[Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome: clinical and molecular analysis in an African patient]

Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is an extremely rare genetic disease characterized by an early onset of several clinical features including premature ageing in children. Approximately 80% of HGPS cases are caused by a de novo single-base pair substitution c.1824 C>T (GGC > GGT, p.Gly608Gly) within the exon 11 of the LMNA gene which codes for lamins A and C proteins. This mutation creates an abnormal splice donor site, leading to the formation of a truncated lamin A protein. Only a very few cases of African patients with HGPS have been reported, but none of them has been characterized at the molecular level. We report here a 12 year-old-girl African patient with HGPS, in whom the p.Gly608Gly heterozygous disease-causing mutation was found.