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We aim to describe double gonosomal mosaicism in the GRIN2A gene in a mother who passed on two different pathogenic variants at the same nucleotide to her two affected children. We studied a boy with epilepsy and intellectual disability, along with his sister and mother who exhibited language impairment and learning difficulties without epilepsy. We identified in the proband a splice-site variant in GRIN2A (c.1008-1G>A) inherited from his mother. Subsequent testing of his sister revealed a different change at the same nucleotide c.1008-1G>T, which was also present in the mother's DNA at 3.9% allele frequency. The co-occurrence of two mutational events at the same nucleotide is extremely rare. Since a chance occurrence is unlikely, we hypothesise that a base mismatch may introduce instability triggering a second event. In this family, the mother carries three alleles, of which one is at very low frequency. This complex genetic landscape poses diagnostic challenges since low-level mosaicism may escape detection via conventional methods. Applying specific technology becomes crucial, as double mosaicism might prove to be more prevalent than anticipated severely impacting diagnostic accuracy and genetic counselling.
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COL4A1/2 variants are associated with highly variable multiorgan manifestations. Depicting the whole clinical spectrum of COL4A1/2-related manifestations is challenging, and there is no consensus on management and preventative strategies. Based on a systematic review of current evidence on COL4A1/2-related disease, we developed a clinical questionnaire that we administered to 43 individuals from 23 distinct families carrying pathogenic variants. In this cohort, we extended ophthalmological and cardiological examinations to asymptomatic individuals and those with only limited or mild, often nonspecific, clinical signs commonly occurring in the general population (i.e., oligosymptomatic). The most frequent clinical findings emerging from both the literature review and the questionnaire included stroke (203/685, 29.6%), seizures or epilepsy (199/685, 29.0%), intellectual disability or developmental delay (168/685, 24.5%), porencephaly/schizencephaly (168/685, 24.5%), motor impairment (162/685, 23.6%), cataract (124/685, 18.1%), hematuria (63/685, 9.2%), and retinal arterial tortuosity (58/685, 8.5%). In oligosymptomatic and asymptomatic carriers, ophthalmological investigations detected retinal vascular tortuosity (5/13, 38.5%), dysgenesis of the anterior segment (4/13, 30.8%), and cataract (2/13, 15.4%), while cardiological investigations were unremarkable except for mild ascending aortic ectasia in 1/8 (12.5%). Our multimodal approach confirms highly variable penetrance and expressivity in COL4A1/2-related conditions, even at the intrafamilial level with neurological involvement being the most frequent and severe finding in both children and adults. We propose a protocol for prevention and management based on individualized risk estimation and periodic multiorgan evaluations.
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Congenital cone-rod synaptic disorder (CRSD), also known as incomplete congenital stationary night blindness (iCSNB), is a non-progressive inherited retinal disease (IRD) characterized by night blindness, photophobia, and nystagmus, and distinctive electroretinographic features. Here, we report bi-allelic RIMS2 variants in seven CRSD-affected individuals from four unrelated families. Apart from CRSD, neurodevelopmental disease was observed in all affected individuals, and abnormal glucose homeostasis was observed in the eldest affected individual. RIMS2 regulates synaptic membrane exocytosis. Data mining of human adult bulk and single-cell retinal transcriptional datasets revealed predominant expression in rod photoreceptors, and immunostaining demonstrated RIMS2 localization in the human retinal outer plexiform layer, Purkinje cells, and pancreatic islets. Additionally, nonsense variants were shown to result in truncated RIMS2 and decreased insulin secretion in mammalian cells. The identification of a syndromic stationary congenital IRD has a major impact on the differential diagnosis of syndromic congenital IRD, which has previously been exclusively linked with degenerative IRD.
