zaki syndrome zaki syndrome zaki syndrome is a syndrome characterized by microcephaly, facial dysmorphism, foot syndactyly, renal agenesis, alopecia, coloboma, and heart defects. it is caused by a homozygous missense mutation in the wls gene on the short arm of chromosome 1 in humans (1p31.3), which encodes the wnt ligand secretion mediator, also known as wntless. the mutation was identified in 10 persons from 5 unrelated families and the syndrome was published for the first time in september 2021 in the new england journal of medicine. zaki syndrome is named after maha s. zaki, a co-author of the publication.