
* Section of Medical Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Childrens Mercy Hospitals and Clinics and University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, Missouri
Institute for Child Development, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas
| ABSTRACT |
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Methods. We analyzed clinical, anthropometric, and behavioral data in 12 individuals (5 men, 7 women; mean age: 25.9 ± 8.8 years) with PWS and a type I (TI) deletion, 14 individuals (6 men, 8 women; mean age: 19.6 ± 6.5 years) with PWS and a type II (TII) deletion, and 21 individuals (10 men, 11 women; mean age: 23.6 ± 9.2 years) with PWS and maternal disomy 15 (UPD). The deletion type was determined by genotyping of DNA markers between proximal chromosome 15 breakpoints BP1 and BP2. TI deletions are
500 kb larger than TII deletions. Several validated psychological and behavioral tests were used to assess phenotypic characteristics of individuals with PWS representing the 3 genetic subtypes.
Results. Significant differences were found between the 2 deletion groups and those with UPD in multiple psychological and behavorial tests, but no differences were observed in other clinical or anthropometric data studied. Adaptive behavior scores were generally worse in individuals with PWS and the TI deletion, and specific obsessive-compulsive behaviors were more evident in the TI individuals compared with those with UPD. Individuals with PWS with TI deletions also had poorer reading and math skills as well as visual-motor integration.
Conclusions. Our study indicates that individuals with TI deletion generally have more behavioral and psychological problems than individuals with the TII deletion or UPD. Four recently identified genes have been identified in the chromosome region between BP1 and BP2 with 1 of the genes (NIPA-1) expressed in mouse brain tissue but not thought to be imprinted. It may be important for brain development or function. These genes are deleted in individuals with TI deletion and are implicated in compulsive behavior and lower intellectual ability in individuals with TI versus TII.
Key Words: Prader-Willi syndrome type I and type II deletions maternal disomy 15 clinical differences
Abbreviations: PWS, Prader-Willi syndrome UPD, maternal disomy 15 AS, Angelman syndrome BP, breakpoint TI, type I TII, type II IQ, intelligence quotient CBC, Child Behavior Checklist Y-BOCS, Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale VMI, visual-motor integration SIB, self-injurious behavior
Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder that results from the absence of normally active paternally expressed genes from the 15q11-q13 chromosome region.13 A number of genes located in the 15q11-q13 region have been shown to be imprinted (active on only 1 member of the chromosome pair), and expression is dependent on the parent of origin of the chromosome 15. The major characteristics of this syndrome include infantile hypotonia with feeding problems, global developmental delay and mental deficiency, behavior problems, small hands and feet, hypogonadism and hyperphagia leading to marked obesity in early childhood, and a characteristic face.1,2,4 The majority of individuals,
70%, have a paternally derived interstitial deletion of 15q11-q13,
25% have maternal disomy 15 (UPD), and the remaining 2% to 5% of individuals have imprinting defects.2,3
PWS and Angelman syndrome (AS), an entirely different clinical disorder, were the first examples in humans of genomic imprinting or the differential expression of genetic material depending on the parent of origin. The majority of AS patients have a maternally derived interstitial deletion of 15q11-q13. At least 1 dozen imprinted genes have been identified in the 15q11-q13 region, and the majority are paternally expressed (maternally imprinted or inactivated). The paternally expressed genes are candidates for PWS, whereas a single maternally expressed gene (UBE3A) is thought to cause AS.
The typical deletion responsible for PWS encompasses most of the 15q11-q13 region; however, recent studies have shown that the proximal deletion breakpoint may occur at 1 of 2 sites within either of 2 large duplicons centromeric to locus ZNF127.3 The precise location of the breakpoints within the duplicons may vary,5 but the breakpoints seem to be confined to a relatively small region of chromosome 15, which allows for the identification of 2 classes of deletion subjects. Breakpoint 1 (BP1) is proximal to D15S541/S1035 loci, and BP2 lies between loci D15S541/S1035 and D15S543.6 The type I (TI) deletion involves BP1, which is close to the centromere, while the type II (TII) deletion involves breakpoint BP2 and is located
500 kb distal to BP1. Therefore, the TI deletion results in the loss of
500 kb of genetic material in addition to what is missing in the TII deletion. Recently, Chai et al7 reported 4 newly identified genes in the region between BP1 and BP2. BP3, located between loci D15S156 and D15S165, is the distal breakpoint in the 15q11-q13 region and is observed in both deletion subgroups.
