Reinhard Ullmann

Publications (87)496.32 Total impact

• Article: Characterisation of de novo MAPK10/JNK3 truncation mutations associated with cognitive disorders in two unrelated patients.

  Stella-Amrei Kunde, Nils Rademacher, Andreas Tzschach, Eberhard Wiedersberg, Reinhard Ullmann, Vera M Kalscheuer, Sarah A Shoichet
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  ABSTRACT: The c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs) are stress-activated serine-threonine kinases that have recently been linked to various neurological disorders. We previously described a patient with intellectual disability (ID) and seizures (Patient 1), carrying a de novo chromosome translocation affecting the CNS-expressed MAPK10/JNK3 gene. Here, we describe a second ID patient (Patient 2) with a similar translocation that likewise truncates MAPK10/JNK3, highlighting a role for JNK3 in human brain development. We have pinpointed the breakpoint in Patient 2, which is just distal to that in Patient 1. In both patients, the rearrangement resulted in a predicted protein interrupted towards the C-terminal end of the kinase domain. We demonstrate that these truncated proteins, although capable of weak interaction with various known JNK scaffolds, are not capable of phosphorylating the classical JNK target c-Jun in vitro, which suggests that the patient phenotype potentially arises from partial loss of JNK3 function. We next investigated JNK3-binding partners to further explore potential disease mechanisms. We identified PSD-95, SAP102 and SHANK3 as novel interaction partners for JNK3, and we demonstrate that JNK3 and PSD-95 exhibit partially overlapping expression at synaptic sites in cultured hippocampal neurons. Moreover, JNK3, like JNK1, is capable of phosphorylating PSD-95 in vitro, whereas disease-associated mutant JNK3 proteins do not. We conclude that reduced JNK3 activity has potentially deleterious effects on neuronal function via altered regulation of a set of post-synaptic proteins.
  Human Genetics 01/2013; · 5.07 Impact Factor
• Article: Dysfunction of the Heteromeric KV7.3/KV7.5 Potassium Channel is Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

  Mette Gilling, Hanne B Rasmussen, Kirstine Calloe, Ana F Sequeira, Marta Baretto, Guiomar Oliveira, Joana Almeida, Marlene B Lauritsen, Reinhard Ullmann, Susanne E Boonen, Karen Brondum-Nielsen, Vera M Kalscheuer, Zeynep Tümer, Astrid M Vicente, Nicole Schmitt, Niels Tommerup
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  ABSTRACT: Heterozygous mutations in the KCNQ3 gene on chromosome 8q24 encoding the voltage-gated potassium channel KV7.3 subunit have previously been associated with rolandic epilepsy and idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) including benign neonatal convulsions. We identified a de novo t(3;8) (q21;q24) translocation truncating KCNQ3 in a boy with childhood autism. In addition, we identified a c.1720C > T [p.P574S] nucleotide change in three unrelated individuals with childhood autism and no history of convulsions. This nucleotide change was previously reported in patients with rolandic epilepsy or IGE and has now been annotated as a very rare SNP (rs74582884) in dbSNP. The p.P574S KV7.3 variant significantly reduced potassium current amplitude in Xenopus laevis oocytes when co-expressed with KV7.5 but not with KV7.2 or KV7.4. The nucleotide change did not affect trafficking of heteromeric mutant KV7.3/2, KV7.3/4, or KV7.3/5 channels in HEK 293 cells or primary rat hippocampal neurons. Our results suggest that dysfunction of the heteromeric KV7.3/5 channel is implicated in the pathogenesis of some forms of autism spectrum disorders, epilepsy, and possibly other psychiatric disorders and therefore, KCNQ3 and KCNQ5 are suggested as candidate genes for these disorders.
  Frontiers in genetics. 01/2013; 4:54.
• Article: A mosaic maternal splice donor mutation in the EHMT1 gene leads to aberrant transcripts and to Kleefstra syndrome in the offspring.

