@article {758, title = {Biallelic GRM7 variants cause epilepsy, microcephaly, and cerebral atrophy.}, journal = {Ann Clin Transl Neurol}, volume = {7}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 05}, pages = {610-627}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: Defects in ion channels and neurotransmitter receptors are implicated in developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE). Metabotropic glutamate receptor 7 (mGluR7), encoded by GRM7, is a presynaptic G-protein-coupled glutamate receptor critical for synaptic transmission. We previously proposed GRM7 as a candidate disease gene in two families with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). One additional family has been published since. Here, we describe three additional families with GRM7 biallelic variants and deeply characterize the associated clinical neurological and electrophysiological phenotype and molecular data in 11 affected individuals from six unrelated families.

METHODS: Exome sequencing and family-based rare variant analyses on a cohort of 220 consanguineous families with NDDs revealed three families with GRM7 biallelic variants; three additional families were identified through literature search and collaboration with a clinical molecular laboratory.

RESULTS: We compared the observed clinical features and variants of 11 affected individuals from the six unrelated families. Identified novel deleterious variants included two homozygous missense variants (c.2671G>A:p.Glu891Lys and c.1973G>A:p.Arg685Gln) and one homozygous stop-gain variant (c.1975C>T:p.Arg659Ter). Developmental delay, neonatal- or infantile-onset epilepsy, and microcephaly were universal. Three individuals had hypothalamic-pituitary-axis dysfunction without pituitary structural abnormality. Neuroimaging showed cerebral atrophy and hypomyelination in a majority of cases. Two siblings demonstrated progressive loss of myelination by 2~years in both and an acquired microcephaly pattern in one. Five individuals died in early or late childhood.

CONCLUSION: Detailed clinical characterization of 11 individuals from six unrelated families demonstrates that rare biallelic GRM7 pathogenic variants can cause DEEs, microcephaly, hypomyelination, and cerebral atrophy.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Alleles, Atrophy, Child, Child, Preschool, Cohort Studies, Consanguinity, Epilepsy, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Microcephaly, Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Pedigree, Phenotype, Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate, Whole Exome Sequencing}, issn = {2328-9503}, doi = {10.1002/acn3.51003}, author = {Marafi, Dana and Mitani, Tadahiro and Isikay, Sedat and Hertecant, Jozef and Almannai, Mohammed and Manickam, Kandamurugu and Abou Jamra, Rami and El-Hattab, Ayman W and Rajah, Jaishen and Fatih, Jawid M and Du, Haowei and Karaca, Ender and Bayram, Yavuz and Punetha, Jaya and Rosenfeld, Jill A and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Boerwinkle, Eric and Akdemir, Zeynep C and Erdin, Serkan and Hunter, Jill V and Gibbs, Richard A and Pehlivan, Davut and Posey, Jennifer E and Lupski, James R} } @article {738, title = {Deficiencies in vesicular transport mediated by TRAPPC4 are associated with severe syndromic intellectual disability.}, journal = {Brain}, volume = {143}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 01 01}, pages = {112-130}, abstract = {

The conserved transport protein particle (TRAPP) complexes regulate key trafficking events and are required for autophagy. TRAPPC4, like its yeast Trs23 orthologue, is a core component of the TRAPP complexes and one of the essential subunits for guanine nucleotide exchange factor activity for Rab1 GTPase. Pathogenic variants in specific TRAPP subunits are associated with neurological disorders. We undertook exome sequencing in three unrelated families of Caucasian, Turkish and French-Canadian ethnicities with seven affected children that showed features of early-onset seizures, developmental delay, microcephaly, sensorineural deafness, spastic quadriparesis and progressive cortical and cerebellar atrophy in an effort to determine the genetic aetiology underlying neurodevelopmental disorders. All seven affected subjects shared the same identical rare, homozygous, potentially pathogenic variant in a non-canonical, well-conserved splice site within TRAPPC4 (hg19:chr11:g.118890966A>G; TRAPPC4: NM_016146.5; c.454+3A>G). Single nucleotide polymorphism array analysis revealed there was no haplotype shared between the tested Turkish and Caucasian families suggestive of a variant hotspot region rather than a founder effect. In silico analysis predicted the variant to cause aberrant splicing. Consistent with this, experimental evidence showed both a reduction in full-length transcript levels and an increase in levels of a shorter transcript missing exon 3, suggestive of an incompletely penetrant splice defect. TRAPPC4 protein levels were significantly reduced whilst levels of other TRAPP complex subunits remained unaffected. Native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and size exclusion chromatography demonstrated a defect in TRAPP complex assembly and/or stability. Intracellular trafficking through the Golgi using the marker protein VSVG-GFP-ts045 demonstrated significantly delayed entry into and exit from the Golgi in fibroblasts derived from one of the affected subjects. Lentiviral expression of wild-type TRAPPC4 in these fibroblasts restored trafficking, suggesting that the trafficking defect was due to reduced TRAPPC4 levels. Consistent with the recent association of the TRAPP complex with autophagy, we found that the fibroblasts had a basal autophagy defect and a delay in autophagic flux, possibly due to unsealed autophagosomes. These results were validated using a yeast trs23 temperature sensitive variant that exhibits constitutive and stress-induced autophagic defects at permissive temperature and a secretory defect at restrictive temperature. In summary we provide strong evidence for pathogenicity of this variant in a member of the core TRAPP subunit, TRAPPC4 that associates with vesicular trafficking and autophagy defects. This is the first report of a TRAPPC4 variant, and our findings add to the growing number of TRAPP-associated neurological disorders.

