A novel nonsense mutation in the NOG gene causes familial NOG-related symphalangism spectrum disorder

The roles and regulatory mechanisms of TGF-β and BMP signaling in bone and cartilage development, homeostasis and disease

Transforming growth factor-βs (TGF-βs) and bone morphometric proteins (BMPs) belong to the TGF-β superfamily and perform essential functions during osteoblast and chondrocyte lineage commitment and differentiation, skeletal development, and homeostasis. TGF-βs and BMPs transduce signals through SMAD-dependent and -independent pathways; specifically, they recruit different receptor heterotetramers and R-Smad complexes, resulting in unique biological readouts. BMPs promote osteogenesis, osteoclastogenesis, and chondrogenesis at all differentiation stages, while TGF-βs play different roles in a stage-dependent manner. BMPs and TGF-β have opposite functions in articular cartilage homeostasis. Moreover, TGF-β has a specific role in maintaining the osteocyte network. The precise activation of BMP and TGF-β signaling requires regulatory machinery at multiple levels, including latency control in the matrix, extracellular antagonists, ubiquitination and phosphorylation in the cytoplasm, nucleus-cytoplasm transportation, and transcriptional co-regulation in the nuclei. This review weaves the background information with the latest advances in the signaling facilitated by TGF-βs and BMPs, and the advanced understanding of their diverse physiological functions and regulations. This review also summarizes the human diseases and mouse models associated with disordered TGF-β and BMP signaling. A more precise understanding of the BMP and TGF-β signaling could facilitate the development of bona fide clinical applications in treating bone and cartilage disorders.

Identification of a novel nonsense NOG mutation in a patient with stapes ankylosis and symphalangism spectrum disorder

Multiple bone disorders due to mutations in the human noggin (NOG) causes a variety of phenotypes. Hearing impairment due to stapes ankylosis secondary to bony degeneration is also a feature of these syndromes. We describe the case of an individual in a Japanese family with conductive hearing loss due to stapes ankylosis and hyperopia and dactylosymphysis. We revealed a novel NOG mutation, NM_005450.6:c.222 C > A / p.Tyr74*, and confirmed genetic significance.

Genome-wide mapping of signatures of selection using a high-density array identified candidate genes for growth traits and local adaptation in chickens

BACKGROUND

Availability of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping arrays and progress in statistical analyses have allowed the identification of genomic regions and genes under selection in chicken. In this study, SNP data from the 600 K Affymetrix chicken array were used to detect signatures of selection in 23 local Italian chicken populations. The populations were categorized into four groups for comparative analysis based on live weight (heavy vs light) and geographical area (Northern vs Southern Italy). Putative signatures of selection were investigated by combining three extended haplotype homozygosity (EHH) statistical approaches to quantify excess of haplotype homozygosity within (iHS) and between (Rsb and XP-EHH) groups. Presence of runs of homozygosity (ROH) islands was also analysed for each group.

RESULTS

After editing, 541 animals and 313,508 SNPs were available for statistical analyses. In total, 15 candidate genomic regions that are potentially under selection were detected among the four groups: eight within a group by iHS and seven by combining the results of Rsb and XP-EHH, which revealed divergent selection between the groups. The largest overlap between genomic regions identified to be under selection by the three approaches was on chicken chromosome 8. Twenty-one genomic regions were identified with the ROH approach but none of these overlapped with regions identified with the three EHH-derived statistics. Some of the identified regions under selection contained candidate genes with biological functions related to environmental stress, immune responses, and disease resistance, which indicate local adaptation of these chicken populations.

CONCLUSIONS

Compared to commercial lines, local populations are predominantly reared as backyard chickens, and thus, may have developed stronger resistance to environmental challenges. Our results indicate that selection can play an important role in shaping signatures of selection in local chicken populations and can be a starting point to identify gene mutations that could have a useful role with respect to climate change.

Congenital Proximal Radioulnar Synostosis in an Elite Athlete–Case Report

Background and Objectives: Proximal radioulnar synostosis (PRUS) is the most frequent congenital forearm disorder, although the prevalence in the general population is rare with a few hundred cases reported. Pfeiffer, Poland, Holt–Oram, and other serious congenital syndromes contain this abnormality. Non-syndromic cases with isolated PRUS very often exhibit as SMAD6, NOG genes variants, or sex chromosome aneuploidy. A subgroup of patients with haematological abnormalities presents with HOXA11 or MECOM genes variants. Case report: We present a non-syndromic adult elite ice-hockey player with unilateral proximal radioulnar synostosis of the left forearm. In early childhood he was able to handle the hockey stick only as a right-handed player and the diagnosis was set later at the age of 8 years due to lack of supination. Cleary–Omer Type III PRUS was found on x-ray with radial head hypoplasia and mild osteophytic degenerative changes of humeroulnar joint. Since the condition had minimal impact on sports activities, surgical intervention was not considered. The player continued his ice-hockey career at the top level and joined a national team for top tournaments. Upper extremity function assessment with questionnaires and physical testing resulted in minimal impairment. The most compromised tool was the Failla score with 10 points from a total of 15. Genetic testing with Sanger sequencing revealed no significant pathogenic variant in SMAD6, NOG, and GDP5 genes. No potentially pathogenic copy number variants were detected by array-based comparative genomic hybridization. Conclusions: In the reported case, the ability of an athlete to deal with an anatomic variant limiting the forearm supination is demonstrated. Nowadays, a comprehensive approach to rule out more complex musculoskeletal impairment and family burden is made possible by evolving genetics.

