A previously undescribed pathogenic variant in FBN1 gene causing Marfan syndrome: a case report.

Background: Marfan syndrome (MFS) is an autosomal dominant multisystem connective tissue disorder with increased risk of aortopathy with a high risk of subsequent life-threatening aortic dissection. Diagnosing this condition is reliant on recognizing clinical features and genetic testing for confirming diagnosis, using the revised Ghent criteria. Case summary: We identified a 49-year-old patient who presented with dyspnoea, with Marfan syndrome (MFS) and a previously unreported variant in the fibrillin-1 gene (FBN1), designated c.7016G>C. Prior to identifying the new gene variant, this patient did not meet the revised Ghent criteria for MFS diagnosis. We present clinical and molecular evidence supporting the likely pathogenic nature of this variant, leading to earlier therapy and intervention. Discussion: The discovery of a new pathogenic gene will expand the current aortopathy and MFS database and may lead to more informed clinical management decisions for the timing and nature of interventions.

Kidney failure in Bardet-Biedl syndrome.

The aim of this study was to explore kidney failure (KF) in Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS), focusing on high-risk gene variants, demographics, and morbidity. We employed the Clinical Registry Investigating BBS (CRIBBS) to identify 44 (7.2%) individuals with KF out of 607 subjects. Molecularly confirmed BBS was identified in 37 KF subjects and 364 CRIBBS registrants. KF was concomitant with recessive causal variants in 12 genes, with BBS10 the most predominant causal gene (26.6%), while disease penetrance was highest in SDCCAG8 (100%). Two truncating variants were present in 67.6% of KF cases. KF incidence was increased in genes not belonging to the BBSome or chaperonin-like genes (p < 0.001), including TTC21B, a new candidate BBS gene. Median age of KF was 12.5 years, with the vast majority of KF occurring by 30 years (86.3%). Females were disproportionately affected (77.3%). Diverse uropathies were identified, but were not more common in the KF group (p = 0.672). Kidney failure was evident in 11 of 15 (73.3%) deaths outside infancy. We conclude that KF poses a significant risk for premature morbidity in BBS. Risk factors for KF include female sex, truncating variants, and genes other than BBSome/chaperonin-like genes highlighting the value of comprehensive genetic investigation.

Bardet-Biedl syndrome: Weight patterns and genetics in a rare obesity syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is a rare genetic disorder that severely inhibits primary cilia function. BBS is typified by obesity in adulthood, but pediatric weight patterns, and thus optimal periods of intervention, are poorly understood. OBJECTIVES: To examine body mass differences by age, gender, and genotype in children and adolescents with BBS. METHODS: We utilized the largest international registry of BBS phenotypes. Anthropometric and genetic data were obtained from medical records or participant/family interviews. Participants were stratified by age and sex categories. Genotype and obesity phenotype were investigated in a subset of participants with available data. RESULTS: Height and weight measurements were available for 552 unique individuals with BBS. The majority of birth weights were in the normal range, but rates of overweight or obesity rapidly increased in early childhood, exceeding 90% after age 5. Weight z-scores in groups >2 years were above 2.0, while height z-scores approached 1.0, but were close to 0.0 in adolescents. Relative to those with the BBS10 genotype, the BBS1 cohort had a lower BMI z-score in the 2-5 and 6-11 age groups, with similar BMI z-scores thereafter. Children with biallelic loss of function (LOF) genetic variants had significantly higher BMI z-scores compared to missense variants. CONCLUSION: Despite normal birth weight, most individuals with BBS experience rapid weight gain in early childhood, with high rates of overweight/obesity sustained through adolescence. Children with LOF variants are disproportionally affected. Our findings support the need for earlier recognition and initiation of weight management therapies in BBS.

Thoraco-Abdominal Abnormalities in Bardet-Biedl Syndrome: Situs Inversus and Heterotaxy.

OBJECTIVES: To characterize the diversity and prevalence of thoraco-abdominal abnormalities in Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS), a model ciliopathy for understanding the role of cilia in human health. STUDY DESIGN: The Clinical Registry Investigating BBS, a worldwide registry exploring the phenotype and natural history of BBS, was used to conduct the study. Protected health information was obtained by subject or family interview and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-approved release of data including imaging studies and genetic testing. Echocardiography and imaging findings were independently confirmed by 2 cardiologists. RESULTS: Thoraco-abdominal abnormalities were identified in 6 of 368 (1.6%) subjects with a minimum prevalence of 1 in 60 Clinical Registry Investigating BBS participants. Diverse laterality defects were observed suggesting that the underlying ciliopathy randomly alters embryonic left-right axis orientation. Congenital heart disease, common in heterotaxy, was present in 2 subjects. Additional defects, uncommonly reported in BBS, were observed in the central nervous, genitourinary, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal systems in the subjects. No BBS genotype was favored in the cohort. One subject had genetic and clinical phenotype diagnostic of both primary ciliary dyskinesia and BBS. CONCLUSIONS: The variety of thoraco-abdominal abnormalities in BBS suggests the pleiotropic nature of these anomalies is not confined to a single pattern or genotype. Clinicians providing care to individuals with BBS should consider the increased prevalence of thoraco-abdominal anomalies in BBS. Individuals with features suggestive of other ciliopathies, such as primary ciliary dyskinesia, should undergo further evaluation for additional genetic disorders. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02329210.

