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Sonic hedgehog and Zinc finger protein of the cerebellum 2 gene variants in a South African holoprosencephaly cohort

Dissertation (MSc (Human Genetics))--University of Pretoria, 2024.

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Other Authors: Jansen van Rensburg, Elizabeth
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2024
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author2 Jansen van Rensburg, Elizabeth
author_browse Jansen van Rensburg, Elizabeth
author_facet Jansen van Rensburg, Elizabeth
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSc (Human Genetics))--University of Pretoria, 2024.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:38:23.596Z
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provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
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publisher University of Pretoria
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/97463 Sonic hedgehog and Zinc finger protein of the cerebellum 2 gene variants in a South African holoprosencephaly cohort Jansen van Rensburg, Elizabeth tamfoord@gmail.com Honey, Engela Foord, Tamarin UCTD Holoprosencephaly Nervous system malformation Craniofacial abnormalities Neurodevelopmental disorder SHH Sonic hedgehog ZIC2 Zinc finger protein of the cerebellum 2 Sequence variants African ancestry Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) SDG-03: Good health and well-being Health Sciences theses SDG-03 SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure Health Sciences theses SDG-09 Dissertation (MSc (Human Genetics))--University of Pretoria, 2024. Holoprosencephaly (HPE) is a devastating congenital brain disorder characterized by partial or complete non-separation of the primary prosencephalon along its three major planes. It occurs in as many as 1 in 250 conceptuses and 1 in 10,000 live births. HPE is regarded as a multifactorial disorder, stemming from intricate interactions among diverse genetic elements, the interplay of genetic and environmental factors, and potentially unidentified contributors. Studies in European (including patients from the United Kingdom) and North/South American cohorts have found that two of the most frequently implicated genes in HPE patients include the SHH and ZIC2 genes, respectively. In addition, chromosomal abnormalities (aneuploidy or structural aberrations) are commonly identified in syndromic forms of HPE. To date, there have been no studies to identify the genetic basis of HPE in South African patients. In this retrospective study, patients with non-chromosomal, non-syndromic HPE, who attended the University of Pretoria Facial Cleft Deformity Clinic, were investigated. A total of 37 patients (33 of African- and 4 of European ancestry) with non-chromosomal HPE and no family history were screened for sequence variants in the SHH and ZIC2 genes, using Sanger sequencing. Overall, 13 variants (of mostly benign clinical significance) were identified, six previously reported variants in ZIC2 and seven variants in SHH, two of which are novel (one nonsynonymous & one intronic variant). Interestingly, all of the variants were detected in patients of self-identified African ancestry, except for one intronic variant (c.301-49G>A) in SHH, that was detected in two patients of European ancestry. Particularly noteworthy is the novel SHH missense variant, p.Leu122Arg (c.365T>G), that is predicted to be disease-causing by various in silico methods and may likely be pathogenic. Until functional studies of the ZIC2 Alanine expansion variant, p.Ala469_Ala470dup, determines the effect of this expansion, it must be classified as a variant of unknown significance. In conclusion, this study represents the first investigation of both the ZIC2- and SHH-genes in a cohort of South African patients with non-chromosomal, non-syndromic holoprosencephaly. To our knowledge, this is the first study to identify a likely pathogenic variant in the SHH gene that may be responsible for 1/33 of non-chromosomal, non-syndromic South African HPE cases of African ancestry. The results of this study contribute further information on the role of the SHH- and ZIC2-genes in non-syndromic cases of holoprosencephaly, especially in African populations. Genetics MSc (Human Genetics) Restricted Faculty of Health Sciences 2024-08-06T12:49:40Z 2024-08-06T12:49:40Z 2024-09 2024 Dissertation * S2024 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/97463 N/A en © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Holoprosencephaly
Nervous system malformation
Craniofacial abnormalities
Neurodevelopmental disorder
SHH
Sonic hedgehog
ZIC2
Zinc finger protein of the cerebellum 2
Sequence variants
African ancestry
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
SDG-03: Good health and well-being
Health Sciences theses SDG-03
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Health Sciences theses SDG-09
Sonic hedgehog and Zinc finger protein of the cerebellum 2 gene variants in a South African holoprosencephaly cohort
title Sonic hedgehog and Zinc finger protein of the cerebellum 2 gene variants in a South African holoprosencephaly cohort
title_full Sonic hedgehog and Zinc finger protein of the cerebellum 2 gene variants in a South African holoprosencephaly cohort
title_fullStr Sonic hedgehog and Zinc finger protein of the cerebellum 2 gene variants in a South African holoprosencephaly cohort
title_full_unstemmed Sonic hedgehog and Zinc finger protein of the cerebellum 2 gene variants in a South African holoprosencephaly cohort
title_short Sonic hedgehog and Zinc finger protein of the cerebellum 2 gene variants in a South African holoprosencephaly cohort
title_sort sonic hedgehog and zinc finger protein of the cerebellum 2 gene variants in a south african holoprosencephaly cohort
topic UCTD
Holoprosencephaly
Nervous system malformation
Craniofacial abnormalities
Neurodevelopmental disorder
SHH
Sonic hedgehog
ZIC2
Zinc finger protein of the cerebellum 2
Sequence variants
African ancestry
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
SDG-03: Good health and well-being
Health Sciences theses SDG-03
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Health Sciences theses SDG-09
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/97463