Trabajo financado por la fundacion
Published Results:
Year 2018
Grant recipient: Claudia E. Kuhni
Lung function in patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia: an iPCD Cohort study.
Halbeisen FS1, Goutaki M1,2, Spycher BD1,2, Amirav I3,4,5, Behan L6,7, Boon M8, Hogg C9, Casaulta C2,10, Crowley S11, Haarman EG12, Karadag B13, Koerner-Rettberg C14, Loebinger MR15, Mazurek H16, Morgan L17, Nielsen KG18, Omran H19, Santamaria F20, Schwerk N21, Thouvenin G22,23,24, Yiallouros P25, Lucas JS6, Latzin P2, Kuehni CE1,
Eur Respir J. 2018 Aug 23;52(2).
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) has been considered a relatively mild disease, especially compared to cystic fibrosis (CF), but studies on lung function in PCD patients have been few and small.This study compared lung function from spirometry of PCD patients to normal reference values and to published data from CF patients. We calculated z-scores and % predicted values for forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) using the Global Lung Function Initiative 2012 values for 991 patients from the international PCD Cohort. We then assessed associations with age, sex, country, diagnostic certainty, organ laterality, body mass index and age at diagnosis in linear regression models. Lung function in PCD patients was reduced compared to reference values in both sexes and all age groups. Children aged 6-9 years had the smallest impairment (FEV1 z-score -0.84 (-1.03 to -0.65), FVC z-score -0.31 (-0.51 to -0.11)). Compared to CF patients, FEV1 was similarly reduced in children (age 6-9 years PCD 91% (88-93%); CF 90% (88-91%)), but less impaired in young adults (age 18-21 years PCD 79% (76-82%); CF 66% (65-68%)). The results suggest that PCD affects lung function from early in life, which emphasises the importance of early standardised care for all patients.
Year 2017
Grant recipient: Claudia E. Kuhni
Growth and nutritional status, and their association with lung function: a study from the international Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia Cohort.
Goutaki M1,2, Halbeisen FS1, Spycher BD1, Maurer E1, Belle F1, Amirav I, Behan L3,4, Boon M5, Carr S6, Casaulta C, Clement A, Crowley S7, Dell S8, Ferkol T9, Haarman EG10, Karadag B11, Knowles M12, Koerner-Rettberg C13, Leigh MW14, Loebinger MR15, Mazurek H16, Morgan L17, Nielsen KG18, Phillipsen M18, Sagel SD19, Santamaria F20, Schwerk N21, Yiallouros P22, Lucas JS3, Kuehni CE23; PCD Israeli Consortium; Swiss PCD Group; French Reference Centre for Rare Lung Diseases.
Eur Resir J 2017 Dec 21;50(6).
Chronic respiratory disease can affect growth and nutrition, which can influence lung function. We investigated height, body mass index (BMI), and lung function in patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD).In this study, based on the international PCD (iPCD) Cohort, we calculated z-scores for height and BMI using World Health Organization (WHO) and national growth references, and assessed associations with age, sex, country, diagnostic certainty, age at diagnosis, organ laterality and lung function in multilevel regression models that accounted for repeated measurements.We analysed 6402 measurements from 1609 iPCD Cohort patients. Height was reduced compared to WHO (z-score -0.12, 95% CI -0.17 to -0.06) and national references (z-score -0.27, 95% CI -0.33 to -0.21) in male and female patients in all age groups, with variation between countries. Height and BMI were higher in patients diagnosed earlier in life (p=0.026 and p<0.001, respectively) and closely associated with forced expiratory volume in 1 s and forced vital capacity z-scores (p<0.001).Our study indicates that both growth and nutrition are affected adversely in PCD patients from early life and are both strongly associated with lung function. If supported by longitudinal studies, these findings suggest that early diagnosis with multidisciplinary management and nutritional advice could improve growth and delay disease progression and lung function impairment in PCD
Year 2016
Grant recipient: Serge Anselem
Mutations in DNAJB13, Encoding an HSP40 Family Member, Cause Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia and Male Infertility.
El Khouri E1, Thomas L2, Jeanson L2, Bequignon E3, Vallette B2, Duquesnoy P2, Montantin G4, Copin B5, Dastot-Le Moal F5, Blanchon S6, Papon JF7, Lorès P1, Yuan L8, Collot N4, Tissier S4, Faucon C9, Gacon G1, Patrat C10, Wolf JP11, Dulioust E11, Crestani B12, Escudier E5, Coste A3, Legendre M5, Touré A13, Amselem S5
Am J Hum Genet. 2016 Aug 4;99(2):489-500.
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is an autosomal-recessive disease due to functional or ultra-structural defects of motile cilia. Affected individuals display recurrent respiratory-tract infections; most males are infertile as a result of sperm flagellar dysfunction. The great majority of the PCD-associated genes identified so far encode either components of dynein arms (DAs), which are multiprotein-ATPase complexes essential for ciliary motility, or proteins involved in DA assembly. To identify the molecular basis of a PCD phenotype characterized by central complex (CC) defects but normal DA structure, a phenotype found in ∼15% of cases, we performed whole-exome sequencing in a male individual with PCD and unexplained CC defects. This analysis, combined with whole-genome SNP genotyping, identified a homozygous mutation in DNAJB13 (c.833T>G), a gene encoding a HSP40 co-chaperone whose ortholog in the flagellated alga Chlamydomonas localizes to the radial spokes. In vitro studies showed that this missense substitution (p.Met278Arg), which involves a highly conserved residue of several HSP40 family members, leads to protein instability and triggers proteasomal degradation, a result confirmed by the absence of endogenous DNAJB13 in cilia and sperm from this individual. Subsequent DNAJB13 analyses identified another homozygous mutation in a second family; the study of DNAJB13 transcripts obtained from airway cells showed that this mutation (c.68+1G>C) results in a splicing defect consistent with a loss-of-function mutation. Overall, this study, which establishes mutations in DNAJB13 as a cause of PCD, unveils the key role played by DNAJB13 in the proper formation and function of ciliary and flagellar axonemes in humans
Grant recipient: Serge Anselem
Mutations in GAS8, a Gene Encoding a Nexin-Dynein Regulatory Complex Subunit, Cause Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia with Axonemal Disorganization.
Jeanson L, Thomas L, Copin B, Coste A, Sermet-Gaudelus I4, Dastot-Le Moal F2, Duquesnoy P1, Montantin G2, Collot N2, Tissier S2, Papon JF5, Clement A1,6, Louis B7, Escudier E, Amselem S, Legendre M.
Hum Mutat 2016 Aug;37(8):776-85.
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by chronic respiratory infections of the upper and lower airways, hypofertility, and, in approximately half of the cases, situs inversus. This complex phenotype results from defects in motile cilia and sperm flagella. Among the numerous genes involved in PCD, very few-including CCDC39 and CCDC40-carry mutations that lead to a disorganization of ciliary axonemes with microtubule misalignment. Focusing on this particular phenotype, we identified bi-allelic loss-of-function mutations in GAS8, a gene that encodes a subunit of the nexin-dynein regulatory complex (N-DRC) orthologous to DRC4 of the flagellated alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Unlike the majority of PCD patients, individuals with GAS8 mutations have motile cilia, which, as documented by high-speed videomicroscopy, display a subtle beating pattern defect characterized by slightly reduced bending amplitude. Immunofluorescence studies performed on patients' respiratory cilia revealed that GAS8 is not required for the proper expression of CCDC39 and CCDC40. Rather, mutations in GAS8 affect the subcellular localization of another N-DRC subunit called DRC3. Overall, this study, which identifies GAS8 as a PCD gene, unveils the key importance of the corresponding protein in N-DRC integrity and in the proper alignment of axonemal microtubules in humans.
Grand recipient: Hannah M. Mitchison
An siRNA-based functional genomics screen for the identification of regulators of ciliogenesis and ciliopathy genes.
