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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2024

Prenatal diagnosis of recurrent Kagami-Ogata syndrome inherited from a mother affected by Temple syndrome: a case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND: Kagami-Ogata syndrome (KOS) and Temple syndrome (TS) are two imprinting disorders characterized by the absence or reduced expression of maternal or paternal genes in the chromosome 14q32 region, respectively. We present a rare prenatally diagnosed case of recurrent KOS inherited from a mother affected by TS. CASE PRESENTATION: The woman's two affected pregnancies exhibited recurrent manifestations of prenatal overgrowth, polyhydramnios, and omphalocele, as well as a small bell-shaped thorax with coat-hanger ribs postnatally. Prenatal genetic testing using a single-nucleotide polymorphism array detected a 268.2-kb deletion in the chromosome 14q32 imprinted region inherited from the mother, leading to the diagnosis of KOS. Additionally, the woman carried a de novo deletion in the paternal chromosome 14q32 imprinted region and presented with short stature and small hands and feet, indicating a diagnosis of TS. CONCLUSIONS: Given the rarity of KOS as an imprinting disorder, accurate prenatal diagnosis of this rare imprinting disorder depends on two factors: (1) increasing clinician recognition of the clinical phenotype and related genetic mechanism, and (2) emphasizing the importance of imprinted regions in the CMA workflow for laboratory analysis.

Humans↗
PubMed2025

Rescue of imprinted genes by epigenome editing in human cellular models of Prader-Willi syndrome.

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genomic imprinting disorder caused by the loss of function of the paternal chromosome 15q11-13, resulting in a spectrum of symptoms associated with hypothalamic dysfunction. PWS patients lack the expression of paternally expressed genes (PEGs) in the 15q11-13 locus but possess an epigenetically silenced set of these genes in the maternal allele. Thus, activation of these silenced genes can serve as a therapeutic target for PWS. Here, we leverage CRISPR-based epigenome editing system to modulate the DNA methylation status of the PWS imprinting control region (PWS-ICR) in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from PWS patients. Successful demethylation in the PWS-ICR restores the PEG expression from the maternal allele and reorganizes the methylation patterns in other PWS-associated imprinted regions beyond the PWS-ICR. Remarkably, these corrected epigenomic patterns and PEG expression are maintained following the differentiation of these cells into hypothalamic organoids. Finally, the single-cell transcriptomic analysis of epigenome-edited organoids demonstrates a partial restoration of the transcriptomic dysregulation observed in PWS. This study highlights the utility of epigenome editing technology as a therapeutic approach in addressing PWS and potentially other imprinting disorders.

Prader-Willi Syndrome↗
PubMed2026

Convergent IGF2 overexpression in pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma: insights from Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome.

Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is an imprinting disorder characterized by overgrowth and tumor predisposition, caused by dysregulated expression of genes on chromosome 11p15.5. An association between BWS and pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma (PPGL) has been suggested in isolated case reports over the past fifty years, but the molecular basis for this link remains unclear. We identified four patients with BWS who developed metastatic PPGL and investigated IGF2 pathway activation in these tumors and in PPGL across various genotypes. Pan-cancer transcriptomic analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) demonstrated that PPGL overexpresses IGF2, with pseudohypoxic tumors exhibiting higher expression compared to other molecular clusters. Loss of heterozygosity and loss of imprinting at 11p15.5 partially explain this overexpression, with PPGL additionally demonstrating globally elevated expression of imprinted genes compared to most other tumor types, suggesting a broader relaxation of genomic imprinting. Cognate receptor profiling revealed that PPGLs are equipped to respond to IGF2 signaling, with high expression of IGF1R and insulin receptor isoform A (IR-A). Immunohistochemistry confirmed IGF2 protein overexpression in both BWS-associated and genotypically diverse sporadic PPGLs. Our results indicate that IGF2 overexpression is a convergent molecular feature of PPGL across genotypes and suggest the IGF2 pathway as a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target.

