POU3F3-related disorder: Defining the phenotype and expanding the molecular spectrum.

POU3F3 variants cause developmental delay, behavioral problems, hypotonia and dysmorphic features. We investigated the phenotypic and genetic landscape, and genotype-phenotype correlations in individuals with POU3F3-related disorders. We recruited unpublished individuals with POU3F3 variants through international collaborations and obtained updated clinical data on previously published individuals.

Primary Non-Aortic Lesions Are Not Rare in Marfan Syndrome and Are Associated with Aortic Dissection Independently of Age.

Purpose: The study sought to estimate the prevalence of primary non-aortic lesions (PNAL) unrelated to extension of aortic dissection (AD) in a cohort of patients with Marfan syndrome (MFS).

Methods: Adult patients presenting with pathogenic FBN1 mutations and an available pan-aortic contrast-enhanced CTA in eight French MFS clinics from April to October 2018 were included. Clinical and radiological data, particularly the presence of aortic lesions and PNAL (including aneurysm and ectasia), were retrospectively analyzed.

Cohen Syndrome-Associated Cataract Is Explained by VPS13B Functions in Lens Homeostasis and Is Modified by Additional Genetic Factors.

Purpose: Cohen syndrome (CS) is a rare genetic disorder caused by variants of the VPS13B gene. CS patients are affected with a severe form of retinal dystrophy, and in several cases cataracts also develop. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanisms and risk factors for cataract in CS, as well as to report on cataract surgeries in CS patients.

Delineating the psychiatric and behavioral phenotype of recurrent 2q13 deletions and duplications.

Recurrent deletions and duplications at the 2q13 locus have been associated with developmental delay (DD) and dysmorphisms. We aimed to undertake detailed clinical characterization of individuals with 2q13 copy number variations (CNVs), with a focus on behavioral and psychiatric phenotypes. Participants were recruited via the Unique chromosomal disorder support group, U.

Copy Number Variations Found in Patients with a Corpus Callosum Abnormality and Intellectual Disability.

Objective: To evaluate the role that chromosomal micro-rearrangements play in patients with both corpus callosum abnormality and intellectual disability, we analyzed copy number variations (CNVs) in patients with corpus callosum abnormality/intellectual disability STUDY DESIGN: We screened 149 patients with corpus callosum abnormality/intellectual disability using Illumina SNP arrays.

Results: In 20 patients (13%), we have identified at least 1 CNV that likely contributes to corpus callosum abnormality/intellectual disability phenotype. We confirmed that the most common rearrangement in corpus callosum abnormality/intellectual disability is inverted duplication with terminal deletion of the 8p chromosome (3.

WWOX-related encephalopathies: delineation of the phenotypical spectrum and emerging genotype-phenotype correlation.

Background: Homozygous mutations in WWOX were reported in eight individuals of two families with autosomal recessive spinocerebellar ataxia type 12 and in two siblings with infantile epileptic encephalopathy (IEE), including one who deceased prior to DNA sampling.

Methods: By combining array comparative genomic hybridisation, targeted Sanger sequencing and next generation sequencing, we identified five further patients from four families with IEE due to biallelic alterations of WWOX.

Results: We identified eight deleterious WWOX alleles consisting in four deletions, a four base-pair frameshifting deletion, one missense and two nonsense mutations.

Efficient strategy for the molecular diagnosis of intellectual disability using targeted high-throughput sequencing.

Background: Intellectual disability (ID) is characterised by an extreme genetic heterogeneity. Several hundred genes have been associated to monogenic forms of ID, considerably complicating molecular diagnostics. Trio-exome sequencing was recently proposed as a diagnostic approach, yet remains costly for a general implementation.

Juvenile xanthogranuloma and nevus anemicus in the diagnosis of neurofibromatosis type 1.

Importance: The diagnosis of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is based on 7 clinical criteria. However, they are of limited value before the age of 2 years. Juvenile xanthogranuloma (JXG) and nevus anemicus (NA) are commonly observed in children with NF1 and may be useful diagnostic clues.

Cancer risks associated with germline mutations in MLH1, MSH2, and MSH6 genes in Lynch syndrome.

Context: Providing accurate estimates of cancer risks is a major challenge in the clinical management of Lynch syndrome.

Objective: To estimate the age-specific cumulative risks of developing various tumors using a large series of families with mutations of the MLH1, MSH2, and MSH6 genes.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Families with Lynch syndrome enrolled between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2009, from 40 French cancer genetics clinics participating in the ERISCAM (Estimation des Risques de Cancer chez les porteurs de mutation des gènes MMR) study; 537 families with segregating mutated genes (248 with MLH1; 256 with MSH2; and 33 with MSH6) were analyzed.

Rationale and design of a randomized clinical trial (Marfan Sartan) of angiotensin II receptor blocker therapy versus placebo in individuals with Marfan syndrome.

Background: Recent studies have demonstrated that blockade of the angiotensin II type 1 receptor with losartan decreases aortic damage in an animal model of Marfan syndrome (a KI mouse model with a pathogenic mutation in the gene coding for fibrillin-1).

Aims: To demonstrate a beneficial effect of losartan on aortic dilatation when added to optimal therapy in patients with Marfan syndrome.

Methods: This is a multicentre, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, clinical trial with a 2-year inclusion period and a 3-year follow-up period.

The contribution of large genomic deletions at the CDKN2A locus to the burden of familial melanoma.

Mutations in two genes encoding cell cycle regulatory proteins have been shown to cause familial cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM). About 20% of melanoma-prone families bear a point mutation in the CDKN2A locus at 9p21, which encodes two unrelated proteins, p16(INK4a) and p14(ARF). Rare mutations in CDK4 have also been linked to the disease.