Wheway G#1, Schmidts M#2,3,4,5, Mans DA#3,4, Szymanska K#1, Nguyen TT#3,4, Racher H6, Phelps IG7, Toedt G8, Kennedy J9, Wunderlich KA10, Sorusch N10, Abdelhamed ZA1, Natarajan S1, Herridge W1, van Reeuwijk J3,4, Horn N11, Boldt K11, Parry DA12, Letteboer SJF3,4, Roosing S13, Adams M14, Bell SM14, Bond J14, Higgins J14, Morrison EE14, Tomlinson DC14, Slaats GG15, van Dam TJP16, Huang L17, Kessler K18, Giessl A19, Logan CV1, Boyle EA20, Shendure J20, Anazi S21, Aldahmesh M21, Al Hazzaa S22,23, Hegele RA24, Ober C25, Frosk P26, Mhanni AA26, Chodirker BN26, Chudley AE26, Lamont R6, Bernier FP6, Beaulieu CL17, Gordon P6, Pon RT6, Donahue C27, Barkovich AJ28, Wolf L29, Toomes C1, Thiel CT18, Boycott KM17, McKibbin M30, Inglehearn CF1; UK10K Consortium; University of Washington Center for Mendelian Genomics, Stewart F31, Omran H32, Huynen MA16, Sergouniotis PI33,34, Alkuraya FS21,35, Parboosingh JS6, Innes AM6, Willoughby CE36, Giles RH15, Webster AR33,34, Ueffing M11,37, Blacque O9, Gleeson JG13, Wolfrum U10, Beales PL2, Gibson T8, Doherty D7,38, Mitchison HM2, Roepman R3,4, Johnson CA1
Nat Cell Biol 2015 Aug;17(8):1074-1087.
Defects in primary cilium biogenesis underlie the ciliopathies, a growing group of genetic disorders. We describe a whole-genome siRNA-based reverse genetics screen for defects in biogenesis and/or maintenance of the primary cilium, obtaining a global resource. We identify 112 candidate ciliogenesis and ciliopathy genes, including 44 components of the ubiquitin-proteasome system, 12 G-protein-coupled receptors, and 3 pre-mRNA processing factors (PRPF6, PRPF8 and PRPF31) mutated in autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa. The PRPFs localize to the connecting cilium, and PRPF8- and PRPF31-mutated cells have ciliary defects. Combining the screen with exome sequencing data identified recessive mutations in PIBF1, also known as CEP90, and C21orf2, also known as LRRC76, as causes of the ciliopathies Joubert and Jeune syndromes. Biochemical approaches place C21orf2 within key ciliopathy-associated protein modules, offering an explanation for the skeletal and retinal involvement observed in individuals with C21orf2 variants. Our global, unbiased approaches provide insights into ciliogenesis complexity and identify roles for unanticipated pathways in human genetic disease.
Year 2015
Grant recipient: Serge Anselem
RSPH3 Mutations Cause Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia with Central-Complex Defects and a Near Absence of Radial Spokes.
Jeanson L, Copin B, Papon JF, Dastot-Le Moal F, Duquesnoy P, Montantin G, Cadranel J, Corvol H, Coste A, Désir J, Souayah A, Kott E, Collot N, Tissier S, Louis B, Tamalet A, de Blic J, Clement A, Escudier E, Amselem S, Legendre M.
Am J Hum Genet 2015 Jul 2;97(1):153-62.
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare autosomal-recessive condition resulting from structural and/or functional defects of the axoneme in motile cilia and sperm flagella. The great majority of mutations identified so far involve genes whose defects result in dynein-arm anomalies. By contrast, PCD due to CC/RS defects (those in the central complex [CC] and radial spokes [RSs]), which might be difficult to diagnose, remains mostly unexplained. We identified non-ambiguous RSPH3 mutations in 5 of 48 independent families affected by CC/RS defects. RSPH3, whose ortholog in the flagellated alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii encodes a RS-stalk protein, is mainly expressed in respiratory and testicular cells. Its protein product, which localizes within the cilia of respiratory epithelial cells, was undetectable in airway cells from an individual with RSPH3 mutations and in whom RSPH23 (a RS-neck protein) and RSPH1 and RSPH4A (RS-head proteins) were found to be still present within cilia. In the case of RSPH3 mutations, high-speed-videomicroscopy analyses revealed the coexistence of immotile cilia and motile cilia with movements of reduced amplitude. A striking feature of the ultrastructural phenotype associated with RSPH3 mutations is the near absence of detectable RSs in all cilia in combination with a variable proportion of cilia with CC defects. Overall, this study shows that RSPH3 mutations contribute to disease in more than 10% of PCD-affected individuals with CC/RS defects, thereby allowing an accurate diagnosis to be made in such cases. It also unveils the key role of RSPH3 in the proper building of RSs and the CC in humans.
Year 2014
Grant recipient: Hannah M. Mitchison
MCIDAS mutations result in a mucociliary clearance disorder with reduced generation of multiple motile cilia.
Boon M1, Wallmeier J2, Ma L3, Loges NT4, Jaspers M5, Olbrich H4, Dougherty GW4, Raidt J4, Werner C4, Amirav I6, Hevroni A7, Abitbul R6, Avital A7, Soferman R8, Wessels M9, O'Callaghan C10, Chung EM11, Rutman A12, Hirst RA12, Moya E13, Mitchison HM14, Van Daele S15, De Boeck K16, Jorissen M5, Kintner C3, Cuppens H16, Omran H4.
Nat Commun 2014 Jul 22;5:4418.
Reduced generation of multiple motile cilia (RGMC) is a rare mucociliary clearance disorder. Affected persons suffer from recurrent infections of upper and lower airways because of highly reduced numbers of multiple motile respiratory cilia. Here we report recessive loss-of-function and missense mutations in MCIDAS-encoding Multicilin, which was shown to promote the early steps of multiciliated cell differentiation in Xenopus. MCIDAS mutant respiratory epithelial cells carry only one or two cilia per cell, which lack ciliary motility-related proteins (DNAH5; CCDC39) as seen in primary ciliary dyskinesia. Consistent with this finding, FOXJ1-regulating axonemal motor protein expression is absent in respiratory cells of MCIDAS mutant individuals. CCNO, when mutated known to cause RGMC, is also absent in MCIDAS mutant respiratory cells, consistent with its downstream activity. Thus, our findings identify Multicilin as a key regulator of CCNO/FOXJ1 for human multiciliated cell differentiation, and highlight the 5q11 region containing CCNO and MCIDAS as a locus underlying RGMC.
Grant recipient: Hannah M. Mitchison
HEATR2 plays a conserved role in assembly of the ciliary motile apparatus
Diggle CP, Moore DJ2, Mali G3, zur Lage P2, Ait-Lounis A4, Schmidts M5, Shoemark A6, Garcia Munoz A7, Halachev MR3, Gautier P3, Yeyati PL3, Bonthron DT1, Carr IM1, Hayward B1, Markham AF1, Hope JE2, von Kriegsheim A7, Mitchison HM5, Jackson IJ3, Durand B8, Reith W4, Sheridan E1, Jarman AP2, Mill P3
PLoS Genet. 2014 Sep 18;10(9):e1004577.
