@article {897, title = {Whole-genome sequencing of African Americans implicates differential genetic architecture in inflammatory bowel disease.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {108}, year = {2021}, month = {2021 03 04}, pages = {431-445}, abstract = {

Whether or not populations diverge with respect to the genetic contribution to risk of specific complex diseases is relevant to understanding the evolution of susceptibility and origins of health disparities. Here, we describe a large-scale whole-genome sequencing study of inflammatory bowel disease encompassing 1,774 affected individuals and 1,644 healthy control Americans with African ancestry (African Americans). Although no new loci for inflammatory bowel disease are discovered at genome-wide significance levels, we identify numerous instances of differential effect sizes in combination with divergent allele frequencies. For example, the major effect at PTGER4 fine maps to a single credible interval of 22 SNPs corresponding to one of four independent associations at the locus in European ancestry individuals but with an elevated odds ratio for Crohn disease in African Americans. A rare variant aggregate analysis implicates Ca-binding neuro-immunomodulator CALB2 in ulcerative colitis. Highly significant overall overlap of common variant risk for inflammatory bowel disease susceptibility between individuals with African and European ancestries was observed, with 41 of 241 previously known lead variants replicated and overall correlations in effect sizes of 0.68 for combined inflammatory bowel disease. Nevertheless, subtle differences influence the performance of polygenic risk scores, and we show that ancestry-appropriate weights significantly improve polygenic prediction in the highest percentiles of risk. The median amount of variance explained per locus remains the same in African and European cohorts, providing evidence for compensation of effect sizes as allele frequencies diverge, as expected under a highly polygenic model of disease.

}, keywords = {African Americans, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Calbindin 2, Colitis, Ulcerative, Crohn Disease, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Gene Frequency, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Male, Multifactorial Inheritance, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Receptors, Prostaglandin E, EP4 Subtype, Whole Genome Sequencing}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2021.02.001}, author = {Somineni, Hari K and Nagpal, Sini and Venkateswaran, Suresh and Cutler, David J and Okou, David T and Haritunians, Talin and Simpson, Claire L and Begum, Ferdouse and Datta, Lisa W and Quiros, Antonio J and Seminerio, Jenifer and Mengesha, Emebet and Alexander, Jonathan S and Baldassano, Robert N and Dudley-Brown, Sharon and Cross, Raymond K and Dassopoulos, Themistocles and Denson, Lee A and Dhere, Tanvi A and Iskandar, Heba and Dryden, Gerald W and Hou, Jason K and Hussain, Sunny Z and Hyams, Jeffrey S and Isaacs, Kim L and Kader, Howard and Kappelman, Michael D and Katz, Jeffry and Kellermayer, Richard and Kuemmerle, John F and Lazarev, Mark and Li, Ellen and Mannon, Peter and Moulton, Dedrick E and Newberry, Rodney D and Patel, Ashish S and Pekow, Joel and Saeed, Shehzad A and Valentine, John F and Wang, Ming-Hsi and McCauley, Jacob L and Abreu, Maria T and Jester, Traci and Molle-Rios, Zarela and Palle, Sirish and Scherl, Ellen J and Kwon, John and Rioux, John D and Duerr, Richard H and Silverberg, Mark S and Zwick, Michael E and Stevens, Christine and Daly, Mark J and Cho, Judy H and Gibson, Greg and McGovern, Dermot P B and Brant, Steven R and Kugathasan, Subra} } @article {776, title = {Estimation of the carrier frequency of fumarate hydratase alterations and implications for kidney cancer risk in hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cancer.}, journal = {Cancer}, volume = {126}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 08 15}, pages = {3657-3666}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cancer (HLRCC) is a cancer syndrome associated with a germline mutation in fumarate hydratase (FH). The syndrome is associated with cutaneous and uterine leiomyomas, and some patients develop a lethal form of kidney cancer. This study provides estimates for the FH carrier frequency and kidney cancer penetrance.

METHODS: Data sets containing sequencing data for the FH gene were used: the 1000 Genomes Project (1000GP) and the Exome Aggregation Consortium (ExAC). Alterations in the FH gene were characterized on the basis of different variant risk tiers: 1) ClinVar annotated variants, 2) loss-of-function alterations, and 3) highly impactful missense alterations. The cumulative incidence of FH alterations overall and by different world populations was evaluated in 1000GP and ExAC. A lifetime penetrance of HLRCC kidney cancer risk was generated with 3 estimates of the annual incidence.

RESULTS: The overall allele frequencies of tier 1 to 3 FH alterations in the ExAC and 1000GP data sets were 2.54 {\texttimes} 10 (1 in 393) and 1.20 {\texttimes} 10 (1 in 835), respectively. There were differences in the allele frequencies of FH alterations between world populations. Based on various estimates of the percentage of kidney cancers with FH alterations, the lifetime kidney cancer penetrance for carrier estimate 3 in ExAC was 1.7\% to 5.8\%.

CONCLUSIONS: FH alterations are common and are carried by approximately 1 in 1000 individuals according to the more conservative estimates. The lifetime kidney cancer penetrance appears lower than previously estimated. Although databases are not population cohorts, they provide a useful quantitative estimate of rare variants with low penetrance.

}, keywords = {Adult, Exome, Female, Fumarate Hydratase, Gene Frequency, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Germ-Line Mutation, Heterozygote, Humans, Kidney, Kidney Neoplasms, Leiomyomatosis, Male, Middle Aged, Neoplastic Syndromes, Hereditary, Risk Factors, Skin Neoplasms, Uterine Neoplasms}, issn = {1097-0142}, doi = {10.1002/cncr.32914}, author = {Shuch, Brian and Li, Shantao and Risch, Harvey and Bindra, Ranjit S and McGillivray, Patrick D and Gerstein, Mark} } @article {777, title = {Functional biology of the Steel syndrome founder allele and evidence for clan genomics derivation of COL27A1 pathogenic alleles worldwide.}, journal = {Eur J Hum Genet}, volume = {28}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 09}, pages = {1243-1264}, abstract = {

Previously we reported the identification of a homozygous COL27A1 (c.2089G>C; p.Gly697Arg) missense variant and proposed it as a founder allele in Puerto Rico segregating with Steel syndrome (STLS, MIM $\#$615155); a rare osteochondrodysplasia characterized by short stature, congenital bilateral hip dysplasia, carpal coalitions, and scoliosis. We now report segregation of this variant in five probands from the initial clinical report defining the syndrome and an additional family of Puerto Rican descent with multiple affected adult individuals. We modeled the orthologous variant in murine Col27a1 and found it recapitulates some of the major Steel syndrome associated skeletal features including reduced body length, scoliosis, and a more rounded skull shape. Characterization of the in vivo murine model shows abnormal collagen deposition in the extracellular matrix and disorganization of the proliferative zone of the growth plate. We report additional COL27A1 pathogenic variant alleles identified in unrelated consanguineous Turkish kindreds suggesting Clan Genomics and identity-by-descent homozygosity contributing to disease in this population. The hypothesis that carrier states for this autosomal recessive osteochondrodysplasia may contribute to common complex traits is further explored in a large clinical population cohort. Our findings augment our understanding of COL27A1 biology and its role in skeletal development; and expand the functional allelic architecture in this gene underlying both rare and common disease phenotypes.

