Block 6 Flashcards
What are alleles?
Variations in DNA sequence found at a particular locus
How do you determine chances of both children inheriting a disorder?
(chance of one) X (chance of other)
Acrocentric chromosome
Centromere located at the end of the chromsome
Is the q arm the longer or shorter part of the chromosome?
Longer arm
What types of tissues are appropriate for analysis?
Lymphocytes from blood, cord blood, or BM. Fibroblasts from tissue, amniotic fluid, or chorionic villi
What is aneuploidy and how is it denoted?
Having a chromosome number not equal to a multiple of the haploid number.
Denoted: # chromosomes, sex chromosomes, additional or missing chromosome (47, XX, +21)
What is polyploidy and how is it denoted?
Having an abnormal number of chromosomes equal to a multiple of the haploid number (triploidy = 3n=69) # chromosomes, sex chromosomes
What are the two methods of triploidy?
- Dispermy -abnormal placenta with growth retarded fetus
3. Disomic egg- growth retarded fetus and small placenta
What is mosaicism?
Presence of two or more cell lines in an individual or tissue sample
What is dichytyotene?
Stage of oogenesis where oogonia remain halted in prophase I until ovulation.
When does chromosome nondisjunction occur?
During homolog pairing in meiosis I or sister chromatid separation in meiosis II
What are the most common trisomies that survive until birth?
Down syndrome, trisomies 13&16, Turner syndrome
What are the mechanisms of trisomy 21?
Maternal meiosis errors (85-90%)
Paternal meiosis errors (3-5%)
mitotic errors and robertsonian translocation (10%)
When do most of the maternal meiosis errors occur? Paternal?
Maternal: 75% meiosis I
Paternal: 75% meiosis II
What is Edwards syndrome and what are the clinical features?
Trisomy 18. DD/MR, dysmorphism, malformations
What is Patau syndrome and what are the clinical features?
Trisomy 13. Growth retardation, DD/ MR, Midline defects, clefting, microphtalmia, plydactyly, malformations
What is Turner syndrome and what are the clinical features?
Monosomy X. Short stature, broad chest, cubitus valgus, short webbed neck, congenital lymphedema, sensory-motor integration dysfunction, streak ovaries (infertility).
Can be mosaic with 46,XX or XY cells
What is Klinefelter syndrome and what are the clinical features?
47, XXY aneuploidy. Tall stature, long legs, delayed puberty, infertility, gynecomastia, learning disabilities
Are there phenotypic abnormalities with 47, XXX or 47, XYY?
No
What is the SRY region?
Sex-determining region on the Y. Conserved sequence = DNA binding domain. Can be deleted in XY females or present in XX males
What are Robertsonian translocations?
Rearrangements involving only acrocentric chromosomes and result in fusion of two long arms with loss of the short arm.
What are the acrocentric chromosomes?
13, 14, 15, 21, and 22
What is the nomenclature for Robertsonian translocations?
45, XY, derivative chromosome and breakpoint of chromosome
What are the issues with segregation of Robertsonian translocations?
Robertsonian chromosomes can form trivalents with freelying chromosomes. During separation can form monosomic and trisomic chromosomes.
Where are Robertsonian translocations found clinically?
Infertile couples (males more), female carriers more likely to have trisomic conception. More likely to have trisomy 21 than trisomy 13.
What are balanced translocations?
Involve two breakpoints on two chromosomes and material is rearranged
What is the nomenclature for balanced translocations?
46, XX, t for translocation and breakpoints of corresponding chromosomes
What are unbalanced translocations?
Quadrivalent formed during meiosis and homologous recombination happens. Malsegregation can create unbalanced translocations.
What are derivative chromosomes?
Chromosomes containing material from more than one chromosome.
Are the chances for mental/ physical abnormalities greater if translocations are inherited or occur de novo?
De novo
What are the two types of deletions?
Terminal (occurs @ end) and interstitial (require 2 breaks)
What are paracentric inversions?
Inversions that Avoid the centromere with breakpoints in the same arm
What are pericentric inversions?
Inverstions that Include the centromere with breakpoints in each arm.
What is FISH used for?
Identification of chromosome material of unknown origin, detection of sub-microscopic chromosome alterations, detection of abnormalities in interphase cells,. Can detect specific gains, losses, and rearrangements depending on probe used
What is a polymorphism?
2 or more alleles for a given locus, each present in a population at a frequency of at least >1%
What is a compound heterozygote?
Genotype with two different alleles at the same locus where both alleles are different and both defective
What is the ratio of expression for dominant alleles?
3:1
What is the principle of segregation?
Organisms inherit two alleles for each trait and allele pairs separate during gamete formation.
What is the principle of independent assortment?
Genes at different loci are transmitted independently. Allele paris are randomly united at fertilization. An allele at one locus has no effect on an allele at another locus (NOT TRUE)
What are the characteristics of autosomal dominant inheritance?
Phenotype appears in every generation (vertical transmission), any child has 50% chance of inheritance, usually phenotypically normal family members don’t transmit. Males to females = equal likelihood and male-to-male transmission.
What is the inheritance pattern of incomplete dominant alleles?
If AB is an intermediate between AA and BB, then allele A is incompletely dominant to allele B
What is an example of incomplete dominant alleles?
Achondroplasia
dd: normal height
Dd: achondroplasia
DD: severe lethal achondroplasia
What is the inheritance pattern for co-dominant alleles?
If the phenotype of AB shows phenotypic features of alleles A and B then the alleles are co-dominant
What is an example of co-dominant alleles?
