Beemer-Langer syndrome is a ciliopathy due to biallelic mutations in IFT122.

Since most short-rib polydactyly phenotypes are due to genes involved with biogenesis and maintenance of the primary cilium, this group of skeletal dysplasias was recently designated as ciliopathies with major skeletal involvement. Beemer-Langer syndrome or short-rib polydactyly type IV, was first described in 1983, and has, thus far, remained without a defined molecular basis. The most recent classification of the skeletal dysplasias referred to this phenotype as an as-yet unproven ciliopathy. IFT122 is a gene that encodes a protein responsible for the retrograde transport along the cilium; it has been associated with this group of skeletal dysplasias. To date, mutations in this gene were only found in Sensenbrenner syndrome. Using a panel of skeletal dysplasias genes, including 11 related to SRP, we identified biallelic mutations in IFT122 ([c.3184G>C];[c.3228dupG;c.3231_3233delCAT]) in a fetus with a typical phenotype of SRP-IV, finally confirmed that this phenotype is a ciliopathy and adding to the list of ciliopathies with major skeletal involvement.

Compound heterozygous mutations in the IFT140 gene cause Opitz trigonocephaly C syndrome in a patient with typical features of a ciliopathy.

〈 We report on an infant with Opitz trigonocephaly C syndrome (OTCS), who also had manifestations of ciliopathy, including short ribs (non-asphyxiating), trident acetabular roofs, postaxial polydactyly cone-shaped epiphyses, and dysplasia of the renal, hepatic and pancreatic tissues. To investigate the molecular cause, we used an exome sequencing strategy followed by Sanger sequencing. Two rare variants, both predicted to result in loss of functional protein, were identified in the IFT140 gene; a substitution at the splice donor site of exon 24 (c.723 + 1 G > T) and a 17 bp deletion, impacting the first coding exon (c.-11_6del). The variants were confirmed as being biallelic using Sanger sequencing, showing that the splice variant was inherited from the propositus mother and the deletion from the father. To date, Mainzer-Saldino syndrome, Jeune syndrome, and a form of nonsyndromic retinal dystrophy, have been identified as ciliopathies caused by IFT140 mutations. We provide the first description of an OTCS phenotype that appears to result from IFT140 mutations. The presentation of this patient is consistent with previous reports showing that OTCS already exhibited skeleletal and nonskeletal features of a ciliopathy.