Publications by authors named "Puneeth H Somashekar"

Introduction: Combined oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) deficiency 44 (COXPD44; MIM# 618855) is caused by biallelic pathogenic variants in FAS-activated serine-threonine kinase domain 2 (FASTKD2) (MIM# 612322). COXPD44 is characterized by variable clinical features-developmental delay, chronic epileptic encephalopathy, seizure disorder/status epilepticus and cerebellar ataxia. We ascertained one sib with episodic acute encephalomyopathy triggered by acute gastroenteritis and associated with haematological abnormalities, rhabdomyolysis leading to acute kidney injury, hypotensive shock leading to early death and a similarly affected sib with early death.

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Epilepsy, progressive myoclonic 3, with or without intracellular inclusions (MIM# 611726) is a rare autosomal recessive condition associated with pathogenic variants in KCTD7, which encodes the BR-C,ttk and bab/pox virus and zinc finger domain-containing KCTD7 protein. We report four individuals from three Indian families presenting with an initial period of normal development, progressive myoclonic seizures followed by neuroregression and an abnormal electroencephalogram. We identified two novel missense variants, c.

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Neutral sphingomyelinases have an important role in generation of ceramide and phosphorylcholine from sphingomyelins which then act as secondary messengers in various signaling pathways of the cellular machinery. They function ubiquitously with a predominant role in the central nervous system. Neutral sphingomyelinase type 3, encoded by SMPD4 gene has recently been reported to cause a severe autosomal recessive neurodevelopmental disorder with congenital arthrogryposis and microcephaly.

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Multilocus disease-causing genomic variations (MGVs) and multiple genetic diagnoses (MGDs) are increasingly being recognised in individuals and families with Mendelian disorders. This can be mainly attributed to the widespread use of genomic tests for the evaluation of these disorders. We conducted a retrospective study of families evaluated over the last 6 years at our centre to identify families with MGVs and MGDs.

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The glycine cleavage system H protein (GCSH) is an integral part of the glycine cleavage system with its additional involvement in the synthesis and transport of lipoic acid. We hypothesize that pathogenic variants in GCSH can cause variant nonketotic hyperglycinemia (NKH), a heterogeneous group of disorders with findings resembling a combination of severe NKH (elevated levels of glycine in plasma and CSF, progressive lethargy, seizures, severe hypotonia, no developmental progress, early death) and mitochondriopathies (lactic acidosis, leukoencephalopathy and Leigh-like lesions on MRI). We herein report three individuals from two unrelated Indian families with clinical, biochemical, and radiological findings of variant NKH, harboring a biallelic start loss variant, c.

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RNA exosome is a highly conserved ribonuclease complex essential for RNA processing and degradation. Bi-allelic variants in exosome subunits EXOSC3, EXOSC8 and EXOSC9 have been reported to cause pontocerebellar hypoplasia type 1B, type 1C and type 1D, respectively, while those in EXOSC2 cause short stature, hearing loss, retinitis pigmentosa and distinctive facies. We ascertained an 8-months-old male with developmental delay, microcephaly, subtle dysmorphism and hypotonia.

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Waardenburg syndrome subtypes 1 and 3 are caused by pathogenic variants in PAX3. We investigated 12 individuals from four unrelated families clinically diagnosed with Waardenburg syndrome type 1/3. Novel pathogenic variants identified in PAX3 included single nucleotide variants (c.

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Nephronophthisis is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by cystic kidney disease with progression to end-stage kidney disease in children and adolescents with or without extra-renal involvement. It is caused by biallelic pathogenic variants in 19 genes including INVS that encodes a ciliary protein essential for renal development and left-right axis establishment. We report a child with bilateral enlarged, echogenic, polycystic kidneys with end-stage renal disease, anemia and metabolic acidosis caused by biallelic novel pathogenic variants, c.

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Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) are RNA binding proteins, which aid in maturation, stabilization, and transport of mRNA. They have a significant role in cellular nucleic acid metabolism. The hnRNPs alter gene expression and are linked to various neurodegenerative disorders and cancers.

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BCORL1, a transcriptional corepressor, is involved in negative gene regulation through associations with several protein complexes including Class II histone deacetylases (HDACs). Acquired somatic mutations in BCORL1 have been implicated in the pathogenesis of several malignancies, but germline mutations of BCORL1 have not been associated with a specific genetic syndrome. We report five individuals from three pedigrees with phenotypes including intellectual disability, behavioral difficulties, and dysmorphic features who were found via whole exome sequencing to have variants in BCORL1.

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Waardenburg syndrome (WS) is a disorder of neural crest cell migration characterized by auditory and pigmentary abnormalities. We investigated a cohort of 14 families (16 subjects) either by targeted sequencing or whole-exome sequencing. Thirteen of these families were clinically diagnosed with WS and one family with isolated non-syndromic hearing loss (NSHL).

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Ohdo syndrome-Maat-Kievit-Brunner (OSMKB) type is an X-linked recessive disorder, a subtype of blepharophimosis-intellectual disability syndromes caused by mutations in the mediator complex subunit 12 ( ) gene. Here we report a familial OSMKB type with two affected siblings and mutation in gene.

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Background: Anophthalmia/microphthalmia/coloboma (MAC) spectrum encompasses the most severe malformations of the eye. Together, they have an incidence of 2 in 10,000 births and can be unilateral or bilateral. These disorders are genetically heterogeneous.

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