Involvement of a palindromic chromosome 22-specific low-copy repeat in a constitutional t(X; 22)(q27;q11)

Segmental duplications or low-copy repeats (LCRs) on chromosome 22q11 have been implicated in several chromosomal rearrangements. The presence of AT-rich regions in these duplications may lead to the formation of hairpin structures, which facilitate chromosomal rearrangement. Here we report the involvement of such a low-copy repeat in a t(X;22) associated with a neural tube defect. Molecular analysis of the chromosomal breakpoints revealed that the chromosome 22 breakpoint maps in the palindromic non-AT-rich NF1-like region of low-copy repeat B (LCR-B). No palindromic region was encountered near the breakpoint on chromosome X. Our findings confirm that there is no single mechanism leading to translocations with chromosome 22q11 involvement. Because LCR-B does not contain genes involved in neural tube development, we believe that the gene responsible for the observed phenotype is most likely localized on chromosome X.