Pathogenic variants in multiple genes on the X chromosome have been implicated in syndromic and non-syndromic intellectual disability disorders. ZFX on Xp22.11 encodes a transcription factor that has been linked to diverse processes including oncogenesis and development, but germline variants have not been characterized in association with disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFModerate to hyper-expansion of trinucleotide repeats at the FRAXA and FRAXE fragile sites, with or without concurrent hypermethylation, has been associated with intellectual disability and other conditions. Unlike molecular diagnosis of FMR1 CGG repeat expansions in FRAXA, current detection of AFF2 CCG repeat expansions in FRAXE relies on low-throughput and otherwise inefficient techniques combining Southern blot analysis and PCR. A novel triplet-primed PCR assay was developed for simultaneous screening for trinucleotide repeat expansions at the FRAXA and FRAXE fragile sites, and was validated using archived clinical samples of known FMR1 and AFF2 genotypes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe pioneering discovery research of X-linked intellectual disability (XLID) genes has benefitted thousands of individuals worldwide; however, approximately 30% of XLID families still remain unresolved. We postulated that noncoding variants that affect gene regulation or splicing may account for the lack of a genetic diagnosis in some cases. Detecting pathogenic, gene-regulatory variants with the same sensitivity and specificity as structural and coding variants is a major challenge for Mendelian disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUSP9X is an X-chromosome gene that escapes X-inactivation. Loss or compromised function of USP9X leads to neurodevelopmental disorders in males and females. While males are impacted primarily by hemizygous partial loss-of-function missense variants, in females de novo heterozygous complete loss-of-function mutations predominate, and give rise to the clinically recognisable USP9X-female syndrome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInterpretation of the significance of maternally inherited X chromosome variants in males with neurocognitive phenotypes continues to present a challenge to clinical geneticists and diagnostic laboratories. Here we report 14 males from 9 families with duplications at the Xq13.2-q13.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMost genes associated with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) were identified with an excess of de novo mutations (DNMs) but the significance in case-control mutation burden analysis is unestablished. Here, we sequence 63 genes in 16,294 NDD cases and an additional 62 genes in 6,211 NDD cases. By combining these with published data, we assess a total of 125 genes in over 16,000 NDD cases and compare the mutation burden to nonpsychiatric controls from ExAC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe major and most well-studied genetic cause of Fragile-X syndrome (FXS) is expansion of a CGG repeat in the 5'-UTR of the FMR1 gene. Routine testing for this expansion is performed globally. Overall, there is a paucity of intragenic variants explaining FXS, a fact which is being addressed by a more systematic application of whole exome (WES) and whole genome (WGS) sequencing, even in the diagnostic setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe need to interpret the pathogenicity of novel missense variants of unknown significance identified in the homeodomain of X-chromosome aristaless-related homeobox (ARX) gene prompted us to assess the utility of conservation and constraint across these domains in multiple genes compared to conventional in vitro functional analysis. Pathogenic missense variants clustered in the homeodomain of ARX contribute to intellectual disability (ID) and epilepsy, with and without brain malformation in affected males. Here we report novel c.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenetic syndromes frequently present with overlapping clinical features and inconclusive or ambiguous genetic findings which can confound accurate diagnosis and clinical management. An expanding number of genetic syndromes have been shown to have unique genomic DNA methylation patterns (called "episignatures"). Peripheral blood episignatures can be used for diagnostic testing as well as for the interpretation of ambiguous genetic test results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo better understand the landscape of female phenotypic expression in X-linked intellectual disability (XLID), we surveyed the literature for female carriers of XLID gene alterations (n = 1098) and combined this with experience evaluating XLID kindreds at the Greenwood Genetic Center (n = 341) and at the University of Adelaide (n = 157). One-hundred forty-four XLID genes were grouped into nine categories based on the level of female phenotypic expression, ranging from no expression to female only expression. For each gene, the clinical presentation, gene expression in blood, X-inactivation (XI) pattern, biological pathway involved, and whether the gene escapes XI were noted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMutations in ATP6V1B2, which encodes the B2 subunit of the vacuolar H + ATPase have previously been associated with Zimmermann-Laband syndrome 2 (ZLS2) and deafness-onychodystrophy (DDOD) syndrome. Recently epilepsy has also been described as a potentially