  Andreas Rump, Laura Hildebrand, Andreas Tzschach, Reinhard Ullmann, Evelin Schrock, Diana Mitter
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  ABSTRACT: The euchromatic histone-lysine N-methyltransferase 1 (EHMT1) gene was examined in a 3-year-old boy with characteristic clinical features of Kleefstra syndrome. Sequencing of all 27 EHMT1 exons revealed a novel mutation, NM_024757.4:c.2712+1G>A, which affects the splice donor of intron 18. Whereas the index patient is heterozygous for that mutation, his phenotypically normal mother shows tissue-specific mosaicism. Sequencing of EHMT1 RT-PCR products revealed two aberrant transcript variants: in one variant, exon 18 was skipped; in the other, a near-by GT motif was used as splice donor and intronic sequence was inserted between exons 18 and 19. Both transcript variants were found in the patient and his mother. The latter had lower amounts of these transcripts consistent with mosaic status. This is the first description of an EHMT1 point mutation being inherited from a parent with verified mosaicism. The constitutive c.2712+1G>A splice site mutation in EHMT1 is fully pathogenic, and the transcript variants produced do not attenuate the severity of the disease.European Journal of Human Genetics advance online publication, 12 December 2012; doi:10.1038/ejhg.2012.267.
  European journal of human genetics: EJHG 12/2012; · 3.56 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: Venkateswarlu Kanamarlapudi

  Dataset: ARHGEF9+Epilepsy HumMutation09s

  Vera M Kalscheuer, Luciana Musante, Cheng Fang, Kirsten Hoffmann, Celine Fuchs, Eloisa Carta, Emma Deas, Kanamarlapudi Venkateswarlu, Corinna Menzel, Reinhard Ullmann, Niels Tommerup, Leda Dalprà, Andreas Tzschach, Angelo Selicorni, Bernhard Lüscher, Hans-Hilger Ropers, Kirsten Harvey, Robert J Harvey
• Article: Translocations disrupting PHF21A in the Potocki-Shaffer-syndrome region are associated with intellectual disability and craniofacial anomalies.

  Hyung-Goo Kim, Hyun-Taek Kim, Natalia T Leach, Fei Lan, Reinhard Ullmann, Asli Silahtaroglu, Ingo Kurth, Anja Nowka, Ihn Sik Seong, Yiping Shen, [......], Hans-Hilger Ropers, Lisa G Shaffer, Kerstin Kutsche, Lawrence C Layman, Niels Tommerup, Vera M Kalscheuer, Yang Shi, Cynthia C Morton, Cheol-Hee Kim, James F Gusella
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  ABSTRACT: Potocki-Shaffer syndrome (PSS) is a contiguous gene disorder due to the interstitial deletion of band p11.2 of chromosome 11 and is characterized by multiple exostoses, parietal foramina, intellectual disability (ID), and craniofacial anomalies (CFAs). Despite the identification of individual genes responsible for multiple exostoses and parietal foramina in PSS, the identity of the gene(s) associated with the ID and CFA phenotypes has remained elusive. Through characterization of independent subjects with balanced translocations and supportive comparative deletion mapping of PSS subjects, we have uncovered evidence that the ID and CFA phenotypes are both caused by haploinsufficiency of a single gene, PHF21A, at 11p11.2. PHF21A encodes a plant homeodomain finger protein whose murine and zebrafish orthologs are both expressed in a manner consistent with a function in neurofacial and craniofacial development, and suppression of the latter led to both craniofacial abnormalities and neuronal apoptosis. Along with lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1), PHF21A, also known as BHC80, is a component of the BRAF-histone deacetylase complex that represses target-gene transcription. In lymphoblastoid cell lines from two translocation subjects in whom PHF21A was directly disrupted by the respective breakpoints, we observed derepression of the neuronal gene SCN3A and reduced LSD1 occupancy at the SCN3A promoter, supporting a direct functional consequence of PHF21A haploinsufficiency on transcriptional regulation. Our finding that disruption of PHF21A by translocations in the PSS region is associated with ID adds to the growing list of ID-associated genes that emphasize the critical role of transcriptional regulation and chromatin remodeling in normal brain development and cognitive function.
  The American Journal of Human Genetics 07/2012; 91(1):56-72. · 10.60 Impact Factor
• Article: Deep sequencing reveals 50 novel genes for recessive cognitive disorders.