Cilia are highly conserved microtubule-based structures that perform a variety of sensory and motility functions during development and adult homeostasis. In humans, defects specifically affecting motile cilia lead to chronic airway infections, infertility and laterality defects in the genetically heterogeneous disorder Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD). Using the comparatively simple Drosophila system, in which mechanosensory neurons possess modified motile cilia, we employed a recently elucidated cilia transcriptional RFX-FOX code to identify novel PCD candidate genes. Here, we report characterization of CG31320/HEATR2, which plays a conserved critical role in forming the axonemal dynein arms required for ciliary motility in both flies and humans. Inner and outer arm dyneins are absent from axonemes of CG31320 mutant flies and from PCD individuals with a novel splice-acceptor HEATR2 mutation. Functional conservation of closely arranged RFX-FOX binding sites upstream of HEATR2 orthologues may drive higher cytoplasmic expression of HEATR2 during early motile ciliogenesis. Immunoprecipitation reveals HEATR2 interacts with DNAI2, but not HSP70 or HSP90, distinguishing it from the client/chaperone functions described for other cytoplasmic proteins required for dynein arm assembly such as DNAAF1-4. These data implicate CG31320/HEATR2 in a growing intracellular pre-assembly and transport network that is necessary to deliver functional dynein machinery to the ciliary compartment for integration into the motile axoneme
Grant recipient: Hannah M. Mitchison
CCDC151 mutations cause primary ciliary dyskinesia by disruption of the outer dynein arm docking complex formation.
Hjeij R1, Onoufriadis A2, Watson CM3, Slagle CE4, Klena NT5, Dougherty GW1, Kurkowiak M6, Loges NT1, Diggle CP7, Morante NF4, Gabriel GC5, Lemke KL5, Li Y5, Pennekamp P1, Menchen T1, Konert F8, Marthin JK9, Mans DA10, Letteboer SJ10, Werner C1, Burgoyne T11, Westermann C12, Rutman A13, Carr IM7, O'Callaghan C14, Moya E15, Chung EM16; UK10K Consortium, Sheridan E7, Nielsen KG9, Roepman R10, Bartscherer K8, Burdine RD4, Lo CW5, Omran H17, Mitchison HM2.
Am J Hum Genet 2014 Sep 4;95(3):257-74. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2014.08.005
A diverse family of cytoskeletal dynein motors powers various cellular transport systems, including axonemal dyneins generating the force for ciliary and flagellar beating essential to movement of extracellular fluids and of cells through fluid. Multisubunit outer dynein arm (ODA) motor complexes, produced and preassembled in the cytosol, are transported to the ciliary or flagellar compartment and anchored into the axonemal microtubular scaffold via the ODA docking complex (ODA-DC) system. In humans, defects in ODA assembly are the major cause of primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), an inherited disorder of ciliary and flagellar dysmotility characterized by chronic upper and lower respiratory infections and defects in laterality. Here, by combined high-throughput mapping and sequencing, we identified CCDC151 loss-of-function mutations in five affected individuals from three independent families whose cilia showed a complete loss of ODAs and severely impaired ciliary beating. Consistent with the laterality defects observed in these individuals, we found Ccdc151 expressed in vertebrate left-right organizers. Homozygous zebrafish ccdc151(ts272a) and mouse Ccdc151(Snbl) mutants display a spectrum of situs defects associated with complex heart defects. We demonstrate that CCDC151 encodes an axonemal coiled coil protein, mutations in which abolish assembly of CCDC151 into respiratory cilia and cause a failure in axonemal assembly of the ODA component DNAH5 and the ODA-DC-associated components CCDC114 and ARMC4. CCDC151-deficient zebrafish, planaria, and mice also display ciliary dysmotility accompanied by ODA loss. Furthermore, CCDC151 coimmunoprecipitates CCDC114 and thus appears to be a highly evolutionarily conserved ODA-DC-related protein involved in mediating assembly of both ODAs and their axonemal docking machinery onto ciliary microtubules
Grant recipient: Hannah M. Mitchison
Targeted NGS gene panel identifies mutations in RSPH1 causing primary ciliary dyskinesia and a common mechanism for ciliary central pair agenesis due to radial spoke defects
Onoufriadis A , Shoemark A2, Schmidts M3, Patel M3, Jimenez G4, Liu H4, Thomas B5, Dixon M2, Hirst RA5, Rutman A5, Burgoyne T6, Williams C5, Scully J3, Bolard F7, Lafitte JJ8, Beales PL3, Hogg C2, Yang P9, Chung EM10, Emes RD11, O'Callaghan C12; UK10K, Bouvagnet P13, Mitchison HM
Hum Mol Genet. 2014 Jul 1;23(13):3362-74. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddu046. Epub 2014 Feb 11
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is an inherited chronic respiratory obstructive disease with randomized body laterality and infertility, resulting from cilia and sperm dysmotility. PCD is characterized by clinical variability and extensive genetic heterogeneity, associated with different cilia ultrastructural defects and mutations identified in >20 genes. Next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies therefore present a promising approach for genetic diagnosis which is not yet in routine use. We developed a targeted panel-based NGS pipeline to identify mutations by sequencing of selected candidate genes in 70 genetically undefined PCD patients. This detected loss-of-function RSPH1 mutations in four individuals with isolated central pair (CP) agenesis and normal body laterality, from two unrelated families. Ultrastructural analysis in RSPH1-mutated cilia revealed transposition of peripheral outer microtubules into the 'empty' CP space, accompanied by a distinctive intermittent loss of the central pair microtubules. We find that mutations in RSPH1, RSPH4A and RSPH9, which all encode homologs of components of the 'head' structure of ciliary radial spoke complexes identified in Chlamydomonas, cause clinical phenotypes that appear to be indistinguishable except at the gene level. By high-resolution immunofluorescence we identified a loss of RSPH4A and RSPH9 along with RSPH1 from RSPH1-mutated cilia, suggesting RSPH1 mutations may result in loss of the entire spoke head structure. CP loss is seen in up to 28% of PCD cases, in whom laterality determination specified by CP-less embryonic node cilia remains undisturbed. We propose this defect could arise from instability or agenesis of the ciliary central microtubules due to loss of their normal radial spoke head tethering.
Grant recipient: Hannah M. Mitchison
Combined exome and whole-genome sequencing identifies mutations in ARMC4 as a cause of primary ciliary dyskinesia with defects in the outer dynein arm.
Onoufriadis A, Shoemark A, Munye MM, James CT, Schmidts M, Patel M, Rosser EM, Bacchelli C, Beales PL, Scambler PJ, Hart SL, Danke-Roelse JE, Sloper JJ, Hull S, Hogg C, Emes RD, Pals G, Moore AT, Chung EM; UK10K, Mitchison HM
J Med Genet. 2014 Jan;51(1):61-7.
BACKGROUND: Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare, genetically heterogeneous ciliopathy disorder affecting cilia and sperm motility. A range of ultrastructural defects of the axoneme underlie the disease, which is characterised by chronic respiratory symptoms and obstructive lung disease, infertility and body axis laterality defects. We applied a next-generation sequencing approach to identify the gene responsible for this phenotype in two consanguineous families. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data from whole-exome sequencing in a consanguineous Turkish family, and whole-genome sequencing in the obligate carrier parents of a consanguineous Pakistani family was combined to identify homozygous loss-of-function mutations in ARMC4, segregating in all five affected individuals from both families. Both families carried nonsense mutations within the highly conserved armadillo repeat region of ARMC4: c.2675C>A; pSer892* and c.1972G>T; p.Glu658*. A deficiency of ARMC4 protein was seen in patient's respiratory cilia accompanied by loss of the distal outer dynein arm motors responsible for generating ciliary beating, giving rise to cilia immotility. ARMC4 gene expression is upregulated during ciliogenesis, and we found a predicted interaction with the outer dynein arm protein DNAI2, mutations in which also cause PCD. CONCLUSIONS: We report the first use of whole-genome sequencing to identify gene mutations causing PCD. Loss-of-function mutations in ARMC4 cause PCD with situs inversus and cilia immotility, associated with a loss of the distal outer (but not inner) dynein arms. This addition of ARMC4 to the list of genes associated with ciliary outer dynein arm defects expands our understanding of the complexities of PCD genetics.
Year 2013
Grand recipient: Serge Anselem
Primary ciliary dyskinesia presentation in 60 children according to ciliary ultrastructure.
Vallet C, Escudier E, Roudot-Thoraval F, Blanchon S, Fauroux B, Beydon N, Boulé M, Vojtek AM, Amselem S, Clément A, Tamalet A.
