Publications by authors named "Stephanie Balow"

Background: Chromoanagenesis is an umbrella term used to describe catastrophic "all at once" cellular events leading to the chaotic reconstruction of chromosomes. It is characterized by numerous rearrangements involving a small number of chromosomes/loci, copy number gains in combination with deletions, reconstruction of chromosomal fragments with improper order/orientation, and preserved heterozygosity in copy number neutral regions. Chromoanagesis is frequently described in association with cancer; however, it has also been described in the germline.

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Background: Unbalanced translocations may be de novo or inherited from one parent carrying the balanced form and are usually present in all cells. Mosaic unbalanced translocations are extremely rare with a highly variable phenotype depending on the tissue distribution and level of mosaicism. Mosaicism for structural chromosomal abnormalities is clinically challenging for diagnosis and counseling due to the limitation of technical platforms and complex mechanisms, respectively.

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Our institution developed and continuously improved a Neurodevelopmental Reflex (NDR) algorithm to help physicians with genetic test ordering for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). To assess its performance, we performed a retrospective study of 511 patients tested through NDR from 2018 to 2019. SNP Microarray identified pathogenic/likely pathogenic copy number variations in 27/511 cases (5.

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Robin sequence (RS), the triad of micrognathia, glossoptosis, and airway obstruction, is a major cause of respiratory distress and feeding difficulties in neonates. Robin sequence can be associated with other medical or developmental comorbidities in ~50% of cases ("syndromic" RS). As well, RS is variably associated with cleft palate (CP).

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The transcription of rRNA is critical to all living cells and is tightly controlled at the level of chromatin structure. Although the widespread adoption of genomic technologies including chromatin immunoprecipitation with massively parallel short-read sequencing (ChIP-seq) has allowed for the interrogation of chromatin structure on a genome-wide scale, until recently rDNA has not been analyzed by this technique. We extended genomic analysis of rDNA to mouse (Mus musculus), in which rDNA is similar in structure but highly divergent in sequence compared with human rDNA.

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CHARGE syndrome is a sporadic autosomal-dominant genetic disorder characterized by a complex array of birth defects so named for its cardinal features of ocular coloboma, heart defects, choanal atresia, growth retardation, genital abnormalities, and ear abnormalities. Approximately two-thirds of individuals clinically diagnosed with CHARGE syndrome have heterozygous loss-of-function mutations in the gene encoding chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein 7 (CHD7), an ATP-dependent chromatin remodeler. To examine the role of Chd7 in development, a zebrafish model was generated through morpholino (MO)-mediated targeting of the zebrafish chd7 transcript.

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The six mammalian CCN genes (Cyr61, CTGF, Nov, WISP1, WISP2, WISP3) encode a family of secreted, cysteine-rich, multimodular proteins having roles in cell proliferation, adhesion, migration, and differentiation during embryogenesis, wound healing, and angiogenesis. We used bioinformatics to identify 9 CCN genes in zebrafish (zCCNs), 6 of which have not been previously described. When compared with mammalian CCN family members, 3 were paralogs of Cyr61, 2 of CTGF, 2 of WISP1, 1 of WISP2, and 1 of WISP3.

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