  Hossein Najmabadi, Hao Hu, Masoud Garshasbi, Tomasz Zemojtel, Seyedeh Sedigheh Abedini, Wei Chen, Masoumeh Hosseini, Farkhondeh Behjati, Stefan Haas, Payman Jamali, [......], Mohammad Javad Soltani Banavandi, Julia Hoffer, Masoumeh Falah, Luciana Musante, Vera Kalscheuer, Reinhard Ullmann, Andreas Walter Kuss, Andreas Tzschach, Kimia Kahrizi, H Hilger Ropers
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  ABSTRACT: Common diseases are often complex because they are genetically heterogeneous, with many different genetic defects giving rise to clinically indistinguishable phenotypes. This has been amply documented for early-onset cognitive impairment, or intellectual disability, one of the most complex disorders known and a very important health care problem worldwide. More than 90 different gene defects have been identified for X-chromosome-linked intellectual disability alone, but research into the more frequent autosomal forms of intellectual disability is still in its infancy. To expedite the molecular elucidation of autosomal-recessive intellectual disability, we have now performed homozygosity mapping, exon enrichment and next-generation sequencing in 136 consanguineous families with autosomal-recessive intellectual disability from Iran and elsewhere. This study, the largest published so far, has revealed additional mutations in 23 genes previously implicated in intellectual disability or related neurological disorders, as well as single, probably disease-causing variants in 50 novel candidate genes. Proteins encoded by several of these genes interact directly with products of known intellectual disability genes, and many are involved in fundamental cellular processes such as transcription and translation, cell-cycle control, energy metabolism and fatty-acid synthesis, which seem to be pivotal for normal brain development and function.
  Nature 09/2011; 478(7367):57-63. · 36.28 Impact Factor
• Article: Christianson syndrome in a patient with an interstitial Xq26.3 deletion.

  Andreas Tzschach, Reinhard Ullmann, Alischo Ahmed, Thomas Martin, Georg Weber, Oliver Decker-Schwering, Fernand Pauly, Mohammed Ghiath Shamdeen, Wolfgang Reith, Barbara Oehl-Jaschkowitz
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  ABSTRACT: Interstitial deletions of chromosome band Xq26.3 are rare. We report on a 2-year-old boy in whom array comparative genomic hybridization analysis revealed an interstitial 314 kb deletion in Xq26.3 affecting SLC9A6 and FHL1. Mutations in SLC9A6 are associated with Christianson syndrome (OMIM 300243), a syndromic form of X-linked mental retardation (XLMR) characterized by microcephaly, severe global developmental delay, ataxia and seizures. FHL1 mutations cause Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (OMIM 310300), X-linked myopathy with postural muscle atrophy (XMPMA, OMIM 300696), scapuloperoneal myopathy (OMIM 300695), or reducing body myopathy (OMIM 300717, 300718). The clinical problems of the patient reported here comprised severe intellectual disability, absent speech, ataxia, epilepsy, and gastroesophageal reflux, and could mostly be attributed to SLC9A6 insufficiency. In contrast to the majority of reported Christianson syndrome patients who were microcephalic, this patient was normocephalic, but his head circumference had decelerated from the 50th centile at birth to the 25th centile at the age of 2 ²/¹² years. Muscle problems due to the FHL1 deletion are not to be expected before late childhood, which is the earliest age of onset for FHL1 associated Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy. This patient broadens the spectrum of SLC9A6 mutations and contributes to the clinical delineation of Christianson syndrome. This is also the first patient with a deletion affecting both SLC9A6 and the complete FHL1 gene.
  American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A 09/2011; 155A(11):2771-4. · 2.39 Impact Factor
• Article: Chromosomal aberrations as detected by array comparative genomic hybridization in early low-grade intraepithelial neoplasias of the breast.