}, keywords = {Atrophy, Autophagy, Cerebellum, Cerebral Cortex, Child, Child, Preschool, Craniofacial Abnormalities, Deafness, Developmental Disabilities, Epilepsy, Female, Fibroblasts, Hearing Loss, Sensorineural, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Intellectual Disability, Male, Microcephaly, Microscopy, Fluorescence, Muscle Spasticity, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Pedigree, Quadriplegia, RNA Splice Sites, Syndrome, Vesicular Transport Proteins}, issn = {1460-2156}, doi = {10.1093/brain/awz374}, author = {Van Bergen, Nicole J and Guo, Yiran and Al-Deri, Noraldin and Lipatova, Zhanna and Stanga, Daniela and Zhao, Sarah and Murtazina, Rakhilya and Gyurkovska, Valeriya and Pehlivan, Davut and Mitani, Tadahiro and Gezdirici, Alper and Antony, Jayne and Collins, Felicity and Willis, Mary J H and Coban Akdemir, Zeynep H and Liu, Pengfei and Punetha, Jaya and Hunter, Jill V and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Fatih, Jawid M and Rosenfeld, Jill A and Posey, Jennifer E and Gibbs, Richard A and Karaca, Ender and Massey, Sean and Ranasinghe, Thisara G and Sleiman, Patrick and Troedson, Chris and Lupski, James R and Sacher, Michael and Segev, Nava and Hakonarson, Hakon and Christodoulou, John} } @article {810, title = {Missed diagnoses: Clinically relevant lessons learned through medical mysteries solved by the Undiagnosed Diseases Network.}, journal = {Mol Genet Genomic Med}, volume = {8}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 10}, pages = {e1397}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Resources within the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN), such as genome sequencing (GS) and model organisms aid in diagnosis and identification of new disease genes, but are currently difficult to access by clinical providers. While these resources do contribute to diagnoses in many cases, they are not always necessary to reach diagnostic resolution. The UDN experience has been that participants can also receive diagnoses through the thoughtful and customized application of approaches and resources that are readily available in clinical settings.

METHODS: The UDN Genetic Counseling and Testing Working Group collected case vignettes that illustrated how clinically available methods resulted in diagnoses. The case vignettes were classified into three themes; phenotypic considerations, selection of genetic testing, and evaluating exome/GS variants and data.

RESULTS: We present 12 participants that illustrate how clinical practices such as phenotype-driven genomic investigations, consideration of variable expressivity, selecting the relevant tissue of interest for testing, utilizing updated testing platforms, and recognition of alternate transcript nomenclature resulted in diagnoses.

