- Yagnik, Garima;
- Ghuman, Apar;
- Kim, Sundon;
- Stevens, Cristina G.;
- Kimonis, Virginia;
- Stoler, Joan;
- Sanchez-Lara, Pedro;
- Bernstein, Jonathan;
- Naydenov, Cyril;
- Drissi, Hicham;
- Cunningham, Michael L.;
- Kim, Jinoh;
- Boyadjiev, Simeon A.
Craniosynostosis is the early fusion of one or more sutures of the infant skull and is a common defect occurring in approximately 1 of every 2,500 live births. Non-syndromic craniosynostosis accounts for approximately 80% of all cases and is thought to have strong genetic determinants that are yet to be identified. ALX4 is a homeodomain transcription factor with known involvement in osteoblast regulation. By direct sequencing of the ALX4 coding region in sagittal or sagittal-suture-involved non-syndromic craniosynostosis probands, we identified novel, nonsynonymous, familial variants in three of 203 individuals with NSC. Using dual-luciferase assay we show that two of these variants (V7F and K211E) confer a significant gain-of-function effect on ALX4. Our results suggest that ALX4 variants may have an impact on the genetic etiology of NSC.