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Oftalmopatias Hereditárias/genética , Proteínas de Ligação ao GTP/genética , Doenças Genéticas Ligadas ao Cromossomo X/genética , Mutação com Perda de Função , Miopia/genética , Proteínas do Tecido Nervoso/genética , Cegueira Noturna/genética , Adulto , Alelos , Processamento Alternativo , Encéfalo/metabolismo , Linhagem Celular , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Diagnóstico Diferencial , Saúde da Família , Feminino , França , Proteínas de Ligação ao GTP/química , Proteínas de Ligação ao GTP/metabolismo , Glucose/metabolismo , Humanos , Secreção de Insulina , Masculino , Proteínas do Tecido Nervoso/química , Proteínas do Tecido Nervoso/metabolismo , Pâncreas/metabolismo , Linhagem , Retina/metabolismo , Arábia Saudita , SenegalRESUMO
Biological agents have had an increased usage during the past years, also in pediatric population. Monoclonal antibodies can cause adverse drug reactions with different pathomechanisms, including type I IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reactions (HR). In this report, we describe 2 children who had a diagnosis of anaphylaxis to rituximab (RTX), confirmed by positive in vivo tests in both cases and elevated tryptase value in one case. We also made a review of the few cases of HR to RTX in pediatric population reported in literature and discuss differential diagnosis and utility of allergy investigations.
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Hipersensibilidade a Drogas/diagnóstico , Fatores Imunológicos/efeitos adversos , Rituximab/efeitos adversos , Adolescente , Anafilaxia/induzido quimicamente , Anafilaxia/diagnóstico , Pré-Escolar , Diagnóstico Diferencial , Hipersensibilidade a Drogas/etiologia , Feminino , Humanos , Fatores Imunológicos/uso terapêutico , Infusões Intravenosas , Masculino , Literatura de Revisão como Assunto , Rituximab/administração & dosagem , Triptases/metabolismoRESUMO
Microlissencephaly is a rare brain malformation characterized by congenital microcephaly and lissencephaly. Microlissencephaly is suspected to result from abnormalities in the proliferation or survival of neural progenitors. Despite the recent identification of six genes involved in microlissencephaly, the pathophysiological basis of this condition remains poorly understood. We performed trio-based whole exome sequencing in seven subjects from five non-consanguineous families who presented with either microcephaly or microlissencephaly. This led to the identification of compound heterozygous mutations in WDR81, a gene previously associated with cerebellar ataxia, intellectual disability and quadrupedal locomotion. Patient phenotypes ranged from severe microcephaly with extremely reduced gyration with pontocerebellar hypoplasia to moderate microcephaly with cerebellar atrophy. In patient fibroblast cells, WDR81 mutations were associated with increased mitotic index and delayed prometaphase/metaphase transition. Similarly, in vivo, we showed that knockdown of the WDR81 orthologue in Drosophila led to increased mitotic index of neural stem cells with delayed mitotic progression. In summary, we highlight the broad phenotypic spectrum of WDR81-related brain malformations, which include microcephaly with moderate to extremely reduced gyration and cerebellar anomalies. Our results suggest that WDR81 might have a role in mitosis that is conserved between Drosophila and humans.
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Fibroblastos/citologia , Microcefalia/genética , Microcefalia/patologia , Mitose/genética , Mutação/genética , Proteínas do Tecido Nervoso/genética , Células-Tronco Neurais/citologia , Animais , Animais Geneticamente Modificados , Encéfalo/diagnóstico por imagem , Encéfalo/patologia , Células Cultivadas , Pré-Escolar , Drosophila , Proteínas de Drosophila/genética , Proteínas de Drosophila/metabolismo , Feminino , Fibroblastos/patologia , Regulação da Expressão Gênica/genética , Humanos , Antígeno Ki-67/metabolismo , Masculino , Microcefalia/diagnóstico por imagem , Células-Tronco Neurais/patologia , Interferência de RNA/fisiologia , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Kinesins play a critical role in the organization and dynamics of the microtubule cytoskeleton, making them central players in neuronal proliferation, neuronal migration, and postmigrational development. Recently, KIF2A mutations were identified in cortical malformation syndromes associated with microcephaly. Here, we detected two de novo p.Ser317Asn and p.His321Pro mutations in KIF2A in two patients with lissencephaly and microcephaly. In parallel, we re-evaluated the two previously reported cases showing de novo mutations of the same residues. The identification of mutations only in the residues Ser317 and His321 suggests these are hotspots for de novo mutations. Both mutations lead to a classic form of lissencephaly, with a posterior to anterior gradient, almost indistinguishable from LIS1-related lissencephaly. However, three fourths of patients also showed variable congenital and postnatal microcephaly, up to -5 SD. Located in the motor domain of the KIF2A protein, the Ser317 and His321 alterations are expected to disrupt binding or hydrolysis of ATP and consequently the MT depolymerizing activity. This report also establishes that KIF2A mutations represent significant causes of classic lissencephaly with microcephaly.