ABO blood groups where A & B are co-dominant and O is recessive
What are the recurrence risks of de novo mutations?
de novo (new) mutation:
parents of affected <1%
children of affected 50%
What is germline mosaicism?
Two or more children born with autosomal dominant disease where there’s no family history. Theoretically due to presence of more than one genetically distinct cell line in one parent (osteogenesis imperfecta)
Which diseases have delayed age of onset?
Huntington disease and breast cancer
What is penetrance?
Probability a gene will be expressed. Can be all or nothing or reduced.
What are two examples of penetrance?
HNPCC: 80% lifetime risk of colon cancer
Split-hand deformity ~70% penetrance
What is variable expression?
Penetrance is complete but the severity of disease can vary greatly both within and between families.
What is pleiotropy?
One gene produces multiple different effects on physiology or anatomy
What is an example of pleitropy?
Marfan syndrome
What is locus heterogenetiy?
single disorder caused by mutation in genes at different loci (hereditary breast cancer)
What is allelic heterogeneity?
Single disorder caused by different mutations in the same gene (cystic fibrosis)
What is phenotypic heterogeneity?
Different mutations in the same gene giving rise to different phenotypes (craniosynostosis syndromes)
What are the characteristics of autosomal recessive inheritance?
Clinical manifestation on in homozygous individuals. If phenotype occurs in more than one family member, it is usually seen in sibling of proband (not parents, offspring, and other relatives)
What is the recurrence risk if both parents are carriers?
1 in 4
What genetic disease are in higher frequencies in the Ashkenazi Jewish population?
Tay Sachs Disease and Gaucher Disease
What genetic disease occurs in higher frequencies in asian populations?
Alpha thalassemia
What genetic disease occurs in higher frequencies in greek/italian populations?
beta thalassemia
What is hemizygosity?
having only one member of a chromosome pair or chromosome segment rather than the usual two
What is the X-linked recessive inheritance pattern?
single dose mutant allele is a disease causing in males, two doses cause disease in females
What are some examples of X-linked recessive diseases?
Hemophilia A, duchenne muscular dystrophy, color blindness
When are females affected by X-linked recessive genes?
both copies in X, hemizygous female (45, X); translocation of X with preferential inactivation of normal X, skewed x-inactivation
What is the expression pattern for X-linked dominant conditions?
Occur in both males and females and phenotype is usually more severe in males
What is an example of an x-linked dominant disease?
hypophosphatemic rickets
Can X-linked traits be passed from father to son?
NO- dad only gives Y to son, but he will give affected X to all of his daughters
What are the features of X-linked dominant lethal traits?
No affected males seen because they die before term.
What is the recurrence risk for X-linked dominant lethal traits?
33%
What are two examples of X-linked dominant traits?
Goltz syndrome or incontinentia pigmenti
What are trinucleotide repeat disorders?
Disorders where trinucleotide repeats affect a segment of a gene and as they are passed, the number of trinucleotide repeats increases
What are some examples of trinucelotide repeat disorders?
Huntington’s disease, Fragile X, Myotonic dystrophy, Friedreich ataxia
What are contributing factors to trinucleotide diseases?
Repeat size (range in phenotype); parent of origin; anticipation = occurence of disease at earlier stages in successive generations
What are the characteristics of long expansions and fragile sites for trinucleotide repeat disorders?
Repeat 10X normal size, outside protein coding region, CCG/ CGG/ CTG motifs.
What are some examples of long expansion trinucleotide repeat disorders?
Fragile X, FXTAS, FRAXE, myotonic dystrophy, spinocerebellar ataxia type 8
What are the characteristics of Myotonic dystrophy type I?
Onset 20-40 yoa; muscular weakness/ wasting, cardiac arrhythmias, cataracts, male infertility, anticipation (esp from mom)
What is the recurrence risk for myotonic dystrophy type 1?
50% for children of affected parents to inherit gene
What causes myotonic dystrophy type I?
19q13 myotonin protein kinase CTG repeats in 3’ UTR. Affected at >50 repeats; congenital = 1000’s of repeats
What are the characteristics of congenital myotonic dystrophy?
Severe hypotonia, myopathic facies with tented mouth, absent suck, DD/MR, speech delay, club feet
What are the features of Fragile X syndrome?
FMR1 full mutation (>200) repeats. MR in males and mild retardation/ LD in females.
Males w/ characteristic features
What are the characteristic features of Fragile X syndrome?
macrocephaly, long face, prominent forehead and chin, protruding ears, connective tissue findings (laxity), and large testes.
What is fragile-x associated tremor/ ataxia syndrome?
In males with FMR1 premutation. Late-onset, progressive cerebellar ataxia and intention tremor
How common is FMR1-related premature ovarian failure?
Occurs in 20% of females with FMR1 premutation
Describe FMR1 pathogenesis
CGG repeats interrupted by AGG triplet every 9-10 repeats. AGG anchors segment against expansion. Uninterrupted repeats are methylated and causes decrease or complete absence of FMR1 transcript and protein. Expansion in oogenesis
What are the normal numbers of FMR1 repeats?
5-44 repeats. Alleles still stably transmitted.
What are the intermediate FMR1 repeat sizes?
45-54 repeats in gray zone. Expansions may predispose to learning and/ or behavior problems
What are the sizes and associations with FMR1 premutation alleles?
55-200 repeats. Increases risk for FXTAS and POF but not MR. Usu normal intellect and appearance. May be subtle social anxiety or learning difficulties