Analyses of the genetic subtypes of PWS to date have compared deletion individuals and UPD individuals without grouping the deletion individuals into TI or TII. For example, hypopigmentation and homogeneous clinical presentations including dermatoglyphic patterns were more often seen in individuals with PWS and a deletion compared with those with normal chromosomes now recognized as having UPD.1,8 In addition, we reported significantly higher verbal intelligence quotient (IQ) scores in PWS individuals with UPD compared with individuals with deletion.9 PWS individuals from the UPD subgroup scored significantly higher than the deletion subgroup in 4 subcategories of verbal testing: information, arithmetic, vocabulary, and comprehension. Similarly, Dykens and others4,1013 also reported behavioral and cognitive differences in PWS individuals with the UPD individuals having fewer maladaptive behaviors measured by the Child Behavior Checklists (CBCs) internalizing, externalizing, and total domain scores and more symptom-related distress noted using the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS).
We further reported more self-injurious behavior in deletion individuals with PWS compared with those with UPD.14 Conversely, visual processing of complex stimuli was significantly poorer in individuals with UPD compared with those with the deletion.15 Gunay-Aygun et al16 also reported a decrease in severity of some of the minor behavioral characteristics associated with PWS, particularly in individuals with UPD compared with individuals with deletions. Thus, analyses of individuals with PWS to date have included cognitive, psychological, behavioral, physiologic, and biochemical data and grouped into deletion or UPD subgroup categories. Herein, we report the first clinical study of individuals with PWS grouped by deletion size (TI vs TII) and compare their findings with individuals with UPD.
| METHODS |
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Individuals with deletions were further subdivided into TI or TII using microsatellite markers around and between BP1 and BP2. Additional molecular genetic testing confirmed the location of the distal breakpoint at BP3. The absence of the paternal D15S541/S1035 loci was classified as having the TI deletion and identified by routine microsatellite analysis using an ABI 310 automated capillary sequencer with PWS subject and parental DNA isolated from peripheral blood (Fig 1). The TII deletion was classified as having the presence of these loci, which are located between BP1 and BP2 (Fig 2). The deletion subtype status was confirmed with quantitative polymerase chain reaction using established protocols6,20 in individuals uninformative at these loci (data not shown).
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Several validated psychological and behavioral scales were used to assess phenotypic characteristics of individuals with PWS. The Y-BOCS21 was used in our study and is the most widely used standardized scale for measuring obsessions and compulsions in psychiatric patients. A caregiver report form of the scale (used here) has been used with individuals with PWS and found to be sensitive to compulsivity.22,23 Because it is difficult to assess obsessions among people with limited verbal capacity, we also used the Compulsive Behavior Checklist24 designed for people with intellectual disabilities, focusing on compulsive behavior rather than obsessions.
The Reiss Screen for Maladaptive Behavior25 is a caregiver report instrument for people older than 12 years that assesses psychiatric symptoms of people with developmental disabilities. The Scales of Independent Behavior26 is designed to assess both adaptive and maladaptive behavior of individuals with cognitive disabilities and is used most widely with individuals with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale was used to evaluate intellectual ability.27,28 The Visual Motor Integrations Scale29 is a measure of visual-motor integration (VMI) and has been shown to detect the ability to coordinate motor responses with specific visual demands. Academic skills were assessed using the Woodcock Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised.30 Statistical analyses used throughout the study included mean and standard deviation, t test, and analysis of variance.
| RESULTS |
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Significant differences were also found in visual processing scores among the 3 subject groups based on VMI assessments for VMI (raw score), VMI (percentile), and VMI (standing score). Significant differences were found in academic achievement scores among the 3 groups using the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery, which included Woodcock-Johnson reading cluster, reading comprehension, letter-word identification, Woodcock-Johnson math cluster, applied problems, and calculation (see Table 2). Significant academic achievement measurements were the most strikingly different for TI deletions with poorer performances compared with individuals with TII or UPD. For example, in Woodcock-Johnson math cluster, individuals with TI performed more poorly than in individuals with either TII or UPD. These scores represented a convergent set of intellectual assessments that all suggested a reduction in scholastic aptitude by individuals with TI deletions compared with the other genetic subtypes. However, significant differences were observed in intelligence scores generated using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale, particularly with lower scores generated for both deletion types (TI and TII) compared with individuals with UPD. For these scores, observed significant differences were found between individuals with TII and UPD. Unlike the other intelligence scores, the object assembly scores were higher in individuals with TI and TII compared with individuals with UPD, in agreement with previous reports on deletion and UPD comparisons.