Sexual cell-fate reprogramming in the ovary by DMRT1.

Transcription factors related to the insect sex-determination gene doublesex (DMRT proteins) control sex determination and/or sexual differentiation in diverse metazoans and are implicated in transitions between sex-determining mechanisms during vertebrate evolution [1]. In mice, Dmrt1 is required for male gonadal differentiation in somatic cells and germ cells [2-4]. DMRT1 also maintains male gonadal sex: its loss, even in adults, can trigger sexual cell-fate reprogramming in which male Sertoli cells transdifferentiate into their female equivalents-granulosa cells-and testicular tissue reorganizes to a more ovarian morphology [5]. Here we use a conditional Dmrt1 transgene to show that Dmrt1 is not only necessary but also sufficient to specify male cell identity in the mouse gonad. DMRT1 expression in the ovary silenced the female sex-maintenance gene Foxl2 and reprogrammed juvenile and adult granulosa cells into Sertoli-like cells, triggering formation of structures resembling male seminiferous tubules. DMRT1 can silence Foxl2 even in the absence of the testis-determining genes Sox8 and Sox9. mRNA profiling found that DMRT1 activates many testicular genes and downregulates ovarian genes and single-cell RNA sequencing in transdifferentiating cells identified dynamically expressed candidate mediators of this process. Strongly upregulated genes were highly enriched on chromosome X, consistent with sexually antagonistic functions. This study provides an in vivo example of single-gene reprogramming of cell sexual identity. Our findings suggest a reconsideration of mechanisms involved in human disorders of sex development (DSDs) and empirically support evolutionary models in which loss or gain of Dmrt1 function promotes establishment of new vertebrate sex-determination systems.

Pelger-huet anomaly and a mild skeletal phenotype secondary to mutations in LBR.

The Lamin B receptor (LBR) gene has been described to encode a bifunctional protein. Mutations in the LBR gene can affect neutrophil segmentation and sterol reductase activity and have been associated with two different recognized clinical conditions, Pelger-Huet anomaly (PHA) and Greenberg skeletal dysplasia. PHA is a benign autosomal co-dominant laminopathy resulting in bilobed neutrophil nuclei in heterozygotes, and unsegmented (ovoid) neutrophil nuclei in homozygotes. Some putative PHA homozygotes have been reported with minor skeletal malformations. Greenberg skeletal dysplasia is a severe autosomal recessive, perinatal lethal dwarfing disorder in which heterozygous carriers are usually without clinical manifestations. We here report a girl who has bilobed neutrophil nuclei and a mild skeletal dysplasia. Mutation analysis showed two novel mutations in the LBR gene: c.651_653 delinsTGATGAGAAA (p.Ile218Aspfs*19) and c.1757G > A (p.Arg586His). These mutations were found to be in trans, and, thus, she is a compound heterozygote. Sterol analysis found trace amounts of cholesta-8,14-dien-3beta-ol, which is normally undetected in healthy individuals. This and previously reported cases suggest that mutations in LBR can result in a continuum of phenotypic manifestations.

Interaction between DMRT1 function and genetic background modulates signaling and pluripotency to control tumor susceptibility in the fetal germ line.

Dmrt1 (doublesex and mab-3 related transcription factor (1) is a regulator of testis development in vertebrates that has been implicated in testicular germ cell tumors of mouse and human. In the fetal mouse testis Dmrt1 regulates germ cell pluripotency in a strain-dependent manner. Loss of Dmrt1 in 129Sv strain mice results in a >90% incidence of testicular teratomas, tumors consisting cells of multiple germ layers; by contrast, these tumors have never been observed in Dmrt1 mutants of C57BL/6J (B6) or mixed genetic backgrounds. To further investigate the interaction between Dmrt1 and genetic background we compared mRNA expression in wild type and Dmrt1 mutant fetal testes of 129Sv and B6 mice at embryonic day 15.5 (E15.5), prior to overt tumorigenesis. Loss of Dmrt1 caused misexpression of overlapping but distinct sets of mRNAs in the two strains. The mRNAs that were selectively affected included some that changed expression only in one strain or the other and some that changed in both strains but to a greater degree in one versus the other. In particular, loss of Dmrt1 in 129Sv testes caused a more severe failure to silence regulators of pluripotency than in B6 testes. A number of genes misregulated in 129Sv mutant testes also are misregulated in human testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs), suggesting similar etiology between germ cell tumors in mouse and man. Expression profiling showed that DMRT1 also regulates pluripotency genes in the fetal ovary, although Dmrt1 mutant females do not develop teratomas. Pathway analysis indicated disruption of several signaling pathways in Dmrt1 mutant fetal testes, including Nodal, Notch, and GDNF. We used a Nanos3-cre knock-in allele to perform conditional gene targeting, testing the GDNF coreceptors Gfra1 and Ret for effects on teratoma susceptibility. Conditional deletion of Gfra1 but not Ret in fetal germ cells of animals outcrossed to 129Sv caused a modest but significant elevation in tumor incidence. Despite some variability in genetic background in these crosses, this result is consistent with previous genetic mapping of teratoma susceptibility loci to the region containing Gfra1. Using Nanos3-cre we also uncovered a strong genetic interaction between Dmrt1 and Nanos3, suggesting parallel functions for these two genes in fetal germ cells. Finally, we used chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP-seq) analysis to identify a number of potentially direct DMRT1 targets. This analysis suggested that DMRT1 controls pluripotency via transcriptional repression of Esrrb, Nr5a2/Lrh1, and Sox2. Given the strong evidence for involvement of DMRT1 in human TGCT, the downstream genes and pathways identified in this study provide potentially useful candidates for roles in the human disease.

