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PLP1 (proteolipid protein1 gene) mutations cause Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD), characterized by hypomyelination of the central nervous system, and affecting almost exclusively males. We report on a girl with classical PMD who carries an apparently balanced translocation t(X;22)(q22;q13). By applying array-based comparative genomic hybridization (a-CGH), we detected duplications at 22q13 and Xq22, encompassing 487-546 kb and 543-611 kb, respectively. The additional copies were mapped by fluorescent in situ hybridization to the breakpoint regions, on the derivative X chromosome (22q13 duplicated segment) and on the derivative 22 chromosome (Xq22 duplicated segment). One of the 14 duplicated X-chromosome genes was PLP1.The normal X chromosome was the inactive one in the majority of peripheral blood leukocytes, a pattern of inactivation that makes cells functionally balanced for the translocated segments. However, a copy of the PLP1 gene on the derivative chromosome 22, in addition to those on the X and der(X) chromosomes, resulted in two active copies of the gene, irrespective of the X-inactivation pattern, thus causing PMD. This t(X;22) is the first constitutional human apparently balanced translocation with duplications from both involved chromosomes detected at the breakpoint regions.

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We report on a patient with NF1 microdeletion and clinical manifestations that fulfill the diagnostic criteria for neurofibromatosis type 1 but also presenting features reminiscent of Proteus syndrome.

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The cause of hearing impairment has not been elucidated in a large proportion of patients. We screened by 1-Mb array-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) 29 individuals with syndromic hearing impairment whose clinical features were not typical of known disorders. Rare chromosomal copy number changes were detected in eight patients, four de novo imbalances and four inherited from a normal parent. The de novo alterations define candidate chromosome segments likely to harbor dosage-sensitive genes related to hearing impairment, namely 1q23.3-q25.2, 2q22q23, 6p25.3 and 11q13.2-q13.4. The rare imbalances also present in normal parents might be casually associated with hearing impairment, but its role as a predisposition gene remains a possibility. Our results show that syndromic deafness is frequently associated with chromosome microimbalances (14-27%), and the use of aCGH for defining disease etiology is recommended.

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Chromosome microdeletions or duplications are detected in 10-20% of patients with mental impairment and normal karyotypes. A few cases have been reported of mental impairment with microdeletions comprising tumor suppressor genes. By array-CGH we detected 4 mentally impaired individuals carrying de novo microdeletions sharing an overlapping segment of approximately 180 kb in 17p13.1. This segment encompasses 18 genes, including 3 involved in cancer, namely KCTD11/REN, DLG4/PSD95, and GPS2. Furthermore, in 2 of the patients, the deletions also included TP53, the most frequently inactivated gene in human cancers. The 3 tumor suppressor genes KCTD11, DLG4, and GPS2, in addition to the GABARAP gene, have a known or suspected function in neuronal development and are candidates for causing mental impairment in our patients. Among our 4 patients with deletions in 17p13.1, 3 were part of a Brazilian cohort of 300 mentally retarded individuals, suggesting that this segment may be particularly prone to rearrangements and appears to be an important cause (approximately 1%) of mental retardation. Further, the constitutive deletion of tumor suppressor genes in these patients, particularly TP53, probably confers a significantly increased lifetime risk for cancer and warrants careful oncological surveillance of these patients. Constitutional chromosome deletions containing tumor suppressor genes in patients with mental impairment or congenital abnormalities may represent an important mechanism linking abnormal phenotypes with increased risks of cancer.

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BACKGROUND: The chromosome 17q21.31 microdeletion syndrome is a novel genomic disorder that has originally been identified using high resolution genome analyses in patients with unexplained mental retardation. AIM: We report the molecular and/or clinical characterisation of 22 individuals with the 17q21.31 microdeletion syndrome. RESULTS: We estimate the prevalence of the syndrome to be 1 in 16,000 and show that it is highly underdiagnosed. Extensive clinical examination reveals that developmental delay, hypotonia, facial dysmorphisms including a long face, a tubular or pear-shaped nose and a bulbous nasal tip, and a friendly/amiable behaviour are the most characteristic features. Other clinically important features include epilepsy, heart defects and kidney/urologic anomalies. Using high resolution oligonucleotide arrays we narrow the 17q21.31 critical region to a 424 kb genomic segment (chr17: 41046729-41470954, hg17) encompassing at least six genes, among which is the gene encoding microtubule associated protein tau (MAPT). Mutation screening of MAPT in 122 individuals with a phenotype suggestive of 17q21.31 deletion carriers, but who do not carry the recurrent deletion, failed to identify any disease associated variants. In five deletion carriers we identify a <500 bp rearrangement hotspot at the proximal breakpoint contained within an L2 LINE motif and show that in every case examined the parent originating the deletion carries a common 900 kb 17q21.31 inversion polymorphism, indicating that this inversion is a necessary factor for deletion to occur (p<10(-5)). CONCLUSION: Our data establish the 17q21.31 microdeletion syndrome as a clinically and molecularly well recognisable genomic disorder.