Eur J Pediatr 2013 Aug;172(8):1053-60.
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is an inherited disease related to ciliary dysfunction, with heterogeneity in clinical presentation and in ciliary ultrastructural defect. Our study intended to determine if there are phenotypic differences in patients with PCD based on ciliary ultrastructural abnormality. In this retrospective study carried out among 60 children with a definitive diagnosis of PCD, we analyzed clinical, radiological, and functional features at diagnosis and at last recorded visit, according to cilia defect (absence of dynein arms: DAD group, n = 36; abnormalities of the central complex: CCA group, n = 24). Onset of respiratory symptoms occurred later in the CCA than in the DAD group (9.5 versus 0.5 months, p = 0.03). Situs inversus was only observed in the DAD group, while respiratory disease in siblings were more frequent in the CCA group (p = 0.003). At diagnosis, clinical presentation was more severe in the CCA group: frequency of respiratory tract infections (p = 0.008), rhinosinusitis (p = 0.02), otitis complications (p = 0.0001), bilateral bronchiectasis (p = 0.04), and number of hypoxemic patients (p = 0.03). Pulmonary function remained stable in both groups, but outcome was better in the CCA than in the DAD group: less antibiotic therapy and hypoxemic patients (p = 0.004). In conclusion, our results underlined the relationship between the severity of clinical presentation and the ultrastructural ciliary defect.
Grand recipient: Serge Anselem
Loss-of-function mutations in RSPH1 cause primary ciliary dyskinesia with central-complex and radial-spoke defects.
Kott E, Legendre M, Copin B, Papon JF, Dastot-Le Moal F, Montantin G, Duquesnoy P, Piterboth W, Amram D, Bassinet L, Beucher J, Beydon N, Deneuville E, Houdouin V, Journel H, Just J, Nathan N, Tamalet A, Collot N, Jeanson L, Le Gouez M, Vallette B, Vojtek AM, Epaud R, Coste A, Clement A, Housset B, Louis B, Escudier E, Amselem S
Am J Human Genet 2013 Sep 5;93(3):561-70.
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare autosomal-recessive respiratory disorder resulting from defects of motile cilia. Various axonemal ultrastructural phenotypes have been observed, including one with so-called central-complex (CC) defects, whose molecular basis remains unexplained in most cases. To identify genes involved in this phenotype, whose diagnosis can be particularly difficult to establish, we combined homozygosity mapping and whole-exome sequencing in a consanguineous individual with CC defects. This identified a nonsense mutation in RSPH1, a gene whose ortholog in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii encodes a radial-spoke (RS)-head protein and is mainly expressed in respiratory and testis cells. Subsequent analyses of RSPH1 identified biallelic mutations in 10 of 48 independent families affected by CC defects. These mutations include splicing defects, as demonstrated by the study of RSPH1 transcripts obtained from airway cells of affected individuals. Wild-type RSPH1 localizes within cilia of airway cells, but we were unable to detect it in an individual with RSPH1 loss-of-function mutations. High-speed-videomicroscopy analyses revealed the coexistence of different ciliary beating patterns-cilia with a normal beat frequency but abnormal motion alongside immotile cilia or cilia with a slowed beat frequency-in each individual. This study shows that this gene is mutated in 20.8% of individuals with CC defects, whose diagnosis could now be improved by molecular screening. RSPH1 mutations thus appear as a major etiology for this PCD phenotype, which in fact includes RS defects, thereby unveiling the importance of RSPH1 in the proper building of CCs and RSs in humans.
Grand recipients: Jean-Louis Blouin, Lucia Bartoloni, and Hannah M. Mitchison
Mutations in ZMYND10, a gene essential for proper axonemal assembly of inner and outer dynein arms in humans and flies, cause primary ciliary dyskinesia.
Moore DJ1, Onoufriadis A, Shoemark A, Simpson MA, zur Lage PI, de Castro SC, Bartoloni L, Gallone G, Petridi S, Woollard WJ, Antony D, Schmidts M, Didonna T, Makrythanasis P, Bevillard J, Mongan NP, Djakow J, Pals G, Lucas JS, Marthin JK, Nielsen KG, Santoni F, Guipponi M, Hogg C, Antonarakis SE, Emes RD, Chung EM, Greene ND, Blouin JL, Jarman AP, Mitchison HM
Am J Hum Genet 2013 Aug 8;93(2):346-56.
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a ciliopathy characterized by airway disease, infertility, and laterality defects, often caused by dual loss of the inner dynein arms (IDAs) and outer dynein arms (ODAs), which power cilia and flagella beating. Using whole-exome and candidate-gene Sanger resequencing in PCD-affected families afflicted with combined IDA and ODA defects, we found that 6/38 (16%) carried biallelic mutations in the conserved zinc-finger gene BLU (ZMYND10). ZMYND10 mutations conferred dynein-arm loss seen at the ultrastructural and immunofluorescence level and complete cilia immotility, except in hypomorphic p.Val16Gly (c.47T>G) homozygote individuals, whose cilia retained a stiff and slowed beat. In mice, Zmynd10 mRNA is restricted to regions containing motile cilia. In a Drosophila model of PCD, Zmynd10 is exclusively expressed in cells with motile cilia: chordotonal sensory neurons and sperm. In these cells, P-element-mediated gene silencing caused IDA and ODA defects, proprioception deficits, and sterility due to immotile sperm. Drosophila Zmynd10 with an equivalent c.47T>G (p.Val16Gly) missense change rescued mutant male sterility less than the wild-type did. Tagged Drosophila ZMYND10 is localized primarily to the cytoplasm, and human ZMYND10 interacts with LRRC6, another cytoplasmically localized protein altered in PCD. Using a fly model of PCD, we conclude that ZMYND10 is a cytoplasmic protein required for IDA and ODA assembly and that its variants cause ciliary dysmotility and PCD with laterality defects.
Grant recipient: Hannah M. Mitchison
Splice-site mutations in the axonemal outer dynein arm docking complex gene CCDC114 cause primary ciliary dyskinesia.
Onoufriadis A1, Paff T, Antony D, Shoemark A, Micha D, Kuyt B, Schmidts M, Petridi S, Dankert-Roelse JE, Haarman EG, Daniels JM, Emes RD, Wilson R, Hogg C, Scambler PJ, Chung EM; UK10K, Pals G, Mitchison HM.
Am J Hum Genet 2013 Jan 10;92(1):88-98.
Defects in motile cilia and sperm flagella cause primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), characterized by chronic airway disease, infertility, and left-right laterality disturbances, usually as a result of loss of the outer dynein arms (ODAs) that power cilia/flagella beating. Here, we identify loss-of-function mutations in CCDC114 causing PCD with laterality malformations involving complex heart defects. CCDC114 is homologous to DCC2, an ODA microtubule-docking complex component of the biflagellate alga Chlamydomonas. We show that CCDC114 localizes along the entire length of human cilia and that its deficiency causes a complete absence of ciliary ODAs, resulting in immotile cilia. Thus, CCDC114 is an essential ciliary protein required for microtubular attachment of ODAs in the axoneme. Fertility is apparently not greatly affected by CCDC114 deficiency, and qPCR shows that this may explained by low transcript expression in testis compared to ciliated respiratory epithelium. One CCDC114 mutation, c.742G>A, dating back to at least the 1400s, presents an important diagnostic and therapeutic target in the isolated Dutch Volendam population
Year 2012
Grand recipient: Serge Anselem
Delineation of CCDC39/CCDC40 mutation spectrum and associated phenotypes in primary ciliary dyskinesia.
Blanchon S, Legendre M, Copin B, Duquesnoy P, Montantin G, Kott E, Dastot F, Jeanson L, Cachanado M, Rousseau A, Papon JF, Beydon N, Brouard J, Crestani B, Deschildre A, Désir J, Dollfus H, Leheup B, Tamalet A, Thumerelle C, Vojtek AM, Escalier D, Coste A, de Blic J, Clément A, Escudier E, Amselem S.
