Confirmation of PDZD7 as a Nonsyndromic Hearing Loss Gene.

Objective: PDZD7 was identified in 2009 in a family with apparent nonsyndromic sensorineural hearing loss. However, subsequent clinical reports have associated PDZD7 with digenic Usher syndrome, the most common cause of deaf-blindness, or as a modifier of retinal disease. No further reports have validated this gene for nonsyndromic hearing loss, intuitively calling correct genotype-phenotype association into question.

Novel VANGL1 Gene Mutations in 144 Slovakian, Romanian and German Patients with Neural Tube Defects.

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are a group of congenital malformations of the central nervous system occurring at an average rate of 1 per 1,000 human pregnancies worldwide. Numerous genetic and environmental factors are discussed to be relevant in their etiology. In mice, mutants in >200 genes including the planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway are known to cause NTDs, and recently, heterozygous mutations in the human VANGL1 gene have been described in a small subset of patients with NTDs.

A boy with classical Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome but no detectable mutation in the CREBBP and EP300 genes.

Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RTS) is a rare autosomal dominant genetic disorder and is characterized by mental retardation, distinctive facial features, broad and often angulated thumbs and great toes. We report on a 7 year old boy with classical Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. His facial and clinical features were very typical, including broad thumbs with radial angulation and broad great toes.

Inheritance and variable expression in Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome.

Familial Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RTS) is very rare. Here we report on the 6th and 7th case of inherited RTS. Family 1 presents with incomplete or mild RTS over three generations; a 13-year-old girl (proband 1) with mild but typical facial features and learning disabilities, her very mildly affected mother (proband 2), and the maternal grandmother (proband 3).