Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) is a complex genetic disorder caused by the loss of genomic material from the short arm of chromosome 4. Genotype-phenotype correlation studies indicated that the loss of genes within 4p16.3 is necessary for expression of the core features of the phenotype. Within this region, haploinsufficiency of the genes WHSC1 and LETM1 is thought to be a major contributor to the pathogenesis of WHS. We present clinical findings for three patients with relatively small (<400 kb) de novo interstitial deletions that overlap WHSC1 and LETM1. 3D facial analysis was performed for two of these patients. Based on our findings, we propose that hemizygosity of WHSC1 and LETM1 is associated with a clinical phenotype characterized by growth deficiency, feeding difficulties, and motor and speech delays. The deletion of additional genes nearby WHSC1 and LETM1 does not result in a marked increase in the severity of clinical features, arguing against their haploinsufficiency. The absence of seizures and typical WHS craniofacial findings in our cohort suggest that deletion of distinct or additional 4p16.3 genes is necessary for expression of these features. Altogether, these results show that although loss-of-function for WHSC1 and/or LETM1 contributes to some of the features of WHS, deletion of additional genes is required for the full expression of the phenotype, providing further support that WHS is a contiguous gene deletion disorder.

Original publication

DOI

10.1038/ejhg.2013.192

Type

Journal article

Journal

European journal of human genetics : EJHG

Publication Date

04/2014

Volume

22

Pages

464 - 470

Addresses

1] Cytogenetics Department, ARUP Laboratories, Salt Lake City, UT, USA [2] Department of Pathology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

Keywords

Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4, Humans, Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase, Calcium-Binding Proteins, Membrane Proteins, Repressor Proteins, Sequence Deletion, Phenotype, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Male, Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, Genome-Wide Association Study