@article {682, title = {TBX6-associated congenital scoliosis (TACS) as a clinically distinguishable subtype of congenital scoliosis: further evidence supporting the compound inheritance and TBX6 gene dosage model.}, journal = {Genet Med}, volume = {21}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 07}, pages = {1548-1558}, abstract = {

PURPOSE: To characterize clinically measurable endophenotypes, implicating the TBX6 compound inheritance model.

METHODS: Patients with congenital scoliosis (CS) from China(N = 345, cohort 1), Japan (N = 142, cohort 2), and the United States (N = 10, cohort 3) were studied. Clinically measurable endophenotypes were compared according to the TBX6 genotypes. A mouse model for Tbx6 compound inheritance (N = 52) was investigated by micro computed tomography (micro-CT). A clinical diagnostic algorithm (TACScore) was developed to assist in clinical recognition of TBX6-associated CS (TACS).

RESULTS: In cohort 1, TACS patients (N = 33) were significantly younger at onset than the remaining CS patients (P = 0.02), presented with one or more hemivertebrae/butterfly vertebrae (P = 4.9 {\texttimes} 10), and exhibited vertebral malformations involving the lower part of the spine (T8-S5, P = 4.4 {\texttimes} 10); observations were confirmed in two replication cohorts. Simple rib anomalies were prevalent in TACS patients (P = 3.1 {\texttimes} 10), while intraspinal anomalies were uncommon (P = 7.0 {\texttimes} 10). A clinically usable TACScore was developed with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.9 (P = 1.6 {\texttimes} 10). A Tbx6 mouse model supported that a~gene dosage effect underlies the TACS phenotype.

CONCLUSION: TACS is a clinically distinguishable entity with consistent clinically measurable endophenotypes. The type and distribution of vertebral column abnormalities in TBX6/Tbx6 compound inheritance implicate subtle perturbations in gene dosage as a cause of spine developmental birth defects responsible for about 10\% of CS.

}, issn = {1530-0366}, doi = {10.1038/s41436-018-0377-x}, author = {Liu, Jiaqi and Wu, Nan and Yang, Nan and Takeda, Kazuki and Chen, Weisheng and Li, Weiyu and Du, Renqian and Liu, Sen and Zhou, Yangzhong and Zhang, Ling and Liu, Zhenlei and Zuo, Yuzhi and Zhao, Sen and Blank, Robert and Pehlivan, Davut and Dong, Shuangshuang and Zhang, Jianguo and Shen, Jianxiong and Si, Nuo and Wang, Yipeng and Liu, Gang and Li, Shugang and Zhao, Yanxue and Zhao, Hong and Chen, Yixin and Zhao, Yu and Song, Xiaofei and Hu, Jianhua and Lin, Mao and Tian, Ye and Yuan, Bo and Yu, Keyi and Niu, Yuchen and Yu, Bin and Li, Xiaoxin and Chen, Jia and Yan, Zihui and Zhu, Qiankun and Meng, Xiaolu and Chen, Xiaoli and Su, Jianzhong and Zhao, Xiuli and Wang, Xiaoyue and Ming, Yue and Li, Xiao and Raggio, Cathleen L and Zhang, Baozhong and Weng, Xisheng and Zhang, Shuyang and Zhang, Xue and Watanabe, Kota and Matsumoto, Morio and Jin, Li and Shen, Yiping and Sobreira, Nara L and Posey, Jennifer E and Giampietro, Philip F and Valle, David and Liu, Pengfei and Wu, Zhihong and Ikegawa, Shiro and Lupski, James R and Zhang, Feng and Qiu, Guixing} } @article {517, title = {Perturbations of BMP/TGF-β and VEGF/VEGFR signalling pathways in non-syndromic sporadic brain arteriovenous malformations (BAVM).}, journal = {J Med Genet}, volume = {55}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 Oct}, pages = {675-684}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Brain arteriovenous malformations (BAVM) represent a congenital anomaly of the cerebral vessels with a prevalence of 10-18/100 000. BAVM is the leading aetiology of intracranial haemorrhage in children. Our objective was to identify gene variants potentially contributing to disease and to better define the molecular aetiology underlying non-syndromic sporadic BAVM.

METHODS: We performed whole-exome trio sequencing of 100 unrelated families with a clinically uniform BAVM phenotype. Pathogenic variants were then studied in vivo using a transgenic zebrafish model.

RESULTS: We identified four pathogenic heterozygous variants in four patients, including one in the established BAVM-related gene, , and three damaging variants in novel candidate genes: , and , which we then functionally validated in zebrafish. In addition, eight likely pathogenic heterozygous variants (, and ) were identified in eight patients, and 16 patients carried one or more variants of uncertain significance. Potential oligogenic inheritance ( with , with and with ) was identified in three patients. Regulation of sma- and mad-related proteins (SMADs) (involved in bone morphogenic protein (BMP)/transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signalling) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/vascular endotheliual growth factor recepter 2 (VEGFR2) binding and activity (affecting the VEGF signalling pathway) were the most significantly affected biological process involved in the pathogenesis of BAVM.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights the specific role of BMP/TGF-β and VEGF/VEGFR signalling in the aetiology of BAVM and the efficiency of intensive parallel sequencing in the challenging context of genetically heterogeneous paradigm.

}, issn = {1468-6244}, doi = {10.1136/jmedgenet-2017-105224}, author = {Wang, Kun and Zhao, Sen and Liu, Bowen and Zhang, Qianqian and Li, Yaqi and Liu, Jiaqi and Shen, Yan and Ding, Xinghuan and Lin, Jiachen and Wu, Yong and Yan, Zihui and Chen, Jia and Li, Xiaoxin and Song, Xiaofei and Niu, Yuchen and Liu, Jian and Chen, Weisheng and Ming, Yue and Du, Renqian and Chen, Cong and Long, Bo and Zhang, Yisen and Tong, Xiangjun and Zhang, Shuyang and Posey, Jennifer E and Zhang, Bo and Wu, Zhihong and Wythe, Joshua D and Liu, Pengfei and Lupski, James R and Yang, Xinjian and Wu, Nan} }