@article {697, title = {De Novo Variants Disturbing the Transactivation Capacity of POU3F3 Cause a Characteristic Neurodevelopmental Disorder.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {105}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 Aug 01}, pages = {403-412}, abstract = {

POU3F3, also referred to as Brain-1, is a well-known transcription factor involved in the development of the central nervous system, but it has not previously been associated with a neurodevelopmental disorder. Here, we report the identification of 19 individuals with heterozygous POU3F3 disruptions, most of which are de novo variants. All individuals had developmental delays and/or intellectual disability and impairments in speech and language skills. Thirteen individuals had characteristic low-set, prominent, and/or cupped ears. Brain abnormalities were observed in seven of eleven MRI reports. POU3F3 is an intronless gene, insensitive to nonsense-mediated decay, and 13 individuals carried protein-truncating variants. All truncating variants that we tested in cellular models led to aberrant subcellular localization of the encoded protein. Luciferase assays demonstrated negative effects of these alleles on transcriptional activation of a reporter with a FOXP2-derived binding motif. In addition to the loss-of-function variants, five individuals had missense variants that clustered at specific positions within the functional domains, and one small in-frame deletion was identified. Two missense variants showed reduced transactivation capacity in our assays, whereas one variant displayed gain-of-function effects, suggesting a distinct pathophysiological mechanism. In bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) interaction assays, all the truncated POU3F3 versions that we tested had significantly impaired dimerization capacities, whereas all missense variants showed unaffected dimerization with wild-type POU3F3. Taken together, our identification and functional cell-based analyses of pathogenic variants in POU3F3, coupled with a clinical characterization, implicate disruptions of this gene in a characteristic neurodevelopmental disorder.

}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2019.06.007}, author = {Snijders Blok, Lot and Kleefstra, Tjitske and Venselaar, Hanka and Maas, Saskia and Kroes, Hester Y and Lachmeijer, Augusta M A and van Gassen, Koen L I and Firth, Helen V and Tomkins, Susan and Bodek, Simon and {\~O}unap, Katrin and Wojcik, Monica H and Cunniff, Christopher and Bergstrom, Katherine and Powis, Z{\"o}e and Tang, Sha and Shinde, Deepali N and Au, Catherine and Iglesias, Alejandro D and Izumi, Kosuke and Leonard, Jacqueline and Abou Tayoun, Ahmad and Baker, Samuel W and Tartaglia, Marco and Niceta, Marcello and Dentici, Maria Lisa and Okamoto, Nobuhiko and Miyake, Noriko and Matsumoto, Naomichi and Vitobello, Antonio and Faivre, Laurence and Philippe, Christophe and Gilissen, Christian and Wiel, Laurens and Pfundt, Rolph and Deriziotis, Pelagia and Brunner, Han G and Fisher, Simon E} } @article {449, title = {Congenital heart defects and left ventricular non-compaction in males with loss-of-function variants in NONO.}, journal = {J Med Genet}, volume = {54}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 01}, pages = {47-53}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: The non-POU domain containing octamer-binding gene (NONO) is located on chromosome Xq13.1 and encodes a member of a small family of RNA-binding and DNA-binding proteins that perform a variety of tasks involved in RNA synthesis, transcriptional regulation and DNA repair. Loss-of-function variants in NONO have been described as a cause of intellectual disability in males but have not been described in association with congenital heart defects or cardiomyopathy. In this article, we seek to further define the phenotypic consequences of NONO depletion in human subjects.

METHODS: We searched a clinical database of over 6000 individuals referred for exome sequencing and over 60 000 individuals referred for CNV analysis.

RESULTS: We identified two males with atrial and ventricular septal defects, left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC), developmental delay and intellectual disability, who harboured de novo, loss-of-function variants in NONO. We also identified a male infant with developmental delay, congenital brain anomalies and severe LVNC requiring cardiac transplantation, who inherited a single-gene deletion of NONO from his asymptomatic mother.

CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that in addition to global developmental delay and intellectual disability, males with loss-of-function variants in NONO may also be predisposed to developing congenital heart defects and LVNC with the penetrance of these cardiac-related problems being influenced by genetic, epigenetic, environmental or stochastic factors. Brain imaging of males with NONO deficiency may reveal structural defects with abnormalities of the corpus callosum being the most common. Although dysmorphic features vary between affected individuals, relative macrocephaly is a common feature.

}, keywords = {Child, Child, Preschool, Developmental Disabilities, DNA-Binding Proteins, Exome, Heart Defects, Congenital, Heart Ventricles, Humans, Infant, Male, Nuclear Matrix-Associated Proteins, Octamer Transcription Factors, RNA-Binding Proteins}, issn = {1468-6244}, doi = {10.1136/jmedgenet-2016-104039}, author = {Scott, Daryl A and Hernandez-Garcia, Andres and Azamian, Mahshid S and Jordan, Valerie K and Kim, Bum Jun and Starkovich, Molly and Zhang, Jinglan and Wong, Lee-Jun and Darilek, Sandra A and Breman, Amy M and Yang, Yaping and Lupski, James R and Jiwani, Amyn K and Das, Bibhuti and Lalani, Seema R and Iglesias, Alejandro D and Rosenfeld, Jill A and Xia, Fan} }