Publications by authors named "Martine Biervliet"

Background: Patients with Brugada syndrome (BrS) and a history of syncope or sustained ventricular arrhythmia have longer right ventricular ejection delays (RVEDs) than asymptomatic BrS patients. Different types ofSCN5Avariants leading to different reductions in sodium current (I) may have different effects on conduction delay, and consequently on electromechanical coupling (i.e.

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Article Synopsis
  • TAPT1, a protein important for axial skeletal patterning in mice, has mutations linked to a complex congenital syndrome that shows similarities to severe skeletal disorders and ciliopathies.
  • This syndrome results in serious issues like fetal death, severe bone mineralization problems, intra-uterine fractures, and various congenital defects in organs such as the brain, lungs, and kidneys.
  • The study finds that normal TAPT1 is located in specific cell structures (centrosome/ciliary basal body), while faulty TAPT1 misplaces to the cytoplasm, disrupting cellular functions like Golgi structure and cilia formation, and affects craniofacial development in zebrafish when reduced.
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Restrictive dermopathy (RD) is a rare and extremely severe congenital genodermatosis, characterized by a tight rigid skin with erosions at flexure sites, multiple joint contractures, low bone density and pulmonary insufficiency generally leading to death in the perinatal period. RD is caused in most patients by compound heterozygous or homozygous ZMPSTE24 null mutations. This gene encodes a metalloprotease specifically involved in lamin A post-translational processing.

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Several genes expressed at the centrosome or spindle pole have been reported to underlie autosomal recessive primary microcephaly (MCPH), a neurodevelopmental disorder consisting of an important brain size reduction present since birth, associated with mild-to-moderate mental handicap and no other neurological feature nor associated malformation. Here, we report a mutation of CASC5 (aka Blinkin, or KNL1, or hSPC105) in MCPH patients from three consanguineous families, in one of which we initially reported the MCPH4 locus. The combined logarithm of odds score of the three families was >6.

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Oculocutaneous albinism type IV (OCA4 [MIM606574]) caused by mutations of the SLC45A2 gene is an autosomal recessive disorder of pigmentation characterized by reduced biosynthesis of melanin pigment in the skin, hair, and eye. We had the opportunity to examine a Belgian boy of Moroccan descent with clinically severe OCA and screened the mutation in his SLC45A2 gene. Sequencing of exon 1, of which the PCR product showed aberrant patterns in the SSCP gel, revealed that the patient was a homozygote for p.

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Mutations in the RECQL4 gene can lead to three clinical phenotypes with overlapping features. All these syndromes, Rothmund-Thomson (RTS), RAPADILINO and Baller-Gerold (BGS), are characterized by growth retardation and radial defects, but RAPADILINO syndrome lacks the main dermal manifestation, poikiloderma that is a hallmark feature in both RTS and BGS. It has been previously shown that RTS patients with RECQL4 mutations are at increased risk of osteosarcoma, but the precise incidence of cancer in RAPADILINO and BGS has not been determined.

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We have analyzed 143 unrelated Belgian patients with a positive diagnosis of cystic fibrosis (CF) for mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. An initial screening for 29 CFTR mutations led to mutation identification in 89.9% of the tested chromosomes.

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The CFTR genotype N1303K/IVS8-5T can cause very mild cystic fibrosis (CF) and congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD). We report one family consisting of five affected patients in two generations, presenting minor symptoms of CF at different ages, segregating the CFTR mutations N1303K and IVS8-T5-TG13 in trans. Common features were chronic sinopulmonary symptoms and borderline or slightly elevated sweat chloride values.

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We have studied a patient with Hutchinson-Gilford progeria (HGP). Sequence analysis of the LMNA gene demonstrated the presence of a c.1824 C > T (p.

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