associated phenotype. Here we further uncover the role of ATP61VB2 in epilepsy and report autosomal dominant inheritance of a novel missense variant in ATP6V1B2 in a large Polish family with relatively mild gingival and nail problems, no phalangeal hypoplasia and with generalized epilepsy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClinical presentations of mutations in the gene on the X-chromosome initially implicated to cause non-syndromic intellectual disability (ID) in males have expanded to include early onset seizures in males as well as in females. The molecular pathogenesis is not well understood, nor the mechanisms driving disease expression in heterozygous females. Using a CRISPR/Cas9-edited KO mouse model, we confirm the loss of mRNA expression and lack of Iqsec2 protein within the brain of both founder and progeny mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe X-linked NLGN3 gene, encoding a postsynaptic cell adhesion molecule, was involved in a nonsyndromic monogenic form of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by the description of one unique missense variant, p.Arg451Cys (Jamain et al. 2003).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report two unrelated families with multigenerational nonsyndromic intellectual disability (ID) segregating with a recurrent de novo missense variant (c.1543C>T:p.Leu515Phe) in the alkali cation/proton exchanger gene SLC9A7 (also commonly referred to as NHE7).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIt is estimated that ∼1% of the world's population has intellectual disability, with males affected more often than females. is an X-linked gene encoding for the enzyme GlcNAc transferase (OGT), which carries out the reversible addition of -acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) to Ser/Thr residues of its intracellular substrates. Three missense mutations in the tetratricopeptide (TPR) repeats of OGT have recently been reported to cause X-linked intellectual disability (XLID).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRLIM, also known as RNF12, is an X-linked E3 ubiquitin ligase acting as a negative regulator of LIM-domain containing transcription factors and participates in X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) in mice. We report the genetic and clinical findings of 84 individuals from nine unrelated families, eight of whom who have pathogenic variants in RLIM (RING finger LIM domain-interacting protein). A total of 40 affected males have X-linked intellectual disability (XLID) and variable behavioral anomalies with or without congenital malformations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFN-alpha-acetylation is a common co-translational protein modification that is essential for normal cell function in humans. We previously identified the genetic basis of an X-linked infantile lethal Mendelian disorder involving a c.109T>C (p.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA recurrent de novo missense variant within the C-terminal Sin3-like domain of ZSWIM6 was previously reported to cause acromelic frontonasal dysostosis (AFND), an autosomal-dominant severe frontonasal and limb malformation syndrome, associated with neurocognitive and motor delay, via a proposed gain-of-function effect. We present detailed phenotypic information on seven unrelated individuals with a recurrent de novo nonsense variant (c.2737C>T [p.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough de novo missense mutations have been predicted to account for more cases of autism than gene-truncating mutations, most research has focused on the latter. We identified the properties of de novo missense mutations in patients with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) and highlight 35 genes with excess missense mutations. Additionally, 40 amino acid sites were recurrently mutated in 36 genes, and targeted sequencing of 20 sites in 17,688 patients with NDD identified 21 new patients with identical missense mutations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCongenital microcephaly, with or without additional developmental defects, is a heterogeneous disorder resulting from impaired brain development during early fetal life. The majority of causative genetic variants identified thus far are inherited in an autosomal recessive manner and impact key cellular pathways such as mitosis, DNA damage response and repair, apoptosis and splicing. Here, we report a novel donor splice site variant in the G-patch domain and KOW motifs (GPKOW) gene (NG_021310.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF-GlcNAc is a regulatory post-translational modification of nucleocytoplasmic proteins that has been implicated in multiple biological processes, including transcription. In humans, single genes encode enzymes for its attachment (-GlcNAc transferase (OGT)) and removal (-GlcNAcase (OGA)). An X-chromosome exome screen identified a missense mutation, which encodes an amino acid in the tetratricopeptide repeat, in (759G>T (p.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGene-disruptive mutations contribute to the biology of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), but most of the related pathogenic genes are not known. We sequenced 208 candidate genes from >11,730 cases and >2,867 controls. We identified 91 genes, including 38 new NDD genes, with an excess of de novo mutations or private disruptive mutations in 5.
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