J Med Genet. 2012 Jun;49(6):410-6.
BACKGROUND: CCDC39 and CCDC40 genes have recently been implicated in primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) with inner dynein arm (IDA) defects and axonemal disorganisation; their contribution to the disease is, however, unknown. Aiming to delineate the CCDC39/CCDC40 mutation spectrum and associated phenotypes, this study screened a large cohort of patients with IDA defects, in whom clinical and ciliary phenotypes were accurately described. METHODS: All CCDC39 and CCDC40 exons and intronic boundaries were sequenced in 43 patients from 40 unrelated families. The study recorded and compared clinical features (sex, origin, consanguinity, laterality defects, ages at first symptoms and at phenotype evaluation, neonatal respiratory distress, airway infections, nasal polyposis, otitis media, bronchiectasis, infertility), ciliary beat frequency, and quantitative ultrastructural analyses of cilia and sperm flagella. RESULTS: Biallelic CCDC39 or CCDC40 mutations were identified in 30/34 (88.2%) unrelated families with IDA defects associated with axonemal disorganisation (22 and eight families, respectively). Fourteen of the 28 identified mutations are novel. No mutation was found in the six families with isolated IDA defects. Patients with identified mutations shared a similar phenotype, in terms of both clinical features and ciliary structure and function. The sperm flagellar ultrastructure, analysed in 4/7 infertile males, showed evidence of abnormalities similar to the ciliary ones. CONCLUSIONS: CCDC39 and CCDC40 mutations represent the major cause of PCD with IDA defects and axonemal disorganisation. Patients carrying CCDC39 or CCDC40 mutations are phenotypically indistinguishable. CCDC39 and CCDC40 analyses in selected patients ensure mutations are found with high probability, even if clinical or ciliary phenotypes cannot prioritise one analysis over the other.
Grand recipient: Hannah M. Mitchison
Mutations in axonemal dynein assembly factor DNAAF3 cause primary ciliary dyskinesia.
Mitchison HM, Schmidts M, Loges NT, Freshour J, Dritsoula A, Hirst RA, O'Callaghan C, Blau H, Al Dabbagh M, Olbrich H, Beales PL, Yagi T, Mussaffi H, Chung EM, Omran H, Mitchell DR.
Nat Genet 2012 Mar 4;44(4):381-9, S1-2. doi: 10.1038/ng.1106
Primary ciliary dyskinesia most often arises from loss of the dynein motors that power ciliary beating. Here we show that DNAAF3 (also known as PF22), a previously uncharacterized protein, is essential for the preassembly of dyneins into complexes before their transport into cilia. We identified loss-of-function mutations in the human DNAAF3 gene in individuals from families with situs inversus and defects in the assembly of inner and outer dynein arms. Knockdown of dnaaf3 in zebrafish likewise disrupts dynein arm assembly and ciliary motility, causing primary ciliary dyskinesia phenotypes that include hydrocephalus and laterality malformations. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii PF22 is exclusively cytoplasmic, and a PF22-null mutant cannot assemble any outer and some inner dynein arms. Altered abundance of dynein subunits in mutant cytoplasm suggests that DNAAF3 (PF22) acts at a similar stage as other preassembly proteins, for example, DNAAF2 (also known as PF13 or KTU) and DNAAF1 (also known as ODA7 or LRRC50), in the dynein preassembly pathway. These results support the existence of a conserved, multistep pathway for the cytoplasmic formation of assembly competent ciliary dynein complexes
Grand recipient: Hannah M. Mitchison
CCDC103 mutations cause primary ciliary dyskinesia by disrupting assembly of ciliary dynein arms.
Panizzi JR,Becker-Heck A, Castleman VH, Al-Mutairi DA, Liu Y, Loges NT, Pathak N, Austin-Tse C, Sheridan E, Schmidts M, Olbrich H, Werner C, Häffner K, Hellman N, Chodhari R, Gupta A, Kramer-Zucker A, Olale F, Burdine RD, Schier AF, O'Callaghan C, Chung EM, Reinhardt R, Mitchison HM, King SM, Omran H, Drummond IA.
Nat Genet 2012 May 13;44(6):714-9. doi: 10.1038/ng.2277.
Cilia are essential for fertilization, respiratory clearance, cerebrospinal fluid circulation and establishing laterality. Cilia motility defects cause primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD, MIM244400), a disorder affecting 1:15,000-30,000 births. Cilia motility requires the assembly of multisubunit dynein arms that drive ciliary bending. Despite progress in understanding the genetic basis of PCD, mutations remain to be identified for several PCD-linked loci. Here we show that the zebrafish cilia paralysis mutant schmalhans (smh(tn222)) encodes the coiled-coil domain containing 103 protein (Ccdc103), a foxj1a-regulated gene product. Screening 146 unrelated PCD families identified individuals in six families with reduced outer dynein arms who carried mutations in CCDC103. Dynein arm assembly in smh mutant zebrafish was rescued by wild-type but not mutant human CCDC103. Chlamydomonas Ccdc103/Pr46b functions as a tightly bound, axoneme-associated protein. These results identify Ccdc103 as a dynein arm attachment factor that causes primary ciliary dyskinesia when mutated.
Year 2011
Grant recipient: Lucia Bartoloni
Static respiratory cilia associated with mutations in Dnahc11/DNAH11: a mouse model of PCD.
Lucas JS, Adam EC, Goggin PM, Jackson CL, Powles-Glover N, Patel SH, Humphreys J, Fray MD, Falconnet E, Blouin JL, Cheeseman MT, Bartoloni L, Norris DP, Lackie PM.
Hum Mutat. 2012 Mar;33(3):495-503.
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is an inherited disorder causing significant upper and lower respiratory tract morbidity and impaired fertility. Half of PCD patients show abnormal situs. Human disease loci have been identified but a mouse model without additional deleterious defects is elusive. The inversus viscerum mouse, mutated at the outer arm dynein heavy chain 11 locus (Dnahc11) is a known model of heterotaxy. We demonstrated immotile tracheal cilia with normal ultrastructure and reduced sperm motility in the Dnahc11(iv) mouse. This is accompanied by gross rhinitis, sinusitis, and otitis media, all indicators of human PCD. Strikingly, age-related progression of the disease is evident. The Dnahc11(iv) mouse is robust, lacks secondary defects, and requires no intervention to precipitate the phenotype. Together these findings show the Dnahc11(iv) mouse to be an excellent model of many aspects of human PCD. Mutation of the homologous human locus has previously been associated with hyperkinetic tracheal cilia in PCD. Two PCD patients with normal ciliary ultrastructure, one with immotile and one with hyperkinetic cilia were found to carry DNAH11 mutations. Three novel DNAH11 mutations were detected indicating that this gene should be investigated in patients with normal ciliary ultrastructure and static, as well as hyperkinetic cilia.
Year 2010
Grant recipient: Hannah M. Mitchison
Founder mutation(s) in the RSPH9 gene leading to primary ciliary dyskinesia in two inbred Bedouin families.
Reish O1, Slatkin M, Chapman-Shimshoni D, Elizur A, Chioza B, Castleman V, Mitchison HM.
Ann Hum Genet 2010 Mar;74(2):117-25.
A rare mutation in the RSPH9 gene leading to primary ciliary dyskinesia was previously identified in two Bedouin families, one from Israel and one from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Herein we analyse mutation segregation in the Israeli family, present the clinical disease spectrum, and estimate mutation age in the two families. Mutation segregation was studied by restriction fragment length analysis. Mutation ages were estimated using a model of the decrease in the length of ancestral haplotypes. The mutations in each of the two families had a common ancestor less than 95 and less than 17 generations in the past. If the mutations in the two families are descended from a common ancestor, that mutation would have to have arisen at least 150 generations ago. If the Bedouin population has been roughly constant in size for at least 6000 years, it is possible that the mutations in the two families are identical by descent. If there were substantial fluctuations in the size of the Bedouin population, it is more likely that there were two independent mutations. Based on the available data, the population genetic analysis does not strongly favour one conclusion over the other.