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Lissencefalias Clássicas e Heterotopias Subcorticais em Banda/genética , Cinesinas/genética , Mutação de Sentido Incorreto , Adolescente , Análise Mutacional de DNA , Feminino , Frequência do Gene , Humanos , Lactente , Lisencefalia/genética , Masculino , Polimorfismo de Nucleotídeo ÚnicoRESUMO
EPG5-related Vici syndrome is a rare multisystem autosomal recessive disorder characterized by corpus callosum agenesis (ACC), hypopigmentation, cataracts, acquired microcephaly, failure to thrive, cardiomyopathy and profound developmental delay, and immunodeficiency. We report here the first case of prenatally diagnosed Vici syndrome with delayed gyration associated with ACC. Trio based exome sequencing allowed the identification of a compound heterozygous mutation in the EPG5 gene. Our patient subsequently demonstrated severe developmental delay, hypopigmentation, progressive microcephaly, and failure to thrive which led to suspicion of the diagnosis. Her MRI demonstrated ACC with frontoparietal polymicrogyria, severe hypomyelination, and pontocerebellar atrophy. This prenatal presentation of malformations of cortical development in combination with ACC expands the EPG5-related phenotypic spectrum. Our report supports the idea that EPG5-related Vici syndrome is both a neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorder. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Agenesia do Corpo Caloso/diagnóstico , Agenesia do Corpo Caloso/genética , Mutação , Fenótipo , Polimicrogiria/diagnóstico , Polimicrogiria/genética , Proteínas/genética , Proteínas Relacionadas à Autofagia , Exoma , Feminino , Estudos de Associação Genética , Testes Genéticos , Genótipo , Sequenciamento de Nucleotídeos em Larga Escala , Humanos , Proteínas de Membrana Lisossomal , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Masculino , Gravidez , Diagnóstico Pré-Natal , Ultrassonografia , Proteínas de Transporte VesicularRESUMO
BACKGROUND: GLUT1 deficiency syndrome is a rare, genetically determined neurological disorder for which Ketogenic Dietary Treatment represents the gold standard and lifelong treatment. Patient registries are powerful tools providing insights and real-world data on rare diseases. OBJECTIVE: To describe the implementation of a national web-based registry for GLUT1-DS. METHODS: This is a retrospective and prospective, multicenter, observational registry developed in collaboration with the Italian GLUT1-DS association and based on an innovative, flexible and configurable cloud computing technology platform, structured according to the most rigorous requirements for the management of patient's sensitive data. The Glut1 Registry collects baseline and follow-up data on the patient's demographics, history, symptoms, genotype, clinical, and instrumental evaluations and therapies. RESULTS: Five Centers in Italy joined the registry, and two more Centers are currently joining. In the first two years of running, data from 67 patients (40 females and 27 males) have been collected. Age at symptom onset was within the first year of life in most (40, 60%) patients. The diagnosis was formulated in infancy in almost half of the cases (34, 51%). Symptoms at onset were mainly paroxysmal (mostly epileptic seizure and paroxysmal ocular movement disorder) or mixed paroxysmal and fixed symptoms (mostly psychomotor delay). Most patients (53, 79%) are currently under Ketogenic dietary treatments. CONCLUSIONS: We describe the principles behind the design, development, and deployment of the web-based nationwide GLUT1-DS registry. It represents a stepping stone towards a more comprehensive understanding of the disease from onset to adulthood. It also represents a virtuous model from a technical, legal, and organizational point of view, thus representing a possible paradigmatic example for other rare disease registry implementation.
