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Mixed vascular naevus (MVN) is characterized by the co-occurrence of telangiectatic capillary malformation and naevus anaemicus, which can appear as a pure cutaneous phenotype or be combined with systemic manifestations such as brain malformations, neurological abnormalities and musculoskeletal disorders. Recently, GNA11 and GNAQ somatic mutations have been reported in some patients with isolated and syndromic MVN. We report three children with MVN syndrome with generalized cutaneous manifestations and a number of systemic associations not reported to date, including ophthalmological anomalies, musculoskeletal abnormalities such as Sprengel deformity and posterior vertebral fusion anomalies, and septal heart defects. We also confirm a somatic mutation of GNA11 in both telangiectatic naevus and naevus anaemicus in two of our patients and discuss a possible common pathogenic mechanism underlying the different manifestations of the syndrome. Currently, there are no guidelines for the evaluation of patients with MVN syndrome, but according to the different known aspects of the disease, a complete clinical examination should be made, and complementary laboratory and imaging tests should be considered., (© 2021 British Association of Dermatologists.)

Few genetically dominant mutations involved in human disease have been fully explained at the molecular level. In cases where the mutant gene encodes a transcription factor, the dominant-negative mode of action of the mutant protein is particularly poorly understood. Here, we studied the genome-wide mechanism underlying a dominant-negative form of the SOX18 transcription factor (SOX18RaOp) responsible for both the classical mouse mutant Ragged Opossum and the human genetic disorder Hypotrichosis-lymphedema-telangiectasia-renal defect syndrome. Combining three single-molecule imaging assays in living cells together with genomics and proteomics analysis, we found that SOX18RaOp disrupts the system through an accumulation of molecular interferences which impair several functional properties of the wild-type SOX18 protein, including its target gene selection process. The dominant-negative effect is further amplified by poisoning the interactome of its wild-type counterpart, which perturbs regulatory nodes such as SOX7 and MEF2C. Our findings explain in unprecedented detail the multi-layered process that underpins the molecular aetiology of dominant-negative transcription factor function., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.)

Motivation: Systematic analysis of connection between proteins, their cellular function and phenotypic manifestations in disease is a central problem of biological and clinical research. The solution to this problem requires the development of new approaches to link the rapidly growing dataset of gene-disease associations with the many complex and overlapping phenotypes of human disease., Results: We analyze genetic skin disorders and suggest a manually designed set of elementary phenotypes whose combinations define diseases as points in a multidimensional space, providing a basis for phenotypic disease clustering. Placing the known gene-disease associations in the context of this space reveals new patterns that suggest previously unknown functional links between proteins, signaling pathways and disease phenotypes. For example, analysis of telangiectasias (spider vein diseases) reveals a previously unrecognized interplay between the TGF-beta signaling pathway and pentose phosphate pathway. This interaction may mediate glucose-dependent regulation of TGF-beta signaling, providing a clue to the known association between angiopathies and diabetes and implying new gene candidates for mutational analysis and drug targeting.

We have examined 14 of 28 members of a four-generation family, 10 of whom demonstrated the clinical features of the scleroatrophic syndrome of Huriez, a cancer-prone dermatosis. Several members of this family demonstrated additional features, previously unrecorded in this syndrome, including poikiloderma-like changes on the nose, flexion contractures of the little finger, a distinctive little finger nodule, and telangiectasia on the lips. Genetic linkage was excluded to distal chromosome 4q (LOD score-4.399 at theta = 0.001). This concurs with the recent reappraisal study of one of the two original families described by Huriez, in which no evidence of linkage between this syndrome and the MNSs erythrocytic system (mapped to 4q28-q31) was found. This is the first report of a family from the U.K. with this syndrome.

Because of occasional reports of exudative retinal detachment with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSH) and deafness, we sought to determine by fluorescein angiography whether there is any general relationship between FSH muscular dystrophy and retinal vascular disease. Peripheral retinal capillary abnormalities, comprising telangiectasis, closure, leakage and microaneurysm formation, were demonstrated by angiography in 56 out of 75 individuals with clinical or genetic evidence of FSH. Only 3 patients had relevant ophthalmoscopic abnormalities of the posterior pole and in only 1 was there consequent visual loss. This study included one FSH family in which the propositus was treated for exudative retinopathy and 13 other subjects had telangiectasis, and 8 cases (including 3 parents of apparently 'sporadic' FSH cases) in which fluorescein angiography confirmed the abnormal genotype, even though clinical examination of skeletal muscle revealed no clear abnormality. There was no correlation between the severity of the muscle disease and the extent of the retinal vascular abnormality. Visual complications of telangiectasis, although rare, may present early in life and before there is overt evidence of muscle disease. Since visual loss may be preventable, ophthalmic examination should be undertaken on infants at risk of having the abnormal gene. The findings support the hypothesis that retinal capillary abnormalities are an integral part of the FSH muscular dystrophy syndrome and raise the question as to whether analogous capillary abnormalities could be implicated in the pathogenesis of FSH muscle disease.

In this paper we present the first record of familial incidence in angioma serpiginosum observed in two families. The clinical and histological features are described.

Cutis marmorata telangiectatica congenita was observed in two adult sisters. The condition appeared at birth and did not change much with age. In one sister the condition was accompanied by hypertension, acrocyanosis and ulceration of the big toe. On the basis of a comparison of the symptoms in patients and their relatives, the authors assume that Van Lohuizen syndrome is a dominantly inherited genetic disorder with low penetrance and great intrafamilial variability.