Focus Area Tag: Neurogenomics

Trends Genet. 2026 Mar 31:S0168-9525(26)00038-7. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2026.02.003. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT The human ASXL gene family consists of ASXL1, ASXL2, and ASXL3, first described as the additional sex combs (Asx) in Drosophila. The encoded proteins scaffold BAP1-mediated histone H2A deubiquitination. ASXL genes are implicated in pre-cancerous, cancerous, and neurodevelopmental conditions. Truncating mutations predominate and were originally predicted to result in protein loss of function (LOF); however, mounting evidence from population genetics and in vitro studies supports gain-of-function (GOF) mechanisms. Sequence analysis suggests that such mechanisms require both escape from nonsense-mediated mRNA decay and removal of a putative C-terminal degron signal within ASXL proteins. We propose GOF as a generalized mechanism for ASXL mutations, resulting in increased protein stability and altered histone modifications, with implications for diagnosis and therapy for these medical conditions. PMID:41925445 | DOI:10.1016/j.tig.2026.02.003

Trends Genet. 2026 Mar 18:S0168-9525(26)00030-2. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2026.01.011. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Spina bifida is a clinically and etiologically heterogeneous group of neural tube defects (NTDs) that includes meningomyelocele. While folic acid (FA) supplementation has reduced the incidence by 30-50%, genetic contributors remain only partially understood. New trio sequencing technology has identified de novo mutations (DNMs) in 20-25% of patients. Two recent large-scale genomic studies identified DNMs in 187 candidate genes and a recurrent 22q11.2 deletion as risk factors. Partial penetrance and variable expressivity are frequent, suggesting that risk is dependent upon FA and other modifiers. The Spina Bifida Sequencing Consortium supports large-scale data sharing for multidisciplinary approaches, emphasizing high-confidence NTD genes and moving the results toward clinical testing. PMID:41850968 | DOI:10.1016/j.tig.2026.01.011

Genet Med. 2026 Mar 16:102551. doi: 10.1016/j.gim.2026.102551. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT PURPOSE: Biallelic DIAPH1 pathogenic variants cause a neurodevelopmental syndrome occasionally associated with immunodeficiency. This study aims to define the clinical and immunological spectrum of DIAPH1-related neuroimmunological syndrome and explore the gene’s developmental role using vertebrate models. METHODS: 53 individuals with biallelic DIAPH1 variants, including 33 previously unreported patients were studied. Clinical features were analysed and functional studies were conducted using knockout models in Danio rerio and Xenopus tropicalis. RESULTS: Clinical features included developmental delay, intellectual disability, progressive microcephaly, cortical visual impairment or blindness, epilepsy, and frequent occipital-predominant brain abnormalities. Almost half suffered from infections, mainly affecting their respiratory tract related to epilepsy and aspiration. Although the majority had normal lymphocyte subsets and serum immunoglobulins, T-cell receptor excision circles and naïve T-lymphocyte counts were consistently low. The Xenopus model mirrored growth and eye defects seen in humans, while zebrafish exhibited no overt malformations but showed seizure-like behaviour in Phenothiazine assays. CONCLUSIONS: DIAPH1 is critical for neurodevelopment, immune regulation, and DNA repair. The DNA repair defect may influence susceptibility to infection, lymphoma, or treatment-related toxicity. Although absolute T-cell numbers are not consistent with SCID, impaired T-cell maturation suggests these patients could be identified by TREC newborn screening before neurological symptoms develop. PMID:41860019 | DOI:10.1016/j.gim.2026.102551

Eur J Pediatr. 2026 Mar 11;185(4):175. doi: 10.1007/s00431-026-06801-0. ABSTRACT Alazami syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by postnatal growth retardation, moderate to severe intellectual disability, and facial dysmorphology. It is caused by biallelic variants in the transcriptional regulator La ribonucleoprotein 7 (LARP7), where frameshift variants accounted for the majority of cases. The current study presents 7 new patients, including 3 males and 4 females from 3 unrelated families. Careful and thorough clinical examination identified novel oro-dental disease abnormalities, including a prominent premaxilla and enamel defects. The detected variants (c.1113_1116del, c.997 + 2T > C and c.518T > C) were not reported in the previous studies. The substitution c.518T > C represented the second missense variant to be identified in patients with Alazami syndrome. Male patients from the three families fulfilled ≥ 2 clinical warning signs of primary immunodeficiency. Lymphocyte subset counts and immunoglobulin levels were estimated in patients from two families. The values were within reference ranges, with only minor non-significant alterations in cytotoxic T-cell counts. A functional assay of B lymphocyte response was performed in one family, demonstrating impaired Streptococcus pneumoniae IgG antibody production following Pneumovax vaccination in the male patient, while his female sibling mounted an adequate response. In conclusion, the disease has a wide range of symptoms, which vary greatly among the affected patients. Our study expanded the clinical and molecular spectrum of the disorder and highlighted immunodeficiency as an underrecognized disease feature, potentially with a male sex predilection. PMID:41811398 | DOI:10.1007/s00431-026-06801-0