CONCLUSION: These examples demonstrate that when a diagnosis is elusive, an iterative patient-specific approach utilizing assessment options available to clinical providers may solve a portion of cases. However, this does require increased provider time commitment, a particular challenge in the current practice of genomics.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Child, Child, Preschool, Databases, Factual, Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted, Female, Genetic Diseases, Inborn, Genetic Testing, Humans, Information Dissemination, Male, Middle Aged, Missed Diagnosis, National Institutes of Health (U.S.), Phenotype, Precision Medicine, Undiagnosed Diseases, United States, Young Adult}, issn = {2324-9269}, doi = {10.1002/mgg3.1397}, author = {Cope, Heidi and Spillmann, Rebecca and Rosenfeld, Jill A and Brokamp, Elly and Signer, Rebecca and Schoch, Kelly and Kelley, Emily G and Sullivan, Jennifer A and Macnamara, Ellen and Lincoln, Sharyn and Golden-Grant, Katie and Orengo, James P and Clark, Gary and Burrage, Lindsay C and Posey, Jennifer E and Punetha, Jaya and Robertson, Amy and Cogan, Joy and Phillips, John A and Martinez-Agosto, Julian and Shashi, Vandana} } @article {761, title = {Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome: De novo variants and evidence for mutational burden in genes associated with atrial fibrillation.}, journal = {Am J Med Genet A}, volume = {182}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 06}, pages = {1387-1399}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome is a relatively common arrhythmia affecting ~1-3/1,000 individuals. Mutations in PRKAG2 have been described in rare patients in association with cardiomyopathy. However, the genetic basis of WPW in individuals with a structurally normal heart remains poorly understood. Sudden death due to atrial fibrillation (AF) can also occur in these individuals. Several studies have indicated that despite ablation of an accessory pathway, the risk of AF remains high in patients compared to general population.

METHODS: We applied exome sequencing in 305 subjects, including 65 trios, 80 singletons, and 6 multiple affected families. We used de novo analysis, candidate gene approach, and burden testing to explore the genetic contributions to WPW.

RESULTS: A heterozygous deleterious variant in PRKAG2 was identified in one subject, accounting for 0.6\% (1/151) of the genetic basis of WPW in this study. Another individual with WPW and left ventricular hypertrophy carried a known pathogenic variant in MYH7. We found rare de novo variants in genes associated with arrhythmia and cardiomyopathy (ANK2, NEBL, PITX2, and PRDM16) in this cohort. There was an increased burden of rare deleterious variants (MAF <= 0.005) with CADD score >= 25 in genes linked to AF in cases compared to controls (P = .0023).

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show an increased burden of rare deleterious variants in genes linked to AF in WPW syndrome, suggesting that genetic factors that determine the development of accessory pathways may be linked to an increased susceptibility of atrial muscle to AF in a subset of patients.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, AMP-Activated Protein Kinases, Ankyrins, Atrial Fibrillation, Carrier Proteins, Child, Cohort Studies, Cytoskeletal Proteins, DNA-Binding Proteins, Female, Genetic Association Studies, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Heart Atria, Homeodomain Proteins, Humans, LIM Domain Proteins, Male, Mutation, Transcription Factors, Whole Exome Sequencing, Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, Young Adult}, issn = {1552-4833}, doi = {10.1002/ajmg.a.61571}, author = {Coban-Akdemir, Zeynep H and Charng, Wu-Lin and Azamian, Mahshid and Paine, Ingrid S and Punetha, Jaya and Grochowski, Christopher M and Gambin, Tomasz and Valdes, Santiago O and Cannon, Bryan and Zapata, Gladys and Hernandez, Patricia P and Jhangiani, Shalini and Doddapaneni, Harsha and Hu, Jianhong and Boricha, Fatima and Muzny, Donna M and Boerwinkle, Eric and Yang, Yaping and Gibbs, Richard A and Posey, Jennifer E and Wehrens, Xander H T and Belmont, John W and Kim, Jeffrey J and Miyake, Christina Y and Lupski, James R and Lalani, Seema R} } @article {692, title = {Biallelic CACNA2D2 variants in epileptic encephalopathy and cerebellar atrophy.}, journal = {Ann Clin Transl Neurol}, volume = {6}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 Aug}, pages = {1395-1406}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the molecular and clinical phenotypic basis of developmental and epileptic encephalopathies caused by rare biallelic variants in CACNA2D2.

METHODS: Two affected individuals from a family with clinical features of early onset epileptic encephalopathy were recruited for exome sequencing at the Centers for Mendelian Genomics to identify their molecular diagnosis. GeneMatcher facilitated identification of a second family with a shared candidate disease gene identified through clinical gene panel-based testing.

RESULTS: Rare biallelic CACNA2D2 variants have been previously reported in three families with developmental and epileptic encephalopathy, and one family with congenital ataxia. We identified three individuals in two unrelated families with novel homozygous rare variants in CACNA2D2 with clinical features of developmental and epileptic encephalopathy and cerebellar atrophy. Family 1 includes two affected siblings with a likely damaging homozygous rare missense variant c.1778G>C; p.(Arg593Pro) in CACNA2D2. Family 2 includes a proband with a homozygous rare nonsense variant c.485_486del; p.(Tyr162Ter) in CACNA2D2. We compared clinical and molecular findings from all nine individuals reported to date and note that cerebellar atrophy is shared among all.