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Transportador de Glucose Tipo 1 , Doenças Raras , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Transportador de Glucose Tipo 1/deficiência , Itália , Estudos Prospectivos , Sistema de Registros , Estudos Retrospectivos , LactenteAssuntos
1-Alquil-2-acetilglicerofosfocolina Esterase/genética , Lisencefalia/genética , Proteínas Associadas aos Microtúbulos/genética , Mutação , Sítios de Splice de RNA , Encéfalo/diagnóstico por imagem , Encéfalo/metabolismo , Encéfalo/patologia , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Éxons , Expressão Gênica , Humanos , Íntrons , Lisencefalia/diagnóstico por imagem , Lisencefalia/patologia , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , MasculinoAssuntos
Cinesinas/genética , Lisencefalia/genética , Substituição de Aminoácidos , Pré-Escolar , Frequência do Gene , Humanos , Cinesinas/química , Lisencefalia/diagnóstico , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Masculino , Microcefalia/diagnóstico , Microcefalia/genética , Modelos Moleculares , Mutação de Sentido Incorreto , Conformação ProteicaRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To alert about the wide margin of unpredictability that distribution of somatic MTOR mosaicism may have in the brain and the risk for independent epileptogenesis arising from the seemingly healthy contralateral hemisphere after complete removal of epileptogenic focal cortical dysplasia (FCD). METHODS: Clinical, EEG, MRI, histopathology, and molecular genetics in 2 patients (1 and 2) treated with focal resections and subsequent complete hemispherectomy for epileptogenic FCD due to somatic MTOR mutations. Autoptic brain study of bilateral asymmetric hemispheric dysplasia and identification of alternative allele fraction (AAF) rates for AKT1 (patient 3). RESULTS: The strongly hyperactivating p.Ser2215Phe (patient 1) and p.Leu1460Pro (patient 2) MTOR mutations were at low-level AAF in the dysplastic tissue. After repeated resections and eventual complete hemispherectomy, both patients manifested intractable seizures arising from the contralateral, seemingly healthy hemisphere. In patient 3, the p.Glu17Lys AKT1 mutation exhibited random distribution and AAF rates in different tissues with double levels in the more severely dysplastic cerebral hemisphere. CONCLUSIONS: Our understanding of the distribution of somatic mutations in the brain in relation to the type of malformation and its hypothesized time of origin may be faulty. Large studies may reveal that the risk of a first surgery being disappointing might be related more to the specific somatic mammalian target of rapamycin mutation identified than to completeness of resection and that the advantages of repeated resections after a first unsuccessful operation should be weighed against the risk of the contralateral hemisphere becoming in turn epileptogenic.
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OBJECTIVE: Aiming to detect associations between neuroradiologic and EEG evaluations and long-term clinical outcome in order to detect possible prognostic factors, a detailed clinical and neuroimaging characterization of 67 cases of Aicardi syndrome (AIC), collected through a multicenter collaboration, was performed. METHODS: Only patients who satisfied Sutton diagnostic criteria were included. Clinical outcome was assessed using gross motor function, manual ability, and eating and drinking ability classification systems. Brain imaging studies and statistical analysis were reviewed. RESULTS: Patients presented early-onset epilepsy, which evolved into drug-resistant seizures. AIC has a variable clinical course, leading to permanent disability in most cases; nevertheless, some cases presented residual motor abilities. Chorioretinal lacunae were present in 86.56% of our patients. Statistical analysis revealed correlations between MRI, EEG at onset, and clinical outcome. On brain imaging, 100% of the patients displayed corpus callosum malformations, 98% cortical dysplasia and nodular heterotopias, and 96.36% intracranial cysts (with similar rates of 2b and 2d). As well as demonstrating that posterior fossa abnormalities (found in 63.63% of cases) should also be considered a common feature in AIC, our study highlighted the presence (in 76.36%) of basal ganglia dysmorphisms (never previously reported). CONCLUSION: The AIC neuroradiologic phenotype consists of a complex brain malformation whose presence should be considered central to the diagnosis. Basal ganglia dysmorphisms are frequently associated. Our work underlines the importance of MRI and EEG, both for correct diagnosis and as a factor for predicting long-term outcome. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that for patients with AIC, specific MRI abnormalities and EEG at onset are associated with clinical outcomes.