  Elvira Stacher, Vivien Boldt, Sebastian Leibl, Iris Halbwedl, Helmut H Popper, Reinhard Ullmann, Fattaneh A Tavassoli, Farid Moinfar
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  ABSTRACT: Low-grade flat ductal intraepithelial neoplasia (DIN1a, flat epithelial atypia) is one of the earliest morphologically recognizable neoplastic lesions of the breast. Frequently, it occurs concomitantly with lobular intraepithelial neoplasia (LIN). We aimed to elucidate chromosomal aberrations in these early neoplastic breast lesions with the use of array comparative genomic hybridization analysis. Laser capture microdissection of 12 archival formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens harbouring foci of both DIN1a and LIN was performed. All analysed cases of DIN1a and LIN showed chromosomal gains and losses. The aberration encountered most often was loss of 16q, noted in seven DIN1a (70% of those successfully examined) and 10 LIN (91%) cases. The next most common alteration was a gain on 1q, noted in four DIN1a (40%) and seven LIN (64%) cases. The results show concurrent chromosomal aberrations of 1q gains and 16q losses in several cases with coexisting LIN and DIN1a. These aberrations are known to be common in low-grade invasive (ductal and lobular) carcinomas as well as in more advanced (conventional) types of low-grade ductal intraepithelial neoplasia (DIN) (low-grade ductal carcinoma in situ). Our results raise the possibility of similar molecular-genetic pathways in coexisting LIN and low-grade flat DIN.
  Histopathology 09/2011; 59(3):549-55. · 3.08 Impact Factor
• Article: High frequency of rare copy number variants affecting functionally related genes in patients with structural brain malformations.

  Roxana Kariminejad, Allan Lind-Thomsen, Zeynep Tümer, Fikret Erdogan, Hans H Ropers, Niels Tommerup, Reinhard Ullmann, Rikke S Møller
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  ABSTRACT: During the past years, significant advances have been made in our understanding of the development of the human brain, and much of this knowledge comes from genetic studies of disorders associated with abnormal brain development. We employed array-comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) to investigate copy number variants (CNVs) in a cohort of 169 patients with various structural brain malformations including lissencephaly, polymicrogyria, focal cortical dysplasia, and corpus callosum agenesis. The majority of the patients had intellectual disabilities (ID) and suffered from symptomatic epilepsy. We detected at least one rare CNV in 38 patients (22.5%). All genes located within the rare CNVs were subjected to enrichment analysis for specific Gene Ontology Terms or Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways and to protein-protein network analysis. Based on these analyses, we propose that genes involved in "axonal transport," "cation transmembrane transporter activity," and the "c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) cascade" play a significant role in the etiology of brain malformations. This is to the best of our knowledge the first systematic study of CNVs in patients with structural brain malformations and our data show that CNVs play an important role in the etiology of these malformations, either as direct causes or as genetic risk factors.
  Human Mutation 08/2011; 32(12):1427-35. · 5.69 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: Hartmut Engels

  Article: Expanding the clinical spectrum associated with defects in CNTNAP2 and NRXN1.

  Anne Gregor, Beate Albrecht, Ingrid Bader, Emilia K Bijlsma, Arif B Ekici, Hartmut Engels, Karl Hackmann, Denise Horn, Juliane Hoyer, Jakub Klapecki, [......], Isabelle Maystadt, Sandra Nagl, Eva Prott, Sigrid Tinschert, Reinhard Ullmann, Eva Wohlleber, Geoffrey Woods, André Reis, Anita Rauch, Christiane Zweier
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  ABSTRACT: Heterozygous copy-number and missense variants in CNTNAP2 and NRXN1 have repeatedly been associated with a wide spectrum of neuropsychiatric disorders such as developmental language and autism spectrum disorders, epilepsy and schizophrenia. Recently, homozygous or compound heterozygous defects in either gene were reported as causative for severe intellectual disability. 99 patients with severe intellectual disability and resemblance to Pitt-Hopkins syndrome and/or suspected recessive inheritance were screened for mutations in CNTNAP2 and NRXN1. Molecular karyotyping was performed in 45 patients. In 8 further patients with variable intellectual disability and heterozygous deletions in either CNTNAP2 or NRXN1, the remaining allele was sequenced. By molecular karyotyping and mutational screening of CNTNAP2 and NRXN1 in a group of severely intellectually disabled patients we identified a heterozygous deletion in NRXN1 in one patient and heterozygous splice-site, frameshift and stop mutations in CNTNAP2 in four patients, respectively. Neither in these patients nor in eight further patients with heterozygous deletions within NRXN1 or CNTNAP2 we could identify a defect on the second allele. One deletion in NRXN1 and one deletion in CNTNAP2 occurred de novo, in another family the deletion was also identified in the mother who had learning difficulties, and in all other tested families one parent was shown to be healthy carrier of the respective deletion or mutation. We report on patients with heterozygous defects in CNTNAP2 or NRXN1 associated with severe intellectual disability, which has only been reported for recessive defects before. These results expand the spectrum of phenotypic severity in patients with heterozygous defects in either gene. The large variability between severely affected patients and mildly affected or asymptomatic carrier parents might suggest the presence of a second hit, not necessarily located in the same gene.
  BMC Medical Genetics 08/2011; 12:106. · 2.33 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: Björn Lamprecht

  Article: Genomic loss of the putative tumor suppressor gene E2A in human lymphoma.