}, keywords = {Abnormalities, Multiple, Adolescent, Animals, Bone Development, Child, Child, Preschool, Consanguinity, Extracellular Matrix, Female, Fibrillar Collagens, Founder Effect, Gene Frequency, Hip Dislocation, Homozygote, Humans, Male, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mutation, Pedigree, Scoliosis, Syndrome}, issn = {1476-5438}, doi = {10.1038/s41431-020-0632-x}, author = {Gonzaga-Jauregui, Claudia and Yesil, G{\"o}zde and Nistala, Harikiran and Gezdirici, Alper and Bayram, Yavuz and Nannuru, Kalyan C and Pehlivan, Davut and Yuan, Bo and Jimenez, Johanna and Sahin, Yavuz and Paine, Ingrid S and Akdemir, Zeynep Coban and Rajamani, Saathyaki and Staples, Jeffrey and Dronzek, John and Howell, Kristen and Fatih, Jawid M and Smaldone, Silvia and Schlesinger, Alan E and Ram{\'\i}rez, Norman and Cornier, Alberto S and Kelly, Melissa A and Haber, Robert and Chim, Shek Man and Nieman, Kristy and Wu, Nan and Walls, Johnathon and Poueymirou, William and Siao, Chia-Jen and Sutton, V Reid and Williams, Marc S and Posey, Jennifer E and Gibbs, Richard A and Carlo, Simon and Tegay, David H and Economides, Aris N and Lupski, James R} } @article {830, title = {Large-Scale Exome Sequencing Study Implicates Both Developmental and Functional Changes in the Neurobiology of Autism.}, journal = {Cell}, volume = {180}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 02 06}, pages = {568-584.e23}, abstract = {

We present the largest exome sequencing study of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to date (n~= 35,584 total samples, 11,986 with ASD). Using an enhanced analytical framework to integrate de novo and case-control rare variation, we identify 102 risk genes at a false discovery rate of 0.1 or less. Of these genes, 49 show higher frequencies of disruptive de novo variants in individuals ascertained to have severe neurodevelopmental delay, whereas 53 show higher frequencies in individuals ascertained to have ASD; comparing ASD cases with mutations in these groups reveals phenotypic differences. Expressed early in brain development, most risk genes have roles in regulation of gene expression or neuronal communication (i.e., mutations effect neurodevelopmental and neurophysiological changes), and 13 fall within loci recurrently hit by copy number variants. In cells from the human cortex, expression of risk genes is enriched in excitatory and inhibitory neuronal lineages, consistent with multiple paths to an excitatory-inhibitory imbalance underlying ASD.

}, keywords = {Autistic Disorder, Case-Control Studies, Cell Lineage, Cerebral Cortex, Cohort Studies, Exome, Female, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Gene Frequency, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Humans, Male, Mutation, Missense, Neurobiology, Neurons, Phenotype, Sex Factors, Single-Cell Analysis, Whole Exome Sequencing}, issn = {1097-4172}, doi = {10.1016/j.cell.2019.12.036}, author = {Satterstrom, F Kyle and Kosmicki, Jack A and Wang, Jiebiao and Breen, Michael S and De Rubeis, Silvia and An, Joon-Yong and Peng, Minshi and Collins, Ryan and Grove, Jakob and Klei, Lambertus and Stevens, Christine and Reichert, Jennifer and Mulhern, Maureen S and Artomov, Mykyta and Gerges, Sherif and Sheppard, Brooke and Xu, Xinyi and Bhaduri, Aparna and Norman, Utku and Brand, Harrison and Schwartz, Grace and Nguyen, Rachel and Guerrero, Elizabeth E and Dias, Caroline and Betancur, Catalina and Cook, Edwin H and Gallagher, Louise and Gill, Michael and Sutcliffe, James S and Thurm, Audrey and Zwick, Michael E and B{\o}rglum, Anders D and State, Matthew W and Cicek, A Ercument and Talkowski, Michael E and Cutler, David J and Devlin, Bernie and Sanders, Stephan J and Roeder, Kathryn and Daly, Mark J and Buxbaum, Joseph D} } @article {751, title = {Paternal mosaicism for a novel PBX1 mutation associated with recurrent perinatal death: Phenotypic expansion of the PBX1-related syndrome.}, journal = {Am J Med Genet A}, volume = {182}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 05}, pages = {1273-1277}, abstract = {

Autosomal dominant (de novo) mutations in PBX1 are known to cause congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT), with or without extra-renal abnormalities. Using trio exome sequencing, we identified a PBX1 p.(Arg107Trp) mutation in a deceased one-day-old neonate presenting with CAKUT, asplenia, and severe bilateral diaphragmatic thinning and eventration. Further investigation by droplet digital PCR revealed that the mutation had occurred post-zygotically in the father, with different variant allele frequencies of the mosaic PBX1 mutation in blood (10\%) and sperm (20\%). Interestingly, the father had subclinical hydronephrosis in childhood. With an expected recurrence risk of one in five, chorionic villus sampling and prenatal diagnosis for the PBX1 mutation identified recurrence in a subsequent pregnancy. The family opted to continue the pregnancy and the second affected sibling was stillborn at 35 weeks, presenting with similar severe bilateral diaphragmatic eventration, microsplenia, and complete sex reversal (46, XY female). This study highlights the importance of follow-up studies for presumed de novo and low-level mosaic variants and broadens the phenotypic spectrum of developmental abnormalities caused by PBX1 mutations.

}, keywords = {Congenital Abnormalities, Exome, Fathers, Female, Gene Frequency, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Kidney, Male, Mosaicism, Mutation, Perinatal Death, Pre-B-Cell Leukemia Transcription Factor 1, Pregnancy, Urinary Tract, Urogenital Abnormalities, Whole Exome Sequencing}, issn = {1552-4833}, doi = {10.1002/ajmg.a.61541}, author = {Arts, Peer and Garland, Jessica and Byrne, Alicia B and Hardy, Tristan S E and Babic, Milena and Feng, Jinghua and Wang, Paul and Ha, Thuong and King-Smith, Sarah L and Schreiber, Andreas W and Crawford, April and Manton, Nick and Moore, Lynette and Barnett, Christopher P and Scott, Hamish S} } @article {809, title = {Rare deleterious variants of NOTCH1, GATA4, SMAD6, and ROBO4 are enriched in BAV with early onset complications but not in BAV with heritable thoracic aortic disease.}, journal = {Mol Genet Genomic Med}, volume = {8}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 10}, pages = {e1406}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most common cardiovascular malformation in adults, with a prevalence of 0.5\%-2\%. The prevalence of BAV in cohorts who were ascertained due to thoracic aortic aneurysms or acute aortic dissections (TAD) is as high as 20\%. However, the contribution of causal BAV genes to TAD is not known. Therefore, we evaluated rare deleterious variants of GATA4, NOTCH1, SMAD6, or ROBO4 in patients with BAV who presented with TAD.

METHODS: Our cohort consisted of 487 probands with Heritable Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms or Dissections (HTAD, 12\% BAV, 29\% female) and 63 probands with Early onset complications of Bicuspid Aortic Valve disease (EBAV, 63\% TAD, 34\% female). After whole exome sequencing, we functionally annotated GATA4, NOTCH1, SMAD6, and ROBO4 variants and compared the prevalence of rare variants in these genes to controls without HTAD.

RESULTS: We identified 11 rare deleterious variants of GATA4, SMAD6, or ROBO4 in 12 (18\%) EBAV cases. The burden of rare SMAD6 and GATA4 variants was significantly enriched in EBAV but not in HTAD cases, even among HTAD cases with BAV (p~<~.003).

CONCLUSION: Rare variants of NOTCH1, ROBO4, SMAD6, or GATA4 do not significantly contribute to BAV in cohorts with HTAD. We conclude that BAV patients who present with HTAD are a genetically distinct subgroup with implications for genetic testing and prognosis.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic, Bicuspid Aortic Valve Disease, Female, GATA4 Transcription Factor, Gene Frequency, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Mutation, Receptor, Notch1, Receptors, Cell Surface, Smad6 Protein}, issn = {2324-9269}, doi = {10.1002/mgg3.1406}, author = {Musfee, Fadi I and Guo, Dongchuan and Pinard, Am{\'e}lie C and Hostetler, Ellen M and Blue, Elizabeth E and Nickerson, Deborah A and Bamshad, Michael J and Milewicz, Dianna M and Prakash, Siddharth K} } @article {805, title = {Recurrent Rare Copy Number Variants Increase Risk for Esotropia.}, journal = {Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci}, volume = {61}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 08 03}, pages = {22}, abstract = {

Purpose: To determine whether rare copy number variants (CNVs) increase risk for comitant esotropia.

Methods: CNVs were identified in 1614 Caucasian individuals with comitant esotropia and 3922 Caucasian controls from Illumina SNP genotyping using two Hidden Markov model (HMM) algorithms, PennCNV and QuantiSNP, which call CNVs based on logR ratio and B allele frequency. Deletions and duplications greater than 10 kb were included. Common CNVs were excluded. Association testing was performed with 1 million permutations in PLINK. Significant CNVs were confirmed with digital droplet polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR). Whole genome sequencing was performed to determine insertion location and breakpoints.

