Publications by authors named "Elise Schaefer"

Transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) is a severe and rare disease characterized by the progressive deposition of misfolded transthyretin proteins, causing irreversible organ damage. Transthyretin amyloidosis can present as a hereditary ATTR or acquired wild-type ATTR form. Genetic testing is critical for determining a hereditary predisposition and subsequently initiating appropriate family screening.

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  • Osteoporosis is a skeletal disorder leading to increased fracture risk, and when it affects young individuals, it often indicates genetic causes related to early-onset osteoporosis (EOOP).
  • Over 577 patients with primary osteoporosis were studied using next-generation sequencing of 21 bone fragility-related genes, revealing that around 18% had a genetic basis, primarily linked to the LRP5 gene.
  • A rare finding included 17 patients with a variant in the PLS3 gene, suggesting the involvement of dominant X-linked osteoporosis, predominantly affecting males, but also identified severe cases in females, pointing toward possible genetic interactions.
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  • SCN5A gene variants are linked to various cardiac electrical disorders, but they can also result in complex phenotypes like overlap syndromes, which haven't been thoroughly studied.
  • The study analyzed DNA from over 13,500 patients with a focus on those carrying pathogenic SCN5A variants, finding that most were tied to well-defined conditions like Brugada syndrome and long QT syndrome.
  • About 19% of the variants were associated with complex phenotypes, and only a small number (8 out of 9,960 patients) showed a potential link to dilated cardiomyopathies (DCM), suggesting it's a rare association.
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Background: Genetic epilepsy diagnosis is increasing due to technological advancements. Although the use of molecular diagnosis is increasing, chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) remains an important diagnostic tool for many patients. We aim to explore the role and indications of CMA in epilepsy, given the current genomic advances.

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  • Tatton-Brown-Rahman syndrome (TBRS) is a genetic disorder characterized by overgrowth, intellectual disability, and distinct facial features, resulting from mutations in a gene that regulates DNA methylation.* -
  • A study of 24 French patients identified 17 new genetic variants, confirming that 100% showed intellectual disability, 96% had distinctive facial traits, and 87% exhibited overgrowth, alongside novel symptoms like hypertrichosis.* -
  • The findings enhance the understanding of TBRS's clinical presentation, aiding in diagnosis and patient care by clarifying its genetic and phenotypic diversity.*
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Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by brittle bones. Though genetic mutations in COL1A1 and COL1A2 account for approximately 85-90% of OI cases, there are now more than twenty genes described, responsible for rare forms of OI. Treatment is based on the use of bisphosphonates and though it is well established that they increase lumbar spine (LS) bone mineral density (BMD), the clinical impact on fracture reduction is still debated.

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Introduction: Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC) needs to be fully assessed considering its impact on the family, parents and siblings. Inborn Errors of Metabolism (IEM) such as Medium-Chain Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase Deficiency (MCADD) should be taken into consideration when SUDC occurres. Our aim is to present a family with two successive SUDC and to discuss the post-mortem genetics investigations revealing an IEM implication.

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Central nervous system (CNS) dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVF) have been reported in PTEN-related hamartoma tumor syndrome (PHTS). However, PHTS-associated DAVF remain an underexplored field of the PHTS clinical landscape. Here, we studied cases with a PTEN pathogenic variant identified between 2007 and 2020 in our laboratory (n = 58), and for whom brain imaging was available.

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  • - Cat Eye Syndrome (CES) is a rare genetic disorder linked to a marker chromosome from chromosome 22, leading to diverse symptoms including iris coloboma, anal atresia, and preauricular tags, but these are present in less than half of the cases.
  • - An international study of 43 CES patients found that only 16% displayed all three classic symptoms, while 9% showed none; additional issues such as cardiac anomalies (51%) and intellectual disabilities (47%) were also common.
  • - The study highlights the significance of supernumerary marker chromosomes (sSMC), found in 91% of cases, with many parents showing mild traits, emphasizing the need for genetic counseling regarding recurrence risks.
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  • Variants of uncertain significance (VUS) present challenges in diagnosing rare diseases, and episignatures have emerged as potential biomarkers to help classify these variants.
  • A study analyzed DNA methylation data from different groups, including carriers of pathogenic variants and healthy controls, using a k-nearest-neighbour classifier to assess the predictive abilities of various episignatures.
  • Results revealed that while some signatures (ATRX, DNMT3A, KMT2D, NSD1) achieved 100% sensitivity, others (CREBBP-RSTS, CHD8) showed lower performance, indicating that not all episignatures are equally reliable for diagnostic use and highlighting the need for further validation with larger sample sizes.
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Introduction: In France, few centres per region offer genetics consultations. Consequently, each centre covers a large area, often requiring patients to take a day off to travel long distances. In certain situations, genetic counselling in particular, a physical exam is not required.

