Study of folate receptor genes in nonsyndromic familial and sporadic cleft lip with or without clef palate cases

Folate receptor family members (FOLRs) mediate the delivery of 5‐methyltetrahydrofolate to the interior of, out of within, or between cells in a process known as potocytosis. Three FOLRsand a pseudogene map to 11q13.4. The aim of this study was to verify whether FOLRscould be responsible for the onset of nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P). Linkage and linkage disequilibrium between genetic markers and disorder were analyzed. Patients and their mothers from 71 familial CL/P pedigrees and 75 sporadic cases from Italian population were investigated by PCR‐SSCP analysis. Data from mutation scanning allowed us to find only a silent mutation in FOLR1present in a mother and her child. Our findings do not support FOLR1and FOLR2genes in the onset of CL/P. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.