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| DISCUSSION |
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Psychobehavioral phenotypic characteristics of individuals with PWS and TI or longer deletions (ie, BP1) were similar in several respects to individuals with uncharacterized deletions previously reported3134 but do differ from those with TII or shorter deletions (ie, BP2), the latter group resembling several features of individuals with UPD. Those with longer deletions had more compulsive behavior and more impairment of visual perception. Conversely, individuals with longer deletions did not display more self-injury than individuals with shorter deletions or UPD (eg, Scales of Independent Living, Reiss Self Injury Scale, Compulsive Behavior Checklist Skin Picking). Although both individuals with TI and TII deletion exhibited more SIB than individuals with UPD for several assessments, the differences were significant in only individuals with TII when compared with UPD. These differences may reflect the sample size with a larger number of individuals with TII and UPD studied compared with the number of individuals with TI. With larger sample sizes found in both the TII and UPD subject groups and thus higher degrees of freedom, higher t test values would meet the significance level for these parameters.
The disassociation of compulsivity and skin picking is consistent with our previous factor analytic study revealing that skin picking does not factor with compulsivity using the Compulsive Behavior Checklist.35 Moreover, we recently reported that plasma
-aminobutyric acid levels are inversely correlated with skin picking in PWS but unrelated to compulsive behavior scale scores (T. Thompson, PhD, I. Feurer, PhD, W. MacLean, PhD, D. Schmidt, PhD, and M.G. Butler, MD, PhD, unpublished data, 2002). Several academic achievement scores differed between shorter and longer deletions, which may reflect a difference in intellectual functioning as well as differences in visual perception that may affect reading ability.
The longer deletion results in the loss of an additional 500 kb of DNA compared with the shorter deletion. DNA sequences contained in this region may contribute to the differences observed between individuals with PWS and TI and TII deletions, which is supported by the identification of 4 genes between BP1 and BP2.7 Thus, individuals with the longer deletion are presumably missing the 4 genes compared with individuals with PWS and shorter deletions. One of these genes is NIPA-1, which is expressed in mouse brain tissue and is not thought to be imprinted but may be important for brain development or function.7 These or other unidentified genes in the BP1 and BP2 region may be implicated in compulsive behavior and lower intellectual ability that were seen in our patients.
Our previous studies indicate that 2 maternal copies of the 15q11-q13 region may predispose to less skin picking, more visual perceptual abnormalities,15 but a superior visual memory,36 which may ameliorate the IQ deficit in individuals with UPD. In addition, the UBE3A gene, which is maternally expressed in Purkinje cells, hippocampal neurons, and mitral cells of the olfactory bulb in mouse models,37 should also be considered as playing a role in 1 or more of these phenotypic features in PWS with UPD. Individuals with maternal disomy will have 2 expressed alleles of the UBE3A gene, and this overproduction of gene product may have an impact on the behavior or clinical phenotype compared with the individual with TI or TII deletion with only 1 active allele of this gene.
Our results indicate that having a paternal copy of genes between BP1 and BP2 is beneficial to having 2 maternal copies as seen in individuals with UPD. One would anticipate no distinction between maternal and paternal alleles in this region if they are biallelically expressed; however, the 15q11-q13 region contains imprinted genes. This imprinting process may have an impact on the function of other genes in the region. In addition, paternally expressed genes outside the PWS critical region would not be expressed in individuals with PWS and UPD but would be expressed in individuals with a deletion. Similarly, incorrect methylation may also play a role in this region. Hence, the above observations and speculations will require additional genetic testing and confirmation.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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We acknowledge Linda Heim and Deborah Moore for expert preparation of this manuscript.
| FOOTNOTES |
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Reprint requests to (M.G.B.) Childrens Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Section of Medical Genetics and Molecular Medicine, 2401 Gillham Rd, Kansas City, MO 64108. E-mail: mgbutler{at}cmh.edu
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