INTERPRETATION: Our study supports the candidacy of CACNA2D2 as a disease gene associated with a phenotypic spectrum of neurological disease that include features of developmental and epileptic encephalopathy, ataxia, and cerebellar atrophy. Age at presentation may affect apparent penetrance of neurogenetic trait manifestations and of a particular clinical neurological endophenotype, for example, seizures or ataxia.

}, issn = {2328-9503}, doi = {10.1002/acn3.50824}, author = {Punetha, Jaya and Karaca, Ender and Gezdirici, Alper and Lamont, Ryan E and Pehlivan, Davut and Marafi, Dana and Appendino, Juan P and Hunter, Jill V and Akdemir, Zeynep C and Fatih, Jawid M and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Gibbs, Richard A and Innes, A Micheil and Posey, Jennifer E and Lupski, James R} } @article {672, title = {The Genomics of Arthrogryposis, a Complex Trait: Candidate Genes and Further Evidence for Oligogenic Inheritance.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {105}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 Jul 03}, pages = {132-150}, abstract = {

Arthrogryposis is a clinical finding that is present either as a feature of a neuromuscular condition or as part of a systemic disease in over 400 Mendelian conditions. The underlying molecular etiology remains largely unknown because of genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity. We applied exome sequencing (ES) in a cohort of 89 families with the clinical sign of arthrogryposis. Additional molecular techniques including array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) and Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) were performed on individuals who were found to have pathogenic copy number variants (CNVs) and mosaicism, respectively. A molecular diagnosis was established in 65.2\% (58/89) of families. Eleven out of 58 families (19.0\%) showed evidence for potential involvement of pathogenic variation at more than one locus, probably driven by absence of heterozygosity (AOH) burden due to identity-by-descent (IBD). RYR3, MYOM2, ERGIC1, SPTBN4, and ABCA7 represent genes, identified in two or more families, for which mutations are probably causative for arthrogryposis. We also provide evidence for the involvement of CNVs in the etiology of arthrogryposis and for the idea that both mono-allelic and bi-allelic variants in the same gene cause either similar or distinct syndromes. We were able to identify the molecular etiology in nine out of 20 families who underwent reanalysis. In summary, our data from family-based ES further delineate the molecular etiology of arthrogryposis, yielded several candidate disease-associated genes, and provide evidence for mutational burden in a biological pathway or network. Our study also highlights the importance of reanalysis of individuals with unsolved diagnoses in conjunction with sequencing extended family members.

}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2019.05.015}, author = {Pehlivan, Davut and Bayram, Yavuz and Gunes, Nilay and Coban Akdemir, Zeynep and Shukla, Anju and Bierhals, Tatjana and Tabakci, Burcu and Sahin, Yavuz and Gezdirici, Alper and Fatih, Jawid M and Gulec, Elif Yilmaz and Yesil, G{\"o}zde and Punetha, Jaya and Ocak, Zeynep and Grochowski, Christopher M and Karaca, Ender and Albayrak, Hatice Mutlu and Radhakrishnan, Periyasamy and Erdem, Haktan Bagis and Sahin, Ibrahim and Yildirim, Timur and Bayhan, Ilhan A and Bursali, Aysegul and Elmas, Muhsin and Yuksel, Zafer and Ozdemir, Ozturk and Silan, Fatma and Yildiz, Onur and Yesilbas, Osman and Isikay, Sedat and Balta, Burhan and Gu, Shen and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Doddapaneni, Harsha and Hu, Jianhong and Muzny, Donna M and Boerwinkle, Eric and Gibbs, Richard A and Tsiakas, Konstantinos and Hempel, Maja and Girisha, Katta Mohan and Gul, Davut and Posey, Jennifer E and Elcioglu, Nursel H and Tuysuz, Beyhan and Lupski, James R} } @article {716, title = {Homozygous Missense Variants in NTNG2, Encoding a Presynaptic Netrin-G2 Adhesion Protein, Lead to a Distinct Neurodevelopmental Disorder.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {105}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 Nov 07}, pages = {1048-1056}, abstract = {

NTNG2 encodes netrin-G2, a membrane-anchored protein implicated in the molecular organization of neuronal circuitry and synaptic organization and diversification in vertebrates. In this study, through a combination of exome sequencing and autozygosity mapping, we have identified 16 individuals (from seven unrelated families) with ultra-rare homozygous missense variants in NTNG2; these individuals present with shared features of a neurodevelopmental disorder consisting of global developmental delay, severe to profound intellectual disability, muscle weakness and abnormal tone, autistic features, behavioral abnormalities, and variable dysmorphisms. The variants disrupt highly conserved residues across the protein. Functional experiments, including in silico analysis of the protein structure, in~vitro assessment of cell surface expression, and in~vitro knockdown, revealed potential mechanisms of pathogenicity of the variants, including loss of protein function and decreased neurite outgrowth. Our data indicate that appropriate expression of NTNG2 plays an important role in neurotypical development.