Results: Esotropia patients have similar rates and proportions of CNVs compared with controls but greater total length and average size of both deletions and duplications. Three recurrent rare duplications significantly (P = 1 {\texttimes} 10-6) increase the risk of esotropia: chromosome 2p11.2 (hg19, 2:87428677-87965359), spanning one long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) and two microRNAs (OR 14.16; 95\% confidence interval [CI] 5.4-38.1); chromosome 4p15.2 (hg19, 4:25554332-25577184), spanning one lncRNA (OR 11.1; 95\% CI 4.6-25.2); chromosome 10q11.22 (hg19, 10:47049547-47703870) spanning seven protein-coding genes, one lncRNA, and four pseudogenes (OR 8.96; 95\% CI 5.4-14.9). Overall, 114 cases (7\%) and only 28 controls (0.7\%) had one of the three rare duplications. No case nor control had more than one of these three duplications.

Conclusions: Rare CNVs are a source of genetic variation that contribute to the genetic risk for comitant esotropia, which is likely polygenic. Future research into the functional consequences of these recurrent duplications may shed light on the pathophysiology of esotropia.

}, keywords = {Case-Control Studies, DNA Copy Number Variations, Esotropia, Female, Gene Duplication, Gene Frequency, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genotyping Techniques, Humans, Infant, Male, Markov Chains, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Risk Factors}, issn = {1552-5783}, doi = {10.1167/iovs.61.10.22}, author = {Whitman, Mary C and Di Gioia, Silvio Alessandro and Chan, Wai-Man and Gelber, Alon and Pratt, Brandon M and Bell, Jessica L and Collins, Thomas E and Knowles, James A and Armoskus, Christopher and Pato, Michele and Pato, Carlos and Shaaban, Sherin and Staffieri, Sandra and MacKinnon, Sarah and Maconachie, Gail D E and Elder, James E and Traboulsi, Elias I and Gottlob, Irene and Mackey, David A and Hunter, David G and Engle, Elizabeth C} } @article {873, title = {A variant-centric perspective on geographic patterns of human allele frequency variation.}, journal = {Elife}, volume = {9}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 12 22}, abstract = {

A key challenge in human genetics is to understand the geographic distribution of human genetic variation. Often genetic variation is described by showing relationships among populations or individuals, drawing inferences over many variants. Here, we introduce an alternative representation of genetic variation that reveals the relative abundance of different allele frequency patterns. This approach allows viewers to easily see several features of human genetic structure: (1) most variants are rare and geographically localized, (2) variants that are common in a single geographic region are more likely to be shared across the globe than to be private to that region, and (3) where two individuals differ, it is most often due to variants that are found globally, regardless of whether the individuals are from the same region or different regions. Our variant-centric visualization clarifies the geographic patterns of human variation and can help address misconceptions about genetic differentiation among populations.

}, keywords = {Gene Frequency, Genetic Variation, Genetics, Population, Geography, Humans}, issn = {2050-084X}, doi = {10.7554/eLife.60107}, author = {Biddanda, Arjun and Rice, Daniel P and Novembre, John} } @article {515, title = {Clinical exome sequencing reveals locus heterogeneity and phenotypic variability of cohesinopathies.}, journal = {Genet Med}, volume = {21}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 03}, pages = {663-675}, abstract = {

PURPOSE: Defects in the cohesin pathway are associated with cohesinopathies, notably Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS). We aimed to delineate pathogenic variants~in known and candidate cohesinopathy genes from a clinical exome perspective.

METHODS: We retrospectively studied patients referred for clinical exome sequencing (CES, N = 10,698). Patients with causative variants in novel or recently described cohesinopathy genes were enrolled for phenotypic characterization.

RESULTS: Pathogenic or likely pathogenic single-nucleotide and insertion/deletion variants (SNVs/indels) were identified in established disease genes including NIPBL (N = 5), SMC1A (N = 14), SMC3 (N = 4), RAD21 (N = 2), and HDAC8 (N = 8). The phenotypes in this genetically defined cohort skew towards the mild end of CdLS spectrum as compared with phenotype-driven cohorts. Candidate or recently reported cohesinopathy genes were supported by de novo SNVs/indels in STAG1 (N = 3), STAG2 (N = 5), PDS5A (N = 1), and WAPL (N = 1), and one inherited SNV in PDS5A. We also identified copy-number deletions affecting STAG1 (two de novo, one of unknown inheritance) and STAG2 (one of unknown inheritance). Patients with STAG1 and STAG2 variants presented with overlapping features yet without characteristic facial features of CdLS.

CONCLUSION: CES effectively identified disease-causing alleles at the mild end of the cohensinopathy spectrum and enabled characterization of candidate disease genes.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Alleles, Antigens, Nuclear, Biological Variation, Population, Carrier Proteins, Cell Cycle Proteins, Child, Child, Preschool, Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone, Cohort Studies, De Lange Syndrome, Exome, Female, Gene Frequency, Genetic Heterogeneity, Humans, INDEL Mutation, Male, Mutation, Nuclear Proteins, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Proto-Oncogene Proteins, Retrospective Studies, Whole Exome Sequencing}, issn = {1530-0366}, doi = {10.1038/s41436-018-0085-6}, author = {Yuan, Bo and Neira, Juanita and Pehlivan, Davut and Santiago-Sim, Teresa and Song, Xiaofei and Rosenfeld, Jill and Posey, Jennifer E and Patel, Vipulkumar and Jin, Weihong and Adam, Margaret P and Baple, Emma L and Dean, John and Fong, Chin-To and Hickey, Scott E and Hudgins, Louanne and Leon, Eyby and Madan-Khetarpal, Suneeta and Rawlins, Lettie and Rustad, Cecilie F and Stray-Pedersen, Asbj{\o}rg and Tveten, Kristian and Wenger, Olivia and Diaz, Jullianne and Jenkins, Laura and Martin, Laura and McGuire, Marianne and Pietryga, Marguerite and Ramsdell, Linda and Slattery, Leah and Abid, Farida and Bertuch, Alison A and Grange, Dorothy and Immken, LaDonna and Schaaf, Christian P and Van Esch, Hilde and Bi, Weimin and Cheung, Sau Wai and Breman, Amy M and Smith, Janice L and Shaw, Chad and Crosby, Andrew H and Eng, Christine and Yang, Yaping and Lupski, James R and Xiao, Rui and Liu, Pengfei} } @article {735, title = {Detailed genetic characteristics of an international large cohort of patients with Stargardt disease: ProgStar study report 8.}, journal = {Br J Ophthalmol}, volume = {103}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 03}, pages = {390-397}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To describe the genetic characteristics of the cohort enrolled in the international multicentre progression of Stargardt disease~1 (STGD1) studies (ProgStar) and to~determine geographic differences based on the allele frequency.

METHODS: 345 participants with a clinical diagnosis of STGD1 and harbouring at least one disease-causing ABCA4 variant were enrolled from 9 centres in the USA and Europe. All variants were reviewed and analysis was performed including allele frequency in public databases and pathogenicity predictions. Participants with multiple likely pathogenic variants were classified into four national subgroups (USA, UK, France, Germany), with subsequent comparison analysis of the allele frequency for each prevalent allele.

RESULTS: 211 likely pathogenic variants were identified in the total cohort, including missense (63\%), splice site alteration (18\%), stop (9\%) and others. 50 variants were novel. Exclusively missense variants were detected in 139 (50\%) of 279 patients with multiple pathogenic variants. The three most prevalent variants of these patients with multiple pathogenic variants were p.G1961E (15\%), p.G863A (7\%)~and~c.5461-10 T>C (5\%). Subgroup analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between the four recruiting nations in the allele frequency of nine variants.

CONCLUSIONS: There is a large spectrum of ABCA4 sequence variants, including 50 novel variants, in a well-characterised cohort thereby further adding to the unique allelic heterogeneity in STGD1. Approximately half of the cohort harbours missense variants only, indicating a relatively mild phenotype of the ProgStar cohort. There are significant differences in allele frequencies between nations, although the three most prevalent variants are shared as frequent variants.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Age of Onset, Aged, ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters, Child, Child, Preschool, Cohort Studies, Databases, Factual, DNA Mutational Analysis, Female, Gene Frequency, Genotyping Techniques, Geography, Humans, Internationality, Macular Degeneration, Male, Middle Aged, Mutation, Polymerase Chain Reaction}, issn = {1468-2079}, doi = {10.1136/bjophthalmol-2018-312064}, author = {Fujinami, Kaoru and Strauss, Rupert W and Chiang, John Pei-Wen and Audo, Isabelle S and Bernstein, Paul S and Birch, David G and Bomotti, Samantha M and Cideciyan, Artur V and Ervin, Ann-Margret and Marino, Meghan J and Sahel, Jos{\'e}-Alain and Mohand-Said, Saddek and Sunness, Janet S and Traboulsi, Elias I and West, Sheila and Wojciechowski, Robert and Zrenner, Eberhart and Michaelides, Michel and Scholl, Hendrik P N} } @article {636, title = {Copy Number Changes Identified Using Whole Exome Sequencing in Nonsyndromic Cleft Lip and Palate in a Honduran Population.}, journal = {Birth Defects Res}, volume = {109}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Oct 02}, pages = {1257-1267}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: The majority of cleft lip with or without cleft palate cases appear as an isolated, nonsyndromic entity (NSCLP). With the advent of next generation sequencing, whole exome sequencing (WES) has been used to identify single nucleotide variants and insertion/deletions which cause or increase the risk of NSCLP. However, to our knowledge, there are no published studies using WES in NSCLP to investigate copy number changes (CNCs), which are a major component of human genetic variation. Our study aimed to identify CNCs associated with NSCLP in a Honduran population using WES.