Am J Hum Genet. 2026 Jan 15:S0002-9297(25)00482-3. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2025.12.011. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT ASTN1 encodes astrotactin 1, a neuronal-glial ligand in the developing brain that promotes neuronal migration along radial glia in brain structures with laminar organization, such as the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum. In mouse models, disruption of Astn1 results in neuronal migration deficits, a mild reduction in cerebellar volume, and balance and coordination deficits. In humans, bi-allelic ASTN1 variants have been identified in nine individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) with or without brain malformations. ASTN1 additionally interacts with astrotactin 2 (ASTN2) to implement neuronal migration; ASTN2 deletions associate with NDDs with reduced penetrance. Here, we describe eighteen individuals with NDDs from twelve unrelated families with bi-allelic, ultra-rare, predicted damaging variants in ASTN1 and one individual with heterozygous variants in both ASTN1 and ASTN2. We expand the clinical phenotypic descriptions of ASTN1-related NDDs, which range from mild to profound developmental delay or intellectual disability and can be associated with autism, attention-deficient hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and epilepsy. Other recurrent abnormalities include dysmorphic facial features, hypotonia, spasticity, and ataxia. Additionally, we add to the neuroradiographic phenotype of this condition, which can be normal, mildly dysmorphic (a thin corpus callosum and cerebellar dysgenesis), or severely dysmorphic (polymicrogyria and lissencephaly). Remarkably, three genetic models of multilocus pathogenic variation (MPV), including tri-allelic, double heterozygous, and double homozygous due to distributive absence of heterozygosity (AOH), were observed. This ASTN1 allelic series characterizes the consequences of perturbations in radial-glia-guided neuronal migration in humans, the phenotypic spectrum of ASTN1-related NDDs, and the contribution of MPV to the genetic basis of NDDs. PMID:41544630 | DOI:10.1016/j.ajhg.2025.12.011

Cell. 2025 Dec 4:S0092-8674(25)01310-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.11.014. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Ferroptosis, driven by uncontrolled peroxidation of membrane phospholipids, is distinct from other cell death modalities because it lacks an initiating signal and is surveilled by endogenous antioxidant defenses. Glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) is the guardian of ferroptosis, although its membrane-protective function remains poorly understood. Here, structural and functional analyses of a missense mutation in GPX4 (p.R152H), which causes early-onset neurodegeneration, revealed that this variant disrupts membrane anchoring without considerably impairing its catalytic activity. Spatiotemporal Gpx4 deletion or neuron-specific GPX4^R152H expression in mice induced degeneration of cortical and cerebellar neurons, accompanied by progressive neuroinflammation. Patient induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cortical neurons and forebrain organoids displayed increased ferroptotic vulnerability, mirroring key pathological features, and were sensitive to ferroptosis inhibition. Neuroproteomics revealed Alzheimer’s-like signatures in affected brains. These findings highlight the necessity of proper GPX4 membrane anchoring, establish ferroptosis as a key driver of neurodegeneration, and provide the rationale for targeting ferroptosis as a therapeutic strategy in neurodegenerative disease. PMID:41349546 | DOI:10.1016/j.cell.2025.11.014

Am J Med Genet A. 2025 Nov 26:e70007. doi: 10.1002/ajmga.70007. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT SLC30A9 mutations are linked to Birk-Landau-Perez syndrome, which is characterized by neurodevelopmental and renal disease, thought to result from impaired zinc homeostasis. In this report, we describe a patient with a homozygous likely pathogenic SLC30A9 variant with atypical chorio-retinal degeneration, suggesting retinal involvement in SLC30A9-associated diseases. The patient has bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, developmental delay, intellectual disability, abnormal balance, and Tourette syndrome. Ophthalmic manifestations include vascular attenuation, optic disc pallor, and pigmentation. In addition, the patient is noted to have high myopia. Our case highlights the importance of broad genetic testing in diagnosing rare multi-systemic disorders. Further research into the molecular mechanisms by which SLC30A9 results in photoreceptor disease is essential to understand its role in retinal degeneration and to develop potential therapeutic strategies. PMID:41293997 | DOI:10.1002/ajmga.70007