  Anne Steininger, Markus Möbs, Reinhard Ullmann, Karl Köchert, Stephan Kreher, Björn Lamprecht, Ioannis Anagnostopoulos, Michael Hummel, Julia Richter, Marc Beyer, Martin Janz, Claus-Detlev Klemke, Harald Stein, Bernd Dörken, Wolfram Sterry, Evelin Schrock, Stephan Mathas, Chalid Assaf
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  ABSTRACT: The transcription factor E2A is essential for lymphocyte development. In this study, we describe a recurrent E2A gene deletion in at least 70% of patients with Sézary syndrome (SS), a subtype of T cell lymphoma. Loss of E2A results in enhanced proliferation and cell cycle progression via derepression of the protooncogene MYC and the cell cycle regulator CDK6. Furthermore, by examining the gene expression profile of SS cells after restoration of E2A expression, we identify several E2A-regulated genes that interfere with oncogenic signaling pathways, including the Ras pathway. Several of these genes are down-regulated or lost in primary SS tumor cells. These data demonstrate a tumor suppressor function of E2A in human lymphoid cells and could help to develop new treatment strategies for human lymphomas with altered E2A activity.
  Journal of Experimental Medicine 08/2011; 208(8):1585-93. · 13.85 Impact Factor
• Article: Mutations in the alpha 1,2-mannosidase gene, MAN1B1, cause autosomal-recessive intellectual disability.

  Muhammad Arshad Rafiq, Andreas W Kuss, Lucia Puettmann, Abdul Noor, Annapoorani Ramiah, Ghazanfar Ali, Hao Hu, Nadir Ali Kerio, Yong Xiang, Masoud Garshasbi, [......], Andreas Tzschach, Kimia Kahrizi, Khalid Mahmood, Farooq Naeem, Muhammad Ayub, Kelley W Moremen, John B Vincent, Hans Hilger Ropers, Muhammad Ansar, Hossein Najmabadi
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  ABSTRACT: We have used genome-wide genotyping to identify an overlapping homozygosity-by-descent locus on chromosome 9q34.3 (MRT15) in four consanguineous families affected by nonsyndromic autosomal-recessive intellectual disability (NS-ARID) and one in which the patients show additional clinical features. Four of the families are from Pakistan, and one is from Iran. Using a combination of next-generation sequencing and Sanger sequencing, we have identified mutations in the gene MAN1B1, encoding a mannosyl oligosaccharide, alpha 1,2-mannosidase. In one Pakistani family, MR43, a homozygous nonsense mutation (RefSeq number NM_016219.3: c.1418G>A [p.Trp473*]), segregated with intellectual disability and additional dysmorphic features. We also identified the missense mutation c. 1189G>A (p.Glu397Lys; RefSeq number NM_016219.3), which segregates with NS-ARID in three families who come from the same village and probably have shared inheritance. In the Iranian family, the missense mutation c.1000C>T (p.Arg334Cys; RefSeq number NM_016219.3) also segregates with NS-ARID. Both missense mutations are at amino acid residues that are conserved across the animal kingdom, and they either reduce k(cat) by ∼1300-fold or disrupt stable protein expression in mammalian cells. MAN1B1 is one of the few NS-ARID genes with an elevated mutation frequency in patients with NS-ARID from different populations.
  The American Journal of Human Genetics 07/2011; 89(1):176-82. · 10.60 Impact Factor
• Article: Identification of a novel candidate gene for non-syndromic autosomal recessive intellectual disability: the WASH complex member SWIP.

