Abstract
Oculo-auriculo-vertebral spectrum (OAVS) is a developmental disorder characterized by hemifacial microsomia associated with ear, eyes and vertebrae malformations showing highly variable expressivity. Recently, MYT1, encoding the myelin transcription factor 1, was reported as the first gene involved in OAVS, within the retinoic acid (RA) pathway. Fifty-seven OAVS patients originating from Brazil were screened for MYT1 variants. A novel de novo missense variant affecting function, c.323C>T (p.(Ser108Leu)), was identified in MYT1, in a patient presenting with a severe form of OAVS. Functional studies showed that MYT1 overexpression downregulated all RA receptors genes (RARA, RARB, RARG), involved in RA-mediated transcription, whereas no effect was observed on CYP26A1 expression, the major enzyme involved in RA degradation, Moreover, MYT1 variants impacted significantly the expression of these genes, further supporting their pathogenicity. In conclusion, a third variant affecting function in MYT1 was identified as a cause of OAVS. Furthermore, we confirmed MYT1 connection to RA signaling pathway.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the ANR (Agence Nationale pour la Recherche, ANR-12-JVS1-0002), the University Hospital of Bordeaux (Appel Offre Interne GOLDGEN 2012), the Fondation Maladies Rares, and the Ministry of Research and Higher Education (PhD fellowship for MB) and São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Brazil. We thank Mr MARIE Yannick (in ICM in La Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France) for his technical support during sequencing by GS Junior Technology. We also thank the patients and their families.
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Berenguer, M., Tingaud-Sequeira, A., Colovati, M. et al. A novel de novo mutation in MYT1, the unique OAVS gene identified so far. Eur J Hum Genet 25, 1083–1086 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejhg.2017.101
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejhg.2017.101
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