Lecture 16: Molecular Cytogenetics DNA structural variation: Copy Number Variants (CNVs) Flashcards
Abnormal whole chromosome copy
number (chromosome aneuploidy)
MONOSOMY = 5
1 ➢Loss of a single chromosome
2 ➢Autosomal monosomy
3. ➢ Generally not compatible with life
- ➢Sex chromosomal monosomy
- ➢ 45,X compatible
Mechanism for aneuploidy: Error at cell division…Chromosomal nondisjunction
MEIOSIS ONE
- nondisjunction during meiosis I
- HOMOLOGOUS CHROMOSOME
MEIOSIS 2
- Sister chromatids
- nondisjunction during meiosis II
Whole chromosome aneuploidy = 3
1 *Major cause of fetal death as most aneuploidies are incompatible with life
2 *Accounts for ~50% of pregnancy loss in the first trimester
- *However, some aneuploidies do result in viable offspring with a spectrum of
developmental disorders
What is Trisomy 21 = Down syndrome (
*Most individuals (95%) have 3 free copies of chromosome 21
* ~5% case - 1 copy is translocated to another acrocentric chromosome (often 14 or 21)
*Most cases arise from error at maternal meiosis I
*Minority cases ‘from error during spermatogenesis’
- ~5% cases error mitosis (postzygotic nondisjunction)
*Clinical features may include:
◦ Intellectual disabilities
◦ Congenital heart disease
◦ Thyroid disorders
◦ Single palmar crease
◦ Characteristic facial features
◦ Poor immune function
◦ Increased risk leukemia (both ALL and AML)
Trisomy 18 = Edwards Syndrome
- Severe - majority of infants die in 1st year of life
- Dysmorphic facial features (micrognathia, small ears)
- Rocker-bottom feet and clenched hands
- Many organ malformations including:
◦ Severe intellectual disability
◦ Failure to thrive
◦ Cardiovascular( >95%)
◦ Gastrointestinal
◦ Genitourinary
Trisomy 13 = Patau syndrome
- Severe - high postnatal mortality
- Only 5-10% of children live past 1st year
- Clinical features include:
◦ Heart defects
◦ brain or spinal cord abnormalities
(holoprosencephaly)
◦ Urogenital abnormalities
◦ Rocker bottom feet
◦ Small or poorly developed eyes (microphthalmia)
◦ Polydactyly (Extra fingers or toes)
◦ Cleft lip with or without cleft palate
Klinefelter syndrome 47,XXY
- Variable symptoms of Klinefelter syndrome
- Males with 47,XXY are invariably infertile
- Some have poor development of secondary sexual characteristics and female fat distribution
- Other clinical features may include:
◦ Noticeable breast tissue (gynecomastia)
◦ Long legs/arms
◦ Developmental delay
◦ Speech/language deficits
◦ Learning disabilities/academic issues
◦ Behavioural issues
45,X Turner syndrome
- Variable phenotype in females
- Common abnormalities include:
◦ Short stature
◦ Swelling of the hands and feet
◦ low-set ears
◦ webbed neck
◦ Reproductive sterility (No menstrual periods)
◦ congenital heart disease
◦ Low thyroid hormone
◦ Diabetes
◦ Vision problems and hearing problems
◦ Possible cognitive deficits
Diagnosis of whole chromosome copy
number changes = 5
- QF-PCR - most commonly used for prenatal detection. Cheapest and fastest.
- NIPT - non-invasive prenatal detection used as a screening test.
- FISH – good if mosaicism is suspected.
- Karyotype – confirms QF-PCR result, valuable as can detect any translocations
which is helpful for recurrence risk - Microarray – good for pregnancy loss as no cell culture required
Microdeletion and microduplication
syndromes = 6
1 *Hundreds of syndromes are known to be caused by small deletions or
duplications that cannot be seen by conventional cytogenetics (karyotype)
2 *Mostly detected by microarray, MLPA or FISH
3 *Many are recurrent – occur in same location in the genome in many different
patients
4 *The DNA sequences in these regions of the genome are often responsible for the
rearrangements
5 *Low copy repeat (LCR) sequences can cause DNA to misalign at meiosis or mitosis and result in deletions or duplications
- LCRs predispose the region to recurrent genomic rearrangements by non-allelic homologous recombination
Non allelic homologous recombination
(NAHR) = 2
- Misalignment and recombination between Low Copy Repeat (LCR) sequence
- Gives rise to reciprocal duplication & deletion
diagram on slide 15
Examples of recurrent microdeletion and
microduplication syndromes = 5
- 22q11.2 deletion syndrome
- 22q11.2 duplication syndrome
- Williams syndrome (7q11.23 deletion)
- Prader Willi / Angelman syndrome (15q11.2 deletion)
- 15q11.2 duplication syndrome
Case 1: 22q11.2 deletion syndrome = 8
1 *The most common microdeletion syndrome (~1:4,000 live births)
2 *Patients with 22q11.2 deletion have characteristic clinical features
3 *The acronym CATCH 22 has been used:
…4 - C: Cardiac defects
…5 - A: Abnormal facies
…6 - T: Thymic hypoplasia (underdeveloped thymus), Immunodeficiency
…7 - C: Cleft Palate
…8 - H: Hypocalcemia (low calcium), secondary to hypoparathyroidism
also neonatal seizures, developmental delay, behavioural issues, poor muscle tone
Microarray Result : 22q11.21 deletion
~2.6Mb deletion
TBX1 is a critical gene
~45 genes
diagram on slide 18
Sub-microscopic 22q11.2 deletions occur within a region of complex genomic architecture
8 LCRs (A-H)
diagram on slide 19