  Fabienne Ropers, Emmanuel Derivery, Hao Hu, Masoud Garshasbi, Mohsen Karbasiyan, Martin Herold, Gudrun Nürnberg, Reinhard Ullmann, Alexis Gautreau, Karl Sperling, Raymonda Varon, Anna Rajab
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  ABSTRACT: High-throughput sequencing has greatly facilitated the elucidation of genetic disorders, but compared with X-linked and autosomal dominant diseases, the search for genetic defects underlying autosomal recessive diseases still lags behind. In a large consanguineous family with autosomal recessive intellectual disability (ARID), we have combined homozygosity mapping, targeted exon enrichment and high-throughput sequencing to identify the underlying gene defect. After appropriate single-nucleotide polymorphism filtering, only two molecular changes remained, including a non-synonymous sequence change in the SWIP [Strumpellin and WASH (Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein and scar homolog)-interacting protein] gene, a member of the recently discovered WASH complex, which is involved in actin polymerization and multiple endosomal transport processes. Based on high pathogenicity and evolutionary conservation scores as well as functional considerations, this gene defect was considered as causative for ID in this family. In line with this assumption, we could show that this mutation leads to significantly reduced SWIP levels and to destabilization of the entire WASH complex. Thus, our findings suggest that SWIP is a novel gene for ARID.
  Human Molecular Genetics 07/2011; 20(13):2585-90. · 7.64 Impact Factor
• Article: Genotype-phenotype correlations in patients with retinoblastoma and interstitial 13q deletions.

  Diana Mitter, Reinhard Ullmann, Artur Muradyan, Ludger Klein-Hitpass, Deniz Kanber, Katrin Ounap, Marc Kaulisch, Dietmar Lohmann
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  ABSTRACT: Patients with an interstitial 13q deletion that contains the RB1 gene show retinoblastoma and variable clinical features. Relationship between phenotypic expression and loss of specific neighboring genes are unresolved, yet. We obtained clinical, cytogenetic and molecular data in 63 patients with an interstitial 13q deletion involving RB1. Whole-genome array analysis or customized high-resolution array analysis for 13q14.11q14.3 was performed in 38 patients, and cytogenetic analysis was performed in 54 patients. Deletion sizes ranged between 4.2 kb and more than 33.43 Mb; breakpoints were non-recurrent. Sequence analysis of deletion junctions in five patients revealed microhomology and insertion of 2-34 base pairs suggestive of non-homologous end joining. Milder phenotypic expression of retinoblastoma was observed in patients with deletions larger than 1 Mb, which contained the MED4 gene. Clinical features were compared between patients with small (within 13q14), medium (within 13q12.3q21.2) and large (within 13q12q31.2) deletions. Patients with a small deletion can show macrocephaly, tall stature, obesity, motor and/or speech delay. Patients with a medium deletion show characteristic facial features, mild to moderate psychomotor delay, short stature and microcephaly. Patients with a large deletion have characteristic craniofacial dysmorphism, short stature, microcephaly, mild to severe psychomotor delay, hypotonia, constipation and feeding problems. Additional features included deafness, seizures and brain and heart anomalies. We found no correlation between clinical features and parental origin of the deletion. Our data suggest that hemizygous loss of NUFIP1 and PCDH8 may contribute to psychomotor delay, deletion of MTLR1 to microcephaly and loss of EDNRB to feeding difficulties and deafness.
  European journal of human genetics: EJHG 04/2011; 19(9):947-58. · 3.56 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: peer.ccsd.cnrs.fr

  Article: Genotype–phenotype correlations in patients with retinoblastoma and interstitial 13q deletions

