Chromosome Abnormalities & Genomic Rearrangements Flashcards
What is cytogenetics?
Study of chromosomes (no., structure, instability etc)
List 3 types of chr abnormality
- Chr rearrangements
- Whole chr aneuploidy
- Copy no. imbalance
What are chr rearrangements?
Bits of chr move to diff chr so have right amount of genetic material but in wrong place
What is whole chr aneuploidy and give e.g.
- whole chr is add/missing
e. g. Trisomy 21/Down’s Syndrome
What is copy no. imbalance?
Bits missing from/extra bits within chr
List techniques used in traditional cytogen and what they involve
- G-banding (Chr banded to give specific pattern)
- Some FISH
- Breakage
Cell culture required to collect metaphase cells, then look at through microscope
List techniques used in molecular cytogen and what they involve
- QPCR (quantitative flourescent)
- MLPA
- Array CGH
Extract DNA from patient then tests carried out on DNA
What can chr rearrangements lead to?
- recurrent miscarriage
- infertility
What can copy no. imbalance lead to?
- dysmorphism
- dev delay
- learning diff
- specific phenotypes e.g. epilepsy, diabetes, cardiac malformations
What can chr breakage syndromes lead to?
- fanconi anaemia
- ataxia telangiectasia
How does whole chr aneuploidy arise?
- following non-disjunction at mitosis/meiosis
What does whole chr aneuploidy lead to?
large genomic imbalance leads to loss of conceptions except where chr involved is gene poor ( trisomy 13, 18 + 21 are only autosomal trisomies that are found at live birth)
Briefly describe what happens to chr in meiosis I
- Replication - homologous pairs replicate to form sister chromatids
- Synapsis - sister chromatids synapse (come next to each other)
- Recombination - crossing over
- Disjunction - split into 2 daughter cells
Describe what happens if there’s non-disjunction in meiosis I
- instead of sister chromatids splitting into 2 daughter cells, go into same daugther cells
- in meiosis II, end up with 2 disomic daughter cells with an extra chr and 2 nullisomic daughter cells with no chr
List 3 conceptuses that can result from non-disjunction
- disomic gamete + normal gamete –> trisomic conceptus
- nullisomic gamete + normal gamete –> monosomic conceptus
- disomic gamete + nullisomic gamete –> uniparental disomy (both chr from same parent)
What is mosaicism?
Diff cells in same indiv have diff no.s/arrangements of chr dev from single fertilised egg e.g. indiv with mosaic trisomy 18 has some cells with 3 copies of chr 18 + other cells with 2
How does mosaicism arise?
in an initially normal conceptus, due to non-disjunction/anaphase lag
What is anaphase lag?
- delayed movement of 1 homologous chr/chromatid + fails to connect to spindle/not drawn to pole properly
- so not included in reforming nucleus and lost from cell
- chr not in nucleus of 1 of daughter cells so get 1 normal daughter cells and 1 with monosomy
List 3 types of mosaicism
- Somatic
- Gonadal
- CPM
What is somatic mosaicism?
occurs when somatic cells of body are of more than 1 genotype arising from single fertilised egg due to mitotic errors at 1st/later cleavages
What is somatic mosaicism likely to result in?
abnormal phenotype if there’s high prop of abnormal cells
When is somatic mosaicism not as severe?
if phenotype improved by normal cell type i.e. mosaic trisomy 21 not as severe as full trisomy 21
What is gonadal mosaicism?
Some gametes carry mutuation but rest are normal
How does gonadal mosaicism arise?
during formation of germ cells + usually only identified following 2 pregnancies with same de-novo abnormality
What does gonadal mosaicism lead to?
abnormal cell line in gonads but normal somatic cells + so manifests as repeated conceptions with same aneuploidy
only some children affected even for dom disease
What is CPM?
Confined Placenta Mosaicism
- confined to embryonic tissue and occurs in 1-2% placenta and so may go undetected
What can CPM result in?
- may have normal outcome/compromised function of placenta or abnormal cell may go to placenta and so not in foetus
- may result in UPD following trisomy rescue
List 4 types of chr rearrangements
- Robertsonian translocations
- Reciprocal translocations
- Inversions
- Intrachromosomal insertions