Publications by authors named "Miranda Splitt"

Börjeson-Forssman-Lehmann syndrome (BFLS) is an X-linked intellectual disability syndrome caused by variants in the PHF6 gene. We ascertained 19 individuals from 15 families with likely pathogenic or pathogenic PHF6 variants (11 males and 8 females). One family had previously been reported.

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Article Synopsis
  • De novo variants contribute significantly to neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), but due to their rarity, understanding the full range of symptoms and genetic variations linked to specific genes like KDM6B poses a challenge.
  • The study of 85 individuals with KDM6B variants reveals that cognitive deficits are common, while features like coarse facies and skeletal issues are rare, indicating that existing descriptions may be misleading.
  • Through innovative testing methods and studies on Drosophila, the researchers highlight the critical role of KDM6B in cognitive function and the importance of international collaboration for accurate diagnosis of rare disorders.
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Following the diagnosis of a paediatric disorder caused by an apparently de novo mutation, a recurrence risk of 1-2% is frequently quoted due to the possibility of parental germline mosaicism; but for any specific couple, this figure is usually incorrect. We present a systematic approach to providing individualized recurrence risk. By combining locus-specific sequencing of multiple tissues to detect occult mosaicism with long-read sequencing to determine the parent-of-origin of the mutation, we show that we can stratify the majority of couples into one of seven discrete categories associated with substantially different risks to future offspring.

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  • Oculo-auriculo-vertebral spectrum (OAVS) is a common cause of congenital head and neck malformations in children, characterized by a variety of defects including ear anomalies, facial asymmetry, and ocular problems, often linked to genetic factors.
  • An international study of 17 OAVS patients identified a significant genetic microduplication, revealing a critical region associated with these malformations and highlighting the severity of ear deformities in affected individuals.
  • Research using zebrafish models showed that overexpression of the implicated gene impacts early craniofacial development, underscoring the importance of correct gene dosage for proper formation of facial structures.
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Background And Objectives: is associated with a broad spectrum of predominantly neurologic disorders, which continues to expand beyond the initially defined phenotypes of alternating hemiplegia of childhood, rapid-onset dystonia parkinsonism, and cerebellar ataxia, areflexia, pes cavus, optic atrophy, sensorineural hearing loss syndrome. This phenotypic variability makes it challenging to assess the pathogenicity of an variant found in an undiagnosed patient. We describe the phenotypic features of individuals carrying a pathogenic/likely pathogenic variant and perform a literature review of all variants published thus far in association with human neurologic disease.

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Hartsfield syndrome is a rare condition characterised by the co-occurrence of ectrodactyly and holoprosencephaly spectrum disorders; cleft lip and palate is a common associated feature. This is due to either monoallelic, or less commonly, biallelic variants in FGFR1 with a loss of function or dominant negative effect. To date 37 individuals have been reported, including two instances of germline mosaicism.

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Proteins involved in transcriptional regulation harbor a demonstrated enrichment of mutations in neurodevelopmental disorders. The Sin3 (Swi-independent 3)/histone deacetylase (HDAC) complex plays a central role in histone deacetylation and transcriptional repression. Among the two vertebrate paralogs encoding the Sin3 complex, SIN3A variants cause syndromic intellectual disability, but the clinical consequences of SIN3B haploinsufficiency in humans are uncharacterized.

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The structure of proline prevents it from adopting an optimal position for rapid protein synthesis. Poly-proline-tract (PPT) associated ribosomal stalling is resolved by highly conserved eIF5A, the only protein to contain the amino acid hypusine. We show that de novo heterozygous EIF5A variants cause a disorder characterized by variable combinations of developmental delay, microcephaly, micrognathia and dysmorphism.

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Large contiguous gene deletions at the distal end of the short arm of chromosome 9 result in the complex multi-organ condition chromosome 9p deletion syndrome.  A range of clinical features can result from these deletions with the most common being facial dysmorphisms and neurological impairment. Congenital hyperinsulinism is a rarely reported feature of the syndrome with the genetic mechanism for the dysregulated insulin secretion being unknown.

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Weaver syndrome (WS), an overgrowth/intellectual disability syndrome (OGID), is caused by pathogenic variants in the histone methyltransferase EZH2, which encodes a core component of the Polycomb repressive complex-2 (PRC2). Using genome-wide DNA methylation (DNAm) data for 187 individuals with OGID and 969 control subjects, we show that pathogenic variants in EZH2 generate a highly specific and sensitive DNAm signature reflecting the phenotype of WS. This signature can be used to distinguish loss-of-function from gain-of-function missense variants and to detect somatic mosaicism.

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Purpose: Determination of genotypic/phenotypic features of GATAD2B-associated neurodevelopmental disorder (GAND).

