Chromosomal contacts connect loci associated with autism, BMI and head circumference phenotypes

Copy number variants (CNVs) are major contributors to genomic imbalance disorders. Phenotyping of 137 unrelated deletion and reciprocal duplication carriers of the distal 16p11.2 220 kb BP2-BP3 interval showed that these rearrangements are associated with autism spectrum disorders and mirror phenotypes of obesity/underweight and macrocephaly/microcephaly. Such phenotypes were previously associated with rearrangements of the non-overlapping proximal 16p11.2 600 kb BP4-BP5 interval. These two CNV-prone regions at 16p11.2 are reciprocally engaged in complex chromatin looping, as successfully confirmed by 4C-seq, fluorescence in situ hybridization and Hi-C, as well as coordinated expression and regulation of encompassed genes. We observed that genes differentially expressed in 16p11.2 BP4-BP5 CNV carriers are concomitantly modified in their chromatin interactions, suggesting that disruption of chromatin interplays could participate in the observed phenotypes. We also identified cis- and trans-acting chromatin contacts to other genomic regions previously associated with analogous phenotypes. For example, we uncovered that individuals with reciprocal rearrangements of the trans-contacted 2p15 locus similarly display mirror phenotypes on head circumference and weight. Our results indicate that chromosomal contacts’ maps could uncover functionally and clinically related genes.Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, 31 May 2016; doi:10.1038/mp.2016.84

19p13 microduplications encompassing NFIX are responsible for intellectual disability, short stature and small head circumference

Syndromes caused by copy number variations are described as reciprocal when they result from deletions or duplications of the same chromosomal region. When comparing the phenotypes of these syndromes, various clinical features could be described as reversed, probably due to the opposite effect of these imbalances on the expression of genes located at this locus. The NFIX gene codes for a transcription factor implicated in neurogenesis and chondrocyte differentiation. Microdeletions and loss of function variants of NFIX are responsible for Sotos syndrome-2 (also described as Malan syndrome), a syndromic form of intellectual disability associated with overgrowth and macrocephaly. Here, we report a cohort of nine patients harboring microduplications encompassing NFIX. These patients exhibit variable intellectual disability, short stature and small head circumference, which can be described as a reversed Sotos syndrome-2 phenotype. Strikingly, such a reversed phenotype has already been described in patients harboring microduplications encompassing NSD1, the gene whose deletions and loss-of-function variants are responsible for classical Sotos syndrome. Even though the type/contre-type concept has been criticized, this model seems to give a plausible explanation for the pathogenicity of 19p13 microduplications, and the common phenotype observed in our cohort

Recurrent mutations in the basic domain of TWIST2 cause Ablepharon Macrostomia syndrome and Barber-Say syndrome

Ablepharon macrostomia syndrome (AMS) and Barber-Say syndrome (BSS) are rare congenital ectodermal dysplasias characterized by similar clinical features. To establish the genetic basis of AMS and BSS, we performed extensive clinical phenotyping, whole exome and candidate gene sequencing, and functional validations. We identified a recurrent de novo mutation in TWIST2 in seven independent AMS-affected families, as well as another recurrent de novo mutation affecting the same amino acid in ten independent BSS-affected families. Moreover, a genotype-phenotype correlation was observed, because the two syndromes differed based solely upon the nature of the substituting amino acid: a lysine at TWIST2 residue 75 resulted in AMS, whereas a glutamine or alanine yielded BSS. TWIST2 encodes a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor that regulates the development of mesenchymal tissues. All identified mutations fell in the basic domain of TWIST2 and altered the DNA-binding pattern of Flag-TWIST2 in HeLa cells. Comparison of wild-type and mutant TWIST2 expressed in zebrafish identified abnormal developmental phenotypes and widespread transcriptome changes. Our results suggest that autosomal-dominant TWIST2 mutations cause AMS or BSS by inducing protean effects on the transcription factor's DNA binding. Copyright © 2015 The American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Direct squencing from the minimal number of DNA molecules needed to fill a 454 picotiterplate

The large amount of DNA needed to prepare a library in next generation sequencing protocols hinders direct sequencing of small DNA samples. This limitation is usually overcome by the enrichment of such samples with whole genome amplification (WGA), mostly by multiple displacement amplification (MDA) based on φ29 polymerase. However, this technique can be biased by the GC content of the sample and is prone to the development of chimeras as well as contamination during enrichment, which contributes to undesired noise during sequence data analysis, and also hampers the proper functional and/or taxonomic assignments. An alternative to MDA is direct DNA sequencing (DS), which represents the theoretical gold standard in genome sequencing. In this work, we explore the possibility of sequencing the genome of Escherichia coli from the minimum number of DNA molecules required for pyrosequencing, according to the notion of one-bead-one-molecule. Using an optimized protocol for DS, we constructed a shotgun library containing the minimum number of DNA molecules needed to fill a selected region of a picotiterplate. We gathered most of the reference genome extension with uniform coverage. We compared the DS method with MDA applied to the same amount of starting DNA. As expected, MDA yielded a sparse and biased read distribution, with a very high amount of unassigned and unspecific DNA amplifications. The optimized DS protocol allows unbiased sequencing to be performed from samples with a very small amount of DNA.This work was funded by grant CP09/00049 Miguel Servet, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain to GD; by projects SAF2009-13032-C02-01 and SAF 2012-31187 (AM), BFU2009-12895-CO2-01 and SAF2010-16240 (FC) from the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation (MCINN), FU2008-04501-E from Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation(MCINN) in the frame of ERA-Net PathoGenoMics and Prometeo/2009/092 from Conselleria D’Educació Generalitat Valenciana,Spain, to AM. MD is recipient of a fellowship from Spanish Ministry of Education FPU2010. MGG was supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Grant number BES-2008-006029