Year 2009
Mutations in DNAH5 account for only 15% of a non-preselected cohort of patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia.
Failly M, Bartoloni L, Letourneau A, Munoz A, Falconnet E, Rossier C, de Santi MM, Santamaria F,Sacco O, DeLozier-Blanchet CD, Lazor R, Blouin JL.
J Med Genet. 2009 Apr;46(4):281-6.
BACKGROUND: Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is characterised by recurrent infections of the upper respiratory airways (nose, bronchi, and frontal sinuses) and randomisation of left-right body asymmetry. To date, PCD is mainly described with autosomal recessive inheritance and mutations have been found in five genes: the dynein arm protein subunits DNAI1, DNAH5 and DNAH11, the kinase TXNDC3, and the X-linked retinitis pigmentosa GTPase regulator RPGR. METHODS: We screened 89 unrelated individuals with PCD for mutations in the coding and splice site regions of the gene DNAH5 by denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and sequencing. Patients were mainly of European origin and were recruited without any phenotypic preselection. RESULTS: We identified 18 novel (nonsense, splicing, small deletion and missense) and six previously described mutations. Interestingly, these DNAH5 mutations were mainly associated with outer + inner dyneins arm ultrastructural defects (50%). CONCLUSION: Overall, mutations on both alleles of DNAH5 were identified in 15% of our clinically heterogeneous cohort of patients. Although genetic alterations remain to be identified in most patients, DNAH5 is to date the main PCD gene. 
Mutations in Radial Spoke Head Protein Genes RSPH9 and RSPH4A Cause Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia with Central-Microtubular-Pair Abnormalities
Victoria H. Castleman1, 13, Leila Romio2, Rahul Chodhari1, Robert A. Hirst3, Sandra C.P. de Castro4, Keith A. Parker1, Patricia Ybot-Gonzalez4, Richard D. Emes5, Stephen W. Wilson6, Colin Wallis7, Colin A. Johnson8, Rene J. Herrera9, Andrew Rutman3, Mellisa Dixon10, Amelia Shoemark10, Andrew Bush10, Claire Hogg10, R. Mark Gardiner1, Orit Reish11, Nicholas D.E. Greene4, Christopher O'Callaghan3, Saul Purton12, Eddie M.K. Chung1 and Hannah M. Mitchison1
Am J Hum Genet. 2009 Feb;84(2):197-209. Epub 2009 Feb 5.
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a genetically heterogeneous inherited disorder arising from dysmotility of motile cilia and sperm. This is associated with a variety of ultrastructural defects of the cilia and sperm axoneme that affect movement, leading to clinical consequences on respiratory-tract mucociliary clearance and lung function, fertility, and left-right body-axis determination. We performed whole-genome SNP-based linkage analysis in seven consanguineous families with PCD and central-microtubular-pair abnormalities. This identified two loci, in two families with intermittent absence of the central-pair structure (chromosome 6p21.1, Zmax 6.7) and in five families with complete absence of the central pair (chromosome 6q22.1, Zmax 7.0). Mutations were subsequently identified in two positional candidate genes, RSPH9 on chromosome 6p21.1 and RSPH4A on chromosome 6q22.1. Haplotype analysis identified a common ancestral founder effect RSPH4A mutation present in UK-Pakistani pedigrees. Both RSPH9 and RSPH4A encode protein components of the axonemal radial spoke head. In situ hybridization of murine Rsph9 shows gene expression restricted to regions containing motile cilia. Investigation of the effect of knockdown or mutations of RSPH9 orthologs in zebrafish and Chlamydomonas indicate that radial spoke head proteins are important in maintaining normal movement in motile, “9+2”-structure cilia and flagella. This effect is rescued by reintroduction of gene expression for restoration of a normal beat pattern in zebrafish. Disturbance in function of these genes was not associated with defects in left-right axis determination in humans or zebrafish.
Ciliary beating recovery in deficient human airway epithelial cells after lentivirus ex vivo gene therapy.
Chhin B, Negre D, Merrot O, Pham J, Tourneur Y, Ressnikoff D, Jaspers M, Jorissen M, Cosset FL,Bouvagnet P.
PLoS Genet. 2009 Mar;5(3):e1000422. Epub 2009 Mar 20.
Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia is a heterogeneous genetic disease that is characterized by cilia dysfunction of the epithelial cells lining the respiratory tracts, resulting in recurrent respiratory tract infections. Despite lifelong physiological therapy and antibiotics, the lungs of affected patients are progressively destroyed, leading to respiratory insufficiency. Recessive mutations in Dynein Axonemal Intermediate chain type 1 (DNAI1) gene have been described in 10% of cases of Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia. Our goal was to restore normal ciliary beating in DNAI1-deficient human airway epithelial cells. A lentiviral vector based on Simian Immunodeficiency Virus pseudotyped with Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Glycoprotein was used to transduce cultured human airway epithelial cells with a cDNA of DNAI1 driven by the Elongation Factor 1 promoter. Transcription and translation of the transduced gene were tested by RT-PCR and western blot, respectively. Human airway epithelial cells that were DNAI1-deficient due to compound heterozygous mutations, and consequently had immotile cilia and no outer dynein arm, were transduced by the lentivirus. Cilia beating was recorded and electron microscopy of the cilia was performed. Transcription and translation of the transduced DNAI1 gene were detected in human cells treated with the lentivirus. In addition, immotile cilia recovered a normal beat and outer dynein arms reappeared. We demonstrated that it is possible to obtain a normalization of ciliary beat frequency of deficient human airway epithelial cells by using a lentivirus to transduce cells with the therapeutic gene. This preliminary step constitutes a conceptual proof that is indispensable in the perspective of Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia's in vivo gene therapy. This is the first time that recovery of cilia beating is demonstrated in this disease.
Year 2008
DNAI2 mutations cause primary ciliary dyskinesia with defects in the outer dynein arm.
Loges NT, Olbrich H, Fenske L, Mussaffi H, Horvath J, Fliegauf M, Kuhl H, Baktai G, Peterffy E,Chodhari R, Chung EM, Rutman A, O'Callaghan C, Blau H, Tiszlavicz L, Voelkel K, Witt M,Zietkiewicz E, Neesen J, Reinhardt R, Mitchison HM, Omran H.
Am J Hum Genet. 2008 Nov;83(5):547-58. Epub 2008 Oct 23.
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder characterized by chronic destructive airway disease and randomization of left/right body asymmetry. Males often have reduced fertility due to impaired sperm tail function. The complex PCD phenotype results from dysfunction of cilia of the airways and the embryonic node and the structurally related motile sperm flagella. This is associated with underlying ultrastructural defects that frequently involve the outer dynein arm (ODA) complexes that generate cilia and flagella movement. Applying a positional and functional candidate-gene approach, we identified homozygous loss-of-function DNAI2 mutations (IVS11+1G > A) in four individuals from a family with PCD and ODA defects. Further mutational screening of 105 unrelated PCD families detected two distinct homozygous mutations, including a nonsense (c.787C > T) and a splicing mutation (IVS3-3T > G) resulting in out-of-frame transcripts. Analysis of protein expression of the ODA intermediate chain DNAI2 showed sublocalization throughout respiratory cilia. Electron microscopy showed that mutant respiratory cells from these patients lacked DNAI2 protein expression and exhibited ODA defects. High-resolution immunofluorescence imaging demonstrated absence of the ODA heavy chains DNAH5 and DNAH9 from all DNAI2 mutant ciliary axonemes. In addition, we demonstrated complete or distal absence of DNAI2 from ciliary axonemes in respiratory cells of patients with mutations in genes encoding the ODA chains DNAH5 and DNAI1, respectively. Thus, DNAI2 and DNAH5 mutations affect assembly of proximal and distal ODA complexes, whereas DNAI1 mutations mainly disrupt assembly of proximal ODA complexes.
