Interestingly, bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) transgenic mice overexpressing human TBX1 and three other transgenes, had similar malformations as VCFS/DGS patients.
TBX1, encoding a T-box-containing transcription factor, is the major candidate gene for del22q11.2 (DiGeorge or velo-cardio-facial) syndrome, characterized by craniofacial defects, thymic hypoplasia, cardiovascular anomalies, velopharyngeal insufficiency and skeletal muscle hypotonia.
We identified three mutations of TBX1 in two unrelated patients without the 22q11.2 deletion-one with sporadic conotruncal anomaly face syndrome/velocardiofacial syndrome and one with sporadic DiGeorge's syndrome-and in three patients from a family with conotruncal anomaly face syndrome/velocardiofacial syndrome.
We identified three mutations of TBX1 in two unrelated patients without the 22q11.2 deletion-one with sporadic conotruncal anomaly face syndrome/velocardiofacial syndrome and one with sporadic DiGeorge's syndrome-and in three patients from a family with conotruncal anomaly face syndrome/velocardiofacial syndrome.
We identified three mutations of TBX1 in two unrelated patients without the 22q11.2 deletion-one with sporadic conotruncal anomaly face syndrome/velocardiofacial syndrome and one with sporadic DiGeorge's syndrome-and in three patients from a family with conotruncal anomaly face syndrome/velocardiofacial syndrome.
We identified three mutations of TBX1 in two unrelated patients without the 22q11.2 deletion-one with sporadic conotruncal anomaly face syndrome/velocardiofacial syndrome and one with sporadic DiGeorge's syndrome-and in three patients from a family with conotruncal anomaly face syndrome/velocardiofacial syndrome.
Schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders are quite common features in patients with DiGeorge/velocardiofacial syndrome (DGS/VCFS) as a result of hemizygosity of chromosome 22q11.2.
Mice hemizygous at the Tbx1 locus show a remarkable incidence of heart outflow tract anomalies, of the same type commonly found in DiGeorge/Velo-cardio-facial syndrome (DGS/VCFS).
Mouse studies have shown that the Tbx1 gene is haploinsufficient, as expected for a DGS candidate gene, and that it is required for the development of pharyngeal arches and pouches, as predicted by the DGS clinical phenotype.
Mutations in human T-box genes TBX3, TBX5, and TBX1 cause severe genetic disorders known as Ulnar-Mammary syndrome (UMS), Holt-Oram syndrome (HOS), and DiGeorge syndrome, respectively.
Most DGS cases are caused by a heterozygous chromosomal deletion del22q11, and the search for haploinsufficient genes has been successful in mice and led to the discovery of Tbx1 as a major player in the development of the pharyngeal arches and pouches.
Three such disorders-cat-eye syndrome (CES), der(22) syndrome, and velocardiofacial syndrome/DiGeorge syndrome (VCFS/DGS)-are associated with four, three, and one dose, respectively, of parts of 22q11.
To demonstrate the efficiency, sensitivity, and specificity of PRINS in the diagnosis of microdeletions, we studied groups of patients with Prader Willi/Angelman (PWS/AS) syndrome and DiGeorge/velocardiofacial syndrome (DGS/VCFS).
22q11 deletion syndrome (22qDS), also known as DiGeorge or velocardiofacial syndrome (DGS/VCFS), is a relatively common genetic anomaly that results in malformations of the heart, face and limbs.
Here, the genetic pathways regulating cardiac neural crest development are reviewed and the evidence implicating TBX1 and other genes on chromosome 22q11 in the pathogenesis of DiGeorge syndrome is summarized.
Our data show that haploinsufficiency of Tbx1 is sufficient to generate at least one important component of the DiGeorge syndrome phenotype in mice, and demonstrate the suitability of the mouse for the genetic dissection of microdeletion syndromes.