DMRT1 promotes oogenesis by transcriptional activation of Stra8 in the mammalian fetal ovary.

Dmrt1 belongs to the DM domain gene family of conserved sexual regulators. In the mouse Dmrt1 is expressed in the genital ridge (the gonadal primordium) in both sexes and then becomes testis-specific shortly after sex determination. The essential role of DMRT1 in testicular differentiation is well established, and includes transcriptional repression of the meiotic inducer Stra8. However Dmrt1 mutant females are fertile and the role of Dmrt1 in the ovary has not been studied. Here we show in the mouse that most Dmrt1 mutant germ cells in the fetal ovary have greatly reduced expression of STRA8, and fail to properly localize SYCP3 and γH2AX during meiotic prophase. Lack of DMRT1 in the fetal ovary results in the formation of many fewer primordial follicles in the juvenile ovary, although these are sufficient for fertility. Genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitiation (ChIP-chip) and quantitative ChIP (qChIP) combined with mRNA expression profiling suggests that transcriptional activation of Stra8 in fetal germ cells is the main function of DMRT1 in females, and that this regulation likely is direct. Thus DMRT1 controls Stra8 sex-specifically, activating it in the fetal ovary and repressing it in the adult testis.

The DM domain protein DMRT1 is a dose-sensitive regulator of fetal germ cell proliferation and pluripotency.

Dmrt1 (doublesex and mab-3 related transcription factor 1) is a conserved transcriptional regulator of male differentiation required for testicular development in vertebrates. Here, we show that in mice of the 129Sv strain, loss of Dmrt1 causes a high incidence of teratomas, whereas these tumors do not form in Dmrt1 mutant C57BL/6J mice. Conditional gene targeting indicates that Dmrt1 is required in fetal germ cells but not in Sertoli cells to prevent teratoma formation. Mutant 129Sv germ cells undergo apparently normal differentiation up to embryonic day 13.5 (E13.5), but some cells fail to arrest mitosis and ectopically express pluripotency markers. Expression analysis and chromatin immunoprecipitation identified DMRT1 target genes, whose missexpression may underlie teratoma formation. DMRT1 indirectly activates the GDNF coreceptor Ret, and it directly represses the pluripotency regulator Sox2. Analysis of human germ cell tumors reveals similar gene expression changes correlated to DMRT1 levels. Dmrt1 behaves genetically as a dose-sensitive tumor suppressor gene in 129Sv mice, and natural variation in Dmrt1 activity can confer teratoma susceptibility. This work reveals a genetic link between testicular dysgenesis, pluripotency regulation, and teratoma susceptibility that is highly sensitive to genetic background and to gene dosage.

Arabidopsis sucrose transporter AtSUC9. High-affinity transport activity, intragenic control of expression, and early flowering mutant phenotype.

AtSUC9 (At5g06170), a sucrose (Suc) transporter from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) L. Heynh., was expressed in Xenopus (Xenopus laevis) oocytes, and transport activity was analyzed. Compared to all other Suc transporters, AtSUC9 had an ultrahigh affinity for Suc (K(0.5) = 0.066 +/- 0.025 mm). AtSUC9 showed low substrate specificity, similar to AtSUC2 (At1g22710), and transported a wide range of glucosides, including helicin, salicin, arbutin, maltose, fraxin, esculin, turanose, and alpha-methyl-d-glucose. The ability of AtSUC9 to transport 10 glucosides was compared directly with that of AtSUC2, HvSUT1 (from barley [Hordeum vulgare]), and ShSUT1 (from sugarcane [Saccharum hybrid]), and results indicate that type I and type II Suc transporters have different substrate specificities. AtSUC9 protein was localized to the plasma membrane by transient expression in onion (Allium cepa) epidermis. Using a whole-gene translational fusion to beta-glucuronidase, AtSUC9 expression was found in sink tissues throughout the shoots and in flowers. AtSUC9 expression in Arabidopsis was dependent on intragenic sequence, and this was found to also be true for AtSUC1 (At1g71880) but not AtSUC2. Plants containing mutations in Suc transporter gene AtSUC9 were found to have an early flowering phenotype under short-day conditions. The transport properties of AtSUC9 indicate that it is uniquely suited to provide cellular uptake of Suc at very low extracellular Suc concentrations. The mutant phenotype of atsuc9 alleles indicates that AtSUC9 activity leads to a delay in floral transition.