@article {1007, title = {De novo TRIM8 variants impair its protein localization to nuclear bodies and cause developmental delay, epilepsy, and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {108}, year = {2021}, month = {2021 02 04}, pages = {357-367}, abstract = {

Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is the main pathology underlying steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) and a leading cause of chronic kidney disease. Monogenic forms of pediatric SRNS are predominantly caused by recessive mutations, while the contribution of de novo variants (DNVs) to this trait is poorly understood. Using exome sequencing (ES) in a proband with FSGS/SRNS, developmental delay, and epilepsy, we discovered a nonsense DNV in TRIM8, which encodes the E3 ubiquitin ligase tripartite motif containing 8. To establish whether TRIM8 variants represent a cause of FSGS, we aggregated exome/genome-sequencing data for 2,501 pediatric FSGS/SRNS-affected individuals and 48,556 control subjects, detecting eight heterozygous TRIM8 truncating variants in affected subjects but none in control subjects (p = 3.28~{\texttimes} 10). In all six cases with available parental DNA, we demonstrated de novo inheritance (p~=~2.21~{\texttimes} 10). Reverse phenotyping revealed neurodevelopmental disease in all eight families. We next analyzed ES from 9,067 individuals with epilepsy, yielding three additional families with truncating TRIM8 variants. Clinical review revealed FSGS in all. All TRIM8 variants cause protein truncation clustering within the last exon between residues 390 and 487 of the 551 amino acid protein, indicating a correlation between this syndrome and loss of the TRIM8 C-terminal region. Wild-type TRIM8 overexpressed in immortalized human podocytes and neuronal cells localized to nuclear bodies, while constructs harboring patient-specific variants mislocalized diffusely to the nucleoplasm. Co-localization studies demonstrated that Gemini and Cajal bodies frequently abut a TRIM8 nuclear body. Truncating TRIM8 DNVs cause a neuro-renal syndrome via aberrant TRIM8 localization, implicating nuclear bodies in FSGS and developmental brain disease.

}, keywords = {Adult, Animals, Carrier Proteins, Cell Line, Child, Child, Preschool, Codon, Nonsense, Developmental Disabilities, Epilepsy, Female, Glomerulosclerosis, Focal Segmental, Humans, Intranuclear Space, Kidney, Male, Mice, Mutation, Nephrotic Syndrome, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Phenotype, Podocytes, Whole Exome Sequencing}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2021.01.008}, author = {Weng, Patricia L and Majmundar, Amar J and Khan, Kamal and Lim, Tze Y and Shril, Shirlee and Jin, Gina and Musgrove, John and Wang, Minxian and Ahram, Dina F and Aggarwal, Vimla S and Bier, Louise E and Heinzen, Erin L and Onuchic-Whitford, Ana C and Mann, Nina and Buerger, Florian and Schneider, Ronen and Deutsch, Konstantin and Kitzler, Thomas M and Kl{\"a}mbt, Verena and Kolb, Amy and Mao, Youying and Moufawad El Achkar, Christelle and Mitrotti, Adele and Martino, Jeremiah and Beck, Bodo B and Altm{\"u}ller, Janine and Benz, Marcus R and Yano, Shoji and Mikati, Mohamad A and Gunduz, Talha and Cope, Heidi and Shashi, Vandana and Trachtman, Howard and Bodria, Monica and Caridi, Gianluca and Pisani, Isabella and Fiaccadori, Enrico and AbuMaziad, Asmaa S and Martinez-Agosto, Julian A and Yadin, Ora and Zuckerman, Jonathan and Kim, Arang and John-Kroegel, Ulrike and Tyndall, Amanda V and Parboosingh, Jillian S and Innes, A Micheil and Bierzynska, Agnieszka and Koziell, Ania B and Muorah, Mordi and Saleem, Moin A and Hoefele, Julia and Riedhammer, Korbinian M and Gharavi, Ali G and Jobanputra, Vaidehi and Pierce-Hoffman, Emma and Seaby, Eleanor G and O{\textquoteright}Donnell-Luria, Anne and Rehm, Heidi L and Mane, Shrikant and D{\textquoteright}Agati, Vivette D and Pollak, Martin R and Ghiggeri, Gian Marco and Lifton, Richard P and Goldstein, David B and Davis, Erica E and Hildebrandt, Friedhelm and Sanna-Cherchi, Simone} } @article {991, title = {Mutations in transcription factor CP2-like 1 may cause a novel syndrome with distal renal tubulopathy in humans.}, journal = {Nephrol Dial Transplant}, volume = {36}, year = {2021}, month = {2021 01 25}, pages = {237-246}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: An underlying monogenic cause of early-onset chronic kidney disease (CKD) can be detected in \~{}20\% of individuals. For many etiologies of CKD manifesting before 25 years of age, >200 monogenic causative genes have been identified to date, leading to the elucidation of mechanisms of renal pathogenesis.