Humans↗
PubMed2026

Population-scale detection of methylation outliers from long-read genome sequencing.

BACKGROUND: Aberrant DNA methylation can mediate the functional effects of rare genetic variation and contribute to imprinting disorders, repeat expansion diseases, and other pathogenic regulatory mechanisms. Long-read sequencing technologies now enable genome-wide detection of CpG methylation alongside genetic variation from a single assay. However, methods for systematic identification and interpretation of methylation outliers from long-read sequencing data remain limited. METHODS: We developed METAFORA, a computational workflow for detecting methylation outlier regions from PacBio and Oxford Nanopore long-read sequencing data. METAFORA constructs population-level methylation references, segments the genome into correlated CpG blocks, infers technical and biological sources of variation through hidden factor estimation, models uncertainty due to variable depth sequencing, and computes covariate-adjusted methylation outlier scores for individual samples. We applied METAFORA across large long-read sequencing cohorts and integrated methylation outliers with multi-omic data. METAFORA is implemented as a snakemake workflow available at https://github.com/tjense25/METAFORA. RESULTS: METAFORA identified methylation outlier regions associated with rare structural variants, tandem repeat expansions, and imprinting abnormalities. We found outlier regions were enriched for molecular outliers across transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility datasets, supporting their functional relevance in gene regulation. In a representative case, METAFORA identified an imprinting defect affecting the GNAS locus associated with an STX16 deletion. CONCLUSIONS: METAFORA enables scalable detection and interpretation of methylation outliers from long-read sequencing data and provides a framework for integrating epigenetic outliers with genomic and multi-omic analyses. These approaches may improve interpretation of rare regulatory variation and support discovery of clinically relevant epigenetic abnormalities in genomic medicine.

DNA methylation↗
PubMed2026

Loss of maternal PADI6 disrupts DNA methylation and genomic imprinting maintenance in late preimplantation mouse embryos.

BACKGROUND: The maternal-effect protein PADI6, which is part of the subcortical maternal complex, is involved in proper spindle assembly, organelle distribution, ribosome storage, and cytoplasmic lattice organization in mouse oocytes. In humans, variants of PADI6 are associated with female infertility and multilocus imprinting disturbance in offspring. Recently, it was demonstrated that PADI6 plays a role in the storage and cytoplasmic localization of epigenetic factors, including UHRF1 and DNMT1. Moreover, maternal PADI6 depletion leads to defective epigenetic reprogramming and zygotic genome activation but not to an imprinting defect in two-cell mouse embryos. These findings raise the possibility that imprinting disturbances arise later in development. RESULTS: By employing combined single-blastocyst RNA-seq/BS-seq and immunostaining validation in the embryos derived from Padi6P620A-mutant oocytes, we investigated the role of Padi6 in late preimplantation development. We demonstrated that embryos that overcame the two-cell stage block had a dramatic reduction in UHRF1 and DNMT1 protein levels, a decrease in H3K9me3, and whole-genome hypomethylation, including most imprinted loci and repetitive elements, at the blastocyst stage. Furthermore, these maternal mutant embryos showed deregulation of inner cell mass markers and defective blastocyst implantation, but no effect on trophoblast differentiation. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that maternal PADI6 is a key regulator of the stability of epigenetic factors required to maintain repressive marks in late preimplantation mouse embryos. Its deficiency results in genomic imprinting defects that closely resemble those found in human patients and provide a mechanistic explanation for MLID caused by maternal PADI6 variants. Furthermore, the impairment of blastocyst implantation capacity, likely due to dysregulation of inner cell mass differentiation, provides new mechanistic insights into the control of female fertility and embryo development exerted by PADI6.

DNA Methylation↗
PubMed2026

Beckwith-Wiedemann spectrum exhibiting a 46,XY karyotype caused by genome-wide paternal uniparental heterodisomy: a case report.