}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2019.09.025}, author = {Dias, Caroline M and Punetha, Jaya and Zheng, C{\'e}line and Mazaheri, Neda and Rad, Abolfazl and Efthymiou, Stephanie and Petersen, Andrea and Dehghani, Mohammadreza and Pehlivan, Davut and Partlow, Jennifer N and Posey, Jennifer E and Salpietro, Vincenzo and Gezdirici, Alper and Malamiri, Reza Azizi and Al Menabawy, Nihal M and Selim, Laila A and Vahidi Mehrjardi, Mohammad Yahya and Banu, Selina and Polla, Daniel L and Yang, Edward and Rezazadeh Varaghchi, Jamileh and Mitani, Tadahiro and van Beusekom, Ellen and Najafi, Maryam and Sedaghat, Alireza and Keller-Ramey, Jennifer and Durham, Leslie and Coban-Akdemir, Zeynep and Karaca, Ender and Orlova, Valeria and Schaeken, Lieke L M and Sherafat, Amir and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Stanley, Valentina and Shariati, Gholamreza and Galehdari, Hamid and Gleeson, Joseph G and Walsh, Christopher A and Lupski, James R and Seiradake, Elena and Houlden, Henry and van Bokhoven, Hans and Maroofian, Reza} } @article {589, title = {Missense Variants in the Histone Acetyltransferase Complex Component Gene TRRAP Cause Autism and Syndromic Intellectual Disability.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {104}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 03 07}, pages = {530-541}, abstract = {

Acetylation of the lysine residues in histones and other DNA-binding proteins plays a major role in regulation of eukaryotic gene expression. This process is controlled by histone acetyltransferases (HATs/KATs) found in multiprotein complexes that are recruited to chromatin by the scaffolding subunit transformation/transcription domain-associated protein (TRRAP). TRRAP is evolutionarily conserved and is among the top five genes intolerant to missense variation. Through an international collaboration, 17 distinct de novo or apparently de novo variants were identified in TRRAP in 24 individuals. A strong genotype-phenotype correlation was observed with two distinct clinical spectra. The first is a complex, multi-systemic syndrome associated with various malformations of the brain, heart, kidneys, and genitourinary system and characterized by a wide range of intellectual functioning; a number of affected individuals have intellectual disability (ID) and markedly impaired basic life functions. Individuals with this phenotype had missense variants clustering around the c.3127G>A p.(Ala1043Thr) variant identified in five individuals. The second spectrum manifested with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or ID and epilepsy. Facial dysmorphism was seen in both groups and included upslanted palpebral fissures, epicanthus, telecanthus, a wide nasal bridge and ridge, a broad and smooth philtrum, and a thin upper lip. RNA sequencing analysis of skin fibroblasts derived from affected individuals skin fibroblasts showed significant changes in the expression of several genes implicated in neuronal function and ion transport. Thus, we describe here the clinical spectrum associated with TRRAP pathogenic missense variants, and we suggest a genotype-phenotype correlation useful for clinical evaluation of the pathogenicity of the variants.

