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Narrative Review Wildervanck Syndrome
Narrative Review Wildervanck Syndrome
understanding. In this review, the clinical findings and also the etiology that causes phenotypes of
Wildervanck syndrome, and also the association of epigenetics with Wildervanck syndrome will be discussed.
Keywords: Wildervanck; Wildervanck syndrome; Duane; Duane retraction syndrome; Klippel-Feil anomaly;
cerviooculoacoustic
Introduction
In 1952, Wildervanck originally reported the uncommon cervico-oculo-acoustic
syndrome known as Wildervanck syndrome, a rare genetic syndrome characterized by three
major clinical features: Duane Retraction Syndrome, Klippel-Feil anomaly, and congenital
hearing loss. Wildervanck syndrome primarily affects women and is caused by an X-linked
mutation that is fatal to hemizygous males.. 1–3 In this review, the etiology that causes
phenotypes of Wildervanck syndrome and also the association of epigenetics with
Wildervanck syndrome will be discussed.
Wildervanck syndrome consists of three main features which are Duane syndrome, an
abnormality in ocular movement; Klippel-Feil anomaly, a neck vertebral fusion with
Wildervanck Syndrome
The main clinical features of Wildervanck syndrome are hearing loss congenital with
abnormality in ocular movement (Duane Retraction syndrome) and short neck, fused
cervical vertebrae, and low posterior hairline (Klippel-Feil anomaly). Other clinical features
are microcephaly, cleft palate, hydrocephalus, congenital heart defect, and intellectual
disability. 1–7
Fig1. Clinical features of Wildervanck syndrome consist of abnormality in ocular movement (top)
and fused cervical vertebrae with short neck and low posterior hairline (bottom) 1,8
FGF13 encodes amino acid 216 which affects neurons intracellularly that plays
important role in brain development. FGF13 also affects cervical, inner ear, and abducens
cranial nerve development. 1
Fig2. A pedigree of proband’s family, he has 8 unaffected siblings and parents that showed a de novo
mutation. 1
CHN1
The CHN1 is crucial in giving instructions for the synthesis of the proteins 1- and 2-
chimaerin. These proteins are crucial for the nervous system's early development. They also
help in regulating signaling pathways during the formation and development of neurons and
guiding the growth of axons and dendrites. 15
In the development of cranial nerves VI and III, 2-chimaerin is crucial. Several
extraocular muscles that direct eye movement and determine the position of the eye are
under the control of these cranial nerves. 15
Based on the pedigree in Fig3, although there were 11 members of the family affected
by DRS, not all the family members show the same phenotype. One family member was
MAFB
MAFB is a gene that encodes transcription factors from basic leucine zip which is
expressed in rhombomere 5 and 6, that controls the abducens nerve needed for patterning
the hindbrain. The absence of MAFB will result in abducens neuron motor failure to
develop. Mutations in MAFB can cause DRS with or without hearing loss. 16
MAFB consists of three main domain functions, namely EHR (extended homology
region) and BR (basic region) which is required for DNA binding and LZ is required for
dimerization (Fig5). 16,17
Based on Fig6 where there were four families affected by DRS that were caused by a
mutation in MAFB. There is a full deletion in the whole genes in pedigree N but there’s no
mutant in MAFB. There’s a frameshift mutation in the leucine zipper in pedigree FA
(c.803delA (p.Asn268Metfs*125)). In the early extended homology region in pedigree PM,
there’s a frameshift mutation in c.644delA (p.Gln215Argfs*10). In pedigree 0819 there’s a
frameshift mutation in c440delG (p.Gly147Alafs*78). The mutation happened in pedigree
FA and 0819 was a de novo mutation. In pedigree FA, there’s a hearing loss whether it’s
unilateral or bilateral, while in the other pedigree there’s no sign of hearing loss. A full
deletion in pedigree N resulted in bilateral and unilateral type III and unknown type of
DRS. The mutation that happened in pedigree FM resulted in bilateral DRS type I, while
the mutation that happened in pedigree 0819 resulted in bilateral type III and type I of
DRS. 16
SALL4
SALL4 (spalt-like transcription factor) gene belongs to the SALL group and the
mutations in SALL4 play an important role in abducens motoneuron development. 18
Putative zinc finger transcription factors that are encoded by the SALL genes play
significant roles in human malformation disorders. This gene family includes a new
member called SALL4, which can be found on chromosome 20q13.13-q13.2. 19