BACKGROUNDS: Patients with genome-wide paternal uniparental disomy (GWpUPD) usually exhibit clinical features of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) and a 46,XX karyotype, with all chromosomes showing isodisomy. To date, male patients with GWpUPD and a complete 46,XY karyotype, specifically involving heterodisomy, have not been described. RESULTS: We report a male infant exhibiting classical BWS clinical features. DNA methylation analyses showed paternal-specific methylation across multiple imprinted loci, suggesting GWpUPD. Genetic analysis of autosomes and sex chromosomes indicated two distinct paternal genomes in peripheral blood leukocytes, whereas a normal biparental genome was detected in other tissues under chimeric conditions. These findings indicated that the patient had genome-wide paternal uniparental heterodisomy (GWpUPhD). The SNP array revealed the presence of one copy of the X chromosome and one copy of the Y chromosome, the patient is a chimera composed of 46,XY biparental cells (with maternal X) and 46,XY GWpUPhD cells (with paternal X). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of a male patient with a GWpUPhD chimera. We propose a potential mechanism of GWpUPhD formation. Our findings expand the molecular spectrum of GWpUPD and provide valuable insights into its pathogenesis in chimeric conditions. Furthermore, the potential for clinical manifestations unique to 46,XY heterodisomy warrants careful long-term follow-up.

Humans↗
PubMed2025

Brinkmanship in intragenomic conflict.

When the Darwinian interests of genes in the genome collide, intragenomic conflicts evolve. Recent advances in social evolution predict that intragenomic conflicts shape diverse phenotypes. However, principles governing which side wins remain unresolved. Here, we use game theory to predict that power asymmetries arise from differences in appetite for risk between rival genes in 'wars of nerve'. We focus on 'genomic imprinting': differing expression between alleles inherited from mothers and fathers. Escalating conflict is commonly believed to risk damaging the whole organism. We show that genes can exploit risk strategically: genes prepared to take greater risks with the body's vulnerability to disorders and mortality gain coercive advantages, deterring countermoves. Kin selection generates differences in appetite for risk: for instance, if harm to the body frees resources for maternal siblings, genes from mothers have less to lose from gambling with the current body than do genes from fathers. Seemingly maladaptive developmental risks can be adaptively useful for higher-nerve genes, much as political states manipulate risk to coerce rivals. Our results suggest a determinant of power alongside the 'loudest voice prevails' principle, and call for empirical investigation of the extent and means by which risks of imprinting-related disorders are amplified by intragenomic brinkmanship.

Genomic Imprinting↗
PubMed2025

Dynamic allelic expression in mouse mammary glands across the adult developmental cycle.

The mammary gland, which primarily develops postnatally, undergoes significant changes during pregnancy and lactation to facilitate milk production. Through the generation and analysis of 480 transcriptomes, we provide the most detailed allelic expression map of the mammary gland, cataloguing cell-type-specific expression from ex-vivo purified cell populations over 10 developmental stages, enabling comparative analysis. The work identifies genes involved in the mammary gland cycle, parental-origin-specific and genetic background-specific expression at cellular and temporal resolution, genes associated with human lactation disorders and breast cancer. Genomic imprinting, a mechanism regulating gene expression based on parental origin, is crucial for controlling gene dosage and stem cell potential throughout development. The analysis identified 25 imprinted genes monoallelically expressed in the mammary gland, with several showing allele-specific expression in distinct cell types. No novel imprinted genes were identified and the absence of biallelically expressed imprinted genes suggests that, unlike in brain, selective absence of imprinting does not regulate gene dosage in the mammary gland. This research highlights transcriptional dynamics within mammary gland cells and identifies novel candidate genes potentially significant in the tissue during pregnancy and lactation. Overall, this comprehensive atlas represents a valuable resource for future studies on expression and transcriptional dynamics in mammary cells.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

Prader-Willi syndrome as a neurogenetic model for psychosis and obsessive-compulsive disorder: A review of clinical, behavioral, and biological insights.

