ABSTRACT
Patients with terminal deletions of chromosome 6q present with structural brain abnormalities including agenesis of corpus callosum, hydrocephalus, periventricular nodular heterotopia, and cerebellar malformations. The 6q27 region harbors genes that are important for the normal development of brain and delineation of a critical deletion region for structural brain abnormalities may lead to a better genotype-phenotype correlation. We conducted a detailed clinical and molecular characterization of seven unrelated patients with deletions involving chromosome 6q27. All patients had structural brain abnormalities. Using array comparative genomic hybridization, we mapped the size, extent, and genomic content of these deletions. The smallest region of overlap spans 1.7 Mb and contains DLL1, THBS2, PHF10, and C6orf70 (ERMARD) that are plausible candidates for the causation of structural brain abnormalities. Our study reiterates the importance of 6q27 region in normal development of brain and helps identify putative genes in causation of structural brain anomalies.
Subject(s)
Abnormalities, Multiple/diagnosis , Abnormalities, Multiple/genetics , Brain/abnormalities , Chromosome Deletion , Chromosomes, Human, Pair 6 , Brain/pathology , Child, Preschool , Chromosome Banding , Comparative Genomic Hybridization , Facies , Female , Genotype , Humans , In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , PhenotypeABSTRACT
Branchio-oto-renal syndrome is characterized by branchial defects, hearing loss, preauricular pits, and renal anomalies. Mutations in EYA1 are the most common cause of branchio-oto-renal and branchio-otic syndromes. Large chromosomal aberrations of 8q13, including complex rearrangements occur in about 20% of these individuals. However, submicroscopic deletions and the molecular characterization of genomic rearrangements involving the EYA1 gene have rarely been reported. Using the array-comparative genomic hybridization, we identified non-recurrent genomic deletions including the EYA1 gene in three patients with branchio-oto-renal syndrome, short stature, and developmental delay. One of these deletions was mediated by two human endogenous retroviral sequence blocks, analogous to the AZFa microdeletion on Yq11, responsible for male infertility. This report describes the expanded phenotype of individuals, resulting from contiguous gene deletion involving the EYA1 gene and provides a molecular description of the genomic rearrangements involving this gene in branchio-oto-renal syndrome.
