| Summary: | TCF12-related craniosynostosis can be caused by small heterozygous loss-of-function mutations in TCF12. Large intragenic rearrangements, however, have not been described yet. Here, we present the identification of four large rearrangements in TCF12 causing TCF12-related craniosynostosis. Whole genome sequencing was applied on the DNA of eighteen index-cases with coronal synostosis and their family members (forty-three samples in total). The data were analyzed using an autosomal dominant disease model. Structural variant analysis reported intragenic exon deletions (of sizes 84.9 kb, 8.6 kb and 5.4 kb) in TCF12 in three different families. The results were confirmed by deletion-specific PCR and dideoxy-sequence analysis. Separately, targeted sequencing of the TCF12 genomic region in a patient with coronal synostosis identified a tandem duplication of 11.3 kb. The pathogenic effect of this duplication was confirmed by cDNA analysis. These findings indicate the importance of screening for larger rearrangements in patients suspected to have TCF12-related craniosynostosis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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