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder classically defined by hyperphagia and obesity. However, its profound psychiatric phenotype offers a unique genetic framework for understanding major mental illnesses. This review positions PWS as a potentially informative biological model for psychosis and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), bridging the gap between 15q11-q13 imprinting defects and neural circuit dysfunction. We synthesize evidence demonstrating that psychosis in PWS is not a uniform trait but is disproportionately linked to the maternal uniparental disomy (mUPD) subtype. This genotype-phenotype correlation suggests that overexpression of maternally imprinted genes and loss of paternal expression disrupt cortical excitatory-inhibitory balance, resembling the "schizophrenia-bipolar" genomic architecture. Furthermore, synthesized evidence characterizes the repetitive, ritualistic behaviors in PWS not merely as behavioral challenges, but as a developmentally arrested OCD-spectrum phenotype driven by distinct serotonergic-oxytocinergic imbalances and hypothalamic-limbic dysconnectivity. Mechanistic insights from preclinical models of MAGEL2, SNORD116, and NDN deficiency are integrated with clinical findings to highlight shared neurobiological substrates. Finally, we outline a roadmap for precision psychiatry in PWS, emphasizing the necessity of pharmacogenomics in antipsychotic management and the potential of targeted circuit-based therapeutics. By deconstructing the psychiatric comorbidities of PWS, we provide a framework for translating genomic architecture into mechanistic understanding and targeted treatment for complex neuropsychiatric disorders.

15q11-q13↗
PubMed2025

Activation of the imprinted Prader-Willi syndrome locus by CRISPR-based epigenome editing.

Epigenome editing with DNA-targeting technologies such as CRISPR-dCas9 can be used to dissect gene regulatory mechanisms and potentially treat associated disorders. For example, Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) results from loss of paternally expressed imprinted genes on chromosome 15q11.2-q13.3, although the maternal allele is intact but epigenetically silenced. Using CRISPR repression and activation screens in human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), we identified genomic elements that control the expression of the PWS gene SNRPN from the paternal and maternal chromosomes. We showed that either targeted transcriptional activation or DNA demethylation can activate the silenced maternal SNRPN and downstream PWS transcripts. However, these two approaches function at unique regions, preferentially activating different transcript variants and involving distinct epigenetic reprogramming mechanisms. Remarkably, transient expression of the targeted demethylase leads to stable, long-term maternal SNRPN expression in PWS iPSCs. This work uncovers targeted epigenetic manipulations to reprogram a disease-associated imprinted locus and suggests possible therapeutic interventions.

Prader-Willi Syndrome↗
PubMed1978

Lymph node and splenic imprints: their value in diagnosis.

Comparison was made of the value of information obtained from imprints and from histological sections of lymph nodes from 100 biopsies on patients with mainly haematological disorders and 55 spleens removed surgically. The sections provided the definitive diagnosis. It was seldom possible to make a definite diagnosis from imprints, but they provide additional information useful in interpreting the histology of sections.

Hematologic Diseases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Possible sequelae of trauma and somatic disorder in early life.

All children experience trauma. The age, state of development and constitutional factors will determine whether some children will have a traumatic effect. Trauma occurring before the age of three, at a time when the ego has not developed its synthetic and integrative functions, may be reproduced in later life as an isolated symptom, by selected sensations involved in a sensory imprint or screen sensation of the trauma as a simple recording. After the age of three, under the influence of a more mature ego, excessive traumatic stimuli will be integrated and elaborated in symptom formations as phobias or other conditions and extended as part of the total personality. Recurrence in later life is triggered by events related not only to the original experience, but also to the content of its elaboration. The earlier in life the trauma occurs, the more likely that somatic imprints of primitive physiological symptoms would result as an archaic, biological defense or screen sensations. Recurrent sensory imprints or screens may appear as organic illness or functional somatic symptoms. Diagnostically, a detailed early life history is necessary to uncover the presence of a sensory screen memory of a trauma and so avoid diagnostic medical search for organic causation. Case material illustrating the two groups are presented. Indications for psychoanalysis and for supportive psychotherapy are discussed from our theoretical framework as well as from the literature.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

A DNA methylation imprint, determined by the sex of the parent, distinguishes the Angelman and Prader-Willi syndromes.

