title: Clinical and molecular characterization of a de novo 19p13.3 microdeletion.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Structural rearrangements of chromosome 19p13.3 are a rare condition, and their phenotypic consequences remain not well defined, because of the variability of clinical manifestations. Increasing knowledge of new 19p13.3 microdeletion is useful to clarify the phenotypic variability observed in some patients. In a small number of recent papers, patients with intellectual disabilities, multiple congenital anomalies and microdeletion of the chromosome band 19p13.3 have been described. However, little is known about genes responsible for clinical features in patients carriers of 19p13.3 microdeletion; thus, increasing number of reported cases will be helpful to investigate the contribution of candidate genes, providing bases for future investigations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Here, we report on a 10-years-old girl referred to our genetics clinic due to intellectual disability, attention deficit, behavioral and speech delay, hypotonia, facial dysmorphisms, eye anomalies and congenital malformations. Using an high resolution SNP array, we identified a de novo microdeletion of chromosome 19p13.3, resulting in the heterozygous loss of 27 RefSeq genes and a miRNA, partially overlapping with three others deletions already reported in literature, but extending downstream (centromeric) for additional 386 Kb. This chromosomal region includes 13 genes amongst of which we suggest for the first time the APC2, PLK5 and MBD3 genes as potential functional candidates for neurodevelopmental and behavioral phenotypes observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Here we describe a patient with a 19p13.3 microdeletion that spans to the downstream chromosomal region with respect to the overlapping deletions previously reported in several other cases. The neurobehavioral features observed in our case has extended the phenotypic spectrum associated with the 19p13.3 microdeletion. New candidate genes are proposed for the neurobehavioral phenotype observed in our case.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Genetica Medica, IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Palumbo
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Genetica Medica, IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy.
authors.forename: Orazio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Palumbo
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Genetica Medica, IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy ; Dipartimento di Scienze del suolo, della pianta e degli alimenti, Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Pia
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Leone
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Genetica Medica, IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stallone
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Genetica Medica, IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Palladino
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Genetica Medica, IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy.
authors.forename: Leopoldo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zelante
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Genetica Medica, IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carella
keywords: 19p13.3 microdeletion; Intellectual disabilities; SNP-Array analysis