The first patient with a pure 1p36 microtriplication associated with severe clinical phenotypes

BACKGROUND: Copy Number Variants (CNVs) is a new molecular frontier in clinical genetics. CNVs in 1p36 are usually pathogenic and have attracted the attention of cytogeneticists worldwide. None of 1p36 triplication has been reported thus far. RESULTS: We present three patients with CNVs in 1p36. Among them one is the first 1p36 tetrasomy due to a pure microtriplication and the other two are 1p36 microdeletion. Traditional chromosome G-banding technique showed a normal karyotype. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) microarray analysis combined with multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were used to identify and confirm the chromosome microdeletion/microtriplication. The facial dysmorphisms of the patient with 1p36 tetrasomy differed from those two patients with 1p36 monosomy. The expression levels of B3GALT6, MIB2, PEX10 and PANK4 in the blood were determined, and differential expressions were observed between the patients and controls. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows the first case of 1p36 tetrasomy due to a pure microtriplication in a patient with severe intellectual disability and seizures. The study provides a new resource for studying the mechanisms of microtriplication formation, and provides an evidence that overexpression of the specific genes might be related the specific phenotype of 1p36 microtriplication. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13039-014-0064-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.