Non-Mendelian Inheritance and Multifactorial Inheritance Flashcards
what are the deviations from mendelian inheritance patterns?
- mitochondrial inheritance
- X inactivation
- multifactorial traits
what factors influence phenotypic expression of single gene disorders?
- mosaicism
- incomplete penetrance
- variable expression
- allelic and locus heterogeneity
- pleiotropy
- epigenetics and genomic imprinting/chromatin remodeling
- uniparental disomy
- anticipation and repeat exansion
what is mosaicism?
presence of 2 or more cell lines in an organism
what can lead to mosaicism?
nondisjunction during mitosis or X inactivation
2 types of mosaicism
- chromosomal mosaicism – xinactivation
2. gene variant mosaicism – mutations during embryogenesis
expressitivity of mosaicism
depending on what percentage of and what types of cells harbor the pathogenic variant, a mosaic individual may only exhibit some of the features associated with the condition
what causes trisomy 21 mosaicism? (47, +21/46)
nondisjunction of chromosome 21 occurs during MITOSIS in one of the early cell divisions
phenotype of trisomy 21 mosaicism?
- less extreme phenotype
2. 3% of Downs Syndrome
2 populations in trisomy 21 mosaicism?
- normal cell line with 46 chromosomes
2. a second cell line with 47 chromosomes (trisomy 21)
significance of early occurrence of trisomy 21 mosaicism
if the mutations occur later in development, there are fewer cells affected and less severe.
if mutations occur early in development, there are 50/50 normal/trisomy cells since the inactivated/mutated alleles are passed down more
what would karyotype be for trisomy 21 due to nondisjunction during meiosis
47,XY+21
what would be karyotype for trisomy 21 due to Robertsonian Translocation?
46,XY,-14,+(14q;21q)
what would karyotype be for trisomy 21 due to mosaicism?
key difference is 47 versus 46 chromosomes in the individual with Down Syndrome
what is penetrance?
percentage of individuals with the disease genotype who display the disease phenotype
complete penetrance
every individual with a mutation will have phenotype/symptoms of disorder
incomplete or reduced penetrance
some individuals with disease causing mutation do not show signs of the disorder
what factors affect penetrance?
- modifier genes
- heteroplasmy
- sex
- age
- environment
penetrance of mitochondrial diseases?
penetrance of mitochondrial diseases that are caused by pathogenic variants in the mtDNA is mainly dependent on percentage of heteroplasmy in individuals
examples of incomplete penetrance
- hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome (BRCA1 or BRCA2) - increased risk, but not every person develops cancer
- hemochromatosis - men early age 30yo, women menopause
- xeroderma pigmentosum
- FRAGILE X SYNDROME
explain penetrance in fragile x syndrome
penetrance varies between number of repeats and between males and females (symptoms milder in females)
what causes Fragile X syndrome
EXPANSION of CGG sequence in the 5’ untranslated region (UTR) in FMR1 gene, leading to silence of gene through DNA methylation
what does FMR1 gene do?
regulating translation of certain proteins in neurons
symptoms of Fragile X syndrome
- macrosomia and macrocephaly at birth
- prominent forehead and jaw, large ears, long thin face, flat feet
- intellectual disability ranging from mild to severe
- ADHD and hyperactivity
- shy, anxiety, unstable mood, little social interaction
- AFTER PUBERTY abnormally large testicles
what is expressivity?
phenotypic variation between individuals with the same genotype
what factors affect expression of a genetic disease?
- age
- diet
- exercise
- exposure to harmful chemicals
- smoking
- UV light
examples of variable expressivity
- individuals in the same family with the same pathogenic mtDNA variant display different phenotypic features of the condition
- neurofibromatosis 1 – cafe-au-lait spots and axillary freckling vs subcutaneous neurofibromas, cafeaulait spots and optic glioma
- hereditary hemochromatosis (HFE)
examples of variable expression and incomplete penetrance?
- hereditary hemochromatosis
2. neurofibromatosis type 1
what is allelic heterogeneity
different mutations in the SAME gene/allele leading to the SAME phenotype
examples of allelic heterogeneity
- Marfan syndrome – nearly 2000 different disease causing mutations in FBN1 gene
- PKU – more than 100 gene mutations
- CF – mutations in CFTR gene causing complete absence or partial activation
what is locus heterogeneity?
specific/same phenotype caused by alterations in more than one gene/locus
aka one disorder can be caused by mutations in genes at different chromosomal loci
example of locus heterogeneity?
osteogenesis imperfecta
describe mutations for osteogenesis imperfecta
- pathogenic varients in EITHER COL1A1 or COL1A2 genes result in poor quality collagen or insufficient quantities of collagen
- subunits of procollagen triple helix encoded by 2 genes located on chromosomes 17 and 7
- mutation in CRTAP or P3H1 also (besides collagen)
what is pleiotropy
a single gene causing more than one phenotypic trait that may seem unrelated
example of pleiotropy
Marfan syndrome
what is example of pleiotropy and allelic heterogeneity
Marfan syndrome
what is epigenetics?
heritable alterations/factors that are NOT due to changes in the DNA sequence, and therefore DO NOT disrupt the genetic code
what do epigenetic factors/mechanisms alter?
gene expression – therefore, these alterations can cause persons with the same DNA sequences to have different disease profiles
what are epigenetic alterations regulated by?
- ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS which can be transferred through generations
- behavioral circumstances