[Osteochondrodysplasia determined genetically by a collagen type II gene mutation]

Chondrodysplasias are a heterogenous group of skeletal dysplasias, affecting the growing cartilage. The main part of chondrodysplasias is caused by mutations in various types of collagen genes. The current classification within this group of disorder relies on clinical, histological and radiographic features. Type II collagenopathies comprise part of chondrodysplasias, consisting of hereditary disorders caused by defects in the type II collagen. Collagen type II is coded by a large gene--COL2A1. The chromosomal location for the human COL2A1 gene is 12q13.11-q13.12. Defects in collagen type II are caused by point mutations in the COL2A1 gene. Type II collagenopathies form a wide spectrum of clinical severity ranging from lethal achondrogenesis type II, hypochondrogenesis, through severe forms like spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia congenita, Marshall syndrome, to the mild forms--Stickler syndrome and early osteoarthritis. The pathological changes in the patients are observed in the growth plate, nucleus pulposus and vitreous body, where the abnormal collagen type II is distributed. This article presents the genetic background of collagenopathies type II and the results of current molecular studies of the patients. Both the molecular and the clinical studies may promise a better understanding of the relationship between the genotype and the phenotype. We present the patients, who were diagnosed at the Department of Medical Genetics and in the Orthopaedic Department in Poznań.