Evaluation and Management of Adolescents With a Stiff Flatfoot

While flatfeet are normal in children, persistence into adolescence with associated pain or asymmetry warrants additional evaluation. Rigidity of a flatfoot deformity, whether a clinical report or evident on examination, should raise suspicion for pathology. The differential diagnosis includes tarsal coalition, neurogenic planovalgus, and peroneal spasticity. History must include pointed inquiry into birth and neurologic histories to probe for a source of central spasticity. Examination must include standing assessment of hindfoot and midfoot alignment. Hindfoot rigidity may be assessed by the double limb heel rise test and manual examination. Radiographs should include standing ankle (anterior-posterior and mortise) and whole foot (anterior-posterior, external rotation oblique, and lateral) images. Magnetic resonance imaging is more sensitive for identifying coalitions and better characterizes adjacent cartilage, subchondral edema, and tendon pathology, yet CT better characterizes the anatomy of a bony coalition. Conservative treatments are pathology-dependent and play a more prominent role in neurogenic or peroneal spastic flatfoot. Surgical management of coalitions is centered on coalition resection coupled with arthrodesis in the case of a talocalcaneal coalition with a dysplastic subtalar joint; concomitant planovalgus reconstruction is considered on a case-by-case basis.

Clinical and Molecular Study of the NOG Gene in Families with Mandibular Micrognathism

Objectives Previous studies showed that noggin gene ( NOG ) sequence alterations, as well as epigenetic factors, could influence mandibular development. The aim of this study was to analyze clinical characteristics, NOG gene sequences, and promoter methylation sites in patients with mandibular micrognathism.

Materials and Methods A total of 35 individuals of five Colombian families were subject to clinical and cephalometric analysis for mandibular micrognathism. One nonaffected individual of each family was included as a control. DNA was isolated from whole blood sample from all individuals by salting out method. Nine NOG gene fragments were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced. Identification of CpG islands for methylation analysis at the NOG gene promoter was performed by MSP-PCR kit (Qiagen R).

Statistical Analysis A descriptive statistical analysis was carried out evaluating the presence or absence of genetics variants and the methylation sites in the NOG gene.

ResultsNOG sequence results of affected individuals with mandibular micrognathism for one of the families studied demonstrated that they were heterozygous for 672 C/A (new mutation). For a second family, individuals were heterozygous for 567 G/C (single nucleotide polymorphism [SNP] RS116716909). For DNA analyzed from all patients studied, no methylations were observed at the NOG gene promoter region.

Conclusion Our results suggested that 672 C/A and 567 G/C variants could be involved in the presence of mandibular micrognathism. Moreover, lack of methylation sites at the NOG gene promoter region of all individuals studied suggests possibly other epigenetic factors could modulate mandibular growth. The search of genetic variants related with mandibular micrognathism will allow to predict in an integral way the development patterns of the patients and therefore establish a better clinical treatment.

Esophageal atresia/tracheoesophageal fistula and proximal symphalangism in a patient with a NOG nonsense mutation

Esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula (EA/TEF) are relatively common malformations of the human foregut. The etiology remains incompletely understood with genetic causes identified in a small minority of affected patients. We present the case of a newborn with type C EA/TEF along with proximal symphalangism found to have a de novo NOG nonsense mutation. Patients with chromosome 17q deletions including the NOG gene have previously been reported to have EA/TEF but mutations in the gene have not been identified in patients with this malformation. This case provides evidence that haploinsufficiency for NOG may be the cause for EA/TEF in the 17q deletion syndrome and suggests that the clinical spectrum of NOG-related symphalangism spectrum disorders may include EA/TEF.

A defect in the NOG gene increases susceptibility to spontaneous superficial chronic corneal epithelial defects (SCCED) in boxer dogs

Background

Superficial chronic corneal epithelial defects (SCCEDs) are spontaneous corneal defects in dogs that share many clinical and pathologic characteristics to recurrent corneal erosions (RCE) in humans. Boxer dogs are predisposed to SCCEDs, therefore a search for a genetic defect was performed to explain this susceptibility. DNA was extracted from blood collected from Boxer dogs with and without SCCEDs followed by whole genome sequencing (WGS). RNA sequencing of corneal tissue and immunostaining of corneal sections from affected SCCED Boxer dogs with a deletion in the NOG gene and affected non-Boxer dogs without the deletion were performed.