}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2019.01.010}, author = {Cogn{\'e}, Benjamin and Ehresmann, Sophie and Beauregard-Lacroix, Eliane and Rousseau, Justine and Besnard, Thomas and Garcia, Thomas and Petrovski, Slav{\'e} and Avni, Shiri and McWalter, Kirsty and Blackburn, Patrick R and Sanders, Stephan J and Uguen, K{\'e}vin and Harris, Jacqueline and Cohen, Julie S and Blyth, Moira and Lehman, Anna and Berg, Jonathan and Li, Mindy H and Kini, Usha and Joss, Shelagh and von der Lippe, Charlotte and Gordon, Christopher T and Humberson, Jennifer B and Robak, Laurie and Scott, Daryl A and Sutton, Vernon R and Skraban, Cara M and Johnston, Jennifer J and Poduri, Annapurna and Nordenskj{\"o}ld, Magnus and Shashi, Vandana and Gerkes, Erica H and Bongers, Ernie M H F and Gilissen, Christian and Zarate, Yuri A and Kvarnung, Malin and Lally, Kevin P and Kulch, Peggy A and Daniels, Brina and Hernandez-Garcia, Andres and Stong, Nicholas and McGaughran, Julie and Retterer, Kyle and Tveten, Kristian and Sullivan, Jennifer and Geisheker, Madeleine R and Stray-Pedersen, Asbjorg and Tarpinian, Jennifer M and Klee, Eric W and Sapp, Julie C and Zyskind, Jacob and Holla, {\O}ystein L and Bedoukian, Emma and Filippini, Francesca and Guimier, Anne and Picard, Arnaud and Busk, {\O}yvind L and Punetha, Jaya and Pfundt, Rolph and Lindstrand, Anna and Nordgren, Ann and Kalb, Fayth and Desai, Megha and Ebanks, Ashley Harmon and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Dewan, Tammie and Coban Akdemir, Zeynep H and Telegrafi, Aida and Zackai, Elaine H and Begtrup, Amber and Song, Xiaofei and Toutain, Annick and Wentzensen, Ingrid M and Odent, Sylvie and Bonneau, Dominique and Latypova, X{\'e}nia and Deb, Wallid and Redon, Sylvia and Bilan, Fr{\'e}d{\'e}ric and Legendre, Marine and Troyer, Caitlin and Whitlock, Kerri and Caluseriu, Oana and Murphree, Marine I and Pichurin, Pavel N and Agre, Katherine and Gavrilova, Ralitza and Rinne, Tuula and Park, Meredith and Shain, Catherine and Heinzen, Erin L and Xiao, Rui and Amiel, Jeanne and Lyonnet, Stanislas and Isidor, Bertrand and Biesecker, Leslie G and Lowenstein, Dan and Posey, Jennifer E and Denomm{\'e}-Pichon, Anne-Sophie and F{\'e}rec, Claude and Yang, Xiang-Jiao and Rosenfeld, Jill A and Gilbert-Dussardier, Brigitte and Audebert-Bellanger, S{\'e}verine and Redon, Richard and Stessman, Holly A F and Nellaker, Christoffer and Yang, Yaping and Lupski, James R and Goldstein, David B and Eichler, Evan E and Bolduc, Francois and B{\'e}zieau, St{\'e}phane and K{\"u}ry, S{\'e}bastien and Campeau, Philippe M} } @article {451, title = {Congenital Titinopathy: Comprehensive characterization and pathogenic insights.}, journal = {Ann Neurol}, volume = {83}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 Jun}, pages = {1105-1124}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: Comprehensive clinical characterization of congenital titinopathy to facilitate diagnosis and management of this important emerging disorder.

METHODS: Using massively parallel sequencing we identified 30 patients from 27 families with 2 pathogenic nonsense, frameshift and/or splice site TTN mutations in trans. We then undertook a detailed analysis of the clinical, histopathological and imaging features of these patients.

RESULTS: All patients had prenatal or early onset hypotonia and/or congenital contractures. None had ophthalmoplegia. Scoliosis and respiratory insufficiency typically developed early and progressed rapidly, whereas limb weakness was often slowly progressive, and usually did not prevent independent walking. Cardiac involvement was present in 46\% of patients. Relatives of 2 patients had dilated cardiomyopathy. Creatine kinase levels were normal to moderately elevated. Increased fiber size variation, internalized nuclei and cores were common histopathological abnormalities. Cap-like regions, whorled or ring fibers, and mitochondrial accumulations were also observed. Muscle magnetic resonance imaging showed gluteal, hamstring and calf muscle involvement. Western blot analysis showed a near-normal sized titin protein in all samples. The presence of 2 mutations predicted to impact both N2BA and N2B cardiac isoforms appeared to be associated with greatest risk of cardiac involvement. One-third of patients had 1 mutation predicted to impact exons present in fetal skeletal muscle, but not included within the mature skeletal muscle isoform transcript. This strongly suggests developmental isoforms are involved in the pathogenesis of this congenital/early onset disorder.

INTERPRETATION: This detailed clinical reference dataset will greatly facilitate diagnostic confirmation and management of patients, and has provided important insights into disease pathogenesis. Ann Neurol 2018;83:1105-1124.

