A Novel Homozygous WDR72 Mutation in Two Siblings with Amelogenesis Imperfecta and Mild Short Stature

Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of inherited defects of enamel formation. In isolated AI (no additional segregating features), mutations in at least 7 genes are known so far, causing dominant, recessive or X-linked AI and allowing the identification of the molecular etiology in 40-50% of affected families. We report on 2 siblings (an 11-year-old female and a 7-year-old male) born to consanguineous Turkish parents, with AI and mild, proportionate short stature. Both parents have normal teeth, but mother, maternal grandmother and great-grandfather are/were also of short stature. A spine X-ray performed in the girl excluded brachyolmia. Affymetrix GenomeWide SNP6.0 Array analysis identified no pathogenic copy number changes, but showed sharing of large homozygous regions, including chromosome band 15q21.3 containing the WDR72 gene. WDR72 sequence analysis in both siblings revealed homozygosity for a novel stop mutation in exon 10 (c.997A>T, p.Lys333X) explaining the AI phenotype. Mutations in WDR72 are a very rare cause of autosomal-recessive hypomaturation type of isolated AI. The mutation described in our patients specifies the diagnosis AI IIA3 and represents only the sixth WDR72 mutation reported so far. The WDR72 protein is critical for dental enamel formation, but its exact function is still unknown.