Publications by authors named "Maria L Dentici"

Background: Previous studies in mouse, and zebrafish embryos show strong expression in progenitor cells of neuronal and neural crest tissues suggesting its involvement in neural crest specification. However, the role of human transcription factor activator protein 2 ( in human embryonic central nervous system (CNS), orofacial and maxillofacial development is unknown.

Methods: Through a collaborative work, exome survey was performed in families with congenital CNS, orofacial and maxillofacial anomalies.

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O'Donnell-Luria-Rodan (ODLURO) syndrome is an autosomal dominant neurodevelopmental disorder mainly characterized by global development delay/intellectual disability, white matter abnormalities, and behavioral manifestations. It is caused by pathogenic variants in the KMT2E gene. Here we report seven new patients with loss-of-function KMT2E variants, six harboring frameshift/nonsense changes, and one with a 7q22.

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Heterozygous deleterious null alleles and specific missense variants in the DNA-binding domain of the ETS2 repressor factor (ERF) cause craniosynostosis, while the recurrent p.(Tyr89Cys) missense variant is associated with Chitayat syndrome. Exome and whole transcriptome sequencing revealed the ERF de novo in-frame indel c.

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Article Synopsis
  • ARID1A and ARID1B duplications are linked to Coffin-Siris syndrome, but ARID1B duplications have not been previously associated with a specific clinical phenotype until now.
  • A study analyzed 16 cases of ARID1A and 13 cases of ARID1B duplications, revealing that ARID1A duplications resulted in more severe symptoms, including intellectual disabilities and growth delays, while both groups displayed similar features.
  • The research identified unique DNA methylation patterns in ARID1A duplication patients, which differ from those with loss-of-function variants, suggesting the presence of a distinct clinical phenotype for both ARID1A and ARID1B duplications, indicating a new type of
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Purpose: Pathogenic LZTR1 variants cause schwannomatosis and dominant/recessive Noonan syndrome (NS). We aim to establish an association between heterozygous loss-of-function LZTR1 alleles and isolated multiple café-au-lait macules (CaLMs).

Methods: A total of 849 unrelated participants with multiple CaLMs, lacking pathogenic/likely pathogenic NF1 and SPRED1 variants, underwent RASopathy gene panel sequencing.

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Introduction: CTNNB1 gene loss-of-function variants cause Neurodevelopmental disorder with spastic diplegia and visual defects (NEDSDV, OMIM 615075). Although motor impairment represents a core feature of this condition, the motor phenotype remains poorly described. We systematically assessed a cohort of 14 patients with disease-causing CTNNB1 variants to better characterize the movement disorder phenotype.

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Pathogenic, largely truncating variants in the ETS2 repressor factor (ERF) gene, encoding a transcriptional regulator negatively controlling RAS-MAPK signaling, have been associated with syndromic craniosynostosis involving various cranial sutures and Chitayat syndrome, an ultrarare condition with respiratory distress, skeletal anomalies, and facial dysmorphism. Recently, a single patient with craniosynostosis and a phenotype resembling Noonan syndrome (NS), the most common disorder among the RASopathies, was reported to carry a de novo loss-of-function variant in ERF. Here, we clinically profile 26 individuals from 15 unrelated families carrying different germline heterozygous variants in ERF and showing a phenotype reminiscent of NS.

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Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the major contributor to morbidity and mortality in Noonan syndrome (NS). Gain-of-function variants in RAF1 are associated with high prevalence of HCM. Among these, NM_002880.

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Background: Vascular anomalies caused by somatic (postzygotic) variants are clinically and genetically heterogeneous diseases with overlapping or distinct entities. The genetic knowledge in this field is rapidly growing, and genetic testing is now part of the diagnostic workup alongside the clinical, radiological and histopathological data. Nonetheless, access to genetic testing is still limited, and there is significant heterogeneity across the approaches used by the diagnostic laboratories, with direct consequences on test sensitivity and accuracy.

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Article Synopsis
  • Sotos syndrome is a genetic condition marked by traits like overgrowth, advanced bone age, and learning difficulties, mainly caused by genetic mutations in a gene on chromosome 5q35.
  • The study examined 45 patients with Sotos syndrome and found that about 60% had heart defects, with the most common issues being septal defects and other vascular anomalies.
  • The prevalence of heart defects in these patients was higher than previously reported in literature, highlighting the need for thorough heart evaluations in individuals with Sotos syndrome.
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  • The variability in clinical presentation can make diagnosis challenging, especially for those with subtle symptoms or specific mutations, prompting the use of a phenotypic scoring system.
  • In a study involving 13 individuals with uncertain variations in the KMT2D gene, researchers successfully used DNA methylation profiling to classify the variants, confirming diagnoses for some patients and ruling out others, highlighting the method's effectiveness even in cases with low levels of genetic mosaicism.
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  • * The study presented data on five new patients and analyzed previous reports, identifying critical gene regions within 20q that may be responsible for observed syndromic features, which include two main regions containing disease-related genes.
  • * Researchers suggest that GDF5 is the main gene associated with the syndrome linked to 20q11.2 deletions, while TOP1 may play a role in the second critical region at 20q12, noting the need for further
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Interstitial deletions involving 6q chromosomal region are rare. Less than 30 patients have been described to date, and fewer have been characterized by high-resolution techniques, such as chromosomal microarray. Deletions involving 6q21q22.

