npj Genomic Medicine (Mar 2017)

Familial STAG2 germline mutation defines a new human cohesinopathy

  • Fernanda C. Soardi,
  • Alice Machado-Silva,
  • Natália D. Linhares,
  • Ge Zheng,
  • Qianhui Qu,
  • Heloísa B. Pena,
  • Thaís M. M. Martins,
  • Helaine G. S. Vieira,
  • Núbia B. Pereira,
  • Raquel C. Melo-Minardi,
  • Carolina C. Gomes,
  • Ricardo S. Gomez,
  • Dawidson A. Gomes,
  • Douglas E. V. Pires,
  • David B. Ascher,
  • Hongtao Yu,
  • Sérgio D. J. Pena

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41525-017-0009-4
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

Read online

Intellectual disability: mutation in cell cycle protein causes developmental disease A newly discovered developmental disease is characterized by mutations in a subunit of the cohesin protein involved in cell division. A team led by Sérgio Pena from GENE—Núcleo de Genética Médica, Brazil, and Hongtao Yu from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA, describe a Brazilian family with five male relatives, all with intellectual deficiency, short stature, and other abnormalities. The family tree pointed toward an X-linked pattern of inheritance, so the researchers performed a network analysis of 24 genes on the X chromosome known to contribute to mental retardation. They found that all five individuals had a mutation in a gene called STAG2, which encodes a subunit of cohesin. The mutant STAG2 did not bind properly to other cohesin subunits in human cells, and patient-derived cells exhibited altered cell cycle profiles. The researchers propose calling the disease “STAG2-related X-linked intellectual deficiency”.