Results

A 30 base pair deletion at a splice site in Noggin (NOG) (Chr 9:31453999) was identified by WGS and was significantly associated (P < 0.0001) with Boxer SCCEDs compared to unaffected non-Boxer dogs. NOG, BMP4, MMP13, and NCAM1 all had significant fold reductions in expression and SHH was significantly increased in Boxers with the NOG deletion as identified by RNA-Seq. Corneal IHC from NOG deletion dogs with SCCEDs had lower NOG and significantly higher scores of BMP2.

Conclusions

Many Boxer dogs with SCCED have a genetic defect in NOG. NOG is a constitutive protein in the cornea which is a potent inhibitor of BMP, which likely regulate limbal epithelial progenitor cells (LEPC). Dysregulation of LEPC may play a role in the pathogenesis of RCE.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12917-021-02955-1.

Genetic and clinical phenotypic analysis of familial stapes sclerosis caused by an NOG mutation

Background

The noggin protein encoded by the NOG gene can interfere with the binding of bone morphogenetic protein to its receptor, thus affecting bone and joint development. The symptoms include abnormal skeletal development and conductive deafness.

Methods

In a retrospective study, clinical data of the proband and her family members, including 8 people and 50 healthy normal controls, were collected. Second-generation sequencing was performed on peripheral blood samples from them.

Results

The sequencing analysis indicated that in the proband, the NOG gene had a c.532T > C, p.C178R (cytosine deletion, NM_005450.6:c.532T > C), leading to an amino acid change. The proband's father, grandmother, second sister, and third sister also had this mutation, whereas family members with normal phenotypes did not have the mutation.

Conclusion

Analysis of this family showed that the novel presentation of the c.532T > C, p.C178R mutation in the NOG gene resulted in syndrome-type autosomal dominant inheritance reflected in a mild clinical phenotype, which is of great importance for further studies of the clinical phenotype and pathogenesis of stapes sclerosis.

Identification of an unknown frameshift variant of NOG in a Han Chinese family with proximal symphalangism

Proximal symphalangism (SYM1) is an autosomal dominant disorder manifested by ankylosis of the proximal interphalangeal joints of fingers, carpal and tarsal bone fusion, and conductive hearing loss in some cases. Herein, we clinically diagnosed a Chinese patient with fusions of the bilateral proximal interphalangeal joints in the 2–5 digits without conductive hearing loss. Family history investigation revealed that his mother and grandfather also suffered from SYM1. Whole exome sequencing was performed to detect the genetic lesion of the family. The candidate gene variants were validated by Sanger sequencing. By data filtering, co-segregation analysis and bioinformatics analysis, we highly suspected that an unknown heterozygous frameshift variant (c.635_636insG, p.Q213Pfs*57) in NOG was responsible for the SYM1 in the family. This variant was predicted to be deleterious and resulted in a prolonged protein. This finding broadened the spectrum of NOG mutations associated with SYM1 and contributed to genetic diagnosis and counseling of families with SYM1.

Analysis of the genomic expression profile in trisomy 18: insight into possible genes involved in the associated phenotypes

Trisomy 18, sometimes called Edwards syndrome, occurs in about 1 in 6000 live births and causes multiple birth defects in affected infants. The extra copy of chromosome 18 causes the altered expression of many genes and leads to severe skeletal, cardiovascular and neurological systems malformations as well as other medical problems. Due to the low rate of survival and the massive genetic imbalance, little research has been aimed at understanding the molecular consequences of trisomy 18 or considering potential therapeutic approaches. Our research is the first study to characterize whole-genome expression in fibroblast cells obtained from two patients with trisomy 18 and two matched controls, with follow-up expression confirmation studies on six independent controls. We show a detailed analysis of the most highly dysregulated genes on chromosome 18 and those genome-wide. The identified effector genes and the dysregulated downstream pathways provide hints of possible genotype-phenotype relationships to some of the most common symptoms observed in trisomy 18. We also provide a possible explanation for the sex-specific differences in survival, a unique characteristic of trisomy 18. Our analysis of genome-wide expression data moves us closer to understanding the molecular consequences of the second most common human autosomal trisomy of infants who survive to term. These insights might also translate to the understanding of the etiology of associated birth defects and medical conditions among those with trisomy 18.