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Síndrome de Aicardi/diagnóstico por imagem , Gânglios da Base/anormalidades , Adolescente , Adulto , Encéfalo/anormalidades , Encéfalo/diagnóstico por imagem , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Ingestão de Líquidos , Epilepsia Resistente a Medicamentos/diagnóstico por imagem , Epilepsia Resistente a Medicamentos/etiologia , Ingestão de Alimentos , Eletroencefalografia , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Destreza Motora , Retina/diagnóstico por imagem , Estudos Retrospectivos , Convulsões/diagnóstico por imagem , Convulsões/etiologia , Convulsões/fisiopatologia , Resultado do Tratamento , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Autosomal recessive missense Rotatin (RTTN) mutations are responsible for syndromic forms of malformation of cortical development, ranging from isolated polymicrogyria to microcephaly associated with primordial dwarfism and other major malformations. We identified, by trio based whole exome sequencing, a homozygous missense mutation in the RTTN gene (c.2953Aâ¯>â¯G; p.(Arg985Gly)) in one Moroccan patient from a consanguineous family. The patient showed early onset primary microcephaly, detected in the fetal period, postnatal growth restriction, encephalopathy with hyperkinetic movement disorders and self-injurious behavior with sleep disturbance. Brain MRI showed an extensive dysgyria associated with nodular heterotopia, large interhemispheric arachnoid cyst and corpus callosum hypoplasia.
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Proteínas de Transporte/genética , Nanismo/genética , Microcefalia/genética , Polimicrogiria/genética , Encéfalo/diagnóstico por imagem , Encéfalo/patologia , Proteínas de Ciclo Celular , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Consanguinidade , Bases de Dados Genéticas , Nanismo/diagnóstico por imagem , Nanismo/patologia , Feminino , Homozigoto , Humanos , Masculino , Microcefalia/diagnóstico por imagem , Microcefalia/patologia , Marrocos/epidemiologia , Mutação de Sentido Incorreto , Linhagem , Fenótipo , Polimicrogiria/diagnóstico por imagem , Polimicrogiria/patologiaRESUMO
The advent of next generation sequencing has improved gene discovery in neurodevelopmental disorders. A greater understanding of the genetic basis of these disorders has expanded the spectrum of pathogenic genes, thus enhancing diagnosis and therapeutic management. Genetic overlap between distinct neurodevelopmental disorders has also been revealed, which can make determining a strict genotype-phenotype correlation more difficult. Intellectual disability and cortical malformations are two neurodevelopmental disorders particularly confronted by this difficulty. Indeed, for a given pathogenic gene, intellectual disability can be associated, or not, with cortical malformations. Here, we report for the first time, two individuals with the same de novo mutation in TBR1, leading to a frameshift starting at codon Thr532, and resulting in a premature stop codon 143 amino acids downstream (c.1588_1594dup, p.(Thr532Argfs*144)). These individuals presented with a developmental encephalopathy characterized by frontal pachygyria and severe intellectual disability. Remarkably, 11 TBR1 gene mutations were previously reported in intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders. Our study supports the observation that TBR1-related disorders range from intellectual disability to frontal pachygyria. We also highlight the need for first-line, good quality neuroimaging for patients with intellectual disability.