METHODS: WES was performed on two to four members of 27 multiplex Honduran families. CNCs were identified using two algorithms, CoNIFER and XHMM. Priority was given to CNCs that were identified in more than one patient and had variant frequencies of less than 5\% in reference data sets.

RESULTS: WES completion was defined as >90\% of the WES target at >8 {\texttimes} coverage and >80\% of the WES target at >20 {\texttimes} coverage. Twenty-four CNCs that met our inclusion criteria were identified by both CoNIFER and XHMM. These CNCs were confirmed using quantitative PCR. Pedigree analysis produced three CNCs corresponding to ADH7, AHR, and CRYZ segregating with NSCLP. Two of the three CNCs implicate genes, AHR and ADH7, whose known biological functions could plausibly play a role in NSCLP.

CONCLUSION: WES can be used to detect candidate CNCs that may be involved in the pathophysiology of NSCLP. Birth Defects Research 109:1257-1267, 2017. {\textcopyright} 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Alcohol Dehydrogenase, Alleles, Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors, Child, Child, Preschool, Cleft Lip, Cleft Palate, DNA Copy Number Variations, Family, Female, Gene Frequency, Genetic Variation, High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing, Honduras, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Pedigree, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon, Whole Exome Sequencing}, issn = {2472-1727}, doi = {10.1002/bdr2.1063}, author = {Cai, Yi and Patterson, Karynne E and Reinier, Frederic and Keesecker, Sarah E and Blue, Elizabeth and Bamshad, Michael and Haddad, Joseph} } @article {398, title = {Genome-Wide Association Studies and Meta-Analyses for Congenital Heart Defects.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {10}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Jun}, pages = {e001449}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Maternal and inherited (ie, case) genetic factors likely contribute to the pathogenesis of congenital heart defects, but it is unclear whether individual common variants confer a large risk.

METHODS AND RESULTS: To evaluate the relationship between individual common maternal/inherited genotypes and risk for heart defects, we conducted genome-wide association studies in 5 cohorts. Three cohorts were recruited at the Children{\textquoteright}s Hospital of Philadelphia: 670 conotruncal heart defect (CTD) case-parent trios, 317 left ventricular obstructive tract defect (LVOTD) case-parent trios, and 406 CTD cases (n=406) and 2976 pediatric controls. Two cohorts were recruited through the Pediatric Cardiac Genomics Consortium: 355 CTD trios and 192 LVOTD trios. We also conducted meta-analyses using the genome-wide association study results from the CTD cohorts, the LVOTD cohorts, and from the combined CTD and LVOTD cohorts. In the individual genome-wide association studies, several genome-wide significant associations (<=5{\texttimes}10) were observed. In our meta-analyses, 1 genome-wide significant association was detected: the case genotype for rs72820264, an intragenetic single-nucleotide polymorphism associated with LVOTDs (=2.1{\texttimes}10).

CONCLUSIONS: We identified 1 novel candidate region associated with LVOTDs and report on several additional regions with suggestive evidence for association with CTD and LVOTD. These studies were constrained by the relatively small samples sizes and thus have limited power to detect small to moderate associations. Approaches that minimize the multiple testing burden (eg, gene or pathway based) may, therefore, be required to uncover common variants contributing to the risk of these relatively rare conditions.

}, keywords = {Cohort Studies, Databases, Factual, Female, Gene Frequency, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Heart Defects, Congenital, Humans, Introns, Male, Membrane Proteins, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.116.001449}, author = {Agopian, A J and Goldmuntz, Elizabeth and Hakonarson, Hakon and Sewda, Anshuman and Taylor, Deanne and Mitchell, Laura E} } @article {403, title = {Molecular outcomes, clinical consequences, and genetic diagnosis of Oculocutaneous Albinism in Pakistani population.}, journal = {Sci Rep}, volume = {7}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 03 07}, pages = {44185}, abstract = {

Nonsyndromic oculocutaneous Albinism (nsOCA) is clinically characterized by the loss of pigmentation in the skin, hair, and iris. OCA is amongst the most common causes of vision impairment in children. To date, pathogenic variants in six genes have been identified in individuals with nsOCA. Here, we determined the identities, frequencies, and clinical consequences of OCA alleles in 94 previously unreported Pakistani families. Combination of Sanger and Exome sequencing revealed 38 alleles, including 22 novel variants, segregating with nsOCA phenotype in 80 families. Variants of TYR and OCA2 genes were the most common cause of nsOCA, occurring in 43 and 30 families, respectively. Twenty-two novel variants include nine missense, four splice site, two non-sense, one insertion and six gross deletions. In vitro studies revealed retention of OCA proteins harboring novel missense alleles in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of transfected cells. Exon-trapping assays with constructs containing splice site alleles revealed errors in splicing. As eight alleles account for approximately 56\% (95\% CI: 46.52-65.24\%) of nsOCA cases, primarily enrolled from Punjab province of Pakistan, hierarchical strategies for variant detection would be feasible and cost-efficient genetic tests for OCA in families with similar origin. Thus, we developed Tetra-primer ARMS assays for rapid, reliable, reproducible and economical screening of most of these common alleles.

}, keywords = {Albinism, Oculocutaneous, Alleles, Female, Gene Frequency, Humans, Male, Membrane Transport Proteins, Mutation, Missense, Pakistan}, issn = {2045-2322}, doi = {10.1038/srep44185}, author = {Shahzad, Mohsin and Yousaf, Sairah and Waryah, Yar M and Gul, Hadia and Kausar, Tasleem and Tariq, Nabeela and Mahmood, Umair and Ali, Muhammad and Khan, Muzammil A and Waryah, Ali M and Shaikh, Rehan S and Riazuddin, Saima and Ahmed, Zubair M} } @article {336, title = {Multilevel analyses of SCN5A mutations in arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy suggest non-canonical mechanisms for disease pathogenesis.}, journal = {Cardiovasc Res}, volume = {113}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 01}, pages = {102-111}, abstract = {

AIMS: Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia/Cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C) is often associated with desmosomal mutations. Recent studies suggest an interaction between the desmosome and sodium channel protein Na1.5. We aimed to determine the prevalence and biophysical properties of mutations in SCN5A (the gene encoding Na1.5) in ARVD/C.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed whole-exome sequencing in six ARVD/C patients (33\% male, 38.2 {\textpm} 12.1 years) without a desmosomal mutation. We found a rare missense variant (p.Arg1898His; R1898H) in SCN5A in one patient. We generated induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hIPSC-CMs) from the patient{\textquoteright}s peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The variant was then corrected (R1898R) using Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/Cas9 technology, allowing us to study the impact of the R1898H substitution in the same cellular background. Whole-cell patch clamping revealed a 36\% reduction in peak sodium current (P = 0.002); super-resolution fluorescence microscopy showed reduced abundance of Na1.5 (P = 0.005) and N-Cadherin (P = 0.026) clusters at the intercalated disc. Subsequently, we sequenced SCN5A in an additional 281 ARVD/C patients (60\% male, 34.8 {\textpm} 13.7 years, 52\% desmosomal mutation-carriers). Five (1.8\%) subjects harboured a putatively pathogenic SCN5A variant (p.Tyr416Cys, p.Leu729del, p.Arg1623Ter, p.Ser1787Asn, and p.Val2016Met). SCN5A variants were associated with prolonged QRS duration (119 {\textpm} 15 vs. 94 {\textpm} 14 ms, P < 0.01) and all SCN5A variant carriers had major structural abnormalities on cardiac imaging.