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We present the first comprehensive study, to our knowledge, on genomic chromosomal analysis in syndromic craniosynostosis. In total, 45 patients with craniosynostotic disorders were screened with a variety of methods including conventional karyotype, microsatellite segregation analysis, subtelomeric multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification) and whole-genome array-based comparative genome hybridisation. Causative abnormalities were present in 42.2% (19/45) of the samples, and 27.8% (10/36) of the patients with normal conventional karyotype carried submicroscopic imbalances. Our results include a wide variety of imbalances and point to novel chromosomal regions associated with craniosynostosis. The high incidence of pure duplications or trisomies suggests that these are important mechanisms in craniosynostosis, particularly in cases involving the metopic suture.

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We report array-CGH screening of 95 syndromic patients with normal G-banded karyotypes and at least one of the following features: mental retardation, heart defects, deafness, obesity, craniofacial dysmorphisms or urogenital tract malformations. Chromosome imbalances not previously detected in normal controls were found in 30 patients (31%) and at least 16 of them (17%) seem to be causally related to the abnormal phenotypes. Eight of the causative imbalances had not been described previously and pointed to new chromosome regions and candidate genes for specific phenotypes, including a connective tissue disease locus on 2p16.3, another for obesity on 7q22.1-->q22.3, and a candidate gene for the 3q29 deletion syndrome manifestations. The other causative alterations had already been associated with well-defined phenotypes including Sotos syndrome, and the 1p36 and 22q11.21 microdeletion syndromes. However, the clinical features of these latter patients were either not typical or specific enough to allow diagnosis before detection of chromosome imbalances. For instance, three patients with overlapping deletions in 22q11.21 were ascertained through entirely different clinical features, i.e., heart defect, utero-vaginal aplasia, and mental retardation associated with psychotic disease. Our results demonstrate that ascertainment through whole-genome screening of syndromic patients by array-CGH leads not only to the description of new syndromes, but also to the recognition of a broader spectrum of features for already described syndromes. Furthermore, on the technical side, we have significantly reduced the amount of reagents used and costs involved in the array-CGH protocol, without evident reduction in efficiency, bringing the method more within reach of centers with limited budgets.

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BACKGROUND: The underlying causes of mental retardation remain unknown in about half the cases. Recent array-CGH studies demonstrated cryptic imbalances in about 25% of patients previously thought to be chromosomally normal. OBJECTIVE AND METHODS: Array-CGH with approximately 3500 large insert clones spaced at approximately 1 Mb intervals was used to investigate DNA copy number changes in 81 mentally impaired individuals. RESULTS: Imbalances never observed in control chromosomes were detected in 20 patients (25%): seven were de novo, nine were inherited, and four could not have their origin determined. Six other alterations detected by array were disregarded because they were shown by FISH either to hybridise to both homologues similarly in a presumptive deletion (one case) or to involve clones that hybridised to multiple sites (five cases). All de novo imbalances were assumed to be causally related to the abnormal phenotypes. Among the others, a causal relation between the rearrangements and an aberrant phenotype could be inferred in six cases, including two imbalances of the X chromosome, where the associated clinical features segregated as X linked recessive traits. CONCLUSIONS: In all, 13 of 81 patients (16%) were found to have chromosomal imbalances probably related to their clinical features. The clinical significance of the seven remaining imbalances remains unclear. The limited ability to differentiate between inherited copy number variations which cause abnormal phenotypes and rare variants unrelated to clinical alterations currently constitutes a limitation in the use of CGH-microarray for guiding genetic counselling.

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A balanced de novo translocation t(X;1) is described in a girl with severe haemophilia B. The translocated X was shown cytologically to be preferentially active, and methylation analysis of the DXS255 locus confirmed the skewed X-inactivation with the paternal allele being the active one. Cytogenetic and molecular analysis showed that this chromosomal rearrangement led to the deletion of at least part of the factor IX gene. Therefore, the girl was heterozygous for factor IX deficiency and expression of her clinical phenotype was the result of the inactivation of the normal maternal X chromosome. The localization of one of the X chromosome translocation breakpoints in YAC clone 957F9, that was demonstrated to map distally to the factor IX gene, revealed the complexity of this chromosomal rearrangement.