METHODS: In 51 families with echogenic kidneys and CKD, we performed whole-exome sequencing to identify novel monogenic causes of CKD.

RESULTS: We discovered a homozygous truncating mutation in the transcription factor gene transcription factor CP2-like 1 (TFCP2L1) in an Arabic patient of consanguineous descent. The patient developed CKD by the age of 2 months and had episodes of severe hypochloremic, hyponatremic and hypokalemic alkalosis, seizures, developmental delay and hypotonia together with cataracts. We found that TFCP2L1~was localized throughout kidney development particularly in the distal nephron. Interestingly, TFCP2L1 induced the growth and development of renal tubules from rat mesenchymal cells. Conversely, the deletion of TFCP2L1~in mice was previously shown to lead to reduced expression of renal cell markers including ion transporters and cell identity proteins expressed in different segments of the distal nephron. TFCP2L1 localized to the nucleus in HEK293T cells only upon coexpression with its paralog upstream-binding protein 1 (UBP1). A TFCP2L1 mutant complementary DNA (cDNA) clone that represented the patient{\textquoteright}s mutation failed to form homo- and heterodimers with UBP1, an essential step for its transcriptional activity.

CONCLUSION: Here, we identified a loss-of-function TFCP2L1 mutation as a potential novel cause of CKD in childhood accompanied by a salt-losing tubulopathy.

}, keywords = {Animals, Child, DNA-Binding Proteins, Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, Female, HEK293 Cells, Humans, Kidney Diseases, Mice, Mice, Knockout, Mutation, Rats, Repressor Proteins, Single-Cell Analysis, Transcription Factors, Whole Exome Sequencing}, issn = {1460-2385}, doi = {10.1093/ndt/gfaa215}, author = {Kl{\"a}mbt, Verena and Werth, Max and Onuchic-Whitford, Ana C and Getwan, Maike and Kitzler, Thomas M and Buerger, Florian and Mao, Youying and Deutsch, Konstantin and Mann, Nina and Majmundar, Amar J and Kaminski, Michael M and Shen, Tian and Schmidt-Ott, Kai M and Shalaby, Mohamed and El Desoky, Sherif and Kari, Jameela A and Shril, Shirlee and Lienkamp, Soeren S and Barasch, Jonathan and Hildebrandt, Friedhelm} } @article {907, title = {Mutations of the Transcriptional Corepressor ZMYM2 Cause Syndromic Urinary Tract Malformations.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {107}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 10 01}, pages = {727-742}, abstract = {

Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) constitute one of the most frequent birth defects and represent the most common cause of chronic kidney disease in the first three decades of life. Despite the discovery of dozens of monogenic causes of CAKUT, most pathogenic pathways remain elusive. We performed whole-exome sequencing (WES) in 551 individuals with CAKUT and identified a heterozygous de novo stop-gain variant in ZMYM2 in two different families with CAKUT. Through collaboration, we identified in total 14 different heterozygous loss-of-function mutations in ZMYM2 in 15 unrelated families. Most mutations occurred de novo, indicating possible interference with reproductive function. Human disease features are replicated in X.~tropicalis larvae with morpholino knockdowns, in which expression of truncated ZMYM2 proteins, based on individual mutations, failed to rescue renal and craniofacial defects. Moreover, heterozygous Zmym2-deficient mice recapitulated features of CAKUT with high penetrance. The ZMYM2 protein is a component of a transcriptional corepressor complex recently linked to the silencing of developmentally regulated endogenous retrovirus elements. Using protein-protein interaction assays, we show that ZMYM2 interacts with additional epigenetic silencing complexes, as well as confirming that it binds to FOXP1, a transcription factor that has also been linked to CAKUT. In summary, our findings establish that loss-of-function mutations of ZMYM2, and potentially that of other proteins in its interactome, as causes of human CAKUT, offering new routes for studying the pathogenesis of the disorder.