Identification of a novel mutation of NOG in family with proximal symphalangism and early genetic counseling

BACKGROUND

Proximal symphalangism is a rare disease with multiple phenotypes including reduced proximal interphalangeal joint space, symphalangism of the 4th and/or 5th finger, as well as hearing loss. At present, at least two types of proximal symphalangism have been identified in the clinic. One is proximal symphalangism-1A (SYM1A), which is caused by genetic variants in Noggin (NOG), another is proximal symphalangism-1B (SYM1B), which is resulted from Growth Differentiation Factor 5 (GDF5) mutations.

CASE PRESENTATION

Here, we reported a Chinese family with symphalangism of the 4th and/or 5th finger and moderate deafness. The proband was a 13-year-old girl with normal intelligence but symphalangism of the 4th finger in the left hand and moderate deafness. Hearing testing and inner ear CT scan suggested that the proband suffered from structural deafness. Family history investigation found that her father (II-3) and grandmother (I-2) also suffered from hearing loss and symphalangism. Target sequencing identified a novel heterozygous NOG mutation, c.690C > G/p.C230W, which was the genetic lesion of the affected family. Bioinformatics analysis and public databases filtering further confirmed the pathogenicity of the novel mutation. Furthermore, we assisted the family to deliver a baby girl who did not carry the mutation by genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis using amniotic fluid DNA sequencing.

CONCLUSION

In this study, we identified a novel NOG mutation (c.690C > G/p.C230W) by target sequencing and helped the family to deliver a baby who did not carry the mutation. Our study expanded the spectrum of NOG mutations and contributed to genetic diagnosis and counseling of families with SYM1A.

Incidental discovery of isolated talonavicular coalition: Report of two cases

Tarsal coalitions may cause altered foot biomechanics leading to patient disability from osteoarthritis and other sequelae. While some types of coalition are common, isolated talonavicular coalitions are relatively rare. We present two cases of osseous talonavicular coalition that were incidentally discovered in adults and were most likely asymptomatic. Talonavicular coalition may have a hereditary component and may be associated with other anomalies, but many seem isolated, asymptomatic, and incidental.

Novel NOG (p.P42S) mutation causes proximal symphalangism in a four-generation Chinese family

Background

Proximal symphalangism (SYM1; OMIM 185800), also called Cushing’s symphalangism, is an infrequent autosomal dominant disease. An SYM1 patient typically features variable fusion of proximal interphalangeal joints in the hands and feet.

Methods

We recruited a four-generation Chinese non-consanguineous family with SYM1. We examined their hands and feet using X-rays to confirm fusion of proximal interphalangeal joints. We evaluated their audiology using standard audiometric procedures and equipment. Then, we identified genetic variants using whole exome sequencing and validated mutations using Sanger sequencing. Mutation pathogenicity was analyzed with bioinformatics.

Results

Radiographs revealed proximal-joint fusion of fingers and toes in the patients. Two elderly individuals (II:1 and II:4) exhibited slight hearing loss. Additionally, we detected a novel heterozygous missense mutation in exon 1 of NOG (NM_005450) c.124C > T, p.(Pro42Ser) in all patients. This c.124C > T mutation is highly conserved across multiple species and the p.(Pro42Ser) variation is potentially highly pathogenic.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that heterozygous c.124C > T, p.(Pro42Ser) in NOG is a novel mutation that causes human SYM1 phenotype.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12881-019-0864-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Neural crest contributions to the ear: Implications for congenital hearing disorders

Congenital hearing disorders affect millions of children worldwide and can significantly impact acquisition of speech and language. Efforts to identify the developmental genetic etiologies of conductive and sensorineural hearing losses have revealed critical roles for cranial neural crest cells (NCCs) in ear development. Cranial NCCs contribute to all portions of the ear, and defects in neural crest development can lead to neurocristopathies associated with profound hearing loss. The molecular mechanisms governing the development of neural crest derivatives within the ear are partially understood, but many questions remain. In this review, we describe recent advancements in determining neural crest contributions to the ear, how they inform our understanding of neurocristopathies, and highlight new avenues for further research using bioinformatic approaches.

Talonavicular Coalition as a Cause of Foot Pain

Tarsal coalitions have an incidence of 2% and are often underdiagnosed. These are considered to be one of the causes of chronic ankle and foot pain. Among all tarsal coalitions, the talonavicular type represents a rare and uncommon condition. The purpose of this article was to present the case of a 35-year-old male patient with a bilateral talonavicular coalition treated conservatively. A review of the literature was also performed to understand the management of this rare condition.

Mobilization of Joints of the Hand with Symphalangism

This article classifies symphalangism of the hand into three grades and suggests surgical indications. Grade I and early grade II joints can be mobilized with early surgical intervention. Surgical results may vary but even a 20° gain in motion could be helpful for children and their parents. Postoperative passive range-of-motion exercises are very important in maintaining mobility of the joints. It is important that the parents understand exercise may cause some pain and they must be motivated to help their children during the rehabilitation period.