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van Heyningen V. A Journey Through Genetics to Biology. Annu Rev Genomics Hum Genet 2022; 23:1-27. [PMID: 35567277 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-genom-010622-095109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Although my engagement with human genetics emerged gradually, and sometimes serendipitously, it has held me spellbound for decades. Without my teachers, students, postdocs, colleagues, and collaborators, I would not be writing this review of my scientific adventures. Early gene and disease mapping was a satisfying puzzle-solving exercise, but building biological insight was my main goal. The project trajectory was hugely influenced by the evolutionarily conserved nature of the implicated genes and by the pace of progress in genetic technologies. The rich detail of clinical observations, particularly in eye disease, makes humans an excellent model, especially when complemented by the use of multiple other animal species for experimental validation. The contributions of collaborators and rivals also influenced our approach. We are very fortunate to work in this era of unprecedented progress in genetics and genomics. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics, Volume 23 is October 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronica van Heyningen
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom;
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Silva RS, Arno G, Cipriani V, Pontikos N, Defoort-Dhellemmes S, Kalhoro A, Carss KJ, Raymond FL, Dhaenens CM, Jensen H, Rosenberg T, van Heyningen V, Moore AT, Puech B, Webster AR. Unique noncoding variants upstream of PRDM13 are associated with a spectrum of developmental retinal dystrophies including progressive bifocal chorioretinal atrophy. Hum Mutat 2019; 40:578-587. [PMID: 30710461 DOI: 10.1002/humu.23715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2018] [Revised: 01/23/2019] [Accepted: 01/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The autosomal dominant progressive bifocal chorioretinal atrophy (PBCRA) disease locus has been mapped to chromosome 6q14-16.2 that overlaps the North Carolina macular dystrophy (NCMD) locus MCDR1. NCMD is a nonprogressive developmental macular dystrophy, in which variants upstream of PRDM13 have been implicated. Whole genome sequencing was performed to interrogate structural variants (SVs) and single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in eight individuals, six affected individuals from two families with PBCRA, and two individuals from an additional family with a related developmental macular dystrophy. A SNV (chr6:100,046,804T>C), located 7.8 kb upstream of the PRDM13 gene, was shared by all PBCRA-affected individuals in the disease locus. Haplotype analysis suggested that the variant arose independently in the two families. The two affected individuals from Family 3 were screened for rare variants in the PBCRA and NCMD loci. This revealed a de novo variant in the proband, 21 bp from the first SNV (chr6:100,046,783A>C). This study expands the noncoding variant spectrum upstream of PRDM13 and suggests altered spatio-temporal expression of PRDM13 as a candidate disease mechanism in the phenotypically distinct but related conditions, NCMD and PBCRA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raquel S Silva
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Genetics, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Gavin Arno
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Genetics, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Valentina Cipriani
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Genetics, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom.,Department of Genetics, UCL Genetics Institute, Evolution and Environment, London, United Kingdom
| | - Nikolas Pontikos
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Genetics, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Genetics, UCL Genetics Institute, Evolution and Environment, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Ambreen Kalhoro
- Department of Genetics, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Keren J Carss
- Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.,NIHR BioResource-Rare Diseases, Cambridge University Hospitals, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - F Lucy Raymond
- NIHR BioResource-Rare Diseases, Cambridge University Hospitals, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, United Kingdom.,Department of Medical Genetics, Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Claire Marie Dhaenens
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department-UF Génopathies, CHU Lille, Univ Lille, Inserm UMR-S 1172, F-59000, Lille, France
| | - Hanne Jensen
- Department of Ophthalmology, The Kennedy Eye Clinic, Rigshospitalet Glostrup, Glostrup, Denmark
| | - Thomas Rosenberg
- Department of Ophthalmology, The Kennedy Eye Clinic, Rigshospitalet Glostrup, Glostrup, Denmark
| | - Veronica van Heyningen
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Genetics, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Anthony T Moore
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Genetics, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Ophthalmology, UCSF School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA
| | - Bernard Puech
- Exploration de la Vision et Neuro-Ophtalmologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Lille, France
| | - Andrew R Webster
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Genetics, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom
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