}, keywords = {Amphibian Proteins, Animals, Case-Control Studies, Child, Child, Preschool, DNA-Binding Proteins, Epigenesis, Genetic, Family, Female, Forkhead Transcription Factors, Heterozygote, Humans, Infant, Larva, Male, Mice, Mice, Knockout, Morpholinos, Mutation, Pedigree, Protein Binding, Repressor Proteins, Transcription Factors, Urinary Tract, Urogenital Abnormalities, Whole Exome Sequencing, Xenopus}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2020.08.013}, author = {Connaughton, Dervla M and Dai, Rufeng and Owen, Danielle J and Marquez, Jonathan and Mann, Nina and GrAHm-Paquin, Adda L and Nakayama, Makiko and Coyaud, Etienne and Laurent, Estelle M N and St-Germain, Jonathan R and Blok, Lot Snijders and Vino, Arianna and Kl{\"a}mbt, Verena and Deutsch, Konstantin and Wu, Chen-Han Wilfred and Kolvenbach, Caroline M and Kause, Franziska and Ottlewski, Isabel and Schneider, Ronen and Kitzler, Thomas M and Majmundar, Amar J and Buerger, Florian and Onuchic-Whitford, Ana C and Youying, Mao and Kolb, Amy and Salmanullah, Daanya and Chen, Evan and van der Ven, Amelie T and Rao, Jia and Ityel, Hadas and Seltzsam, Steve and Rieke, Johanna M and Chen, Jing and Vivante, Asaf and Hwang, Daw-Yang and Kohl, Stefan and Dworschak, Gabriel C and Hermle, Tobias and Alders, Marielle and Bartolomaeus, Tobias and Bauer, Stuart B and Baum, Michelle A and Brilstra, Eva H and Challman, Thomas D and Zyskind, Jacob and Costin, Carrie E and Dipple, Katrina M and Duijkers, Floor A and Ferguson, Marcia and FitzPatrick, David R and Fick, Roger and Glass, Ian A and Hulick, Peter J and Kline, Antonie D and Krey, Ilona and Kumar, Selvin and Lu, Weining and Marco, Elysa J and Wentzensen, Ingrid M and Mefford, Heather C and Platzer, Konrad and Povolotskaya, Inna S and Savatt, Juliann M and Shcherbakova, Natalia V and Senguttuvan, Prabha and Squire, Audrey E and Stein, Deborah R and Thiffault, Isabelle and Voinova, Victoria Y and Somers, Michael J G and Ferguson, Michael A and Traum, Avram Z and Daouk, Ghaleb H and Daga, Ankana and Rodig, Nancy M and Terhal, Paulien A and van Binsbergen, Ellen and Eid, Loai A and Tasic, Velibor and Rasouly, Hila Milo and Lim, Tze Y and Ahram, Dina F and Gharavi, Ali G and Reutter, Heiko M and Rehm, Heidi L and MacArthur, Daniel G and Lek, Monkol and Laricchia, Kristen M and Lifton, Richard P and Xu, Hong and Mane, Shrikant M and Sanna-Cherchi, Simone and Sharrocks, Andrew D and Raught, Brian and Fisher, Simon E and Bouchard, Maxime and Khokha, Mustafa K and Shril, Shirlee and Hildebrandt, Friedhelm} } @article {977, title = {Phenotype expansion of heterozygous FOXC1 pathogenic variants toward involvement of congenital anomalies of the kidneys and urinary tract (CAKUT).}, journal = {Genet Med}, volume = {22}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 10}, pages = {1673-1681}, abstract = {

PURPOSE: Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) are the most common cause of chronic kidney disease in childhood and adolescence. We aim to identify novel monogenic causes of CAKUT.

METHODS: Exome sequencing was performed in 550 CAKUT-affected families.

RESULTS: We discovered seven FOXC1 heterozygous likely pathogenic variants within eight CAKUT families. These variants are either never reported, or present in <5 alleles in the gnomAD database with ~141,456 controls. FOXC1 is a causal gene for Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome type 3 and anterior segment dysgenesis 3. Pathogenic variants in FOXC1 have not been detected in patients with CAKUT yet. Interestingly, mouse models for Foxc1 show severe CAKUT phenotypes with incomplete penetrance and variable expressivity. The FOXC1 variants are enriched in the CAKUT cohort compared with the control. Genotype-phenotype correlations showed that Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome or anterior segment dysgenesis can be caused by both truncating and missense pathogenic variants, and the missense variants are located at the forkhead domain. In contrast, for CAKUT, there is no truncating pathogenic variant, and all variants except one are located outside the forkhead domain.

CONCLUSION: We thereby expanded the phenotype of FOXC1 pathogenic variants toward involvement of CAKUT, which can potentially be explained by allelism.

