@article {914, title = {Exome sequencing implicates genetic disruption of prenatal neuro-gliogenesis in sporadic congenital hydrocephalus.}, journal = {Nat Med}, volume = {26}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 11}, pages = {1754-1765}, abstract = {

Congenital hydrocephalus (CH), characterized by enlarged brain ventricles, is considered a disease of excessive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) accumulation and thereby treated with neurosurgical CSF diversion with high morbidity and failure rates. The poor neurodevelopmental outcomes and persistence of ventriculomegaly in some post-surgical patients highlight our limited knowledge of disease mechanisms. Through whole-exome sequencing of 381 patients (232 trios) with sporadic, neurosurgically treated CH, we found that damaging de novo mutations account for >17\% of cases, with five different genes exhibiting a significant de novo mutation burden. In all, rare, damaging mutations with large effect contributed to ~22\% of sporadic CH cases. Multiple CH genes are key regulators of neural stem cell biology and converge in human transcriptional networks and cell types pertinent for fetal neuro-gliogenesis. These data implicate genetic disruption of early brain development, not impaired CSF dynamics, as the primary pathomechanism of a significant number of patients with sporadic CH.

}, keywords = {Brain, Cerebral Ventricles, Exome, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Humans, Hydrocephalus, Male, Mutation, Neural Stem Cells, Neurogenesis, Neuroglia, Transcription Factors, Tripartite Motif Proteins, Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases, Whole Exome Sequencing}, issn = {1546-170X}, doi = {10.1038/s41591-020-1090-2}, author = {Jin, Sheng Chih and Dong, Weilai and Kundishora, Adam J and Panchagnula, Shreyas and Moreno-De-Luca, Andres and Furey, Charuta G and Allocco, August A and Walker, Rebecca L and Nelson-Williams, Carol and Smith, Hannah and Dunbar, Ashley and Conine, Sierra and Lu, Qiongshi and Zeng, Xue and Sierant, Michael C and Knight, James R and Sullivan, William and Duy, Phan Q and DeSpenza, Tyrone and Reeves, Benjamin C and Karimy, Jason K and Marlier, Arnaud and Castaldi, Christopher and Tikhonova, Irina R and Li, Boyang and Pe{\~n}a, Helena Perez and Broach, James R and Kabachelor, Edith M and Ssenyonga, Peter and Hehnly, Christine and Ge, Li and Keren, Boris and Timberlake, Andrew T and Goto, June and Mangano, Francesco T and Johnston, James M and Butler, William E and Warf, Benjamin C and Smith, Edward R and Schiff, Steven J and Limbrick, David D and Heuer, Gregory and Jackson, Eric M and Iskandar, Bermans J and Mane, Shrikant and Haider, Shozeb and Guclu, Bulent and Bayri, Yasar and Sahin, Yener and Duncan, Charles C and Apuzzo, Michael L J and DiLuna, Michael L and Hoffman, Ellen J and {\v S}estan, Nenad and Ment, Laura R and Alper, Seth L and Bilguvar, Kaya and Geschwind, Daniel H and G{\"u}nel, Murat and Lifton, Richard P and Kahle, Kristopher T} } @article {804, title = {Loss of NARS1 impairs progenitor proliferation in cortical brain organoids and leads to microcephaly.}, journal = {Nat Commun}, volume = {11}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 08 12}, pages = {4038}, abstract = {

Asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase1 (NARS1) is a member of the ubiquitously expressed cytoplasmic Class IIa family of tRNA synthetases required for protein translation. Here, we identify biallelic missense and frameshift mutations in NARS1 in seven patients from three unrelated families with microcephaly and neurodevelopmental delay. Patient cells show reduced NARS1 protein, impaired NARS1 activity and impaired global protein synthesis. Cortical brain organoid modeling shows reduced proliferation of radial glial cells (RGCs), leading to smaller organoids characteristic of microcephaly. Single-cell analysis reveals altered constituents of both astrocytic and RGC lineages, suggesting a requirement for NARS1 in RGC proliferation. Our findings demonstrate that NARS1 is required to meet protein synthetic needs and to support RGC proliferation in human brain development.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Aspartate-tRNA Ligase, Base Sequence, Cell Differentiation, Cell Proliferation, Cell Size, Cell Survival, Cerebral Cortex, Child, Family, Female, Fibroblasts, HEK293 Cells, Humans, Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, Ki-67 Antigen, Male, Microcephaly, Mutation, Neural Stem Cells, Neuroglia, Organoids, Pedigree, RNA, Transfer, Amino Acyl, Young Adult}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-020-17454-4}, author = {Wang, Lu and Li, Zhen and Sievert, David and Smith, Desir{\'e}e E C and Mendes, Marisa I and Chen, Dillon Y and Stanley, Valentina and Ghosh, Shereen and Wang, Yulu and Kara, Majdi and Aslanger, Ayca Dilruba and Rosti, Rasim O and Houlden, Henry and Salomons, Gajja S and Gleeson, Joseph G} } @article {14, title = {Biallelic Mutations in TMTC3, Encoding a Transmembrane and TPR-Containing Protein, Lead to Cobblestone Lissencephaly.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {99}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Nov 03}, pages = {1181-1189}, abstract = {