CONCLUSIONS: Almost 2\% of ARVD/C patients harbour rare SCN5A variants. For one of these variants, we demonstrated reduced sodium current, Na1.5 and N-Cadherin clusters at junctional sites. This suggests that Na1.5 is in a functional complex with adhesion molecules, and reveals potential non-canonical mechanisms by which Na1.5 dysfunction causes cardiomyopathy.

}, keywords = {Adult, Antigens, CD, Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia, Cadherins, Cell Differentiation, CRISPR-Cas Systems, DNA Mutational Analysis, Electrocardiography, Exome, Female, Gene Editing, Gene Frequency, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, HEK293 Cells, Humans, Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Membrane Potentials, Middle Aged, Multilevel Analysis, Mutation, Missense, Myocytes, Cardiac, NAV1.5 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel, Netherlands, Phenotype, Sodium, Transfection, United States, Young Adult}, issn = {1755-3245}, doi = {10.1093/cvr/cvw234}, author = {Te Riele, Anneline S J M and Agullo-Pascual, Esperanza and James, Cynthia A and Leo-Macias, Alejandra and Cerrone, Marina and Zhang, Mingliang and Lin, Xianming and Lin, Bin and Sobreira, Nara L and Amat-Alarcon, Nuria and Marsman, Roos F and Murray, Brittney and Tichnell, Crystal and van der Heijden, Jeroen F and Dooijes, Dennis and van Veen, Toon A B and Tandri, Harikrishna and Fowler, Steven J and Hauer, Richard N W and Tomaselli, Gordon and van den Berg, Maarten P and Taylor, Matthew R G and Brun, Francesca and Sinagra, Gianfranco and Wilde, Arthur A M and Mestroni, Luisa and Bezzina, Connie R and Calkins, Hugh and Peter van Tintelen, J and Bu, Lei and Delmar, Mario and Judge, Daniel P} } @article {52, title = {Association Between Absolute Neutrophil Count and Variation at TCIRG1: The NHLBI Exome Sequencing Project.}, journal = {Genet Epidemiol}, volume = {40}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 09}, pages = {470-4}, abstract = {

Neutrophils are a key component of innate immunity. Individuals with low neutrophil count are susceptible to frequent infections. Linkage and association between congenital neutropenia and a single rare missense variant in TCIRG1 have been reported in a single family. Here, we report on nine rare missense variants at evolutionarily conserved sites in TCIRG1 that are associated with lower absolute neutrophil count (ANC; p = 0.005) in 1,058 participants from three cohorts: Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC), Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA), and Jackson Heart Study (JHS) of the NHLBI Grand Opportunity Exome Sequencing Project (GO ESP). These results validate the effects of TCIRG1 coding variation on ANC and suggest that this gene may be associated with a spectrum of mild to severe effects on ANC.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alleles, Cohort Studies, Female, Gene Frequency, Genotype, High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing, Humans, Leukocyte Count, Male, Middle Aged, Mutation, Missense, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (U.S.), Neutropenia, Neutrophils, Sequence Analysis, DNA, United States, Vacuolar Proton-Translocating ATPases}, issn = {1098-2272}, doi = {10.1002/gepi.21976}, author = {Rosenthal, Elisabeth A and Makaryan, Vahagn and Burt, Amber A and Crosslin, David R and Kim, Daniel Seung and Smith, Joshua D and Nickerson, Deborah A and Reiner, Alex P and Rich, Stephen S and Jackson, Rebecca D and Ganesh, Santhi K and Polfus, Linda M and Qi, Lihong and Dale, David C and Jarvik, Gail P} } @article {53, title = {Using Whole Exome Sequencing to Identify Candidate Genes With Rare Variants In Nonsyndromic Cleft Lip and Palate.}, journal = {Genet Epidemiol}, volume = {40}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 07}, pages = {432-41}, abstract = {

Studies suggest that nonsyndromic cleft lip and palate (NSCLP) is polygenic with variable penetrance, presenting a challenge in identifying all causal genetic variants. Despite relatively high prevalence of NSCLP among Amerindian populations, no large whole exome sequencing (WES) studies have been completed in this population. Our goal was to identify candidate genes with rare genetic variants for NSCLP in a Honduran population using WES. WES was performed on two to four members of 27 multiplex Honduran families. Genetic variants with a minor allele frequency > 1\% in reference databases were removed. Heterozygous variants consistent with dominant disease with incomplete penetrance were ascertained, and variants with predicted functional consequence were prioritized for analysis. Pedigree-specific P-values were calculated as the probability of all affected members in the pedigree being carriers, given that at least one is a carrier. Preliminary results identified 3,727 heterozygous rare variants; 1,282 were predicted to be functionally consequential. Twenty-three genes had variants of interest in >=3 families, where some genes had different variants in each family, giving a total of 50 variants. Variant validation via Sanger sequencing of the families and unrelated unaffected controls excluded variants that were sequencing errors or common variants not in databases, leaving four genes with candidate variants in >=3 families. Of these, candidate variants in two genes consistently segregate with NSCLP as a dominant variant with incomplete penetrance: ACSS2 and PHYH. Rare variants found at the same gene in all affected individuals in several families are likely to be directly related to NSCLP.

}, keywords = {Acetate-CoA Ligase, Alleles, Cleft Lip, Cleft Palate, Female, Gene Frequency, Genotype, Heterozygote, Hexokinase, High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing, Humans, Male, Mixed Function Oxygenases, Pedigree, Penetrance, Sequence Analysis, DNA, von Willebrand Factor}, issn = {1098-2272}, doi = {10.1002/gepi.21972}, author = {Aylward, Alana and Cai, Yi and Lee, Andrew and Blue, Elizabeth and Rabinowitz, Daniel and Haddad, Joseph} } @article {430, title = {Variants in SKP1, PROB1, and IL17B genes at keratoconus 5q31.1-q35.3 susceptibility locus identified by whole-exome sequencing.}, journal = {Eur J Hum Genet}, volume = {25}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 01}, pages = {73-78}, abstract = {

Keratoconus (KTCN) is a protrusion and thinning of the cornea, resulting in impairment of visual function. The extreme genetic heterogeneity makes it difficult to discover factors unambiguously influencing the KTCN phenotype. In this study, we used whole-exome sequencing (WES) and Sanger sequencing to reduce the number of candidate genes at the 5q31.1-q35.3 locus and to prioritize other potentially relevant variants in an Ecuadorian family with KTCN. We applied WES in two affected KTCN individuals from the Ecuadorian family that showed a suggestive linkage between the KTCN phenotype and the 5q31.1-q35.3 locus. Putative variants identified by WES were further evaluated in this family using Sanger sequencing. Exome capture discovered a total of 173 rare (minor allele frequency <0.001 in control population) nonsynonymous variants in both affected individuals. Among them, 16 SNVs were selected for further evaluation. Segregation analysis revealed that variants c.475T>G in SKP1, c.671G>A in PROB1, and c.527G>A in IL17B in the 5q31.1-q35.3 linkage region, and c.850G>A in HKDC1 in the 10q22 locus completely segregated with the phenotype in the studied KTCN family. We demonstrate that a combination of various techniques significantly narrowed the studied genomic region and reduced the list of the putative exonic variants. Moreover, since this locus overlapped two other chromosomal regions previously recognized in distinct KTCN studies, our findings suggest that this 5q31.1-q35.3 locus might be linked with KTCN.

}, keywords = {Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5, Exome, Female, Gene Frequency, Genetic Linkage, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome, Human, Hexokinase, High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing, Humans, Interleukin-17, Keratoconus, Male, Pedigree, Phenotype, Proteins, S-Phase Kinase-Associated Proteins}, issn = {1476-5438}, doi = {10.1038/ejhg.2016.130}, author = {Karolak, Justyna A and Gambin, Tomasz and Pitarque, Jose A and Molinari, Andrea and Jhangiani, Shalini and Stankiewicz, Pawel and Lupski, James R and Gajecka, Marzena} } @article {179, title = {Biallelic mutations in SNX14 cause a syndromic form of cerebellar atrophy and lysosome-autophagosome dysfunction.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {47}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 May}, pages = {528-34}, abstract = {

Pediatric-onset ataxias often present clinically as developmental delay and intellectual disability, with prominent cerebellar atrophy as a key neuroradiographic finding. Here we describe a new clinically distinguishable recessive syndrome in 12 families with cerebellar atrophy together with ataxia, coarsened facial features and intellectual disability, due to truncating mutations in the sorting nexin gene SNX14, encoding a ubiquitously expressed modular PX domain-containing sorting factor. We found SNX14 localized to lysosomes and associated with phosphatidylinositol (3,5)-bisphosphate, a key component of late endosomes/lysosomes. Patient-derived cells showed engorged lysosomes and a slower autophagosome clearance rate upon autophagy induction by starvation. Zebrafish morphants for snx14 showed dramatic loss of cerebellar parenchyma, accumulation of autophagosomes and activation of apoptosis. Our results characterize a unique ataxia syndrome due to biallelic SNX14 mutations leading to lysosome-autophagosome dysfunction.