DNAI1 Mutations Explain Only 2% of Primary Ciliary Dykinesia
Mike Failly, Alexandra Saitta, Analia Muñoz, Emilie Falconnet, Colette Rossier, Francesca Santamaria, Maria Margherita de Santi, Romain Lazor, Celia D. DeLozier-Blanchet, Lucia Bartoloni, Jean-Louis Blouin
Respiration 2008;76:198–204
Background: Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare recessive hereditary disorder characterized by dysmotility to immotility of ciliated and flagellated structures. Its main symptoms are respiratory, caused by defective ciliary beating in the epithelium of the upper airways (nose, bronchi and paranasal sinuses). Impairing the drainage of inhaled microorganisms and particles leads to recurrent infections and pulmonary complications. To date, 5 genes encoding 3 dynein protein arm subunits (DNAI1 , DNAH5 andDNAH11) , the kinase TXNDC3 and the X-linked RPGR have been found to be mutated in PCD.Objectives: We proposed to determine the impact of the DNAI1 gene on a cohort of unrelated PCD patients (n = 104) recruited without any phenotypic preselection. Methods: We used denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography and sequencing to screen for mutations in the coding and splicing site sequences of the gene DNAI1. Results: Three mutations were identified: a novel missense variant (p.Glu174Lys) was found in 1 patient and 2 previously reported variants were identified (p.Trp568Ser in 1 patient and IVS1+2_3insT in 3 patients). Overall, mutations on both alleles of gene DNAI1 were identified in only 2% of our clinically heterogeneous cohort of patients. Conclusion: We conclude that DNAI1 gene mutation is not a common cause of PCD, and that major or several additional disease gene(s) still remain to be identified before a sensitive molecular diagnostic test can be developed for PCD.
Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia Associated With Normal Axoneme Ultrastructure Is Caused by DNAH11 Mutations
Georg C. Schwabe, Katrin Hoffmann, Niki Tomas Loges, Daniel Birker, Colette Rossier, Margherita M. de Santi, Heike Olbrich, Manfred Fliegauf, Mike Failly, Uta Liebers, Mirella Collura, Gerhard Gaedicke, Stefan Mundlos, Ulrich Wahn, Jean-Louis Blouin, Bodo Niggemann, Heymut Omran, Stylianos E. Antonarakis, and Lucia Bartoloni
Hum Mutat 29(2), 289–298, 2008.
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is an inherited disorder characterized by perturbed or absent beating of motile cilia, which is referred to as Kartagener syndrome (KS) when associated with situs inversus. We present a German family in which five individuals have PCD and one has KS. PCD was confirmed by analysis of native and cultured respiratory ciliated epithelia with high-speed video microscopy. Respiratory ciliated cells from the affected individuals showed an abnormal nonflexible beating pattern with a reduced cilium bending capacity and a hyperkinetic beat. Interestingly, the axonemal ultrastructure of these respiratory cilia was normal and outer dynein arms were intact, as shown by electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry. Microsatellite analysis indicated genetic linkage to the dynein heavy chain DNAH11 on chromosome 7p21. All affected individuals carried the compound heterozygous DNAH11 mutations c.12384C4G and c.13552_13608del. Both mutations are located in the C-terminal domain and predict a truncated DNAH11 protein (p.Y4128X, p.A4518_A4523delinsQ). The mutations described here were not present in a cohort of 96 PCD patients. In conclusion, our findings support the view that DNAH11 mutations indeed cause PCD and KS, and that the reported DNAH11 nonsense mutations are associated with a normal axonemal ultrastructure and are compatible with normal male fertility.
Year 2006
DNAH5 mutations are a common cause of primary ciliary dyskinesia with outer dynein arm defects.
Hornef N, Olbrich H, Horvath J, Zariwala MA, Fliegauf M, Loges NT, Wildhaber J, Noone PG,Kennedy M, Antonarakis SE, Blouin JL, Bartoloni L, Nüsslein T, Ahrens P, Griese M, Kuhl H,Sudbrak R, Knowles MR, Reinhardt R, Omran H.
Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2006 Jul 15;174(2):109-10
RATIONALE: Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is characterized by recurrent airway infections and randomization of left-right body asymmetry. To date, autosomal recessive mutations have only been identified in a small number of patients involving DNAI1 and DNAH5, which encode outer dynein arm components. METHODS: We screened 109 white PCD families originating from Europe and North America for presence of DNAH5 mutations by haplotype analyses and/or sequencing. RESULTS: Haplotype analyses excluded linkage in 26 families. In 30 PCD families, we identified 33 novel (12 nonsense, 8 frameshift, 5 splicing, and 8 missense mutations) and two known DNAH5 mutations. We observed clustering of mutations within five exons harboring 27 mutant alleles (52%) of the 52 detected mutant alleles. Interestingly, 6 (32%) of 19 PCD families with DNAH5 mutations from North America carry the novel founder mutation 10815delT. Electron microscopic analyses in 22 patients with PCD with mutations invariably detected outer dynein arm ciliary defects. High-resolution immunofluorescence imaging of respiratory epithelial cells from eight patients with DNAH5 mutations showed mislocalization of mutant DNAH5 and accumulation at the microtubule organizing centers. Mutant DNAH5 was absent throughout the ciliary axoneme in seven patients and remained detectable in the proximal ciliary axoneme in one patient carrying compound heterozygous splicing mutations at the 3'-end (IVS75-2A>T, IVS76+5G>A). In a preselected subpopulation with documented outer dynein arm defects (n = 47), DNAH5 mutations were identified in 53% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: DNAH5 is frequently mutated in patients with PCD exhibiting outer dynein arm defects and mutations cluster in five exons.
Year 2005
Mutations of DNAI1 in primary ciliary dyskinesia: evidence of founder effect in a common mutation.
Zariwala MA, Leigh MW, Ceppa F, Kennedy MP, Noone PG, Carson JL, Hazucha MJ, Lori A,Horvath J, Olbrich H, Loges NT, Bridoux AM, Pennarun G, Duriez B, Escudier E, Mitchison HM,Chodhari R, Chung EM, Morgan LC, de Iongh RU, Rutland J, Pradal U, Omran H, Amselem S,Knowles MR.
Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol
RATIONALE: Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare, usually autosomal recessive, genetic disorder characterized by ciliary dysfunction, sino-pulmonary disease, and situs inversus. Disease-causing mutations have been reported in DNAI1 and DNAH5 encoding outer dynein arm (ODA) proteins of cilia. OBJECTIVES: We analyzed DNAI1 to identify disease-causing mutations in PCD and to determine if the previously reported IVS1+2_3insT (219+3insT) mutation represents a "founder" or "hot spot" mutation. METHODS: Patients with PCD from 179 unrelated families were studied. Exclusion mapping showed no linkage to DNAI1 for 13 families; the entire coding region was sequenced in a patient from the remaining 166 families. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed on nasal epithelial RNA in 14 families. RESULTS: Mutations in DNAI1 including 12 novel mutations were identified in 16 of 179 (9%) families; 14 harbored biallelic mutations. Deep intronic splice mutations were not identified by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The prevalence of mutations in families with defined ODA defect was 13%; no mutations were found in patients without a defined ODA defect. The previously reported IVS1+2_3insT mutation accounted for 57% (17/30) of mutant alleles, and marker analysis indicates a common founder for this mutation. Seven mutations occurred in three exons (13, 16, and 17); taken together with previous reports, these three exons are emerging as mutation clusters harboring 29% (12/42) of mutant alleles. CONCLUSIONS: A total of 10% of patients with PCD are estimated to harbor mutations in DNAI1; most occur as a common founder IVS1+2_3insT or in exons 13, 16, and 17. This information is useful for establishing a clinical molecular genetic test for PCD.