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Roberts syndrome (RS) is associated with a characteristic constitutive heterochromatin anomaly, namely, at metaphase the centromeres and heterochromatic segments appear split. In addition to this cytogenetic phenomenon, known as the RS effect, several other cytological features, especially affecting mitotic chromosome disjunction, are also observed. Applying FISH to interphase nuclei, we investigated the replication patterns of homologous alphoid centromeric DNA of chromosomes 9, 11, 16 and 17 in three patients showing the RS effect and in four normal individuals. A tendency for homologous centromeres to replicate asynchronously was observed in RS patients. This tendency was more evident in chromosomes 9 and 16, with large heterochromatic blocks and particularly subject to RS effect. This asynchrony could reflect a more generalized alteration in repetitive DNA replication timing that, in turn, would prevent the establishment of proper cohesion between sister chromatid heterochromatin, leading to the RS effect.

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In one-dimensional anharmonic lattices, we construct nonlinear standing waves (SWs) reducing to harmonic SWs at small amplitude. For SWs with spatial periodicity incommensurate with the lattice period, a transition by breaking of analyticity versus wave amplitude is observed. As a consequence of the discreteness, oscillatory linear instabilities, persisting for arbitrarily small amplitude in infinite lattices, appear for all wave numbers Q not equal 0,pi. Incommensurate analytic SWs with |Q|>pi/2 may however appear as "quasistable," as their instability growth rate is of higher order.

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We performed a comparative analysis of the G- and C-banded karyotypes of seven species of didelphid marsupials, representing the three diploid numbers (2n = 14, 18 and 22) known to occur in this family. In addition to a great similarity among karyotypes with the same diploid numbers, we also identified homeologies for all autosomal arms comprising the three karyotypes. Robertsonian rearrangements, pericentric inversions and heterochromatin variation account for the differences among the karyotypes. Interspecific variation in the size of the sex chromosomes is due to differences in heterochromatic content. In-situ hybridization with total genomic DNA revealed considerable conservation of the euchromatic portions of the three karyotypes and indicated divergence of repetitive DNA sequences in autosomal heterochromatin.

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We used a non-isotopic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique for fragile X syndrome diagnosis to screen 256 mentally retarded boys who were selected randomly from special schools. Patients identified as pre- or full-mutation carriers were further investigated by Southern blot analysis with the StB12.3 probe. The PCR-based test identified five boys with the expanded allele and 17 other patients as carriers of either premutated or gray-zone alleles. The full mutation was confirmed in four cases after Southern blotting and a fifth patient carried a normal allele. Of the 17 patients identified with a premutation allele by PCR, one individual was diagnosed as mosaic by Southern blotting, 12 individuals displayed fragments of 2.90 kb or 2.85 kb, and the remaining four individuals showed apparently normal-sized fragments. However, sizing of these 16 alleles by further PCR analysis showed them to be in the gray-zone range (40-60 repeats). Therefore, the frequency of the full mutation in this cohort of mentally retarded boys was close to 2% (5/256). The prevalence of gray-zone alleles among those mentally impaired boys who did not carry the full mutation was 6.4% (16/251) and, although more than twice the prevalence of these alleles among a cohort of unaffected Brazilian males 2.8% (71251), the difference did not reach statistical significance.

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In order to investigate the origin of the fragile X mutation in the Brazilian population, we assessed the size of the microsatellite markers DXS548, FRAXAC1 and FRAXAC2 in 72 X chromosomes from unrelated affected males and 64 control chromosomes. We found a significantly different distribution of alleles between fragile X and controls for loci DXS548 and FRAXAC1, but no apparent linkage disequilibrium was detected for the sequence FRAXAC2. The most frequent DXS548/FRAXAC1 haplotypes in affected males were haplotypes 204/158 bp (2-1) and 196/152 bp (6-4). These findings are in accordance with the proposed two main mutational pathways for the generation of FMR-1 alleles that predispose to instability and hyperexpansion.

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The preliminary results of an international collaborative study examining premature menopause in fragile X carriers are presented. A total of 760 women from fragile X families was surveyed about their fragile X carrier status and their menstrual and reproductive histories. Among the subjects, 395 carried a premutation, 128 carried a full mutation, and 237 were noncarriers. Sixty-three (16%) of the premutation carriers had experienced menopause prior to the age of 40 compared with none of the full mutation carriers and one (0.4%) of the controls. Based on these preliminary data, there is a significant association between fragile X premutation carrier status and premature menopause.

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A basic 2n = 14 ancestral marsupial karyotype giving rise to higher diploid numbers through chromosome fissions has been widely accepted for the last three decades. Our finding of interstitial telomeres in two South American species, one with the 2n = 14 "ancestral karyotype" and the other with 2n = 18, indicates that these complements evolved from a karyotype with a higher diploid number. A new scenario for the karyotype evolution in the group is put forward. In this scenario an ancestral karyotype with at least 22 chromosomes would have originated the basic karyotype with 2n = 14 before the radiation of marsupials.

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