@article {909, title = {Deciphering congenital anomalies for the next generation.}, journal = {Cold Spring Harb Mol Case Stud}, volume = {6}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 10}, abstract = {

Congenital anomalies are common, with 2\%-3\% of infants estimated to have at least one major congenital malformation and countless others with minor malformations of lesser cosmetic or medical importance. As congenital malformations are major drivers of morbidity and mortality, representing the leading cause of infant mortality in the United States, there is substantial interest in understanding the underlying etiologies-particularly if modifiable causes may be identified or pre- or postnatal treatments can be offered. Recent research has begun to reveal the spectrum of monogenic disorders that commonly result in birth defects, and newer approaches have revealed non-Mendelian genetic contributions including gene-environment interactions. Our experience suggests that increased efforts to sequence and analyze cases of perinatal death, as well as continued global collaboration, will be essential in understanding the genomic landscape of structural anomalies.

}, keywords = {Congenital Abnormalities, Family Characteristics, Female, Humans, Infant, Pregnancy}, issn = {2373-2873}, doi = {10.1101/mcs.a005504}, author = {Wojcik, Monica H and Agrawal, Pankaj B} } @article {791, title = {Distinct effects on mRNA export factor GANP underlie neurological disease phenotypes and alter gene expression depending on intron content.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, volume = {29}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 06 03}, pages = {1426-1439}, abstract = {

Defects in the mRNA export scaffold protein GANP, encoded by the MCM3AP gene, cause autosomal recessive early-onset peripheral neuropathy with or without intellectual disability. We extend here the phenotypic range associated with MCM3AP variants, by describing a severely hypotonic child and a sibling pair with a progressive encephalopathic syndrome. In addition, our analysis of skin fibroblasts from affected individuals from seven unrelated families indicates that disease variants result in depletion of GANP except when they alter critical residues in the Sac3 mRNA binding domain. GANP depletion was associated with more severe phenotypes compared with the Sac3 variants. Patient fibroblasts showed transcriptome alterations that suggested intron content-dependent regulation of gene expression. For example, all differentially expressed intronless genes were downregulated, including ATXN7L3B, which couples mRNA export to transcription activation by association with the TREX-2 and SAGA complexes. Our results provide insight into the molecular basis behind genotype-phenotype correlations in MCM3AP-associated disease and suggest mechanisms by which GANP defects might alter RNA metabolism.

}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddaa051}, author = {Woldegebriel, Rosa and Kvist, Jouni and Andersson, Noora and {\~O}unap, Katrin and Reinson, Karit and Wojcik, Monica H and Bijlsma, Emilia K and Hoffer, Mariette J V and Ryan, Monique M and Stark, Zornitza and Walsh, Maie and Cuppen, Inge and van den Boogaard, Marie-Jose H and Bharucha-Goebel, Diana and Donkervoort, Sandra and Winchester, Sara and Zori, Roberto and B{\"o}nnemann, Carsten G and Maroofian, Reza and O{\textquoteright}Connor, Emer and Houlden, Henry and Zhao, Fang and Carp{\'e}n, Olli and White, Matthew and Sreedharan, Jemeen and Stewart, Murray and Ylikallio, Emil and Tyynismaa, Henna} } @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 {491, title = {Dual Molecular Effects of Dominant RORA Mutations Cause Two Variants of Syndromic Intellectual Disability with Either Autism or Cerebellar Ataxia.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {102}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 05 03}, pages = {744-759}, abstract = {

RORĪ±, the RAR-related orphan nuclear receptor alpha, is essential for cerebellar development. The spontaneous mutant mouse staggerer, with an ataxic gait caused by neurodegeneration of cerebellar Purkinje cells, was discovered two decades ago to result from homozygous intragenic Rora deletions. However, RORA mutations were hitherto undocumented in humans. Through a multi-centric collaboration, we identified three copy-number variant deletions (two de novo and one dominantly inherited in three generations), one de novo disrupting duplication, and nine de novo point mutations (three truncating, one canonical splice site, and five missense mutations) involving RORA in 16 individuals from 13 families with variable neurodevelopmental delay and intellectual disability (ID)-associated autistic features, cerebellar ataxia, and epilepsy. Consistent with the human and mouse data, disruption of the D.~rerio ortholog, roraa, causes significant reduction in the size of the developing cerebellum. Systematic in~vivo complementation studies showed that, whereas wild-type human RORA mRNA could complement the cerebellar pathology, missense variants had two distinct pathogenic mechanisms of either haploinsufficiency or a dominant toxic effect according to their localization in the ligand-binding or DNA-binding domains, respectively. This dichotomous direction of effect is likely relevant to the phenotype in humans: individuals with loss-of-function variants leading to haploinsufficiency show ID with autistic features, while individuals with de novo dominant toxic variants present with ID, ataxia, and cerebellar atrophy. Our combined genetic and functional data highlight the complex mutational landscape at the human RORA locus and suggest that dual mutational effects likely determine phenotypic outcome.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Aged, 80 and over, Alleles, Animals, Autistic Disorder, Brain, Cerebellar Ataxia, Child, Child, Preschool, Disease Models, Animal, DNA Copy Number Variations, Female, Genes, Dominant, Genetic Complementation Test, Humans, Intellectual Disability, Larva, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Mutation, Missense, Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 1, Group F, Member 1, Purkinje Cells, Syndrome, Zebrafish}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.02.021}, author = {Guissart, Claire and Latypova, X{\'e}nia and Rollier, Paul and Khan, Tahir N and Stamberger, Hannah and McWalter, Kirsty and Cho, Megan T and Kjaergaard, Susanne and Weckhuysen, Sarah and Lesca, Gaetan and Besnard, Thomas and {\~O}unap, Katrin and Schema, Lynn and Chiocchetti, Andreas G and McDonald, Marie and de Bellescize, Julitta and Vincent, Marie and Van Esch, Hilde and Sattler, Shannon and Forghani, Irman and Thiffault, Isabelle and Freitag, Christine M and Barbouth, Deborah Sara and Cadieux-Dion, Maxime and Willaert, Rebecca and Guillen Sacoto, Maria J and Safina, Nicole P and Dubourg, Christ{\`e}le and Grote, Lauren and Carr{\'e}, Wilfrid and Saunders, Carol and Pajusalu, Sander and Farrow, Emily and Boland, Anne and Karlowicz, Danielle Hays and Deleuze, Jean-Fran{\c c}ois and Wojcik, Monica H and Pressman, Rena and Isidor, Bertrand and Vogels, Annick and Van Paesschen, Wim and Al-Gazali, Lihadh and Al Shamsi, Aisha Mohamed and Claustres, Mireille and Pujol, Aurora and Sanders, Stephan J and Rivier, Fran{\c c}ois and Leboucq, Nicolas and Cogn{\'e}, Benjamin and Sasorith, Souphatta and Sanlaville, Damien and Retterer, Kyle and Odent, Sylvie and Katsanis, Nicholas and B{\'e}zieau, St{\'e}phane and Koenig, Michel and Davis, Erica E and Pasquier, Laurent and K{\"u}ry, S{\'e}bastien} }