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Introduction: X-linked gene has recently been pointed as one of the most interesting candidates for involvement in neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs), such as intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). encodes the patched domain-containing protein 1 (), which is mainly expressed in the developing brain and adult brain tissues. To date, major studies have focused on the biological function of the gene, while the mechanisms underlying neuronal alterations and the cognitive-behavioral phenotype associated with mutations still remain unclear.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study explores pre-mRNA splicing, its critical role in neurodevelopment, and how mutations in spliceosome-related genes U2AF2 and PRPF19 contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs).
  • - Researchers found multiple pathogenic variants in U2AF2 and PRPF19 across unrelated individuals, with functional analysis showing that specific U2AF2 variants disrupted normal splicing and neuritogenesis in human neurons.
  • - Additionally, investigations in Drosophila models revealed that the loss of function in U2AF2 and PRPF19 caused severe developmental defects and social issues, pointing to a genetic network wherein splicing factors like Rbfox1 play a significant role in brain development and function. *
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Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) is a rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder with multi-systemic manifestations. The evidence that most subjects with WBS face gastrointestinal (GI) comorbidities, have prompted us to carry out a metaproteomic investigation of their gut microbiota (GM) profile compared to age-matched healthy subjects (CTRLs). Metaproteomic analysis was carried out on fecal samples collected from 41 individuals with WBS, and compared with samples from 45 CTRLs.

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syndrome is an autosomal-dominant neurodevelopmental disorder featuring developmental delay; intellectual disability; behavioral disturbances; movement disorders; visual defects; and subtle facial features caused by de novo loss-of-function variants in the gene. Due to paucity of data, this study intends to describe feeding issues and oral-motor dyspraxia in an unselected cohort of 10 patients with a confirmed molecular diagnosis. Pathogenic variants along with key information regarding oral-motor features were collected.

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CSNK2B encodes a regulatory subunit of casein kinase II, which is highly expressed in the brain. Heterozygous pathogenic variants in CSNK2B are associated with Poirier-Bienvenu neurodevelopmental syndrome (POBINDS) (OMIM #618732), characterized by facial dysmorphisms, seizures, intellectual disability, and behavioral disturbances. We report ten new patients with CSNK2B-related Neurodevelopmental Syndrome associated with heterozygous variants of CSNK2B.

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Background: KBG syndrome is caused by haploinsufficiency of and is characterised by macrodontia of upper central incisors, distinctive facial features, short stature, skeletal anomalies, developmental delay, brain malformations and seizures. The central nervous system (CNS) and skeletal features remain poorly defined.

Methods: CNS and/or skeletal imaging were collected from molecularly confirmed individuals with KBG syndrome through an international network.

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CTNNB1 [OMIM *116806] encodes β-catenin, an integral part of the cadherin/catenin complex, which functions as effector of Wnt signaling. CTNNB1 is highly expressed in brain as well as in other tissues, including heart. Heterozygous CTNNB1 pathogenic variations are associated with a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by spastic diplegia and visual defects (NEDSDV) [OMIM #615075], featuring psychomotor delay, intellectual disability, behavioral disturbances, movement disorders, visual defects and subtle facial and somatic features.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) is a genetic disorder linked to a deletion on chromosome 7, causing various health issues like cardiovascular problems, growth issues, and gastrointestinal symptoms, largely influenced by the elastin gene.
  • - This study conducted an exploratory analysis of gut microbiota in WBS patients, revealing significant dysbiosis with an increase in harmful bacteria and a decrease in beneficial ones compared to healthy controls.
  • - The research implies that profiling gut microbiota could help manage WBS symptoms, suggesting that microbial treatments may enhance patient care and quality of life alongside traditional therapies.
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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.

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Complex genomic rearrangements (CGRs) are structural variants arising from two or more chromosomal breaks, which are challenging to characterize by conventional or molecular cytogenetic analysis (karyotype and FISH). The integrated approach of standard and genomic techniques, including optical genome mapping (OGM) and genome sequencing, is crucial for disclosing and characterizing cryptic chromosomal rearrangements at high resolutions. We report on a patient with a complex developmental and epileptic encephalopathy in which karyotype analysis showed a de novo balanced translocation involving the long arms of chromosomes 2 and 18.

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