@article {574,
	title = {Biallelic mutations in valyl-tRNA synthetase gene VARS are associated with a progressive neurodevelopmental epileptic encephalopathy.},
	journal = {Nat Commun},
	volume = {10},
	year = {2019},
	month = {2019 02 12},
	pages = {707},
	abstract = {<p>Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs) function to transfer amino acids to cognate tRNA molecules, which are required for protein translation. To date, biallelic mutations in 31 ARS genes are known to cause recessive, early-onset severe multi-organ diseases. VARS encodes the only known valine cytoplasmic-localized aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase. Here, we report seven patients from five unrelated families with five different biallelic missense variants in VARS. Subjects present with a range of global developmental delay, epileptic encephalopathy and primary or progressive microcephaly. Longitudinal assessment demonstrates progressive cortical atrophy and white matter volume loss. Variants map to the VARS tRNA binding domain and adjacent to the anticodon domain, and disrupt highly conserved residues. Patient primary cells show intact VARS protein but reduced enzymatic activity, suggesting partial loss of function. The implication of VARS in pediatric neurodegeneration broadens the spectrum of human diseases due to mutations in tRNA synthetase genes.</p>},
	keywords = {Alleles, Anticodon, Child, Child, Preschool, Disease Progression, Epilepsy, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Loss of Function Mutation, Male, Microcephaly, Models, Molecular, Mutation, Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Pedigree, Protein Biosynthesis, Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs, RNA, Transfer, Valine-tRNA Ligase, Whole Exome Sequencing, Whole Genome Sequencing},
	issn = {2041-1723},
	doi = {10.1038/s41467-018-07067-3},
	author = {Friedman, Jennifer and Smith, Desiree E and Issa, Mahmoud Y and Stanley, Valentina and Wang, Rengang and Mendes, Marisa I and Wright, Meredith S and Wigby, Kristen and Hildreth, Amber and Crawford, John R and Koehler, Alanna E and Chowdhury, Shimul and Nahas, Shareef and Zhai, Liting and Xu, Zhiwen and Lo, Wing-Sze and James, Kiely N and Musaev, Damir and Accogli, Andrea and Guerrero, Kether and Tran, Luan T and Omar, Tarek E I and Ben-Omran, Tawfeg and Dimmock, David and Kingsmore, Stephen F and Salomons, Gajja S and Zaki, Maha S and Bernard, Genevi{\`e}ve and Gleeson, Joseph G}
}
