Mutations in the Human TBX4 Gene Cause Small Patella Syndrome

Overview

Journal Am J Hum Genet

Publisher Cell Press

Specialty Genetics

Date 2004 Apr 24

PMID 15106123

Citations 73

Authors

Ernie M H F Bongers

Pascal H G Duijf

Sylvia E M van Beersum

Jeroen Schoots

Albert Van Kampen

Andreas Burckhardt

Ben C J Hamel

Frantisek Losan

Lies H Hoefsloot

Helger G Yntema

Nine V A M Knoers

Hans van Bokhoven

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Small patella syndrome (SPS) is an autosomal-dominant skeletal dysplasia characterized by patellar aplasia or hypoplasia and by anomalies of the pelvis and feet, including disrupted ossification of the ischia and inferior pubic rami. We identified an SPS critical region of 5.6 cM on chromosome 17q22 by haplotype analysis. Putative loss-of-function mutations were found in a positional gene encoding T-box protein 4 (TBX4) in six families with SPS. TBX4 encodes a transcription factor with a strongly conserved DNA-binding T-box domain that is known to play a crucial role in lower limb development in chickens and mice. The present identification of heterozygous TBX4 mutations in SPS patients, together with the similar skeletal phenotype of animals lacking Tbx4, establish the importance of TBX4 in the developmental pathways of the lower limbs and the pelvis in humans.

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