}, keywords = {Animals, Atrophy, Autophagy, Cerebellar Diseases, Cerebellum, Child, Preschool, Female, Gene Frequency, Humans, Infant, Lod Score, Lysosomal Storage Diseases, Lysosomes, Male, Mutation, Phagosomes, Sorting Nexins, Spinocerebellar Ataxias, Syndrome, Zebrafish}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/ng.3256}, author = {Akizu, Naiara and Cantagrel, Vincent and Zaki, Maha S and Al-Gazali, Lihadh and Wang, Xin and Rosti, Rasim Ozgur and Dikoglu, Esra and Gelot, Antoinette Bernabe and Rosti, Basak and Vaux, Keith K and Scott, Eric M and Silhavy, Jennifer L and Schroth, Jana and Copeland, Brett and Schaffer, Ashleigh E and Gordts, Philip L S M and Esko, Jeffrey D and Buschman, Matthew D and Field, Seth J and Napolitano, Gennaro and Abdel-Salam, Ghada M and Ozgul, R Koksal and Sag{\i}roglu, Mahmut Samil and Azam, Matloob and Ismail, Samira and Aglan, Mona and Selim, Laila and Mahmoud, Iman G and Abdel-Hadi, Sawsan and Badawy, Amera El and Sadek, Abdelrahim A and Mojahedi, Faezeh and Kayserili, H{\"u}lya and Masri, Amira and Bastaki, Laila and Temtamy, Samia and M{\"u}ller, Ulrich and Desguerre, Isabelle and Casanova, Jean-Laurent and Dursun, Ali and G{\"u}nel, Murat and Gabriel, Stacey B and de Lonlay, Pascale and Gleeson, Joseph G} } @article {194, title = {De novo mutations in NALCN cause a syndrome characterized by congenital contractures of the limbs and face, hypotonia, and developmental delay.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {96}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Mar 05}, pages = {462-73}, abstract = {

Freeman-Sheldon syndrome, or distal arthrogryposis type 2A (DA2A), is an autosomal-dominant condition caused by mutations in MYH3 and characterized by multiple congenital contractures of the face and limbs and normal cognitive development. We identified a subset of five individuals who had been putatively diagnosed with "DA2A with severe neurological abnormalities" and for whom congenital contractures of the limbs and face, hypotonia, and global developmental delay had resulted in early death in three cases; this is a unique condition that we now refer to as CLIFAHDD syndrome. Exome sequencing identified missense mutations in the sodium leak channel, non-selective (NALCN) in four families affected by CLIFAHDD syndrome. We used molecular-inversion probes to screen for NALCN in a cohort of 202 distal arthrogryposis (DA)-affected individuals as well as concurrent exome sequencing of six other DA-affected individuals, thus revealing NALCN mutations in ten additional families with "atypical" forms of DA. All 14 mutations were missense variants predicted to alter amino acid residues in or near the S5 and S6 pore-forming segments of NALCN, highlighting the functional importance of these segments. In vitro functional studies demonstrated that NALCN alterations nearly abolished the expression of wild-type NALCN, suggesting that alterations that cause CLIFAHDD syndrome have a dominant-negative effect. In contrast, homozygosity for mutations in other regions of NALCN has been reported in three families affected by an autosomal-recessive condition characterized mainly by hypotonia and severe intellectual disability. Accordingly, mutations in NALCN can cause either a recessive or dominant condition characterized by varied though overlapping phenotypic features, perhaps based on the type of mutation and affected protein domain(s).

}, keywords = {Arthrogryposis, Contracture, Craniofacial Dysostosis, Cytoskeletal Proteins, Exome, Extremities, Face, Female, Gene Frequency, High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing, Homozygote, Humans, Infant, Male, Muscle Hypotonia, Mutation, Missense, Sodium Channels}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2015.01.003}, author = {Chong, Jessica X and McMillin, Margaret J and Shively, Kathryn M and Beck, Anita E and Marvin, Colby T and Armenteros, Jose R and Buckingham, Kati J and Nkinsi, Naomi T and Boyle, Evan A and Berry, Margaret N and Bocian, Maureen and Foulds, Nicola and Uzielli, Maria Luisa Giovannucci and Haldeman-Englert, Chad and Hennekam, Raoul C M and Kaplan, Paige and Kline, Antonie D and Mercer, Catherine L and Nowaczyk, Malgorzata J M and Klein Wassink-Ruiter, Jolien S and McPherson, Elizabeth W and Moreno, Regina A and Scheuerle, Angela E and Shashi, Vandana and Stevens, Cathy A and Carey, John C and Monteil, Arnaud and Lory, Philippe and Tabor, Holly K and Smith, Joshua D and Shendure, Jay and Nickerson, Deborah A and Bamshad, Michael J} } @article {202, title = {Frequency and phenotypic spectrum of germline mutations in POLE and seven other polymerase genes in 266 patients with colorectal adenomas and carcinomas.}, journal = {Int J Cancer}, volume = {137}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Jul 15}, pages = {320-31}, abstract = {

In a number of families with colorectal adenomatous polyposis or suspected Lynch syndrome/HNPCC, no germline alteration in the APC, MUTYH, or mismatch repair (MMR) genes are found. Missense mutations in the polymerase genes POLE and POLD1 have recently been identified as rare cause of multiple colorectal adenomas and carcinomas, a condition termed polymerase proofreading-associated polyposis (PPAP). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical relevance and phenotypic spectrum of polymerase germline mutations. Therefore, targeted sequencing of the polymerase genes POLD1, POLD2, POLD3, POLD4, POLE, POLE2, POLE3 and POLE4 was performed in 266 unrelated patients with polyposis or fulfilled Amsterdam criteria. The POLE mutation c.1270C>G;p.Leu424Val was detected in four unrelated patients. The mutation was present in 1.5\% (4/266) of all patients, 4\% (3/77) of all familial cases and 7\% (2/30) of familial polyposis cases. The colorectal phenotype in 14 affected individuals ranged from typical adenomatous polyposis to a HNPCC phenotype, with high intrafamilial variability. Multiple colorectal carcinomas and duodenal adenomas were common, and one case of duodenal carcinoma was reported. Additionally, various extraintestinal lesions were evident. Nine further putative pathogenic variants were identified. The most promising was c.1306C>T;p.Pro436Ser in POLE. In conclusion, a PPAP was identified in a substantial number of polyposis and familial colorectal cancer patients. Screening for polymerase proofreading mutations should therefore be considered, particularly in unexplained familial cases. The present study broadens the phenotypic spectrum of PPAP to duodenal adenomas and carcinomas, and identified novel, potentially pathogenic variants in four polymerase genes.

}, keywords = {Adenoma, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Child, Colorectal Neoplasms, DNA Polymerase II, DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase, Family Health, Female, Gene Frequency, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Germ-Line Mutation, Humans, Isoenzymes, Male, Middle Aged, Mutation, Missense, Pedigree, Phenotype, Phospholipase D, Poly-ADP-Ribose Binding Proteins, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Young Adult}, issn = {1097-0215}, doi = {10.1002/ijc.29396}, author = {Spier, Isabel and Holzapfel, Stefanie and Altm{\"u}ller, Janine and Zhao, Bixiao and Horpaopan, Sukanya and Vogt, Stefanie and Chen, Sophia and Morak, Monika and Raeder, Susanne and Kayser, Katrin and Stienen, Dietlinde and Adam, Ronja and N{\"u}rnberg, Peter and Plotz, Guido and Holinski-Feder, Elke and Lifton, Richard P and Thiele, Holger and Hoffmann, Per and Steinke, Verena and Aretz, Stefan} } @article {159, title = {Functional genome-wide siRNA screen identifies KIAA0586 as mutated in Joubert syndrome.}, journal = {Elife}, volume = {4}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 May 30}, pages = {e06602}, abstract = {

Defective primary ciliogenesis or cilium stability forms the basis of human ciliopathies, including Joubert syndrome (JS), with defective cerebellar vermis development. We performed a high-content genome-wide small interfering RNA (siRNA) screen to identify genes regulating ciliogenesis as candidates for JS. We analyzed results with a supervised-learning approach, using SYSCILIA gold standard, Cildb3.0, a centriole siRNA screen and the GTex project, identifying 591 likely candidates. Intersection of this data with whole exome results from 145 individuals with unexplained JS identified six families with predominantly compound heterozygous mutations in KIAA0586. A c.428del base deletion in 0.1\% of the general population was found in trans with a second mutation in an additional set of 9 of 163 unexplained JS patients. KIAA0586 is an orthologue of chick Talpid3, required for ciliogenesis and Sonic hedgehog signaling. Our results uncover a relatively high frequency cause for JS and contribute a list of candidates for future gene discoveries in ciliopathies.

