Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 11, 2025

In Vivo Functional Study of Disease-associated Rare Human Variants Using Drosophila
Published on: August 20, 2019
Maternal transmission of a mild Coffin-Siris syndrome phenotype caused by a SOX11 missense variant
Britta Hanker1, Gabriele Gillessen-Kaesbach2,3, Irina Hüning4,2
1Ambulanzzentrum UKSH, Institut für Humangenetik, Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany. britta.hanker@uksh.de.
Here we report for the first time on the maternal transmission of mild Coffin-Siris syndrome (CSS) caused by a SOX11 missense variant. We present two sisters with intellectual disability and muscular hypotonia born to non-consanguineous parents. Cogan ocular motor apraxia was present in both sisters. Body measurements were in a normal range. The mother and both daughters showed hypoplastic nails of the fifth toes. A missense variant in SOX11 [c.139 G > A; p.(Gly47Ser)] in both sisters and their mother was identified. Since 2014, variants in SOX11 are known to cause mild CSS. Most described patients showed intellectual disability, especially concerning acquired language. All of them had hypoplastic nails of the fifth toes. It is of note, that some of these patients show Cogan ocular motor apraxia. The facial dysmorphic features seem not to be specific. We suggest that the combination of Cogan ocular motor apraxia, hypoplastic nails of fifth toes, and developmental delay give the important diagnostic clue for a variant in the SOX11 gene (OMIM 615866, MR 27).
Here we report for the first time on the maternal transmission of mild Coffin-Siris syndrome (CSS) caused by a SOX11 missense variant. We present two sisters with intellectual disability and muscular hypotonia born to non-consanguineous parents. Cogan ocular motor apraxia was present in both sisters. Body measurements were in a normal range. The mother and both daughters showed hypoplastic nails of the fifth toes. A missense variant in SOX11 [c.139 G > A; p.(Gly47Ser)] in both sisters and their mother was identified. Since 2014, variants in SOX11 are known to cause mild CSS. Most described patients showed intellectual disability, especially concerning acquired language. All of them had hypoplastic nails of the fifth toes. It is of note, that some of these patients show Cogan ocular motor apraxia. The facial dysmorphic features seem not to be specific. We suggest that the combination of Cogan ocular motor apraxia, hypoplastic nails of fifth toes, and developmental delay give the important diagnostic clue for a variant in the SOX11 gene (OMIM 615866, MR 27).
Related Concept Videos
Pleiotropy
Genomic Imprinting and Inheritance
The expression of some genes depends on which parent passed the gene to the offspring, through a phenomenon known as...
Meiosis vs. Mitosis
Before the start of mitosis and meiosis I, the cell synthesizes DNA, resulting in two homologous copies of each chromosome. DNA synthesis is...
X-Inactivation
Animal Mitochondrial Genetics
Sex-linked Disorders