Cell Stem Cell. 2025 Nov 3:S1934-5909(25)00374-1. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2025.10.006. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Thousands of genes are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), yet mechanisms and targeted treatments remain elusive. To fill these gaps, we present a California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)-initiated NDD biobank of 352 publicly available genetically diverse patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), along with clinical details, brain imaging, and genomic data, representing four major categories of disease: microcephaly (MIC), polymicrogyria (PMG), epilepsy (EPI), and intellectual disability (ID). From 35 representative patients, we studied over 6,000 brain organoids for histology and single-cell transcriptomics. Compared with an organoid library from ten neurotypicals, patients showed distinct cellular defects linked to underlying clinical disease categories. MIC showed defects in cell survival and excessive TTR+ cells, PMG showed intermediate progenitor cell junction defects, EPI showed excessive astrogliosis, and ID showed excessive generation of TTR+ cells. Our organoid atlas demonstrates both conserved and divergent NDD category-specific phenotypes, bridging genotype and phenotype. This NDD iPSC biobank can support future disease modeling and therapeutic approaches. PMID:41187745 | DOI:10.1016/j.stem.2025.10.006

HGG Adv. 2025 Oct 25:100539. doi: 10.1016/j.xhgg.2025.100539. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Human development is a complex process that requires precise control of gene expression through regulatory proteins. Recently, heterozygous variants in PRR12, encoding a proline-rich regulatory protein, were found to cause a variable phenotype involving developmental delay/cognitive impairment, neuropsychiatric diagnoses, structural eye anomalies, congenital heart and kidney defects, and poor growth. QSER1, encoding glutamine- and serine-rich protein 1, represents a paralog of PRR12 that shares 28% overall identity at the protein level and stronger conservation (43%) in the C-terminal region. QSER1 deficiency in human embryonic stem cells causes hypermethylation of many key transcription factor genes, implicating it in the development of multiple organs. Here we present three unrelated individuals with neurodevelopmental phenotypes, variable other multisystem anomalies, and heterozygous variants in QSER1. This includes two novel de novo frameshift alleles (p.(Lys1565Argfs*36) and p.(Phe896fs*28)), and one ultra-rare canonical splice site variant resulting in a combination of abnormal transcripts, frameshift (p.(Glu1393Glyfs*26)) and in-frame deletion of a conserved amino acid (p.(Glu1393del)), supported by in silico predictions and minigene assays. In situ hybridization revealed dynamic and broad expression of qser1 in zebrafish embryos, including a strong presence in the developing brain. These data suggest a possible role for QSER1/qser1 in vertebrate development and human disease. PMID:41139957 | DOI:10.1016/j.xhgg.2025.100539

Birth Defects Res. 2025 Oct;117(10):e2533. doi: 10.1002/bdr2.2533. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Spina bifida (SB), a common neural tube defects (NTDs), has a complex genetic architecture that remains incompletely understood. Although prior studies have identified rare, deleterious single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in SB, broader contributions to risk remain unclear. Here, we investigated shared genetic risk among 256 SB probands compared with 395 ancestry-matched controls using an unbiased sequencing approach. METHODS: We performed an exome-wide association study (ExWAS) of 46,887 SNVs with minor allele frequencies (MAF) > 0.001 to identify single-variant associations, followed by gene-based burden tests to assess the cumulative effect of SNVs within genes, using all variants and then restricting to rare variants (MAF < 0.05). Both burden tests were repeated in 510 unaffected parents to evaluate excess mutational burden relative to controls. RESULTS: Across all analyses, 16 genes were associated with SB: SRCIN1, PDE4DIP, XCL2, CTAGE10P, GLB1L3, PMS2P4, HSPA4, GLB1L2, FAM90A1, PLA1A, HLA-A, SPIRE2, TVP23B, CHD5, FOXA2, and PIF1. ExWAS identified 11 significant SNVs, nine of which were common (MAF > 0.05). The unrestricted burden test identified seven genes; four remained significant when restricted to rare variants, and two additional genes emerged only in that subset. Five burden-associated genes were not detected in the ExWAS, suggesting cumulative variant effects. Four burden-associated genes also showed enrichment in parents, supporting inherited risk. Three of these showed suggestive transmission disequilibrium (p values ≤ 0.10) and one was attributed to multiple SNVs. CONCLUSION: These results provide new insight into the multifactorial genetic landscape of SB and highlight the importance of unbiased approaches in constructing genetic models of NTD. PMID:41013918 | DOI:10.1002/bdr2.2533