}, keywords = {Abnormalities, Multiple, Cell Cycle Proteins, Cerebellum, Eye Abnormalities, Gene Frequency, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genetic Testing, Genome-Wide Association Study, Heterozygote, Humans, Kidney Diseases, Cystic, Mutant Proteins, Retina, RNA, Small Interfering}, issn = {2050-084X}, doi = {10.7554/eLife.06602}, author = {Roosing, Susanne and Hofree, Matan and Kim, Sehyun and Scott, Eric and Copeland, Brett and Romani, Marta and Silhavy, Jennifer L and Rosti, Rasim O and Schroth, Jana and Mazza, Tommaso and Miccinilli, Elide and Zaki, Maha S and Swoboda, Kathryn J and Milisa-Drautz, Joanne and Dobyns, William B and Mikati, Mohamed A and {\.I}ncecik, Faruk and Azam, Matloob and Borgatti, Renato and Romaniello, Romina and Boustany, Rose-Mary and Clericuzio, Carol L and D{\textquoteright}Arrigo, Stefano and Str{\o}mme, Petter and Boltshauser, Eugen and Stanzial, Franco and Mirabelli-Badenier, Marisol and Moroni, Isabella and Bertini, Enrico and Emma, Francesco and Steinlin, Maja and Hildebrandt, Friedhelm and Johnson, Colin A and Freilinger, Michael and Vaux, Keith K and Gabriel, Stacey B and Aza-Blanc, Pedro and Heynen-Genel, Susanne and Ideker, Trey and Dynlacht, Brian D and Lee, Ji Eun and Valente, Enza Maria and Kim, Joon and Gleeson, Joseph G} } @article {130, title = {Mutations in SPATA5 Are Associated with Microcephaly, Intellectual Disability, Seizures, and Hearing Loss.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {97}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Sep 03}, pages = {457-64}, abstract = {

Using whole-exome sequencing, we have identified in ten families 14 individuals with microcephaly, developmental delay, intellectual disability, hypotonia, spasticity, seizures, sensorineural hearing loss, cortical visual impairment, and rare autosomal-recessive predicted pathogenic variants in spermatogenesis-associated protein 5 (SPATA5). SPATA5 encodes a ubiquitously expressed member of the ATPase associated with diverse activities (AAA) protein family and is involved in mitochondrial morphogenesis during early spermatogenesis. It might also play a role in post-translational modification during cell differentiation in neuronal development. Mutations in SPATA5 might affect brain development and function, resulting in microcephaly, developmental delay, and intellectual disability.

}, keywords = {Abnormalities, Multiple, Amino Acid Sequence, ATPases Associated with Diverse Cellular Activities, Base Sequence, Exome, Female, Gene Frequency, Genes, Recessive, Hearing Loss, Homeodomain Proteins, Humans, Intellectual Disability, Male, Microcephaly, Molecular Sequence Data, Mutation, Seizures, Sequence Alignment, Sequence Analysis, DNA}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2015.07.014}, author = {Tanaka, Akemi J and Cho, Megan T and Millan, Francisca and Juusola, Jane and Retterer, Kyle and Joshi, Charuta and Niyazov, Dmitriy and Garnica, Adolfo and Gratz, Edward and Deardorff, Matthew and Wilkins, Alisha and Ortiz-Gonzalez, Xilma and Mathews, Katherine and Panzer, Karin and Brilstra, Eva and van Gassen, Koen L I and Volker-Touw, Catharina M L and van Binsbergen, Ellen and Sobreira, Nara and Hamosh, Ada and McKnight, Dianalee and Monaghan, Kristin G and Chung, Wendy K} } @article {152, title = {Rare A2ML1 variants confer susceptibility to otitis media.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {47}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Aug}, pages = {917-20}, abstract = {

A duplication variant within the middle ear-specific gene A2ML1 cosegregates with otitis media in an indigenous Filipino pedigree (LOD score = 7.5 at reduced penetrance) and lies within a founder haplotype that is also shared by 3 otitis-prone European-American and Hispanic-American children but is absent in non-otitis-prone children and >62,000 next-generation sequences. We identified seven additional A2ML1 variants in six otitis-prone children. Collectively, our studies support a role for A2ML1 in the pathophysiology of otitis media.

}, keywords = {alpha-Macroglobulins, Animals, Base Sequence, Child, Cochlea, Exome, Family Health, Female, Gene Duplication, Gene Frequency, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genotype, Haplotypes, Humans, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Models, Molecular, Otitis Media, Pedigree, Principal Component Analysis, Protein Conformation, Sequence Analysis, DNA}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/ng.3347}, author = {Santos-Cortez, Regie Lyn P and Chiong, Charlotte M and Reyes-Quintos, Ma Rina T and Tantoco, Ma Leah C and Wang, Xin and Acharya, Anushree and Abbe, Izoduwa and Giese, Arnaud P and Smith, Joshua D and Allen, E Kaitlynn and Li, Biao and Cutiongco-de la Paz, Eva Maria and Garcia, Marieflor Cristy and Llanes, Erasmo Gonzalo D V and Labra, Patrick John and Gloria-Cruz, Teresa Luisa I and Chan, Abner L and Wang, Gao T and Daly, Kathleen A and Shendure, Jay and Bamshad, Michael J and Nickerson, Deborah A and Patel, Janak A and Riazuddin, Saima and Sale, Michele M and Chonmaitree, Tasnee and Ahmed, Zubair M and Abes, Generoso T and Leal, Suzanne M} } @article {225, title = {Increased frequency of de novo copy number variants in congenital heart disease by integrative analysis of single nucleotide polymorphism array and exome sequence data.}, journal = {Circ Res}, volume = {115}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Oct 24}, pages = {884-896}, abstract = {

RATIONALE: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is among the most common birth defects. Most cases are of unknown pathogenesis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the contribution of de novo copy number variants (CNVs) in the pathogenesis of sporadic CHD.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 538 CHD trios using genome-wide dense single nucleotide polymorphism arrays and whole exome sequencing. Results were experimentally validated using digital droplet polymerase chain reaction. We compared validated CNVs in CHD cases with CNVs in 1301 healthy control trios. The 2 complementary high-resolution technologies identified 63 validated de novo CNVs in 51 CHD cases. A significant increase in CNV burden was observed when comparing CHD trios with healthy trios, using either single nucleotide polymorphism array (P=7{\texttimes}10(-5); odds ratio, 4.6) or whole exome sequencing data (P=6{\texttimes}10(-4); odds ratio, 3.5) and remained after removing 16\% of de novo CNV loci previously reported as pathogenic (P=0.02; odds ratio, 2.7). We observed recurrent de novo CNVs on 15q11.2 encompassing CYFIP1, NIPA1, and NIPA2 and single de novo CNVs encompassing DUSP1, JUN, JUP, MED15, MED9, PTPRE SREBF1, TOP2A, and ZEB2, genes that interact with established CHD proteins NKX2-5 and GATA4. Integrating de novo variants in whole exome sequencing and CNV data suggests that ETS1 is the pathogenic gene altered by 11q24.2-q25 deletions in Jacobsen syndrome and that CTBP2 is the pathogenic gene in 10q subtelomeric deletions.

CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate a significantly increased frequency of rare de novo CNVs in CHD patients compared with healthy controls and suggest several novel genetic loci for CHD.

