Publicaties

Background: Incidental findings (IFs) and secondary findings (SFs), being results that are unrelated to the diagnostic question, are the subject of an important debate in the practice of clinical genomic medicine. Arguments for reporting these results or not doing so typically relate to the principles of autonomy, nonmaleficence and beneficence. However, these principles frequently conflict and are insufficient by themselves to come to a ...

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a rare autosomal recessive ectopic mineralization disorder, characterized by skin, eye and cardiovascular symptoms. The most devastating ocular complication is choroidal neovascularization, which is thought to be mediated by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling, a molecule encoded by the VEGFA gene. As early detection and treatment is essential to preserve vision, prioritization of patients at ...

We present key points from the updated Dutch-Flemish guideline on comprehensive diagnostics in disorders/differences of sex development (DSD) that have not been widely addressed in the current (inter)national literature. These points are of interest to physicians working in DSD (expert) centres and to professionals who come across persons with a DSD but have no (or limited) experience in this area. The Dutch-Flemish guideline is based on ...

Background: Knobloch syndrome (OMIM 267750) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder due to genetic defects in the COL18A1 gene. The triad of high myopia, occipital defect, vitreoretinal degeneration has been described as pathognomonic for this condition. Patients with Knobloch syndrome have also extraocular problems as brain and kidney malformations. High genetic and phenotypic variation has been reported in the affected patients. Materials and ...

The interplay of transcription factors and cis-regulatory elements (CREs) orchestrates the dynamic and diverse genetic programs that assemble the human central nervous system (CNS) during development and maintain its function throughout life. Genetic variation within CREs plays a central role in phenotypic variation in complex traits including the risk of developing disease. We took advantage of the retina, a well-characterized region of the CNS ...

Lysine acetyltransferase 6A (KAT6A) and its paralog KAT6B form stoichiometric complexes with bromodomain- and PHD finger-containing protein 1 (BRPF1) for acetylation of histone H3 at lysine 23 (H3K23). We report that these complexes also catalyze H3K23 propionylation in vitro and in vivo. Immunofluorescence microscopy and ATAC-See revealed the association of this modification with active chromatin. Brpf1 deletion obliterates the acylation in ...

Congenital cone-rod synaptic disorder (CRSD), also known as incomplete congenital stationary night blindness (iCSNB), is a non-progressive inherited retinal disease (IRD) characterized by night blindness, photophobia, and nystagmus, and distinctive electroretinographic features. Here, we report bi-allelic RIMS2 variants in seven CRSD-affected individuals from four unrelated families. Apart from CRSD, neurodevelopmental disease was observed in ...

Biallelic MFSD8 variants are an established cause of severe late-infantile subtype of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (v-LINCL), a severe lysosomal storage disorder, but have also been associated with nonsyndromic adult-onset maculopathy. Here, we functionally characterized two novel MFSD8 variants found in a child with juvenile isolated maculopathy, in order to establish a refined prognosis. ABCA4 locus resequencing was followed by the analysis ...

GATA2 deficiency, first described in 2011, is a bone marrow failure disorder resulting in a complex haematological and immunodeficiency syndrome characterised by cytopenias, severe infections, myelodysplasia and leukaemia. The only curative treatment is allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Although knowledge on this syndrome has greatly expanded, in clinical practice many challenges remain. In particular, guidelines on ...