Comparative tissue gene expression profiling and alternative splicing by exon-sensitive microarrays in non-syndromic craniosynostosis

Craniosynostosis (CS) is the congenital premature fusion of one or more cranial sutures and represents the more prevalent craniofacial malformation in humans, with an overall incidence of 1 out of 2000-3000 live births. Non-syndromic craniosynostoses (NSC) are believed to be multifactorial disorders, with a strong genetic component, due to possible genegene or geneenvironment interactions that remain to be clearly identified. In this study we delved into the molecular signaling acting in calvarial tissue and cells from patients affected by nonsynodromic midline craniosynostosis, using a comparative analysis between fused and unfused sutures of each affected individuals. Using comparative microarray tissue gene expression profiling we have identified a subset of genes involved in the structure and function of the primary cilium, including the Bardet-Biedl syndrome 9 (BBS9) gene, which was recently associated to sagittal synostosis in a GWAS study. We therefore characterized BBS9 expression and cilium-related signaling in cells isolated from patients calvarial bone.

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Barba M, Di Pietro L, Massimi L, Geloso MC, Frassanito P, Caldarelli M, Michetti F, Della Longa S, Romitti PA, Di Rocco C, Arcovito A, Parolini O, Tamburrini G, Bernardini C, Boyadjiev SA, Lattanzi W