Several pedigrees were reported to have frameshift mutation leading to a stop codon
and altered amino acid. A nonsense mutation is also reported to happen in one of the
pedigrees as seen in Fig6. The phenotype of Duane syndrome, which can be unilateral or
bilateral and includes people with a notable or total impairment of abduction with little to
no limitation of adduction, is comparable in both variants. 18,19
Klippel-Feil Anomaly
Klippel-Feil anomaly is another syndrome that is included in Wildervanck syndrome’s
triad. Short neck and low posterior hairline, two or more cervical vertebrae fused together,
and restriction in head movement are the key clinical characteristics of the Klippel-Feil
anomaly. 25 The fused vertebrae can cause limit the range of the head and neck movement,
the shortened neck can lead to facial asymmetry. There are three subtypes of Klippel-Feil
anomaly, namely KFS type I characterized by single congenital fused cervical; KFS type II
which is characterized by multiple noncontiguous congenitally fused segments (localized
fusion in one or two cervical or thoracic vertebrae with incomplete development of one half
of hemivertebrae or another malformation in cervical vertebrae); KFS type III which
characterized by multiple contiguous congenitally fused segments. 26
MEOX1
MEOX1 plays an important role in encoding protein homeobox with MEOX2 localized
in mesodermal structures. MEOX1 also has an important role in the expression of
downstream genes like Bapx1, Tbx18, and Uncx where MEOX1 will bind with those genes
promoter to regulate somite development, especially in cervical vertebrae. MEOX1 plays
important, non-redundant roles in maintaining sclerotome polarity and the formation of
craniocervical joints. 8,27
Mutation in MEOX1 is believed to be the cause of KFS type II which is inherited in an
autosomal recessive pattern. 8,27 MEOX1 located in locus 17q21.31. In a case report where
two patients from different families were reported to have a KFS, sequencing of the entire
coding region of MEOX1 where the mutation happened is done in a few pedigrees below
found that there was a frameshift mutation (c.94delG) which resulted in complete loss of
mutant transcript that causes changes in resulting protein (p.Ala32Profs*165) happened in
exon 1 and most likely caused by nonsense-mediated decay mechanism. A premature stop
codon (p.Arg222*) due to a nonsense mutation (c.664C>T) (Fig8-9). 8,27
Fig9. Pedigree of a family affected by KFA caused by a mutation in MEOX1 showed the autosomal-
recessive mode of inheritance 8
The phenotype shown by the two patients from different families was similar. They
had a fused of cervical vertebrae, short neck and low back hairline and a cervical
segmentation defect. Other physical findings found in one of the patients were a cleft palate
and micrognathia. Numerous relatives who were similarly impacted were present,
according to the family history and pictures. 8
GDF6
GDF6 is a gene that plays important role in instructing producing a protein that is part
of the transforming group beta factor (TGF). GDF6 also controls the development of
bones and cartilages, the development of joints in limbs, cranial, vertebrae, and thorax, and
also the development of the retina and photoreceptor cells. The adult vertebral disc and the
borders of developing carpals, tarsals, and vertebrae both express GDF6. 31
After sequencing the GDF6 gene, a recurrent missense mutation was found. In the
family KF2-03 pedigree's third generation, family with autosomal dominant KF shown by
this pedigree showed a missense mutation in c.746C4A (p.Ala249Glu).
Clinical manifestations in both affected family members show manifestations in the
form of fusion of the C2-C3 vertebrae, with varying vocal deficiencies and piriform
expansion. Nearly 50% of affected family members show clinical manifestations of carpal
fusion and another 50% show other anomalies. 31
MYO18B
MYO18B is a gene that is a part of unconventional class XVIII myosin which has
important roles in regulating transcriptional specific genes in skeletal muscle and cardiac
tissue and also regulating intracellular trafficking. Mutation in MYO18B is reported to be
one of the genes that cause of Klippel-Feil anomaly. 30,32
Fig13. Pedigree of two families where one member was affected with Klippel-Feil anomaly caused by a
mutation in MYO18B. 28
Conclusion
Wildervanck syndrome is a rare cervico-oculo-acoustic syndrome that is believed to be
associated with X-linked mutations and mostly happens in males than females.
References
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