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Deficiência Intelectual/genética , Lisencefalia/genética , Transtornos do Neurodesenvolvimento/genética , Proteínas com Domínio T/genética , Transtorno do Espectro Autista/genética , Transtorno do Espectro Autista/fisiopatologia , Criança , Códon sem Sentido , Exoma/genética , Mutação da Fase de Leitura/genética , Estudos de Associação Genética , Sequenciamento de Nucleotídeos em Larga Escala , Humanos , Deficiência Intelectual/fisiopatologia , Lisencefalia/fisiopatologia , Masculino , Transtornos do Neurodesenvolvimento/fisiopatologiaRESUMO
Postnatal microcephaly comprises a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders of varying severity, characterized by normal head size at birth, followed by a postnatal deceleration in head circumference of greater than 3 standard deviations (SD) below the mean. Many postnatal microcephaly syndromes are caused by mutations in genes known to be important for the regulation of gene expression in the developing forebrain. We studied a consanguineous Pakistani family with postnatal microcephaly, orofacial dyskinesia, spastic quadriplegia and, on MRI, cortical atrophy with myelination delay, suggestive of a FOXG1-like presentation. Using trio-based exome sequencing, we identified a homozygous missense mutation in the Transducin-like enhancer of split-1 (TLE1) gene, encoding for a non DNA-binding transcriptional corepressor, highly expressed in the postnatal brain. The regulation of the post-mitotic neural survival activity of TLE1 depends critically on an interaction with FOXG1, a gene shown to be involved in a postnatal microcephaly syndrome. Functional analysis on affected dermal fibroblasts showed a significant decrease in mitotic and proliferative index, indicating a lengthening of the cell cycle and a delay in mitosis, supporting that this gene could be a new candidate for postnatal microcephaly.
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Deficiência Intelectual/genética , Microcefalia/genética , Neurogênese/genética , Proteínas Repressoras/genética , Encéfalo/diagnóstico por imagem , Encéfalo/patologia , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Proteínas Correpressoras , Feminino , Fatores de Transcrição Forkhead/genética , Predisposição Genética para Doença , Humanos , Lactente , Deficiência Intelectual/diagnóstico por imagem , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Masculino , Microcefalia/diagnóstico por imagem , Microcefalia/patologia , Mutação , Proteínas do Tecido Nervoso/genética , Linhagem , Sequenciamento do ExomaRESUMO
Mutations in COL4A1 have been reported in schizencephaly and porencephaly combined with microbleeds or calcifications, often associated with ocular and renal abnormalities, myopathy, elevated creatine kinase levels and haemolytic anaemia. In this study, we aimed to clarify the phenotypic spectrum of COL4A1/A2 mutations in the context of cortical malformations that include schizencephaly, polymicrogyria and/or heterotopia. METHODS: We screened for COL4A1/A2 mutations in 9 patients with schizencephaly and/or polymicrogyria suspected to be caused by vascular disruption and leading to a cerebral haemorrhagic ischaemic event. These included 6 cases with asymmetrical or unilateral schizencephaly and/or polymicrogyria and 3 cases with bilateral schizencephaly. RESULTS: One de novo missense COL4A1 mutation (c.3715â¯Gâ¯>â¯A, p.(Gly1239Arg)) and two COL4A2 mutations were found, respectively in one familial case (c.4129G > A, p.(Gly1377Arg)) and one sporadic patient (c.1776+1G > A). In three other cases, COL4A1 variants of unknown significance were identified. None of our patients demonstrated neuromuscular or hematological anomalies. Brain malformations included a combination of schizencephaly, mainly asymmetrical, with porencephaly or ventriculomegaly (3/3 mutated patients). We did not observe microbleeds or microcalcifications in any of our cases, hence we do not believe that they represent a distinctive feature of COL4A1/A2 mutations. CONCLUSIONS: Our study further emphasizes the need to search for both COL4A1 and COL4A2 mutations in children presenting with uni- or bilateral polymicrogyria with schizencephaly, even in the absence of intracranial microbleeds, calcification or associated systemic features.