Methods: Fifty GAND subjects were evaluated to determine consistent genotypic/phenotypic features. Immunoprecipitation assays utilizing in vitro transcription-translation products were used to evaluate GATAD2B missense variants' ability to interact with binding partners within the nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase (NuRD) complex.

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Trio-based whole-exome sequence (WES) data have established confident genetic diagnoses in ∼40% of previously undiagnosed individuals recruited to the Deciphering Developmental Disorders (DDD) study. Here we aim to use the breadth of phenotypic information recorded in DDD to augment diagnosis and disease variant discovery in probands. Median Euclidean distances (mEuD) were employed as a simple measure of similarity of quantitative phenotypic data within sets of ≥10 individuals with plausibly causative de novo mutations (DNM) in 28 different developmental disorder genes.

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Purpose: To investigate the effect of different DEAF1 variants on the phenotype of patients with autosomal dominant and recessive inheritance patterns and on DEAF1 activity in vitro.

Methods: We assembled a cohort of 23 patients with de novo and biallelic DEAF1 variants, described the genotype-phenotype correlation, and investigated the differential effect of de novo and recessive variants on transcription assays using DEAF1 and Eif4g3 promoter luciferase constructs.

Results: The proportion of the most prevalent phenotypic features, including intellectual disability, speech delay, motor delay, autism, sleep disturbances, and a high pain threshold, were not significantly different in patients with biallelic and pathogenic de novo DEAF1 variants.

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  • The article had a spelling error in the author's name, Pleuntje J. van der Sluijs.
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We estimated the genome-wide contribution of recessive coding variation in 6040 families from the Deciphering Developmental Disorders study. The proportion of cases attributable to recessive coding variants was 3.6% in patients of European ancestry, compared with 50% explained by de novo coding mutations.

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Purpose: Pathogenic variants in ARID1B are one of the most frequent causes of intellectual disability (ID) as determined by large-scale exome sequencing studies. Most studies published thus far describe clinically diagnosed Coffin-Siris patients (ARID1B-CSS) and it is unclear whether these data are representative for patients identified through sequencing of unbiased ID cohorts (ARID1B-ID). We therefore sought to determine genotypic and phenotypic differences between ARID1B-ID and ARID1B-CSS.

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Acrodysostosis (MIM 101800) is a dominantly inherited condition associating (1) skeletal features (short stature, facial dysostosis, and brachydactyly with cone-shaped epiphyses), (2) resistance to hormones and (3) possible intellectual disability. Acroscyphodysplasia (MIM 250215) is characterized by growth retardation, brachydactyly, and knee epiphyses embedded in cup-shaped metaphyses. We and others have identified PDE4D or PRKAR1A variants in acrodysostosis; PDE4D variants have been reported in three cases of acroscyphodysplasia.

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Adams-Oliver syndrome (AOS) is a rare developmental disorder, characterized by scalp aplasia cutis congenita (ACC) and transverse terminal limb defects (TTLD). Autosomal dominant forms of AOS are linked to mutations in ARHGAP31, DLL4, NOTCH1 or RBPJ, while DOCK6 and EOGT underlie autosomal recessive inheritance. Data on the frequency and distribution of mutations in large cohorts are currently limited.

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Trio based whole exome sequencing via the Deciphering Developmental Disorders (DDD) study has identified three individuals with de novo frameshift variants in the Suppressor of Variegation, Enhancer of Zeste, and Trithorax (SET) gene. Variants in the SET gene have not previously been recognised to be associated with human developmental disorders. Here we report detailed phenotypic information and propose that SET is a new Intellectual Disability/Developmental Delay (ID/DD) gene.

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Variants in the Protein Kinase CK2 alpha subunit, encoding the CSNK2A1 gene, have previously been reported in children with an intellectual disability and dysmorphic facial features syndrome: now termed the Okur-Chung neurodevelopmental syndrome. More recently, through trio-based exome sequencing undertaken by the Deciphering Developmental Disorders Study (DDD study), a further 11 children with de novo CSNK2A1 variants have been identified. We have undertaken detailed phenotyping of these patients.

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Background: Syntaxin-binding protein 1, encoded by , is highly expressed in the brain and involved in fusing synaptic vesicles with the plasma membrane. Studies have shown that pathogenic loss-of-function variants in this gene result in various types of epilepsies, mostly beginning early in life. We were interested to model pathogenic missense variants on the protein structure to investigate the mechanism of pathogenicity and genotype-phenotype correlations.

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Voltage-gated sodium channels (Nas) are mainstays of neuronal function, and mutations in the genes encoding CNS Nas (Na1.1 [], Na1.2 [], Na1.

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