  Diana Mitter, Reinhard Ullmann, Artur Muradyan, Ludger Klein-Hitpa|[szlig, Deniz Kanber, Katrin |[Otilde]|unap, Marc Kaulisch, Dietmar Lohmann
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  ABSTRACT: Patients with an interstitial 13q deletion that contains the RB1 gene show retinoblastoma and variable clinical features. Relationship between phenotypic expression and loss of specific neighboring genes are unresolved, yet. We obtained clinical, cytogenetic and molecular data in 63 patients with an interstitial 13q deletion involving RB1. Whole-genome array analysis or customized high-resolution array analysis for 13q14.11q14.3 was performed in 38 patients, and cytogenetic analysis was performed in 54 patients. Deletion sizes ranged between 4.2 kb and more than 33.43 Mb; breakpoints were non-recurrent. Sequence analysis of deletion junctions in five patients revealed microhomology and insertion of 2–34 base pairs suggestive of non-homologous end joining. Milder phenotypic expression of retinoblastoma was observed in patients with deletions larger than 1 Mb, which contained the MED4 gene. Clinical features were compared between patients with small (within 13q14), medium (within 13q12.3q21.2) and large (within 13q12q31.2) deletions. Patients with a small deletion can show macrocephaly, tall stature, obesity, motor and/or speech delay. Patients with a medium deletion show characteristic facial features, mild to moderate psychomotor delay, short stature and microcephaly. Patients with a large deletion have characteristic craniofacial dysmorphism, short stature, microcephaly, mild to severe psychomotor delay, hypotonia, constipation and feeding problems. Additional features included deafness, seizures and brain and heart anomalies. We found no correlation between clinical features and parental origin of the deletion. Our data suggest that hemizygous loss of NUFIP1 and PCDH8 may contribute to psychomotor delay, deletion of MTLR1 to microcephaly and loss of EDNRB to feeding difficulties and deafness.Keywords: retinoblastoma; interstitial 13q deletion; array CGH analysis
  European Journal of HumanGenetics 04/2011; 19(9):947-958. · 4.40 Impact Factor
• Article: Inherited balanced translocation t(9;17)(q33.2;q25.3) concomitant with a 16p13.1 duplication in a patient with schizophrenia.

  Tod Fullston, Bronte Gabb, David Callen, Reinhard Ullmann, Erica Woollatt, Sharon Bain, Hilger H Ropers, Matt Cooper, David Chandler, Kim Carter, Assen Jablensky, Luba Kalaydjieva, Jozef Gecz
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  ABSTRACT: We report two rare genetic aberrations in a schizophrenia patient that may act together to confer disease susceptibility. A previously unreported balanced t(9;17)(q33.2;q25.3) translocation was observed in two schizophrenia-affected members of a small family with diverse psychiatric disorders. The proband also carried a 1.5 Mbp microduplication at 16p13.1 that could not be investigated in other family members. The duplication has been reported to predispose to schizophrenia, autism and mental retardation, with incomplete penetrance and variable expressivity. The t(9;17) (q33.2;q25.3) translocation breakpoint occurs within the open reading frames of KIAA1618 on 17q25.3, and TTLL11 (tyrosine tubulin ligase like 11) on 9q33.2, causing no change in the expression level of KIAA1618 but leading to loss of expression of one TTLL11 allele. TTLL11 belongs to a family of enzymes catalyzing polyglutamylation, an unusual neuron-specific post-translational modification of microtubule proteins, which modulates microtubule development and dynamics. The 16p13.1 duplication resulted in increased expression of NDE1, encoding a DISC1 protein partner mediating DISC1 functions in microtubule dynamics. We hypothesize that concomitant TTLL11-NDE1 deregulation may increase mutation load, among others, also on the DISC1 pathway, which could contribute to disease pathogenesis through multiple effects on neuronal development, synaptic plasticity, and neurotransmission. Our data illustrate the difficulties in interpreting the contribution of multiple potentially pathogenic changes likely to emerge in future next-generation sequencing studies, where access to extended families will be increasingly important.
  American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B Neuropsychiatric Genetics 03/2011; 156(2):204-14. · 3.70 Impact Factor
• Article: Biparental inheritance of chromosomal abnormalities in male twins with non-syndromic mental retardation.