}, keywords = {Case-Control Studies, Cohort Studies, DNA Copy Number Variations, Exome, Gene Frequency, Gene Regulatory Networks, Heart Defects, Congenital, Humans, Molecular Sequence Data, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide}, issn = {1524-4571}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.115.304458}, author = {Glessner, Joseph T and Bick, Alexander G and Ito, Kaoru and Homsy, Jason and Rodriguez-Murillo, Laura and Fromer, Menachem and Mazaika, Erica and Vardarajan, Badri and Italia, Michael and Leipzig, Jeremy and DePalma, Steven R and Golhar, Ryan and Sanders, Stephan J and Yamrom, Boris and Ronemus, Michael and Iossifov, Ivan and Willsey, A Jeremy and State, Matthew W and Kaltman, Jonathan R and White, Peter S and Shen, Yufeng and Warburton, Dorothy and Brueckner, Martina and Seidman, Christine and Goldmuntz, Elizabeth and Gelb, Bruce D and Lifton, Richard and Seidman, Jonathan and Hakonarson, Hakon and Chung, Wendy K} } @article {210, title = {PRIMUS: rapid reconstruction of pedigrees from genome-wide estimates of identity by descent.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {95}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Nov 06}, pages = {553-64}, abstract = {

Understanding and correctly utilizing relatedness among samples is essential for genetic analysis; however, managing sample records and pedigrees can often be error prone and incomplete. Data sets ascertained by random sampling often harbor cryptic relatedness that can be leveraged in genetic analyses for maximizing power. We have developed a method that uses genome-wide estimates of~pairwise identity by descent to identify families and quickly reconstruct and score all possible pedigrees that fit the genetic data by using up to third-degree relatives, and we have included it in the software package PRIMUS (Pedigree Reconstruction and Identification of the~Maximally Unrelated Set). Here, we validate its performance on simulated, clinical, and HapMap pedigrees. Among these samples, we demonstrate that PRIMUS can verify reported pedigree structures and identify cryptic relationships. Finally, we show that PRIMUS reconstructed pedigrees, all of which were previously unknown, for 203 families from a cohort collected in Starr County, TX (1,890 samples).

}, keywords = {Base Sequence, Computer Simulation, Exome, Gene Frequency, Genetics, Population, Humans, Molecular Sequence Data, Pedigree, Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Software, Texas}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2014.10.005}, author = {Staples, Jeffrey and Qiao, Dandi and Cho, Michael H and Silverman, Edwin K and Nickerson, Deborah A and Below, Jennifer E} } @article {279, title = {Rare-variant extensions of the transmission disequilibrium test: application to autism exome sequence data.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {94}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Jan 02}, pages = {33-46}, abstract = {

Many population-based rare-variant (RV) association tests, which aggregate variants across a region, have been developed to analyze sequence data. A drawback of analyzing population-based data is that it is difficult to adequately control for population substructure and admixture, and spurious associations can occur. For RVs, this problem can be substantial, because the spectrum of rare variation can differ greatly between populations. A solution is to analyze parent-child trio data, by using the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT), which is robust to population substructure and admixture. We extended the TDT to test for RV associations using four commonly used methods. We demonstrate that for all RV-TDT methods, using proper analysis strategies, type I error is well-controlled even when there are high levels of population substructure or admixture. For trio data, unlike for population-based data, RV allele-counting association methods will lead to inflated type I errors. However type I errors can be properly controlled by obtaining p values empirically through haplotype permutation. The power of the RV-TDT methods was evaluated and compared to the analysis of case-control data with a number of genetic and disease models. The RV-TDT was also used to analyze exome data from 199 Simons Simplex Collection autism trios and an association was observed with variants in ABCA7. Given the problem of adequately controlling for population substructure and admixture in RV association studies and the growing number of sequence-based trio studies, the RV-TDT is extremely beneficial to elucidate the involvement of RVs in the etiology of complex traits.

}, keywords = {Alleles, Autistic Disorder, Computer Simulation, Exome, Gene Frequency, Genetic Association Studies, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genetic Variation, Haplotypes, Humans, Linkage Disequilibrium, Models, Genetic, Phenotype, Sequence Analysis, DNA}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.11.021}, author = {He, Zongxiao and O{\textquoteright}Roak, Brian J and Smith, Joshua D and Wang, Gao and Hooker, Stanley and Santos-Cortez, Regie Lyn P and Li, Biao and Kan, Mengyuan and Krumm, Nik and Nickerson, Deborah A and Shendure, Jay and Eichler, Evan E and Leal, Suzanne M} } @article {301, title = {Deletions of recessive disease genes: CNV contribution to carrier states and disease-causing alleles.}, journal = {Genome Res}, volume = {23}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Sep}, pages = {1383-94}, abstract = {

Over 1200 recessive disease genes have been described in humans. The prevalence, allelic architecture, and per-genome load of pathogenic alleles in these genes remain to be fully elucidated, as does the contribution of DNA copy-number variants (CNVs) to carrier status and recessive disease. We mined CNV data from 21,470 individuals obtained by array-comparative genomic hybridization in a clinical diagnostic setting to identify deletions encompassing or disrupting recessive disease genes. We identified 3212 heterozygous potential carrier deletions affecting 419 unique recessive disease genes. Deletion frequency of these genes ranged from one occurrence to 1.5\%. When compared with recessive disease genes never deleted in our cohort, the 419 recessive disease genes affected by at least one carrier deletion were longer and located farther from known dominant disease genes, suggesting that the formation and/or prevalence of carrier CNVs may be affected by both local and adjacent genomic features and by selection. Some subjects had multiple carrier CNVs (307 subjects) and/or carrier deletions encompassing more than one recessive disease gene (206 deletions). Heterozygous deletions spanning multiple recessive disease genes may confer carrier status for multiple single-gene disorders, for complex syndromes resulting from the combination of two or more recessive conditions, or may potentially cause clinical phenotypes due to a multiply heterozygous state. In addition to carrier mutations, we identified homozygous and hemizygous deletions potentially causative for recessive disease. We provide further evidence that CNVs contribute to the allelic architecture of both carrier and recessive disease-causing mutations. Thus, a complete recessive carrier screening method or diagnostic test should detect CNV alleles.

}, keywords = {Alleles, Comparative Genomic Hybridization, Databases, Genetic, DNA Copy Number Variations, Gene Deletion, Gene Frequency, Genes, Dominant, Genes, Recessive, Genetic Diseases, Inborn, Homozygote, Humans}, issn = {1549-5469}, doi = {10.1101/gr.156075.113}, author = {Boone, Philip M and Campbell, Ian M and Baggett, Brett C and Soens, Zachry T and Rao, Mitchell M and Hixson, Patricia M and Patel, Ankita and Bi, Weimin and Cheung, Sau Wai and Lalani, Seema R and Beaudet, Arthur L and Stankiewicz, Pawel and Shaw, Chad A and Lupski, James R} } @article {643, title = {A fast and noise-resilient approach to detect rare-variant associations with deep sequencing data for complex disorders.}, journal = {Genet Epidemiol}, volume = {36}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Nov}, pages = {675-85}, abstract = {

Next generation sequencing technology has enabled the paradigm shift in genetic association studies from the common disease/common variant to common disease/rare-variant hypothesis. Analyzing individual rare variants is known to be underpowered; therefore association methods have been developed that aggregate variants across a genetic region, which for exome sequencing is usually a gene. The foreseeable widespread use of whole genome sequencing poses new challenges in statistical analysis. It calls for new rare-variant association methods that are statistically powerful, robust against high levels of noise due to inclusion of noncausal variants, and yet computationally efficient. We propose a simple and powerful statistic that combines the disease-associated P-values of individual variants using a weight that is the inverse of the expected standard deviation of the allele frequencies under the null. This approach, dubbed as Sigma-P method, is extremely robust to the inclusion of a high proportion of noncausal variants and is also powerful when both detrimental and protective variants are present within a genetic region. The performance of the Sigma-P method was tested using simulated data based on realistic population demographic and disease models and its power was compared to several previously published methods. The results demonstrate that this method generally outperforms other rare-variant association methods over a wide range of models. Additionally, sequence data on the ANGPTL family of genes from the Dallas Heart Study were tested for associations with nine metabolic traits and both known and novel putative associations were uncovered using the Sigma-P method.

}, keywords = {Angiopoietin-like 4 Protein, Angiopoietin-like Proteins, Angiopoietins, Case-Control Studies, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Gene Frequency, Genetic Association Studies, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genetic Variation, High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing, Humans, Metabolism, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Texas, Triglycerides}, issn = {1098-2272}, doi = {10.1002/gepi.21662}, author = {Cheung, Yee Him and Wang, Gao and Leal, Suzanne M and Wang, Shuang} }