}, issn = {1531-8249}, doi = {10.1002/ana.25241}, author = {Oates, Emily C and Jones, Kristi J and Donkervoort, Sandra and Charlton, Amanda and Brammah, Susan and Smith, John E and Ware, James S and Yau, Kyle S and Swanson, Lindsay C and Whiffin, Nicola and Peduto, Anthony J and Bournazos, Adam and Waddell, Leigh B and Farrar, Michelle A and Sampaio, Hugo A and Teoh, Hooi Ling and Lamont, Phillipa J and Mowat, David and Fitzsimons, Robin B and Corbett, Alastair J and Ryan, Monique M and O{\textquoteright}Grady, Gina L and Sandaradura, Sarah A and Ghaoui, Roula and Joshi, Himanshu and Marshall, Jamie L and Nolan, Melinda A and Kaur, Simranpreet and Punetha, Jaya and Topf, Ana and Harris, Elizabeth and Bakshi, Madhura and Genetti, Casie A and Marttila, Minttu and Werlauff, Ulla and Streichenberger, Nathalie and Pestronk, Alan and Mazanti, Ingrid and Pinner, Jason R and Vuillerot, Carole and Grosmann, Carla and Camacho, Ana and Mohassel, Payam and Leach, Meganne E and Foley, A Reghan and Bharucha-Goebel, Diana and Collins, James and Connolly, Anne M and Gilbreath, Heather R and Iannaccone, Susan T and Castro, Diana and Cummings, Beryl B and Webster, Richard I and Lazaro, Le{\"\i}la and Vissing, John and Coppens, Sandra and Deconinck, Nicolas and Luk, Ho-Ming and Thomas, Neil H and Foulds, Nicola C and Illingworth, Marjorie A and Ellard, Sian and McLean, Catriona A and Phadke, Rahul and Ravenscroft, Gianina and Witting, Nanna and Hackman, Peter and Richard, Isabelle and Cooper, Sandra T and Kamsteeg, Erik-Jan and Hoffman, Eric P and Bushby, Kate and Straub, Volker and Udd, Bjarne and Ferreiro, Ana and North, Kathryn N and Clarke, Nigel F and Lek, Monkol and Beggs, Alan H and B{\"o}nnemann, Carsten G and MacArthur, Daniel G and Granzier, Henk and Davis, Mark R and Laing, Nigel G} } @article {510, title = {Identification of a pathogenic PMP2 variant in a multi-generational family with CMT type 1: Clinical gene panels versus genome-wide approaches to molecular diagnosis.}, journal = {Mol Genet Metab}, volume = {125}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 11}, pages = {302-304}, abstract = {

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease type 1 is an inherited peripheral neuropathy characterized by demyelination and reduced nerve conduction velocities. We present a multi-generational family with peripheral neuropathy in whom clinical CMT panel testing failed to conclude a molecular diagnosis. We found a PMP2 pathogenic variant c.155T > C, p.(Ile52Thr) that segregates with disease suggesting that PMP2 variants should be considered in patients with neuropathy and that it may be prudent to include in clinical CMT gene panels.

}, issn = {1096-7206}, doi = {10.1016/j.ymgme.2018.08.005}, author = {Punetha, Jaya and Mackay-Loder, Loren and Harel, Tamar and Coban-Akdemir, Zeynep and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Gibbs, Richard A and Lee, Ian and Terespolsky, Deborah and Lupski, James R and Posey, Jennifer E} } @article {524, title = {Identifying Genes Whose Mutant Transcripts Cause Dominant Disease Traits by Potential Gain-of-Function Alleles.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {103}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 08 02}, pages = {171-187}, abstract = {

Premature termination codon (PTC)-bearing transcripts are often degraded by nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) resulting in loss-of-function (LoF) alleles. However, not all PTCs result in LoF mutations, i.e., some such transcripts escape NMD and are translated to truncated peptide products that result in disease due to gain-of-function (GoF) effects. Since the location of the PTC is a major factor determining transcript fate, we hypothesized that depletion of protein-truncating variants (PTVs) within the gene region predicted to escape NMD in control databases could provide a rank for genic susceptibility for disease through GoF versus LoF. We developed an NMD escape intolerance score to rank genes based on the depletion of PTVs that would render them able to escape NMD using the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC) and the Exome Aggregation Consortium (ExAC) control databases, which was further used to screen the Baylor-Center for Mendelian Genomics disease database. This analysis revealed 1,996 genes significantly depleted for PTVs that are predicted to escape from NMD, i.e., PTVesc; further studies provided evidence that revealed a subset as candidate genes underlying Mendelian phenotypes. Importantly, these genes have characteristically low pLI scores, which can cause them to be overlooked as candidates for dominant diseases. Collectively, we demonstrate that this NMD escape intolerance score is an effective and efficient tool for gene discovery in Mendelian diseases due to production of truncated or altered proteins. More importantly, we provide a complementary analytical tool to aid identification of genes associated with dominant traits through a mechanism distinct from LoF.

