ESPE Abstracts

Context: X chromosome inactivation (XCI) is a process in which one of the two X chromosomes in a female is randomly inactivated in order to correct gene dosage between males and females. However, about 15% of genes escape from XCI (termed escapees), and 10% of genes are variably inactivated (variable genes). The mechanism of inactivation and escape remains to be revealed. The promoter regions of escapees are hypomethylated compared to those of the inac...

Introduction: Temple syndrome (TS14) caused by maternal uniparental disomy chromosome 14 (UPD(14)mat), paternal deletions and the imprinting defect affecting the 14q32.2 imprinted region is associated with non-specific symptoms such as growth failure, precocious puberty, obesity, and diabetes mellitus (DM). Some TS14 cases are misdiagnosed as having Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS). In TS14, patient’s intelligence quotient (IQ) is usually normal, and autism spectrum disor...

Background: Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS) is a congenital developmental disorder characterised by pre- and post-natal growth failure, relative macrocephaly, hemihypotrophy, and fifth-finger clinodactyly. Recent studies have shown that gain-of-function mutations of CDKN1C result in IMAGe syndrome (IMAGeS) characterized by intrauterine growth restriction, metaphyseal dysplasia, adrenal hypoplasia congenita, and male genital abnormalities, whereas less severe gain-of-function mut...

Background: Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is a representative imprinting disorder with characteristic clinical features such as overgrowth, macroglossia, and abdominal wall defects. The BWS-responsible imprinted region is on chromosome 11p15.5. The CpGs within the H19/IGF2:IG-differentially methylated region (H19 -DMR) at the 11p15.5 imprinted region are maternally unmethylated and paternally methylated, and the H19- DMR function...

Abnormal expression of imprinted genes leads to imprinting disorders (IDs). Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS) and Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) are representative IDs showing small for gestational age and short stature (SGA-SS).Temple syndrome (TS14) caused by abnormal gene expression at the 14q32.2 imprinted region, maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 6 (UPD(6)mat), 16 (UPD(16)mat), and 20 (UPD(20)mat) are also associated with SGA-SS. Fuethermore, some copy number variations ...

Context: Pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1B (PHP1B) caused by methylation defects of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) on the GNAS locus can be categorized into groups according to etiologies and methylation defect patterns of the DMRs. However, there are no reports evaluating the clinical differences in detail, such as diagnostic features at onset and Albright’s hereditary osteodystrophy (AHO) features, among the groups.<stro...

Object: IGF2 is a paternally expressed gene involved in the development of Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS). Here, we report six Japanese patients with IGF2 mutations and compare clinical findings between patients with IGF2 mutations including literature cases and those with H19/IGF2:IG-DMR epimutations.Patients: We recruited six Japanese patients with IGF2 mutations. Th...

Background: Maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 16 (UPD(16)mat) is defined as the presence of two homologous chromosomes 16 inherited from only the mother. To our knowledge, 49 live-born UPD(16)mat patients without chromosomal abnormalities other than that in chromosome 16 have been reported. UPD(16)mat patients presented with non-specific clinical features such as preterm birth, growth retardation, congenital heart diseases (CHDs) and hypospadias. Silver-Russell syndrom...

Background: Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS) is a rare congenital developmental disorder characterised by pre- and postnatal growth failure, relative macrocephaly, triangular face, hemihypotrophy, and fifth finger clinodactyly. Hypomethylation of the H19-DMR and maternal uniparental disomy chromosome 7 (UPD(7)mat) were identified in about 30 and 10% of SRS patients respectively. Genetic causes of the remaining 60% of the patients are unknown. Growth failure, small hands, and hypo...

Loss of methylation (LOM) at GNAS-A/B:TSS-differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in the GNAS locus is observed in pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1B (PHP1B). Many PHP1B cases are sporadic, but autosomal dominant-PHP1B has a deletion involving NESP55 expressed from the maternal allele or STX16 located upstream of the GNAS locus on the maternal allele. We report the possible first familial PHP1B cases with retrotransposon insertion in the GNAS locus on the maternal allele. To ou...