  Mette Gilling, Allan Lind-Thomsen, Yuan Mang, Mads Bak, Morten Møller, Reinhard Ullmann, Ulf Kristoffersson, Vera M Kalscheuer, Karen Friis Henriksen, Merete Bugge, Zeynep Tümer, Niels Tommerup
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  ABSTRACT: In a monozygotic twin couple with mental retardation (MR), we identified a maternally inherited inversion and a paternally inherited translocation: 46,XY,inv(10)(p11.2q21.2)mat,t(9;18)(p22;q21.1)pat. The maternally inherited inv(10) was a benign variant without any apparent phenotypical implications. The translocation breakpoint at 9p was within a cluster of interferon α genes and the 18q21 breakpoint truncated ZBTB7C (zinc finger and BTB containing 7C gene). In addition, analyses with array-CGH revealed a 931 kb maternally inherited deletion on chromosome 8q22 as well as an 875 kb maternally inherited duplication on 5p14. The deletion encompasses the RIM2 (Rab3A-interacting molecule 2), FZD6 (Frizzled homolog 6) and BAALC (Brain and Acute Leukemia Gene, Cytoplasmic) genes and the duplication includes the 5' end of the CDH9 (cadherin 9) gene. Exome sequencing did not reveal any additional mutations that could explain the MR phenotype. The protein products of the above mentioned genes are involved in different aspects of brain development and/or maintenance of the neurons which suggest that accumulation of genetic defects segregating from both parents might be the basis of MR in the twins. This hypothesis was further supported by protein interaction analysis.
  European journal of medical genetics 03/2011; 54(4):e383-8. · 1.57 Impact Factor
• Article: 500K SNP array analyses in blood and saliva showed no differences in a pair of monozygotic twins discordant for cleft lip.

  Linda P Jakobsen, Merete Bugge, Reinhard Ullmann, Charlotte K Schjerling, Rehannah Borup, Lars Hansen, Hans Eiberg, Niels Tommerup
  American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A 02/2011; 155A(3):652-5. · 2.39 Impact Factor
• Article: A cohort of balanced reciprocal translocations associated with dyslexia: identification of two putative candidate genes at DYX1.

  Roberta Buonincontri, Iben Bache, Asli Silahtaroglu, Carsten Elbro, Anne-Mette Veber Nielsen, Reinhard Ullmann, Ger Arkesteijn, Niels Tommerup
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  ABSTRACT: Dyslexia is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders where likely many genes are involved in the pathogenesis. So far six candidate dyslexia genes have been proposed, and two of these were identified by rare chromosomal translocations in affected individuals. By systematic re-examination of all translocation carriers in Denmark, we have identified 16 different translocations associated with dyslexia. In four families, where the translocation co-segregated with the phenotype, one of the breakpoints concurred (at the cytogenetic level) with either a known dyslexia linkage region--at 15q21 (DYX1), 2p13 (DYX3) and 1p36 (DYX8)--or an unpublished linkage region at 19q13. As a first exploitation of this unique cohort, we identify three novel candidate dyslexia genes, ZNF280D and TCF12 at 15q21, and PDE7B at 6q23.3, by molecular mapping of the familial translocation with the 15q21 breakpoint.
  Behavior Genetics 01/2011; 41(1):125-33. · 2.52 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: Masoud Garshasbi

  Article: Next generation sequencing in a family with autosomal recessive Kahrizi syndrome (OMIM 612713) reveals a homozygous frameshift mutation in SRD5A3.

  Kimia Kahrizi, Cougar Hao Hu, Masoud Garshasbi, Seyedeh Sedigheh Abedini, Shirin Ghadami, Roxana Kariminejad, Reinhard Ullmann, Wei Chen, H-Hilger Ropers, Andreas W Kuss, Hossein Najmabadi, Andreas Tzschach
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  ABSTRACT: As part of a large-scale, systematic effort to unravel the molecular causes of autosomal recessive mental retardation, we have previously described a novel syndrome consisting of mental retardation, coloboma, cataract and kyphosis (Kahrizi syndrome, OMIM 612713) and mapped the underlying gene to a 10.4-Mb interval near the centromere on chromosome 4. By combining array-based exon enrichment and next generation sequencing, we have now identified a homozygous frameshift mutation (c.203dupC; p.Phe69LeufsX2) in the gene for steroid 5α-reductase type 3 (SRD5A3) as the disease-causing change in this interval. Recent evidence indicates that this enzyme is required for the conversion of polyprenol to dolichol, a step that is essential for N-linked protein glycosylation. Independently, another group has recently observed SRD5A3 mutations in several families with a type 1 congenital disorder of glycosylation (CDG type Ix, OMIM 212067), mental retardation, cerebellar ataxia and eye disorders. Our results show that Kahrizi syndrome and this CDG Ix subtype are allelic disorders, and they illustrate the potential of next-generation sequencing strategies for the elucidation of single gene defects.
  European journal of human genetics: EJHG 01/2011; 19(1):115-7. · 3.56 Impact Factor