Novel mutations in the TBX5 gene in patients with Holt-Oram Syndrome

The Holt-Oram syndrome (HOS) is an autosomal dominant condition characterized by upper limb and cardiac malformations. Mutations in the TBX5 gene cause HOS and have also been associated with isolated heart and arm defects. Interactions between the TBX5, GATA4 and NKX2.5 proteins have been reported in humans. We screened the TBX5, GATA4, and NKX2.5 genes for mutations, by direct sequencing, in 32 unrelated patients presenting classical (8) or atypical HOS (1), isolated congenital heart defects (16) or isolated upper-limb malformations (7). Pathogenic mutations in the TBX5 gene were found in four HOS patients, including two new mutations (c.374delG; c.678G > T) in typical patients, and the hotspot mutation c.835C > T in two patients, one of them with an atypical HOS phenotype involving lower-limb malformations. Two new mutations in the GATA4 gene were found in association with isolated upper-limb malformations, but their clinical significance remains to be established. A previously described possibly pathogenic mutation in the NKX2.5 gene (c.73C > 7) was detected in a patient with isolated heart malformations and also in his clinically normal father.     

Induction of apoptosis and inhibition of cell growth by <Emphasis Type="Italic">tbx5</Emphasis> knockdown contribute to dysmorphogenesis in Zebrafish embryos

Background  

The tbx5 mutation in human causes Holt-Oram syndrome, an autosomal dominant condition characterized by a familial history of congenital heart defects and preaxial radial upper-limb defects. We report aberrant apoptosis and dormant cell growth over head, heart, trunk, fin, and tail of zebrafish embryos with tbx5 deficiency correspond to the dysmorphogenesis of tbx5 morphants.     

Holt-Oram syndrome: a new mutation in the TBX5 gene in two unrelated families

Holt-Oram syndrome (HOS) is a specific developmental defect involving upper limb malformations and cardiac defects. Mutations in the TBX5 gene, located on chromosome 12q24.1, were demonstrated as the underlying molecular defect in several families with this disorder. We report on two unrelated families with HOS. Affected members of both families have the same truncation mutation in exon 5 of the TBX5 gene (Y136X). This mutation has not been reported before in HOS. The spectrum of defects is similar in both families, displaying an ASD, hypoplastic deltoid muscles and hypoplastic or absent thumbs extending to radial defects in one case. So far, only a single genotype-phenotype analysis in HOS has been done which is not sufficient to explain the high inter- and intrafamilial variability of expression. Our observation further supports that the position of the mutation in the TBX5 gene is related to the phenotype expression of HOS.