Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review

WAC-Related Intellectual Disability

Konstantinos Varvagiannis  1 , Bert BA de Vries  2 , Lisenka ELM Vissers  2
Margaret P Adam, Jerry Feldman, Ghayda M Mirzaa, Roberta A Pagon, Stephanie E Wallace, Anne Amemiya
, editors.
In: GeneReviews® [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993.
.
Affiliations
Free Books & Documents
Review

WAC-Related Intellectual Disability

Konstantinos Varvagiannis et al.
Free Books & Documents

Excerpt

Clinical characteristics: WAC-related intellectual disability (ID) is typically characterized by variable degrees of developmental delay and/or intellectual disability. Behavioral abnormalities including anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and/or autism spectrum disorder are observed in the majority of older children and adults. Most affected infants have significant but nonspecific features at birth such as neonatal hypotonia and feeding problems. Some affected individuals come to medical attention with respiratory or vision problems. Facial features may be mildly dysmorphic, but are nonspecific. To date, 18 individuals have been identified with WAC-related ID.

Diagnosis/testing: The diagnosis of WAC-related ID is established in a proband by identification of a heterozygous pathogenic variant in WAC on molecular genetic testing.

Management: Treatment of manifestations: Standard treatment of developmental delay / intellectual disability, behavioral abnormalities, neonatal hypotonia, and feeding problems.

Surveillance: Regular dietary evaluation in infancy to ensure optimal nutritional status; routine monitoring of developmental progress and educational needs; assessment for anxiety, attention, and aggressive or self-injurious behavior.

Genetic counseling: WAC-related ID is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. With the exception of one family with presumed parental germline mosaicism, all individuals diagnosed to date have the disorder as the result of a de novo pathogenic variant. Once the WAC pathogenic variant has been identified in an affected family member, prenatal testing for a pregnancy at increased risk and preimplantation genetic testing are possible.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

  • Phelan-McDermid Syndrome-SHANK3 Related.
    Phelan K, Rogers RC, Boccuto L. Phelan K, et al. 2005 May 11 [updated 2024 Jun 6]. In: Adam MP, Feldman J, Mirzaa GM, Pagon RA, Wallace SE, Amemiya A, editors. GeneReviews® [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993–2025. 2005 May 11 [updated 2024 Jun 6]. In: Adam MP, Feldman J, Mirzaa GM, Pagon RA, Wallace SE, Amemiya A, editors. GeneReviews® [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993–2025. PMID: 20301377 Free Books & Documents. Review.
  • TET3-Related Beck-Fahrner Syndrome.
    Fahrner JA. Fahrner JA. 2023 May 18. In: Adam MP, Feldman J, Mirzaa GM, Pagon RA, Wallace SE, Amemiya A, editors. GeneReviews® [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993–2025. 2023 May 18. In: Adam MP, Feldman J, Mirzaa GM, Pagon RA, Wallace SE, Amemiya A, editors. GeneReviews® [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993–2025. PMID: 37200470 Free Books & Documents. Review.
  • Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency.
    Lichter-Konecki U, Caldovic L, Morizono H, Simpson K, Ah Mew N, MacLeod E. Lichter-Konecki U, et al. 2013 Aug 29 [updated 2022 May 26]. In: Adam MP, Feldman J, Mirzaa GM, Pagon RA, Wallace SE, Amemiya A, editors. GeneReviews® [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993–2025. 2013 Aug 29 [updated 2022 May 26]. In: Adam MP, Feldman J, Mirzaa GM, Pagon RA, Wallace SE, Amemiya A, editors. GeneReviews® [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993–2025. PMID: 24006547 Free Books & Documents. Review.
  • CASK Disorders.
    Moog U, Kutsche K. Moog U, et al. 2013 Nov 26 [updated 2020 May 21]. In: Adam MP, Feldman J, Mirzaa GM, Pagon RA, Wallace SE, Amemiya A, editors. GeneReviews® [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993–2025. 2013 Nov 26 [updated 2020 May 21]. In: Adam MP, Feldman J, Mirzaa GM, Pagon RA, Wallace SE, Amemiya A, editors. GeneReviews® [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993–2025. PMID: 24278995 Free Books & Documents. Review.
  • NFIX-Related Malan Syndrome.
    Priolo M. Priolo M. 2024 Aug 1. In: Adam MP, Feldman J, Mirzaa GM, Pagon RA, Wallace SE, Amemiya A, editors. GeneReviews® [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993–2025. 2024 Aug 1. In: Adam MP, Feldman J, Mirzaa GM, Pagon RA, Wallace SE, Amemiya A, editors. GeneReviews® [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993–2025. PMID: 39083629 Free Books & Documents. Review.
See all similar articles