The Angelman (AS) and Prader-Willi (PWS) syndromes are two clinically distinct disorders that are caused by a differential parental origin of chromosome 15q11-q13 deletions. Both also can result from uniparental disomy (the inheritance of both copies of chromosome 15 from only one parent). Loss of the paternal copy of 15q11-q13, whether by deletion or maternal uniparental disomy, leads to PWS, whereas a maternal deletion or paternal uniparental disomy leads to AS. The differential modification in expression of certain mammalian genes dependent upon parental origin is known as genomic imprinting, and AS and PWS represent the best examples of this phenomenon in humans. Although the molecular mechanisms of genomic imprinting are unknown, DNA methylation has been postulated to play a role in the imprinting process. Using restriction digests with the methyl-sensitive enzymes HpaII and HhaI and probing Southern blots with several genomic and cDNA probes, we have systematically scanned segments of 15q11-q13 for DNA methylation differences between patients with PWS (20 deletion, 20 uniparental disomy) and those with AS (26 deletion, 1 uniparental disomy). The highly evolutionarily conserved cDNA, DN34, identifies distinct differences in DNA methylation of the parental alleles at the D15S9 locus. Thus, DNA methylation may be used as a reliable, postnatal diagnostic tool in these syndromes. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate the first known epigenetic event, dependent on the sex of the parent, for a locus within 15q11-q13. We propose that expression of the gene detected by DN34 is regulated by genomic imprinting and, therefore, that it is a candidate gene for PWS and/or AS.

Blotting, Southern↗
PubMed1992

[Molecular genetics of the human brain].

The review discusses the contribution of molecular genetic studies to the understanding of human brain performance and defines three genetic objectives: 1) to reveal structural or functional features of brain genes specific merely to man; 2) to outline the complete spectrum of genes involved in brain activity and their regulation; 3) to search for genes and genetic defects resulting in common mental disorders. The plasticity and great variety of brain functions are shown to be based on the unique diversity of genes actively transcribing in the brain and the molecular mechanisms of various genetic products of the same gene: alternative splicing, "antiparallel" coding, regulation of gene activity by signal DNA sequences. Gene search policies are described for common mental disorders such as schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, Alzheimer's disease. The attempts to map defective genes by "reverse" genetics have proved that there is a genetic heterogeneity of these diseases. The novel directions in the study of the brain molecular genetic apparatus can be examinations of chromosomal behavior in the cells in various brain regions and genome imprinting.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1976

Herpes simplex virus-specific antigens in exfoliated cervical cells from women with and without cervical anaplasia.

By the indirect immunofluorescence technique the presence of herpes simplex virus-specific antigens was investigated in cervical cells of 530 women with normal cervical epithelium, 175 with bland disorders, 52 with dysplasias, and 38 with invasive cervical carcinomas of the uterine cervix. Antigens were present in 9% of samples from women with normal cervical epithelium; they were present in 41% of the samples from women with bland disorders, 61% of those from dysplasia patients, and 94% of those from invasive carcinoma patients. The testing of 3 consecutive imprints of 68 antigen-positive and 232 antigen-negative women at 6-month intervals revealed that, in cervical cells, herpesvirus-specific antigens persisted throughout the 1-year period of the follow-up.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Ureteral changes in polyarteritis nodosa as seen during excretory urography.

The conventional excretory urogram may provide valuable information in the diagnosis of polyarteritis nodosa. A finding of imprints on the ureteral wall or a nodular appearance of the ureter simulating a string of pearls would seem to be pathognomonic for this disorder. Two cases with these manifestations are presented and the differential diagnosis is discussed.

Adult↗