Year 2002
Mutations in the DNAH11 (axonemal heavy chain dynein type 11) gene cause one form of situs inversus totalis and most likely primary ciliary dyskinesia.
Bartoloni L, Blouin JL, Pan Y, Gehrig C, Maiti AK, Scamuffa N, Rossier C, Jorissen M, Armengot M, Meeks M, Mitchison HM, Chung EM, Delozier-Blanchet CD, Craigen WJ, Antonarakis SE.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. (2002) 99(16):10282-6.
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD; MIM 242650) is an autosomal recessive disorder of ciliary dysfunction with extensive genetic heterogeneity. PCD is characterized by bronchiectasis and upper respiratory tract infections, and half of the patients with PCD have situs inversus (Kartagener syndrome). We characterized the transcript and the genomic organization of the axonemal heavy chain dynein type 11 (DNAH11) gene, the human homologue of murine Dnah11 or lrd, which is mutated in the iv/iv mouse model with situs inversus. To assess the role of DNAH11, which maps on chromosome 7p21, we searched for mutations in the 82 exons of this gene in a patient with situs inversus totalis, and probable Kartagener syndrome associated with paternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 7 (patUPD7). We identified a homozygous nonsense mutation (R2852X) in the DNAH11 gene. This patient is remarkable because he is also homozygous for the F508del allele of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. Sequence analysis of the DNAH11 gene in an additional 6 selected PCD sibships that shared DNAH11 alleles revealed polymorphic variants and an R3004Q substitution in a conserved position that might be pathogenic. We conclude that mutations in the coding region of DNAH11 account for situs inversus totalis and probably a minority of cases of PCD
Year 2001
Axonemal Beta Heavy Chain Dynein DNAH9: cDNA Sequence, Genomic Structure, and Investigation of Its Role in Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia
Lucia Bartoloni, Jean-Louis Blouin, Amit K. Maiti, Amanda Sainsbury, Colette Rossier, Corinne Gehrig, Jin-Xiong She, Michele P. Marron, Eric S. Lander, Maggie Meeks, Eddie Chung, Miquel Armengot, Mark Jorissen, Hamish S. Scott, Celia D. Delozier-Blanchet, R. Marc Gardiner, Stylianos E. Antonarakis
Genomics (2001) 72:21-33.
Dyneins are multisubunit protein complexes that couple ATPase activity with conformational changes. They are involved in the cytoplasmatic movement of organelles (cytoplasmic dyneins) and the bending of cilia and flagella (axonemal dyneins). Here we present the first complete cDNA and genomic sequences of a human axonemal dynein beta heavy chain gene, DNAH9, which maps to 17p12. The 14-kb-long cDNA is divided into 69 exons spread over 390 kb. The cDNA sequence of DNAH9 was determined using a combination of methods including 5' rapid amplification of cDNA ends, RT-PCR, and cDNA library screening. RT-PCR using nasal epithelium and testis RNA revealed several alternatively spliced transcripts. The genomic structure was determined using three overlapping BACs sequenced by the Whitehead Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research. The predicted protein, of 4486 amino acids, is highly homologous to sea urchin axonemal beta heavy chain dyneins (67% identity). It consists of an N-terminal stem and a globular C-terminus containing the four P-loops that constitute the motor domain. Lack of proper ciliary and flagellar movement characterizes primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), a genetically heterogeneous autosomal recessive disorder with respiratory tract infections, bronchiectasis, male subfertility, and, in 50% of cases, situs inversus (Kartagener syndrome, KS). Dyneins are excellent candidate genes for PCD and KS because in over 50% of cases the ultrastructural defects of cilia are related to the dynein complex. Genotype analysis was performed in 31 PCD families with two or more affected siblings using a highly informative dinucleotide polymorphism located in intron 26 of DNAH9. Two families with concordant inheritance of DNAH9 alleles in affected individuals were observed. A mutation search was performed in these two "candidate families," but only polymorphic variants were found. In the absence of pathogenic mutations, the DNAH9 gene has been excluded as being responsible for autosomal recessive PCD in these families.
Year 2000
No deleterious mutations in the FOXJ1 (alias HFH-4) gene in patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD).
Maiti AK, Bartoloni L, Mitchison HM, Meeks M, Chung E, Spiden S, Gehrig C, Rossier C, DeLozier-Blanchet CD, Blouin J, Gardiner RM, Antonarakis SE.
Cytogenet Cell Genet (2000) 90:119-22
The transcription factor FOXJ1 (alias HFH-4 or FKHL13) of the winged-helix/forkhead family is expressed in cells with cilia or flagella, and seems to be involved in the regulation of axonemal structural proteins. The knockout mouse Foxj1(-/-) shows abnormalities of organ situs, consistent with random determination of left-right asymmetry, and a complete absence of cilia. The human FOXJ1 gene which maps to chromosome 17q, is thus an excellent candidate gene for Kartagener Syndrome (KS), a subphenotype of Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD), characterized by bronchiectasis, chronic sinusitis and situs inversus. We have collected samples from 61 PCD families, in 31 of which there are at least two affected individuals. Two families with complete aciliogenesis, and six families, in which the affected members have microsatellite alleles concordant for a locus on distal chromosome 17q, were screened for mutations in the two exons and intron-exon junctions of the FOXJ1 gene. No sequence abnormalities were observed in the DNAs of the affected individuals of the selected families. These results demonstrate that the FOXJ1 gene is not responsible for the PCD/KS phenotype in the families examined.
Primary ciliary dyskinesia: a genome-wide linkage analysis reveals extensive locus heterogeneity.
Blouin JL, Meeks M, Radhakrishna U, Sainsbury A, Gehring C, Sail GD, Bartoloni L, Dombi V, O'Rawe A, Walne A, Chung E, Afzelius BA, Armengot M, Jorissen M, Schidlow DV, van Maldergem L, Walt H, Gardiner RM, Probst D, Guerne PA, Delozier-Blanchet CD, Antonarakis SE.
Eur J Hum Genet (2000) 8:109-18
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), or immotile cilia syndrome (ICS), is an autosomal recessive disorder affecting ciliary movement with an incidence of 1 in 20000-30000. Dysmotility to complete immotility of cilia results in a multisystem disease of variable severity with recurrent respiratory tract infections leading to bronchiectasis and male subfertility. Ultrastructural defects are present in ciliated mucosa and spermatozoa. Situs inversus (SI) is found in about half of the patients (Kartagener syndrome). We have collected samples from 61 European and North American families with PCD. A genome-wide linkage search was performed in 31 multiplex families (169 individuals including 70 affecteds) using 188 evenly spaced (19cM average interval) polymorphic markers. Both parametric (recessive model) and non-parametric (identity by descent allele sharing) linkage analyses were used. No major locus for the majority of the families was identified, although the sample was powerful enough to detect linkage if 40% of the families were linked to one locus. These results strongly suggest extensive locus heterogeneity. Potential genomic regions harbouring PCD loci were localised on chromosomes 3p, 4q, 5p, 7p, 8q, 10p, 11q, 13q, 15q, 16p, 17q and 19q. Linkage analysis using PCD families with a dynein arm deficiency provided 'suggestive' evidence for linkage to chromosomal regions 8q, 16pter, while analyses using only PCD families with situs inversus resulted in 'suggestive' scores for chromosomes 8q, and 19q.
Year 1999
Assignment of the human dynein heavy chain gene DNAH17L to human chromosome 17p12 by in situ hybridization and radiation hybrid mapping.
Bartoloni L, Blouin J, Sainsbury AJ, Gos A, Morris MA, Affara NA, DeLozier-Blanchet CD, Antonarakis SE.
Cytogenet Cell Genet (1999) 84(3-4):188-9