[Progress on Y chromosome microdeletions and male infertility].

About 10%-15% of azoospermic and 5%-10% of severely oligozoospermic men with idiopathic infertility have Yq microdeletions which could be transmitted to their male offspring by means of ICSI. We review present studies about Yq microdeletions including incidence, region, correlations between genotype and phenotype, the mechanism of Yq deletions and try to further understand the cause of male infertility as well as provide a new way for diagnosis and therapy.

Deletion of chromosome 21 disturbs human brain morphogenesis.

PURPOSE: Humans with small deletions of chromosome 21 provide important models for understanding the role of dosage-sensitive genes in brain morphogenesis. To identify chromosome 21 genes responsible for defects of the central nervous system, we determined the deleted regions and brain malformations in three unrelated individuals with overlapping partial deletions of chromosome 21. METHODS: Fluorescent in situ hybridization and magnetic resonance imaging were used to define the chromosomal structure and structural brain abnormalities present in these three individuals. RESULTS: The regions of chromosome 21 found to be deleted in these individuals were as follows: case 1: KCNJ6 to the telomere; case 2: ITSN1 to the telomere; and case 3: ITSN1 to PCNT2. The abnormalities of brain structure shared by all included microcephaly, pachygyria, polymicrogyria, colpocephaly, hypoplastic corpus callosum and white matter, hypoplastic cerebellum, and enlarged ventricular system. The clinical features in common included mental retardation, microcephaly, facial dysmorphism, and epilepsy (severe in one patient). CONCLUSION: From analyses of the molecular, cytogenetic, and neuroimaging data from these three individuals, combined with those from previously reported cases, we infer that deletion of an 8.4-Mb region in chromosome band 21q22.2-22.3 (KCNJ6-COL6A2) is associated with cortical dysplasia. We propose that one or more dosage-sensitive genes in this region contributes to cortical development and that deletion of 21q22.2-22.3 should be considered in the diagnosis of mentally retarded patients with facial dysmorphism and cerebral dysplasia.