References

    1. Abdelhedi F, El Khattabi L, Essid N, Viot G, Letessier D, Lebbar A, Dupont JM. A de novo 10p11.23-p12.1 deletion recapitulates the phenotype observed in WAC mutations and strengthens the role of WAC in intellectual disability and behavior disorders. Am J Med Genet A. 2016;170:1912–7. - PubMed
    1. DeSanto C, D'Aco K, Araujo GC, Shannon N, Vernon H, Rahrig A, Monaghan KG, Niu Z, Vitazka P, Dodd J, Tang S, Manwaring L, Martir-Negron A, Schnur RE, Juusola J, Schroeder A, Pan V, Helbig KL, Friedman B, Shinawi M, et al. WAC loss-of-function mutations cause a recognisable syndrome characterised by dysmorphic features, developmental delay and hypotonia and recapitulate 10p11.23 microdeletion syndrome. J Med Genet. 2015;52:754–61. - PubMed
    1. Fitzgerald TW, Gerety SS, Jones WD, van Kogelenberg M, King DA, McRae J, Morley KI, Parthiban V, Al-Turki S, Ambridge K, Barrett DM, Bayzetinova T, Clayton S, Coomber EL, Gribble S, Jones P, Krishnappa N, Mason LE, Middleton A, Miller R, Prigmore E, Rajan D, Sifrim A, Tivey AR, Ahmed M, Akawi N, Andrews R, Anjum U, Archer H, Armstrong R, Balasubramanian M, Banerjee R, Baralle D, Batstone P, Baty D, Bennett C, Berg J, Bernhard B, Bevan AP, Blair E, Blyth M, Bohanna D, Bourdon L, Bourn D, Brady A, Bragin E, Brewer C, Brueton L, Brunstrom K, Bumpstead SJ, Bunyan DJ, Burn J, Burton J, Canham N, Castle B, Chandler K, Clasper S, Clayton-Smith J, Cole T, Collins A, Collinson MN, Connell F, Cooper N, Cox H, Cresswell L, Cross G, Crow Y, et al. Deciphering Developmental Disorders Study: Large-scale discovery of novel genetic causes of developmental disorders. Nature. 2015;519:223–8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hamdan FF, Srour M, Capo-Chichi JM, Daoud H, Nassif C, Patry L, Massicotte C, Ambalavanan A, Spiegelman D, Diallo O, Henrion E, Dionne-Laporte A, Fougerat A, Pshezhetsky AV, Venkateswaran S, Rouleau GA, Michaud JL. De novo mutations in moderate or severe intellectual disability. PLoS Genet. 2014;10:e1004772. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lek M, Karczewski KJ, Minikel EV, Samocha KE, Banks E, Fennell T, O'Donnell-Luria AH, Ware JS, Hill AJ, Cummings BB, Tukiainen T, Birnbaum DP, Kosmicki JA, Duncan LE, Estrada K, Zhao F, Zou J, Pierce-Hoffman E, Berghout J, Cooper DN, Deflaux N, DePristo M, Do R, Flannick J, Fromer M, Gauthier L, Goldstein J, Gupta N, Howrigan D, Kiezun A, Kurki MI, Moonshine AL, Natarajan P, Orozco L, Peloso GM, Poplin R, Rivas MA, Ruano-Rubio V, Rose SA, Ruderfer DM, Shakir K, Stenson PD, Stevens C, Thomas BP, Tiao G, Tusie-Luna MT, Weisburd B, Won HH, Yu D, Altshuler DM, Ardissino D, Boehnke M, Danesh J, Donnelly S, Elosua R, Florez JC, Gabriel SB, Getz G, Glatt SJ, Hultman CM, Kathiresan S, Laakso M, McCarroll S, McCarthy MI, McGovern D, McPherson R, Neale BM, Palotie A, Purcell SM, Saleheen D, Scharf JM, Sklar P, Sullivan PF, Tuomilehto J, Tsuang MT, Watkins HC, Wilson JG, Daly MJ, MacArthur DG, Exome Aggregation Consortium Analysis of protein-coding genetic variation in 60,706 humans. Nature. 2016;536:285–91. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources