, a Mitochondrial Fatty Acid Synthesis Disorder.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {99}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Dec 01}, pages = {1229-1244}, abstract = {

Mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis (mtFAS) is an evolutionarily conserved pathway essential for the function of the respiratory chain and several mitochondrial enzyme complexes. We report here a unique neurometabolic human disorder caused by defective mtFAS. Seven individuals from five unrelated families presented with childhood-onset dystonia, optic atrophy, and basal ganglia signal abnormalities on MRI. All affected individuals were found to harbor recessive mutations in MECR encoding the mitochondrial trans-2-enoyl-coenzyme A-reductase involved in human mtFAS. All six mutations are extremely rare in the general population, segregate with the disease in the families, and are predicted to be deleterious. The nonsense c.855T>G (p.Tyr285), c.247_250del (p.Asn83Hisfs4), and splice site c.830+2_830+3insT mutations lead to C-terminal truncation variants of MECR. The missense c.695G>A (p.Gly232Glu), c.854A>G (p.Tyr285Cys), and c.772C>T (p.Arg258Trp) mutations involve conserved amino acid residues, are located within the cofactor binding domain, and are predicted by structural analysis to have a destabilizing effect. Yeast modeling and complementation studies validated the pathogenicity of the MECR mutations. Fibroblast cell lines from affected individuals displayed reduced levels of both MECR and lipoylated proteins as well as defective respiration. These results suggest that mutations in MECR cause a distinct human disorder of the mtFAS pathway. The observation of decreased lipoylation raises the possibility of a potential therapeutic strategy.

}, keywords = {Basal Ganglia, Cells, Cultured, Child, Child, Preschool, Dystonic Disorders, Fatty Acids, Female, Fibroblasts, Genetic Complementation Test, Humans, Infant, Male, Mitochondria, Mitochondrial Diseases, Models, Molecular, Mutation, Mutation, Missense, Optic Atrophy, Oxidoreductases Acting on CH-CH Group Donors, Pedigree, RNA Splice Sites, Saccharomyces cerevisiae}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2016.09.021}, author = {Heimer, Gali and Ker{\"a}t{\"a}r, Juha M and Riley, Lisa G and Balasubramaniam, Shanti and Eyal, Eran and Pietik{\"a}inen, Laura P and Hiltunen, J Kalervo and Marek-Yagel, Dina and Hamada, Jeffrey and Gregory, Allison and Rogers, Caleb and Hogarth, Penelope and Nance, Martha A and Shalva, Nechama and Veber, Alvit and Tzadok, Michal and Nissenkorn, Andreea and Tonduti, Davide and Renaldo, Florence and Kraoua, Ichraf and Panteghini, Celeste and Valletta, Lorella and Garavaglia, Barbara and Cowley, Mark J and Gayevskiy, Velimir and Roscioli, Tony and Silberstein, Jonathon M and Hoffmann, Chen and Raas-Rothschild, Annick and Tiranti, Valeria and Anikster, Yair and Christodoulou, John and Kastaniotis, Alexander J and Ben-Zeev, Bruria and Hayflick, Susan J} }