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Colágeno Tipo IV/genética , Polimicrogiria/genética , Porencefalia/genética , Esquizencefalia/genética , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Masculino , Mutação , Polimicrogiria/diagnóstico por imagem , Polimicrogiria/fisiopatologia , Porencefalia/diagnóstico por imagem , Porencefalia/fisiopatologia , Esquizencefalia/diagnóstico por imagem , Esquizencefalia/fisiopatologiaRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To provide new insights into the FOXG1-related clinical and imaging phenotypes and refine the phenotype-genotype correlation in FOXG1 syndrome. METHODS: We analyzed the clinical and imaging phenotypes of a cohort of 45 patients with a pathogenic or likely pathogenic FOXG1 variant and performed phenotype-genotype correlations. RESULTS: A total of 37 FOXG1 different heterozygous mutations were identified, of which 18 are novel. We described a broad spectrum of neurodevelopmental phenotypes, characterized by severe postnatal microcephaly and developmental delay accompanied by a hyperkinetic movement disorder, stereotypes and sleep disorders, and epileptic seizures. Our data highlighted 3 patterns of gyration, including frontal pachygyria in younger patients (26.7%), moderate simplified gyration (24.4%) and mildly simplified or normal gyration (48.9%), corpus callosum hypogenesis mostly in its frontal part, combined with moderate-to-severe myelination delay that improved and normalized with age. Frameshift and nonsense mutations in the N-terminus of FOXG1, which are the most common mutation types, show the most severe clinical features and MRI anomalies. However, patients with recurrent frameshift mutations c.460dupG and c.256dupC had variable clinical and imaging presentations. CONCLUSIONS: These findings have implications for genetic counseling, providing evidence that N-terminal mutations and large deletions lead to more severe FOXG1 syndrome, although genotype-phenotype correlations are not necessarily straightforward in recurrent mutations. Together, these analyses support the view that FOXG1 syndrome is a specific disorder characterized by frontal pachygyria and delayed myelination in its most severe form and hypogenetic corpus callosum in its milder form.
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Dyneins play a critical role in a wide variety of cellular functions such as the movement of organelles and numerous aspects of mitosis, making it central player in neocortical neurogenesis and migration. Recently, cytoplasmic dynein-1, heavy chain-1 (DYNC1H1) mutations have been found to cause a wide spectrum of brain cortical malformations. We report on the detailed neuropathological features of brain lesions from 2 fetuses aged 36 and 22 weeks of gestation (WG), respectively, carrying de novo DYNC1H1 mutations, p.Arg2720Lys and p.Val3951Ala and presenting the most severe phenotype reported to date. Analysis using the Dictyostelium discoideum dynein motor crystal structure showed that the mutations are both predicted to have deleterious consequences on the function of the motor domain. Both fetuses showed a similar macroscopic and histological brain malformative complex associating bilateral fronto-parietal polymicrogyria (PMG), dysgenesis of the corpus callosum and of the cortico-spinal tracts, along with brainstem and cerebellar abnormalities. Both exhibited extremely severe disrupted cortical lamination. Immunohistochemical studies provided the evidence for defects in cell proliferation and postmitotic neuroblast ability to exit from the subventricular zone resulting in a failure of radial migration toward the cortical plate, thus providing new insights for the understanding of the pathophysiology in these cortical malformations.
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Encéfalo/anormalidades , Encéfalo/patologia , Dineínas do Citoplasma/genética , Mutação/genética , Fenótipo , Adulto , Técnicas de Cultura de Células , Feminino , Feto , Humanos , Neuropatologia , Gravidez , Estrutura Secundária de ProteínaRESUMO
Tubulinopathies are increasingly emerging major causes underlying complex cerebral malformations, particularly in case of microlissencephaly often associated with hypoplastic or absent corticospinal tracts. Fetal akinesia deformation sequence (FADS) refers to a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of disorders with congenital malformations related to impaired fetal movement. We report on an early foetal case with FADS and microlissencephaly due to TUBB2B mutation. Neuropathological examination disclosed virtually absent cortical lamination, foci of neuronal overmigration into the leptomeningeal spaces, corpus callosum agenesis, cerebellar and brainstem hypoplasia and extremely severe hypoplasia of the spinal cord with no anterior and posterior horns and almost no motoneurons. At the cellular level, the p.Cys239Phe TUBB2B mutant leads to tubulin heterodimerization impairment, decreased ability to incorporate into the cytoskeleton, microtubule dynamics alteration, with an accelerated rate of depolymerization. To our knowledge, this is the first case of microlissencephaly to be reported presenting with a so severe and early form of FADS, highlighting the importance of tubulin mutation screening in the context of FADS with microlissencephaly.