@article {386, title = {De novo mutations in inhibitors of Wnt, BMP, and Ras/ERK signaling pathways in non-syndromic midline craniosynostosis.}, journal = {Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A}, volume = {114}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 08 29}, pages = {E7341-E7347}, abstract = {

Non-syndromic craniosynostosis (NSC) is a frequent congenital malformation in which one or more cranial sutures fuse prematurely. Mutations causing rare syndromic craniosynostoses in humans and engineered mouse models commonly increase signaling of the Wnt, bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), or Ras/ERK pathways, converging on shared nuclear targets that promote bone formation. In contrast, the genetics of NSC is largely unexplored. More than 95\% of NSC is sporadic, suggesting a role for de novo mutations. Exome sequencing of 291 parent-offspring trios with midline NSC revealed 15 probands with heterozygous damaging de novo mutations in 12 negative regulators of Wnt, BMP, and Ras/ERK signaling (10.9-fold enrichment, = 2.4 {\texttimes} 10). had 4 de novo and 14 transmitted mutations; no other gene had more than 1. Four familial NSC kindreds had mutations in genes previously implicated in syndromic disease. Collectively, these mutations contribute to 10\% of probands. Mutations are predominantly loss-of-function, implicating haploinsufficiency as a frequent mechanism. A common risk variant near increased the penetrance of mutations and was overtransmitted to patients with de novo mutations in other genes in these pathways, supporting a frequent two-locus pathogenesis. These findings implicate new genes in NSC and demonstrate related pathophysiology of common non-syndromic and rare syndromic craniosynostoses. These findings have implications for diagnosis, risk of recurrence, and risk of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. Finally, the use of pathways identified in rare syndromic disease to find genes accounting for non-syndromic cases may prove broadly relevant to understanding other congenital disorders featuring high locus heterogeneity.

}, keywords = {Adult, Animals, Bone Morphogenetic Proteins, Child, Child, Preschool, Cranial Sutures, Craniosynostoses, Exome, Female, Humans, Male, MAP Kinase Signaling System, Mutation, Osteogenesis, Penetrance, Phenotype, ras Proteins, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Signal Transduction, Smad6 Protein, Whole Exome Sequencing}, issn = {1091-6490}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.1709255114}, author = {Timberlake, Andrew T and Furey, Charuta G and Choi, Jungmin and Nelson-Williams, Carol and Loring, Erin and Galm, Amy and Kahle, Kristopher T and Steinbacher, Derek M and Larysz, Dawid and Persing, John A and Lifton, Richard P} } @article {33, title = {GNA14 Somatic Mutation Causes Congenital and Sporadic Vascular Tumors by MAPK Activation.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {99}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Aug 04}, pages = {443-50}, abstract = {

Vascular tumors are among the most common neoplasms in infants and children; 5\%-10\% of newborns present with or develop lesions within the first 3~months of life. Most are benign infantile hemangiomas that typically regress by 5 years of age; other vascular tumors include congenital tufted angiomas (TAs), kaposiform hemangioendotheliomas (KHEs), and childhood lobular capillary hemangiomas (LCHs). Some of these lesions can become locally invasive and unresponsive to pharmacologic intervention, leading to significant complications. Recent investigation has revealed that activating mutations in HRAS, KRAS, NRAS, GNAQ, and GNA11 can cause certain types of rare childhood vascular tumors, and we have now identified causal recurrent somatic activating mutations in GNA14 by whole-exome and targeted sequencing. We found somatic activating GNA14 c.614A>T (p.Gln205Leu) mutations in one KHE, one TA, and one LCH and a GNA11 c.547C>T (p.Arg183Cys) mutation in two LCH lesions. We examined mutation pathobiology via expression of mutant GNA14 or GNA11 in primary human endothelial cells and melanocytes. GNA14 and GNA11 mutations induced changes in cellular morphology and rendered cells growth-factor independent by upregulating the MAPK pathway. Our findings identify GNA14 mutations as a cause of childhood vascular tumors, offer insight into mechanisms of oncogenic transformation by mutations affecting Gaq family members, and identify potential targets for therapeutic intervention.

}, keywords = {Cells, Cultured, Child, Preschool, Enzyme Activation, GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gq-G11, Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins, Male, MAP Kinase Signaling System, Melanocytes, Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases, Mutation, Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt, Vascular Neoplasms}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2016.06.010}, author = {Lim, Young H and Bacchiocchi, Antonella and Qiu, Jingyao and Straub, Robert and Bruckner, Anna and Bercovitch, Lionel and Narayan, Deepak and McNiff, Jennifer and Ko, Christine and Robinson-Bostom, Leslie and Antaya, Richard and Halaban, Ruth and Choate, Keith A} } @article {343, title = {An inactivating mutation in intestinal cell kinase, ICK, impairs hedgehog signalling and causes short rib-polydactyly syndrome.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, volume = {25}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 09 15}, pages = {3998-4011}, abstract = {

The short rib polydactyly syndromes (SRPS) are a group of recessively inherited, perinatal-lethal skeletal disorders primarily characterized by short ribs, shortened long bones, varying types of polydactyly and concomitant visceral abnormalities. Mutations in several genes affecting cilia function cause SRPS, revealing a role for cilia function in skeletal development. To identify additional SRPS genes and discover novel ciliary molecules required for normal skeletogenesis, we performed exome sequencing in a cohort of patients and identified homozygosity for a missense mutation, p.E80K, in Intestinal Cell Kinase, ICK, in one SRPS family. The p.E80K mutation abolished serine/threonine kinase activity, resulting in altered ICK subcellular and ciliary localization, increased cilia length, aberrant cartilage growth plate structure, defective Hedgehog and altered ERK signalling. These data identify ICK as an SRPS-associated gene and reveal that abnormalities in signalling pathways contribute to defective skeletogenesis.

}, keywords = {Abnormalities, Multiple, Cilia, Exome, Female, Hedgehog Proteins, Humans, Infant, MAP Kinase Signaling System, Pedigree, Pregnancy, Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Short Rib-Polydactyly Syndrome, Signal Transduction, Skeleton}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddw240}, author = {Paige Taylor, S and Kunova Bosakova, Michaela and Varecha, Miroslav and Balek, Lukas and Barta, Tomas and Trantirek, Lukas and Jelinkova, Iva and Duran, Ivan and Vesela, Iva and Forlenza, Kimberly N and Martin, Jorge H and Hampl, Ales and Bamshad, Michael and Nickerson, Deborah and Jaworski, Margie L and Song, Jieun and Ko, Hyuk Wan and Cohn, Daniel H and Krakow, Deborah and Krejci, Pavel} }