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  • Fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF10) is crucial for lung development and can lead to serious conditions like LADD syndrome when mutated.
  • This study examines four children with complications from childhood Interstitial Lung Disease (chILD) linked to heterozygous FGF10 mutations, highlighting their severe respiratory issues.
  • Findings indicate that even without notable syndromic features, FGF10-related disorders should be considered in children facing postnatal respiratory distress, as they may lead to severe outcomes, including pulmonary hypertension and lung fibrosis.
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  • Haploinsufficiency of the TRIP12 gene causes Clark-Baraitser syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder featuring intellectual disability, epilepsy, autism spectrum disorder, and distinct facial features.
  • The study analyzed 38 individuals with TRIP12 variants, identifying 35 different genetic mutations and observing global developmental delays, language deficits, and associated autistic traits in about half of the cases.
  • Facial features characteristic of the syndrome were detailed using deep-learning algorithms, revealing traits such as deep-set eyes, downturned mouths, and prominent ears, which can aid in better counseling and management of affected individuals.
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FTSJ1 is a conserved human 2'-O-methyltransferase (Nm-MTase) that modifies several tRNAs at position 32 and the wobble position 34 in the anticodon loop. Its loss of function has been linked to X-linked intellectual disability (XLID), and more recently to cancers. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these pathologies are currently unclear.

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  • This study introduces 31 new individuals with 22 unique genetic variants related to SYN1 disorders, detailing the prevalence of symptoms like autism, epilepsy, and intellectual disability across these cases.
  • The research also identifies specific triggers for seizures, such as water contact and routine activities, and suggests that the type of genetic mutation can influence the severity of symptoms, particularly the relationship between early seizure onset and greater intellectual challenges.
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  • - Clark-Baraitser syndrome, an autosomal dominant intellectual disability disorder, is linked to harmful variants in the THRAP12 gene, which is part of the important ubiquitin pathway responsible for protein regulation.
  • - Many variants in this gene are still classified as uncertain in their significance, leading researchers to use DNA methylation episignature analysis as a diagnostic tool to clarify genetic findings.
  • - The study successfully identified a distinct DNA methylation pattern associated with pathogenic variants, confirming its potential as a clinical biomarker for the syndrome while also exploring its relationship with other neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Bi-allelic variants affecting one of the four genes encoding the AP4 subunits are responsible for the "AP4 deficiency syndrome." Core features include hypotonia that progresses to hypertonia and spastic paraplegia, intellectual disability, postnatal microcephaly, epilepsy, and neuroimaging features. Namely, AP4M1 (SPG50) is involved in autosomal recessive spastic paraplegia 50 (MIM#612936).

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  • Infantile striatonigral degeneration is linked to a specific genetic mutation (homozygous variant in NUP62) affecting nuclear-pore complex function, which plays a key role in cellular transport.
  • Researchers found similar mutations in another gene, NUP54, in three unrelated patients showing symptoms consistent with NUP62-related diseases, such as early-onset dystonia and striatal lesions.
  • Additional studies confirmed that these variants are pathogenic, highlighting a broader range of dystonic conditions associated with nuclear-pore complex abnormalities.
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  • - The study focuses on identifying disease-associated genes on chromosome X, which is difficult due to its unique inheritance patterns.
  • - Researchers found a notable prevalence of genes related to cognitive functions and seizures on chromosome X and identified 127 genes that may be associated with known disorders.
  • - Utilizing machine learning, the team classified 247 genes as likely disease-associated and highlighted specific damaging variants in CDK16 and TRPC5 linked to intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders.
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  • - Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS) is a rare developmental disorder with about 50% of cases lacking a known genetic cause, despite existing gene tests.
  • - Researchers conducted whole genome and RNA sequencing on five unresolved cases, discovering pathogenic mutations in three patients and deep intronic variations in the other two.
  • - The study highlights the importance of whole genome sequencing in identifying genetic issues in CdLS and suggests that deep intronic mutations might be significant in some unsolved cases.
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DYRK1A and Wiedemann-Steiner syndromes (WSS) are two genetic conditions associated with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Although their clinical phenotype has been described, their behavioral phenotype has not systematically been studied using standardized assessment tools. To characterize the latter, we conducted a retrospective study, collecting data on developmental history, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), adaptive functioning, behavioral assessments, and sensory processing of individuals with these syndromes (n = 14;21).

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Objective: γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) -receptor subunit variants have recently been associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and/or epilepsy. The phenotype linked with each gene is becoming better known. Because of the common molecular structure and physiological role of these phenotypes, it seemed interesting to describe a putative phenotype associated with GABA -receptor-related disorders as a whole and seek possible genotype-phenotype correlations.

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Prenatal exome sequencing could be complex because of limited phenotypical data compared to postnatal/portmortem phenotype in fetuses affected by multiple congenital abnormalities (MCA). Here, we investigated limits of prenatal phenotype for ES interpretation thanks to a blindly reanalysis of postmortem ES data using prenatal data only in fetuses affected by MCA and harboring a (likely)pathogenic variant or a variant of unknown significance (VUS). Prenatal ES identified all causative variant previously reported by postmortem ES (22/24 (92%) and 2/24 (8%) using solo-ES and trio-ES respectively).

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Purpose: CTR9 is a subunit of the PAF1 complex (PAF1C) that plays a crucial role in transcription regulation by binding CTR9 to RNA polymerase II. It is involved in transcription-coupled histone modification through promoting H3K4 and H3K36 methylation. We describe the clinical and molecular studies in 13 probands, harboring likely pathogenic CTR9 missense variants, collected through GeneMatcher.

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  • Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome (WDSTS) is an intellectual disability condition with features like short stature and hypertrichosis cubiti, caused by mutations in a specific gene.
  • The syndrome can present with a wide range of symptoms, making diagnosis challenging, especially in less typical cases.
  • Researchers identified a unique DNA methylation episignature in patients, which can help classify genetic variants related to WDSTS and potentially provide better diagnostic insight and understanding of the syndrome's molecular causes.
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