Publications by authors named "Angela Duker"

Article Synopsis
  • * Through analysis of fibroblasts and a fruit fly model, we found that these variants resulted in decreased lipid droplet formation and impaired gene expression linked to SREBP, indicating disrupted pathway function.
  • * Our findings suggest that SREBF2 variants hinder the cleavage of S1P targets, causing disease symptoms by negatively affecting SREBP1 and SREBP2 activity.
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  • The skeletal dysplasias are a diverse group of genetic conditions impacting bone and cartilage growth, but the role of cytokines in these disorders is not well understood.
  • A study analyzed cytokine levels in 136 children with skeletal dysplasia compared to 275 healthy controls, focusing on 12 specific cytokines across various dysplasia types.
  • Findings revealed significant differences in cytokine expression, with certain cytokines consistently elevated or decreased across all dysplasia cohorts, highlighting particularly high levels in MOPDII cases.
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Hereditary spastic parapareses (HSPs) are clinically heterogeneous motor neuron diseases with variable age of onset and severity. Although variants in dozens of genes are implicated in HSPs, much of the genetic basis for pediatric-onset HSP remains unexplained. Here, we re-analyzed clinical exome-sequencing data from siblings with HSP of unknown genetic etiology and identified an inherited nonsense mutation (c.

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Matrix Gla protein (MGP) is a vitamin K-dependent post-translationally modified protein, highly expressed in vascular and cartilaginous tissues. It is a potent inhibitor of extracellular matrix mineralization. Biallelic loss-of-function variants in the MGP gene cause Keutel syndrome, an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by widespread calcification of various cartilaginous tissues and skeletal and vascular anomalies.

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Background: Recently, tracheal narrowing has been recognized as a significant comorbid condition in patients with Morquio A, also known as mucopolysaccharidosis IVA. We studied a large cohort of patients with Morquio A to describe the extent of their tracheal narrowing and its relationship to airway management during anesthesia care.

Methods: This is an observational study, collecting data retrospectively, of a cohort of patients with Morquio A.

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  • Diastrophic dysplasia (DTD) is caused by mutations in the SLC26A2 gene, affecting sulfate uptake and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) sulfation, and it may benefit from pharmacological treatments as studied in an animal model.
  • In identifying non-invasive biomarkers for DTD, research focused on urinary GAG sulfation and blood levels of collagen X marker (CXM), which are linked to the severity of the condition and growth metrics.
  • Results indicated that DTD patients exhibit undersulfated urinary GAGs and lower than normal CXM levels, suggesting both biomarkers can help evaluate treatment effectiveness and the disorder's metabolism and ossification processes.
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Collagen X marker (CXM) is a degradation fragment of collagen type X. It is a real-time biomarker of height velocity with established norms. Plasma C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) and NTproCNP levels have also been found to correlate with growth velocity in the general population and are elevated in individuals with achondroplasia compared with age- and sex-matched controls.

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Neurosurgical patients with genetic syndromes often receive care from multidisciplinary teams. Successful models range from multiple providers in one clinic space seeing a patient together to specialists located at different institutions working together. Collaboration and bidirectional communication are key.

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Background: Microcephalic osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II (MOPDII) is the most common form of primordial dwarfism, caused by bialleic mutations in the pericentrin gene (PCNT). Aside from its classic features, there are multiple associated medical complications, including a well-documented risk of neurovascular disease. Over the past several years, it has become apparent that additional vascular issues, as well as systemic hypertension and kidney disease may also be related to MOPDII.

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Saul-Wilson syndrome (SWS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by microcephalic primordial dwarfism, spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia, characteristic facial findings, clubfoot, brachydactyly, bilateral cataracts, and hearing loss. Recently, recurrent mutations in COG4, encoding a component of the Conserved Oligomeric Golgi (COG) complex, were identified. We created detailed growth curves for stature, weight, and head circumference, as well as weight-for-length and weight velocity charts for younger children, derived from hundreds of data points obtained by retrospective chart review from 14 individuals with molecularly-confirmed SWS.

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Objective: Microcephalic primordial dwarfism (MPD) is a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorders which result in severe prenatal and postnatal growth failure. X-ray repair cross-complementing protein 4 () is a causative gene for an autosomal recessive form of MPD. The objective of this report is to describe novel mutations in a female infant with MPD, dilated cardiomyopathy, and subclinical hypothyroidism.

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Thanatophoric dysplasia (TD) is a rare skeletal dysplasia commonly thought to be lethal. In this case report, we discuss a nine-year-old male with TD and review his parents' decision making shortly after their son was born, the technology needed to sustain him, and his parents' perception of his quality of life. We also summarize the clinical course of published long-term survivors with TD.

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Purpose: Four patients with Saul-Wilson syndrome were reported between 1982 and 1994, but no additional individuals were described until 2018, when the molecular etiology of the disease was elucidated. Hence, the clinical phenotype of the disease remains poorly defined. We address this shortcoming by providing a detailed characterization of its phenotype.

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Background: Cervical spine deformity in rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata (RCDP) has been described with different findings reported in the literature. However, available literature provides limited data from a few cases with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the cervical spine. Our report describes the MRI findings in a group of children with RCDP, aiming to reach a better understanding of this pathology.

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Microcephalic primordial dwarfism (MPD) is a group of rare single-gene disorders characterized by the extreme reduction in brain and body size from early development onwards. Proteins encoded by MPD-associated genes play important roles in fundamental cellular processes, notably genome replication and repair. Here we report the identification of four MPD individuals with biallelic variants in DNA2, which encodes an adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-dependent helicase/nuclease involved in DNA replication and repair.

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Purpose: We sought to examine the prevalence of depression and anxiety in adults with skeletal dysplasias, and to assess any correlations with pain.

Methods: Participation was via an anonymous REDCap survey, which consisted of sociodemographic questions followed by the brief pain inventory-short form (BPI-SF), patient health questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8), and generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7) questionnaires. These assessed pain, depression, and anxiety respectively.

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Article Synopsis
  • Baratela-Scott syndrome (BSS) is a rare genetic disorder caused by mutations in the XYLT1 gene, leading to symptoms like short stature and developmental delays.
  • In a study involving 10 families with BSS, only two families had identifiable genetic variants, while others showed hypermethylation of the XYLT1 gene, indicating additional non-sequence-based alterations.
  • The findings suggest that BSS is also linked to a trinucleotide repeat expansion in the XYLT1 promoter, highlighting the need for researchers to consider epigenetic changes when studying genetic disorders.
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The conserved oligomeric Golgi (COG) complex is involved in intracellular vesicular transport, and is composed of eight subunits distributed in two lobes, lobe A (COG1-4) and lobe B (COG5-8). We describe fourteen individuals with Saul-Wilson syndrome, a rare form of primordial dwarfism with characteristic facial and radiographic features. All affected subjects harbored heterozygous de novo variants in COG4, giving rise to the same recurrent amino acid substitution (p.

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RNU4ATAC pathogenic variants to date have been associated with microcephalic osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism, type 1 and Roifman syndrome. Both conditions are clinically distinct skeletal dysplasias with microcephalic osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism, type 1 having a more severe phenotype than Roifman syndrome. Some of the overlapping features of the two conditions include developmental delay, microcephaly, and immune deficiency.

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