}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.06.009}, author = {Coban-Akdemir, Zeynep and White, Janson J and Song, Xiaofei and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Fatih, Jawid M and Gambin, Tomasz and Bayram, Yavuz and Chinn, Ivan K and Karaca, Ender and Punetha, Jaya and Poli, Cecilia and Boerwinkle, Eric and Shaw, Chad A and Orange, Jordan S and Gibbs, Richard A and Lappalainen, Tuuli and Lupski, James R and Carvalho, Claudia M B} } @article {559, title = {Prioritization of Candidate Genes for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia in a Critical Region on Chromosome 4p16 using a Machine-Learning Algorithm.}, journal = {J Pediatr Genet}, volume = {7}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 Dec}, pages = {164-173}, abstract = {

Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) is caused by partial deletion of the short arm of chromosome 4 and is characterized by dysmorphic facies, congenital heart defects, intellectual/developmental disability, and increased risk for congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). In this report, we describe a stillborn girl with WHS and a large CDH. A literature review revealed 15 cases of WHS with CDH, which overlap a 2.3-Mb CDH critical region. We applied a machine-learning algorithm that integrates large-scale genomic knowledge to genes within the 4p16.3 CDH critical region and identified , , , , , , , and as genes whose haploinsufficiency may contribute to the development of CDH.

}, issn = {2146-4596}, doi = {10.1055/s-0038-1655755}, author = {Callaway, Danielle A and Campbell, Ian M and Stover, Samantha R and Hernandez-Garcia, Andres and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Punetha, Jaya and Paine, Ingrid S and Posey, Jennifer E and Muzny, Donna and Lally, Kevin P and Lupski, James R and Shaw, Chad A and Fernandes, Caraciolo J and Scott, Daryl A} } @article {465, title = {The role of FREM2 and FRAS1 in the development of congenital diaphragmatic hernia.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, volume = {27}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 06 15}, pages = {2064-2075}, abstract = {

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) has been reported twice in individuals with a clinical diagnosis of Fraser syndrome, a genetic disorder that can be caused by recessive mutations affecting FREM2 and FRAS1. In the extracellular matrix, FREM2 and FRAS1 form a self-stabilizing complex with FREM1, a protein whose deficiency causes sac CDH in humans and mice. By sequencing FREM2 and FRAS1 in a CDH cohort, and searching online databases, we identified five individuals who carried recessive or double heterozygous, putatively deleterious variants in these genes which may represent susceptibility alleles. Three of these alleles were significantly enriched in our CDH cohort compared with ethnically matched controls. We subsequently demonstrated that 8\% of Frem2ne/ne and 1\% of Fras1Q1263*/Q1263* mice develop the same type of anterior sac CDH seen in FREM1-deficient mice. We went on to show that development of sac hernias in FREM1-deficient mice is preceded by failure of anterior mesothelial fold progression resulting in the persistence of an amuscular, poorly vascularized anterior diaphragm that is abnormally adherent to the underlying liver. Herniation occurs in the perinatal period when the expanding liver protrudes through this amuscular region of the anterior diaphragm that is juxtaposed to areas of muscular diaphragm. Based on these data, we conclude that deficiency of FREM2, and possibly FRAS1, are associated with an increased risk of developing CDH and that loss of the FREM1/FREM2/FRAS1 complex, or its function, leads to anterior sac CDH development through its effects on mesothelial fold progression.

}, keywords = {Animals, Child, Child, Preschool, Epithelium, Extracellular Matrix Proteins, Female, Hernias, Diaphragmatic, Congenital, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Male, Mice, Mice, Knockout, Mutation, Pregnancy, Receptors, Interleukin}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddy110}, author = {Jordan, Valerie K and Beck, Tyler F and Hernandez-Garcia, Andres and Kundert, Peter N and Kim, Bum-Jun and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Gambin, Tomasz and Starkovich, Molly and Punetha, Jaya and Paine, Ingrid S and Posey, Jennifer E and Li, Alexander H and Muzny, Donna and Hsu, Chih-Wei and Lashua, Amber J and Sun, Xin and Fernandes, Caraciolo J and Dickinson, Mary E and Lally, Kevin P and Gibbs, Richard A and Boerwinkle, Eric and Lupski, James R and Scott, Daryl A} }