WNT1 mutation with recessive osteogenesis imperfecta and profound neurological phenotype

E Faqeih, R Shaheen, FS Alkuraya - Journal of medical genetics, 2013 - jmg.bmj.com
Journal of medical genetics, 2013jmg.bmj.com
To the Editor We read with great interest the report by Fahiminiya and colleagues on the
involvement of WNT1 in the pathogenesis of autosomal recessive osteogenesis imperfecta
(OI). 1 The identification of WNT1 as a novel OI gene by several groups was not guided by
the knockout mouse phenotype but rather based on the use of next generation sequencing.
1–3 However, the phenotype described for Wnt1−/− was that of early postnatal lethality due
to severe central nervous system (CNS) involvement and Wnt1 expression was thought to …
To the Editor We read with great interest the report by Fahiminiya and colleagues on the involvement of WNT1 in the pathogenesis of autosomal recessive osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). 1 The identification of WNT1 as a novel OI gene by several groups was not guided by the knockout mouse phenotype but rather based on the use of next generation sequencing. 1–3 However, the phenotype described for Wnt1−/− was that of early postnatal lethality due to severe central nervous system (CNS) involvement and Wnt1 expression was thought to be exclusive to the brain and testis. 4 Curiously, none of the patients described by the three groups displayed significant CNS phenotype.
In this letter, we describe a novel WNT1 mutation in a family with profound neurological involvement in addition to OI and draw parallels to the mouse knockout phenotype. The index is a 3-year-old boy who presented with severe hypotonia, disfigured skull, bowed extremities and recurrent chest infection. He has long-standing history of repeated fractures of various bones starting at the time of birth but he
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