@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 = {

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.

}, 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} } @article {608, title = {Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia: Longitudinal Study of Lung Disease by Ultrastructure Defect and Genotype.}, journal = {Am J Respir Crit Care Med}, volume = {199}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 01 15}, pages = {190-198}, abstract = {

RATIONALE: In primary ciliary dyskinesia, factors leading to disease heterogeneity are poorly understood.

OBJECTIVES: To describe early lung disease progression in primary ciliary dyskinesia and identify associations between ultrastructural defects and genotypes with clinical phenotype.

METHODS: This was a prospective, longitudinal (5 yr), multicenter, observational study. Inclusion criteria were less than 19 years at enrollment and greater than or equal to two annual study visits. Linear mixed effects models including random slope and random intercept were used to evaluate longitudinal associations between the ciliary defect group (or genotype group) and clinical features (percent predicted FEV and weight and height z-scores).

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 137 participants completed 732 visits. The group with absent inner dynein arm, central apparatus defects, and microtubular disorganization (IDA/CA/MTD) (n = 41) were significantly younger at diagnosis and in mixed effects models had significantly lower percent predicted FEV and weight and height z-scores than the isolated outer dynein arm defect (n = 55) group. Participants with CCDC39 or CCDC40 mutations (n = 34) had lower percent predicted FEV and weight and height z-scores than those with DNAH5 mutations (n = 36). For the entire cohort, percent predicted FEV decline was heterogeneous with a mean (SE) decline of 0.57 (0.25) percent predicted/yr. Rate of decline was different from zero only in the IDA/MTD/CA group (mean [SE], -1.11 [0.48] percent predicted/yr; P = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS: Participants with IDA/MTD/CA defects, which included individuals with CCDC39 or CCDC40 mutations, had worse lung function and growth indices compared with those with outer dynein arm defects and DNAH5 mutations, respectively. The only group with a significant lung function decline over time were participants with IDA/MTD/CA defects.

}, keywords = {Child, Cilia, Cohort Studies, Female, Genotype, Humans, Kartagener Syndrome, Longitudinal Studies, Lung, Male, Mutation, Phenotype, Prospective Studies, Respiratory Function Tests}, issn = {1535-4970}, doi = {10.1164/rccm.201803-0548OC}, author = {Davis, Stephanie D and Rosenfeld, Margaret and Lee, Hye-Seung and Ferkol, Thomas W and Sagel, Scott D and Dell, Sharon D and Milla, Carlos and Pittman, Jessica E and Shapiro, Adam J and Sullivan, Kelli M and Nykamp, Keith R and Krischer, Jeffrey P and Zariwala, Maimoona A and Knowles, Michael R and Leigh, Margaret W} } @article {658, title = {De novo variants in congenital diaphragmatic hernia identify MYRF as a new syndrome and reveal genetic overlaps with other developmental disorders.}, journal = {PLoS Genet}, volume = {14}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 12}, pages = {e1007822}, abstract = {

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a severe birth defect that is often accompanied by other congenital anomalies. Previous exome sequencing studies for CDH have supported a role of de novo damaging variants but did not identify any recurrently mutated genes. To investigate further the genetics of CDH, we analyzed de novo coding variants in 362 proband-parent trios including 271 new trios reported in this study. We identified four unrelated individuals with damaging de novo variants in MYRF (P = 5.3x10(-8)), including one likely gene-disrupting (LGD) and three deleterious missense (D-mis) variants. Eight additional individuals with de novo LGD or missense variants were identified from our other genetic studies or from the literature. Common phenotypes of MYRF de novo variant carriers include CDH, congenital heart disease and genitourinary abnormalities, suggesting that it represents a novel syndrome. MYRF is a membrane associated transcriptional factor highly expressed in developing diaphragm and is depleted of LGD variants in the general population. All de novo missense variants aggregated in two functional protein domains. Analyzing the transcriptome of patient-derived diaphragm fibroblast cells suggest that disease associated variants abolish the transcription factor activity. Furthermore, we showed that the remaining genes with damaging variants in CDH significantly overlap with genes implicated in other developmental disorders. Gene expression patterns and patient phenotypes support pleiotropic effects of damaging variants in these genes on CDH and other developmental disorders. Finally, functional enrichment analysis implicates the disruption of regulation of gene expression, kinase activities, intra-cellular signaling, and cytoskeleton organization as pathogenic mechanisms in CDH.

}, keywords = {Child, Preschool, Developmental Disabilities, DNA Copy Number Variations, Female, Genetic Variation, Heart Defects, Congenital, Hernias, Diaphragmatic, Congenital, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Membrane Proteins, Mutation, Mutation, Missense, Phenotype, Sequence Analysis, RNA, Syndrome, Transcription Factors, Whole Exome Sequencing, Whole Genome Sequencing}, issn = {1553-7404}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pgen.1007822}, author = {Qi, Hongjian and Yu, Lan and Zhou, Xueya and Wynn, Julia and Zhao, Haoquan and Guo, Yicheng and Zhu, Na and Kitaygorodsky, Alexander and Hernan, Rebecca and Aspelund, Gudrun and Lim, Foong-Yen and Crombleholme, Timothy and Cusick, Robert and Azarow, Kenneth and Danko, Melissa E and Chung, Dai and Warner, Brad W and Mychaliska, George B and Potoka, Douglas and Wagner, Amy J and ElFiky, Mahmoud and Wilson, Jay M and Nickerson, Debbie and Bamshad, Michael and High, Frances A and Longoni, Mauro and Donahoe, Patricia K and Chung, Wendy K and Shen, Yufeng} }