}, keywords = {Child, Eye Abnormalities, Forkhead Transcription Factors, Heterozygote, Humans, Kidney, Phenotype, Urinary Tract}, issn = {1530-0366}, doi = {10.1038/s41436-020-0844-z}, author = {Wu, Chen-Han Wilfred and Mann, Nina and Nakayama, Makiko and Connaughton, Dervla M and Dai, Rufeng and Kolvenbach, Caroline M and Kause, Franziska and Ottlewski, Isabel and Wang, Chunyan and Kl{\"a}mbt, Verena and Seltzsam, Steve and Lai, Ethan W and Selvin, Aravind and Senguttuva, Prabha and Bodamer, Olaf and Stein, Deborah R and El Desoky, Sherif and Kari, Jameela A and Tasic, Velibor and Bauer, Stuart B and Shril, Shirlee and Hildebrandt, Friedhelm} } @article {596, title = {Whole-Exome Sequencing Enables a Precision Medicine Approach for Kidney Transplant Recipients.}, journal = {J Am Soc Nephrol}, volume = {30}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 02}, pages = {201-215}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Whole-exome sequencing (WES) finds a CKD-related mutation in approximately 20\% of patients presenting with CKD before 25 years of age. Although provision of a molecular diagnosis could have important implications for clinical management, evidence is lacking on the diagnostic yield and clinical utility of WES for pediatric renal transplant recipients.

METHODS: To determine the diagnostic yield of WES in pediatric kidney transplant recipients, we recruited 104 patients who had received a transplant at Boston Children{\textquoteright}s Hospital from 2007 through 2017, performed WES, and analyzed results for likely deleterious variants in approximately 400 genes known to cause CKD.

RESULTS: By WES, we identified a genetic cause of CKD in 34 out of 104 (32.7\%) transplant recipients. The likelihood of detecting a molecular genetic diagnosis was highest for patients with urinary stone disease (three out of three individuals), followed by renal cystic ciliopathies (seven out of nine individuals), steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (nine out of 21 individuals), congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (ten out of 55 individuals), and chronic glomerulonephritis (one out of seven individuals). WES also yielded a molecular diagnosis for four out of nine individuals with ESRD of unknown etiology. The WES-related molecular genetic diagnosis had implications for clinical care for five patients.

CONCLUSIONS: Nearly one third of pediatric renal transplant recipients had a genetic cause of their kidney disease identified by WES. Knowledge of this genetic information can help guide management of both transplant patients and potential living related donors.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Boston, Child, Child, Preschool, Cohort Studies, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genetic Testing, Graft Rejection, Graft Survival, Hospitals, Pediatric, Humans, Kidney Transplantation, Male, Precision Medicine, Prognosis, Renal Insufficiency, Chronic, Retrospective Studies, Risk Assessment, Severity of Illness Index, Survival Analysis, Transplant Recipients, Treatment Outcome, Whole Exome Sequencing}, issn = {1533-3450}, doi = {10.1681/ASN.2018060575}, author = {Mann, Nina and Braun, Daniela A and Amann, Kassaundra and Tan, Weizhen and Shril, Shirlee and Connaughton, Dervla M and Nakayama, Makiko and Schneider, Ronen and Kitzler, Thomas M and van der Ven, Amelie T and Chen, Jing and Ityel, Hadas and Vivante, Asaf and Majmundar, Amar J and Daga, Ankana and Warejko, Jillian K and Lovric, Svjetlana and Ashraf, Shazia and Jobst-Schwan, Tilman and Widmeier, Eugen and Hugo, Hannah and Mane, Shrikant M and Spaneas, Leslie and Somers, Michael J G and Ferguson, Michael A and Traum, Avram Z and Stein, Deborah R and Baum, Michelle A and Daouk, Ghaleb H and Lifton, Richard P and Manzi, Shannon and Vakili, Khashayar and Kim, Heung Bae and Rodig, Nancy M and Hildebrandt, Friedhelm} } @article {545, title = {A homozygous missense variant in VWA2, encoding an interactor of the Fraser-complex, in a patient with vesicoureteral reflux.}, journal = {PLoS One}, volume = {13}, year = {2018}, month = {2018}, pages = {e0191224}, abstract = {

Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) are the most common cause (40-50\%) of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in children. About 40 monogenic causes of CAKUT have so far been discovered. To date less than 20\% of CAKUT cases can be explained by mutations in these 40 genes. To identify additional monogenic causes of CAKUT, we performed whole exome sequencing (WES) and homozygosity mapping (HM) in a patient with CAKUT from Indian origin and consanguineous descent. We identified a homozygous missense mutation (c.1336C>T, p.Arg446Cys) in the gene Von Willebrand factor A domain containing 2 (VWA2). With immunohistochemistry studies on kidneys of newborn (P1) mice, we show that Vwa2 and Fraser extracellular matrix complex subunit 1 (Fras1) co-localize in the nephrogenic zone of the renal cortex. We identified a pronounced expression of Vwa2 in the basement membrane of the ureteric bud (UB) and derivatives of the metanephric mesenchyme (MM). By applying in vitro assays, we demonstrate that the Arg446Cys mutation decreases translocation of monomeric VWA2 protein and increases translocation of aggregated VWA2 protein into the extracellular space. This is potentially due to the additional, unpaired cysteine residue in the mutated protein that is used for intermolecular disulfide bond formation. VWA2 is a known, direct interactor of FRAS1 of the Fraser-Complex (FC). FC-encoding genes and interacting proteins have previously been implicated in the pathogenesis of syndromic and/or isolated CAKUT phenotypes in humans. VWA2 therefore constitutes a very strong candidate in the search for novel CAKUT-causing genes. Our results from in vitro experiments indicate a dose-dependent neomorphic effect of the Arg446Cys homozygous mutation in VWA2.

}, keywords = {Amino Acid Sequence, Amino Acid Substitution, Animals, Animals, Newborn, Biomarkers, Tumor, Child, Consanguinity, Conserved Sequence, Exons, Extracellular Matrix Proteins, Fraser Syndrome, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Homozygote, Humans, Male, Mice, Models, Animal, Models, Molecular, Mutation, Missense, Pedigree, Sequence Homology, Amino Acid, Urogenital Abnormalities, Urogenital System, Vesico-Ureteral Reflux}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0191224}, author = {van der Ven, Amelie T and Kobbe, Birgit and Kohl, Stefan and Shril, Shirlee and Pogoda, Hans-Martin and Imhof, Thomas and Ityel, Hadas and Vivante, Asaf and Chen, Jing and Hwang, Daw-Yang and Connaughton, Dervla M and Mann, Nina and Widmeier, Eugen and Taglienti, Mary and Schmidt, Johanna Magdalena and Nakayama, Makiko and Senguttuvan, Prabha and Kumar, Selvin and Tasic, Velibor and Kehinde, Elijah O and Mane, Shrikant M and Lifton, Richard P and Soliman, Neveen and Lu, Weining and Bauer, Stuart B and Hammerschmidt, Matthias and Wagener, Raimund and Hildebrandt, Friedhelm} } @article {635, title = {Exome sequencing in Jewish and Arab patients with rhabdomyolysis reveals single-gene etiology in 43\% of cases.}, journal = {Pediatr Nephrol}, volume = {32}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Dec}, pages = {2273-2282}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Rhabdomyolysis is a clinical emergency that may cause acute kidney injury (AKI). It can be acquired or due to monogenic mutations. Around 60 different rare monogenic forms of rhabdomyolysis have been reported to date. In the clinical setting, identifying the underlying molecular diagnosis is challenging due to nonspecific presentation, the high number of causative genes, and current lack of data on the prevalence of monogenic forms.

METHODS: We employed whole exome sequencing (WES) to reveal the percentage of rhabdomyolysis cases explained by single-gene (monogenic) mutations in one of 58 candidate genes. We investigated a cohort of 21 unrelated families with rhabdomyolysis, in whom no underlying etiology had been previously established.

RESULTS: Using WES, we identified causative mutations in candidate genes in nine of the 21 families (43\%). We detected disease-causing mutations in eight of 58 candidate genes, grouped into the following categories: (1) disorders of fatty acid metabolism (CPT2), (2) disorders of glycogen metabolism (PFKM and PGAM2), (3) disorders of abnormal skeletal muscle relaxation and contraction (CACNA1S, MYH3, RYR1 and SCN4A), and (4) disorders of purine metabolism (AHCY).

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate a very high detection rate for monogenic etiologies using WES and reveal broad genetic heterogeneity for rhabdomyolysis. These results highlight the importance of molecular genetic diagnostics for establishing an etiologic diagnosis. Because these patients are at risk for recurrent episodes of rhabdomyolysis and subsequent risk for AKI, WES allows adequate prophylaxis and treatment for these patients and their family members and enables a personalized medicine approach.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Arabs, Child, Exome, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Humans, Jews, Mutation, Rhabdomyolysis, Whole Exome Sequencing}, issn = {1432-198X}, doi = {10.1007/s00467-017-3755-8}, author = {Vivante, Asaf and Ityel, Hadas and Pode-Shakked, Ben and Chen, Jing and Shril, Shirlee and van der Ven, Amelie T and Mann, Nina and Schmidt, Johanna Magdalena and Segel, Reeval and Aran, Adi and Zeharia, Avraham and Staretz-Chacham, Orna and Bar-Yosef, Omer and Raas-Rothschild, Annick and Landau, Yuval E and Lifton, Richard P and Anikster, Yair and Hildebrandt, Friedhelm} }