Are we prepared to deliver gene-targeted therapies for rare diseases?
Am J Med Genet C Semin Med Genet. 2023 Jan 24. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.c.32029. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT The cost and time needed to conduct whole-genome sequencing (WGS) have decreased significantly in the last 20 years. At the same time, the number of conditions with a known molecular basis has steadily increased, as has the […]
Insights into the perinatal phenotype of Kabuki syndrome in infants identified by genome-wide sequencing
Am J Med Genet A. 2023 Jan 18. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.63097. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Increasing use of unbiased genomic sequencing in critically ill infants can expand understanding of rare diseases such as Kabuki syndrome (KS). Infants diagnosed with KS through genome-wide sequencing performed during the initial hospitalization underwent retrospective review of medical records. Human […]
An automated 13.5 hour system for scalable diagnosis and acute management guidance for genetic diseases
Nat Commun. 2022 Jul 26;13(1):4057. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-31446-6. While many genetic diseases have effective treatments, they frequently progress rapidly to severe morbidity or mortality if those treatments are not implemented immediately. Since front-line physicians frequently lack familiarity with these diseases, timely molecular diagnosis may not improve outcomes. Herein we describe Genome-to-Treatment, an automated, virtual system for […]
2022: A pivotal year for diagnosis and treatment of rare genetic diseases
Cold Spring Harb Mol Case Stud. 2022 Feb 25:mcs.a006204. doi: 10.1101/mcs.a006204. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT The start of 2022 is an inflection point in the development of diagnostics and treatments for rare genetic diseases in prenatal, pediatric, and adult individuals; the theme of this special issue. Here I briefly review recent developments in the […]
Activated phosphoinositide 3-kinase δ syndrome associated with nephromegaly, growth hormone deficiency, bronchiectasis: a case report
Allergy Asthma Clin Immunol. 2022 Feb 21;18(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s13223-022-00655-5. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Activated phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) δ syndrome (APDS) is a rare form of primary immunodeficiency with 243 known cases reported in the literature. Known findings associated with the condition include recurrent sinusitis and bronchitis, bronchiectasis, immune cytopenias, mild developmental delay, splenomegaly, and lymphadenopathy. We report […]
Expanding the phenotypic and molecular spectrum of NFS1-related disorders that cause functional deficiencies in mitochondrial and cytosolic iron-sulfur cluster containing enzymes
Hum Mutat. 2022 Jan 13. doi: 10.1002/humu.24330. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Iron-sulfur cluster proteins are involved in critical functions for gene expression regulation and mitochondrial bioenergetics including the oxidative phosphorylation system. The c.215G>A p.(Arg72Gln) variant in NFS1 has been previously reported to cause infantile mitochondrial complex II and III deficiency. We describe three additional […]
DNA methylation episignature in Gabriele-de Vries syndrome
Genet Med. 2022 Jan 10:S1098-3600(21)05422-8. doi: 10.1016/j.gim.2021.12.003. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT PURPOSE: Gabriele-de Vries syndrome (GADEVS) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by developmental delay and/or intellectual disability, hypotonia, feeding difficulties, and distinct facial features. To refine the phenotype and to better understand the molecular basis of the syndrome, we analyzed clinical data and […]
AHDC1 missense mutations in Xia-Gibbs syndrome
HGG Adv. 2021 Oct 14;2(4):100049. doi: 10.1016/j.xhgg.2021.100049. Epub 2021 Aug 10. ABSTRACT Xia-Gibbs syndrome (XGS; MIM: 615829) is a phenotypically heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) caused by newly arising mutations in the AT-Hook DNA-Binding Motif-Containing 1 (AHDC1) gene that are predicted to lead to truncated AHDC1 protein synthesis. More than 270 individuals have been diagnosed with […]
Characterization of a patient-derived variant of GPX4 for precision therapy
Nat Chem Biol. 2021 Dec 20. doi: 10.1038/s41589-021-00915-2. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), as the only enzyme in mammals capable of reducing esterified phospholipid hydroperoxides within a cellular context, protects cells from ferroptosis. We identified a homozygous point mutation in the GPX4 gene, resulting in an R152H coding mutation, in three […]
Development of therapies for rare genetic disorders of GPX4: roadmap and opportunities
Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2021 Oct 23;16(1):446. doi: 10.1186/s13023-021-02048-0. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Extremely rare progressive diseases like Sedaghatian-type Spondylometaphyseal Dysplasia (SSMD) can be neonatally lethal and therefore go undiagnosed or are difficult to treat. Recent sequencing efforts have linked this disease to mutations in GPX4, with consequences in the resulting enzyme, glutathione peroxidase 4. This offers […]