Sclerocornea in a Patient with Van Den Ende-Gupta Syndrome Homozygous for a SCARF2 Microdeletion
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL GENETICS PART A
Authors: Migliavacca, Michele P.; Sobreira, Nara L. M.; Antonialli, Graziela P. M.; Oliveira, Mariana M.; Melaragno, Maria Isabel S. A.; Casteels, Ingele; de Ravel, Thomy; Brunoni, Decio; Valle, David; Perez, Ana Beatriz A.
Abstract
Van den Ende-Gupta Syndrome (VDEGS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by blepharophimosis, distinctive nose, hypoplastic maxilla, and skeletal abnormalities. Using homozygosity mapping in four VDEGS patients from three consanguineous families, Anastacio et al. [Anastacio et al. (2010); Am J Hum Genet 87:553-559] identified homozygous mutations in SCARF2, located at 22q11.2. Bedeschi et al. [2010] described a VDEGS patient with sclerocornea and cataracts with compound heterozygosity for the common 22q11.2 microdeletion and a hemizygous SCARF2 mutation. Because sclerocornea had been described in DiGeorge-velo-cardio-facial syndrome but not in VDEGS, they suggested that the ocular abnormalities were caused by the 22q11.2 microdeletion. We report on a 23-year-old male who presented with bilateral sclerocornea and the VDGEGS phenotype who was subsequently found to be homozygous for a 17bp deletion in exon 4 of SCARF2. The occurrence of bilateral sclerocornea in our patient together with that of Bedeschi et al., suggests that the full VDEGS phenotype may include sclerocornea resulting from homozygosity or compound heterozygosity for loss of function variants in SCARF2. (c) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Single suture craniosynostosis: Identification of rare variants in genes associated with syndromic forms
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL GENETICS PART A
Authors: Clarke, Christine M.; Fok, Vincent T.; Gustafson, Jennifer A.; Smyth, Matthew D.; Timms, Andrew E.; Frazar, Chris D.; Smith, Joshua D.; Birgfeld, Craig B.; Lee, Amy; Ellenbogen, Richard G.; Gruss, Joseph S.; Hopper, Richard A.; Cunningham, Michael L.
Abstract
We report RNA-Sequencing results on a cohort of patients with single suture craniosynostosis and demonstrate significant enrichment of heterozygous, rare, and damaging variants among key craniosynostosis-related genes. Genetic burden analysis identified a significant increase in damaging variants in ATR, EFNA4, ERF, MEGF8, SCARF2, and TGFBR2. Of 391 participants, 15% were found to have damaging and potentially causal variants in 29 genes. We observed transmission in 96% of the affected individuals, and thus penetrance, epigenetics, and oligogenic factors need to be considered when recommending genetic testing in patients with nonsyndromic craniosynostosis.