Cobblestone lissencephaly (COB) is a severe brain malformation in which overmigration of neurons and glial cells into the arachnoid space results in the formation of cortical dysplasia. COB occurs in a wide range of genetic disorders known as dystroglycanopathies, which are congenital muscular dystrophies associated with brain and eye anomalies and range from Walker-Warburg syndrome to Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy. Each of these conditions has been associated with alpha-dystroglycan defects or with mutations in genes encoding basement membrane components, which are known to interact with alpha-dystroglycan. Our screening of a cohort of 25 families with recessive forms of COB identified six families affected by biallelic mutations in TMTC3 (encoding transmembrane and tetratricopeptide repeat containing 3), a gene without obvious functional connections to alpha-dystroglycan. Most affected individuals showed brainstem and cerebellum hypoplasia, as well as ventriculomegaly. However, the minority of the affected individuals had eye defects or elevated muscle creatine phosphokinase, separating the TMTC3 COB phenotype from typical congenital muscular dystrophies. Our data suggest that loss of TMTC3 causes COB with minimal eye or muscle involvement.

}, keywords = {Alleles, Amino Acid Sequence, Basement Membrane, Brain, Carrier Proteins, Cerebellum, Cobblestone Lissencephaly, Developmental Disabilities, Dystroglycans, Eye Abnormalities, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Membrane Proteins, Mutation, Nervous System Malformations, Neuroglia, Neurons, Pedigree, Phenotype}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2016.09.007}, author = {Jerber, Julie and Zaki, Maha S and Al-Aama, Jumana Y and Rosti, Rasim Ozgur and Ben-Omran, Tawfeg and Dikoglu, Esra and Silhavy, Jennifer L and Caglar, Caner and Musaev, Damir and Albrecht, Beate and Campbell, Kevin P and Willer, Tobias and Almuriekhi, Mariam and {\c C}a{\u g}layan, Ahmet Okay and Vajsar, Jiri and Bilguvar, Kaya and Ogur, Gonul and Abou Jamra, Rami and G{\"u}nel, Murat and Gleeson, Joseph G} } @article {309, title = {Mutations in LAMB1 cause cobblestone brain malformation without muscular or ocular abnormalities.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {92}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Mar 07}, pages = {468-74}, abstract = {

Cobblestone brain malformation (COB) is a neuronal migration disorder characterized by protrusions of neurons beyond the first cortical layer at the pial surface of the brain. It is usually seen in association with dystroglycanopathy types of congenital muscular dystrophies (CMDs) and ocular abnormalities termed muscle-eye-brain disease. Here we report homozygous deleterious mutations in LAMB1, encoding laminin subunit beta-1, in two families with autosomal-recessive COB. Affected individuals displayed a constellation of brain malformations including cortical gyral and white-matter signal abnormalities, severe cerebellar dysplasia, brainstem hypoplasia, and occipital encephalocele, but they had less apparent ocular or muscular abnormalities than are typically observed in COB. LAMB1 is localized to the pial basement membrane, suggesting that defective connection between radial glial cells and the pial surface mediated by LAMB1 leads to this malformation.

}, keywords = {Basement Membrane, Brain, Cerebellum, Cerebral Cortex, Encephalocele, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Homozygote, Humans, Laminin, Male, Muscular Dystrophies, Nervous System Malformations, Neuroglia, Neurons, Sequence Deletion, Walker-Warburg Syndrome}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.02.005}, author = {Radmanesh, Farid and {\c C}a{\u g}layan, Ahmet Okay and Silhavy, Jennifer L and Yilmaz, Cahide and Cantagrel, Vincent and Omar, Tarek and Rosti, Basak and Kaymak{\c c}alan, Hande and Gabriel, Stacey and Li, Mingfeng and {\v S}estan, Nenad and Bilguvar, Kaya and Dobyns, William B and Zaki, Maha S and G{\"u}nel, Murat and Gleeson, Joseph G} }