AVERAGE PATERNAL AGE AT BIRTH 34.7 YEARS IN MUENKE-TYPE CRANIOSYNOSTOSIS

Hum Genet. 2004 Aug;115(3):200-7. Epub 2004 Jul 7. Links
Paternal origin of FGFR3 mutations in Muenke-type craniosynostosis.Rannan-Eliya SV, Taylor IB, De Heer IM, Van Den Ouweland AM, Wall SA, Wilkie AO.
NDCLS, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, The John Radcliffe, Headington, Oxford, UK.

Muenke syndrome, also known as FGFR3-associated coronal synostosis, is defined molecularly by the presence of a heterozygous nucleotide transversion, c.749C>G, encoding the amino acid substitution Pro250Arg, in the fibroblast growth factor receptor type 3 gene (FGFR3). This frequently occurs as a new mutation, manifesting one of the highest documented rates for any transversion in the human genome. To understand the biology of this mutation, we have investigated its parental origin, and the ages of the parents, in 19 families with de novo c.749C>G mutations. All ten informative cases originated from the paternal allele (95% confidence interval 74-100% paternal); the average paternal age at birth overall was 34.7 years. An exclusive paternal origin of mutations, and increased paternal age, were previously described for a different mutation (c.1138G>A) of the FGFR3 gene causing achondroplasia, as well as for mutations of the related FGFR2 gene causing Apert, Crouzon and Pfeiffer syndromes. We conclude that similar biological processes are likely to shape the occurrence of this c.749C>G mutation as for other mutations of FGFR3 as well as FGFR2. Copyright 2004 Springer-Verlag