Human GenomicsPub Date : 2024-03-25DOI: 10.1186/s40246-024-00594-9
Ewa Goljan, Mohammed Abouelhoda, Asma Tahir, Mohamed ElKalioby, Brian Meyer, Dorota Monies
{"title":"Large-scale next generation sequencing based analysis of SLCO1B1 pharmacogenetics variants in the Saudi population.","authors":"Ewa Goljan, Mohammed Abouelhoda, Asma Tahir, Mohamed ElKalioby, Brian Meyer, Dorota Monies","doi":"10.1186/s40246-024-00594-9","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40246-024-00594-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>SLCO1B1 plays an important role in mediating hepatic clearance of many different drugs including statins, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, chemotherapeutic agents and antibiotics. Several variants in SLCO1B1 have been shown to have a clinically significant impact, in relation to efficacy of these medications. This study provides a comprehensive overview of SLCO1B1 variation in Saudi individuals, one of the largest Arab populations in the Middle East.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The dataset of 11,889 (9,961 exomes and 1,928 pharmacogenetic gene panel) Saudi nationals, was used to determine the presence and frequencies of SLCO1B1 variants, as described by the Clinical Pharmacogenetic Implementation Consortium (CPIC).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We identified 141 previously described SNPs, of which rs2306283 (50%) and rs4149056 (28%), were the most common. In addition, we observed six alleles [*15 (24.7%) followed by *20 (8.04%), *14 (5.86%), *5 (3.84%), *31 (0.21%) and *9 (0.03%)] predicted to be clinically actionable. Allele diplotype to phenotype conversion revealed 41 OATP1B1 diplotypes. We estimated the burden of rare, and novel predicted deleterious variants, resulting from 17 such alterations.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The data we present, from one of the largest Arab cohorts studied to date, provides the most comprehensive overview of SLCO1B1 variants, and the subsequent OATP1B1 activity of this ethnic group, which thus far remains relatively underrepresented in available international genomic databases. We believe that the presented data provides a basis for further clinical investigations and the application of personalized statin drug therapy guidance in Arabs.</p>","PeriodicalId":13183,"journal":{"name":"Human Genomics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10962151/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140206752","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GenomicsPub Date : 2024-03-25DOI: 10.1186/s40246-024-00596-7
Antonella De Lillo, Gita A Pathak, Aislinn Low, Flavio De Angelis, Sarah Abou Alaiwi, Edward J Miller, Maria Fuciarelli, Renato Polimanti
{"title":"Clinical spectrum of Transthyretin amyloidogenic mutations among diverse population origins.","authors":"Antonella De Lillo, Gita A Pathak, Aislinn Low, Flavio De Angelis, Sarah Abou Alaiwi, Edward J Miller, Maria Fuciarelli, Renato Polimanti","doi":"10.1186/s40246-024-00596-7","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40246-024-00596-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Coding mutations in the Transthyretin (TTR) gene cause a hereditary form of amyloidosis characterized by a complex genotype-phenotype correlation with limited information regarding differences among worldwide populations.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We compared 676 diverse individuals carrying TTR amyloidogenic mutations (rs138065384, Phe44Leu; rs730881165, Ala81Thr; rs121918074, His90Asn; rs76992529, Val122Ile) to 12,430 non-carriers matched by age, sex, and genetically-inferred ancestry to assess their clinical presentations across 1,693 outcomes derived from electronic health records in UK biobank.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In individuals of African descent (AFR), Val122Ile mutation was linked to multiple outcomes related to the circulatory system (fold-enrichment = 2.96, p = 0.002) with the strongest associations being cardiac congenital anomalies (phecode 747.1, p = 0.003), endocarditis (phecode 420.3, p = 0.006), and cardiomyopathy (phecode 425, p = 0.007). In individuals of Central-South Asian descent (CSA), His90Asn mutation was associated with dermatologic outcomes (fold-enrichment = 28, p = 0.001). The same TTR mutation was linked to neoplasms in European-descent individuals (EUR, fold-enrichment = 3.09, p = 0.003). In EUR, Ala81Thr showed multiple associations with respiratory outcomes related (fold-enrichment = 3.61, p = 0.002), but the strongest association was with atrioventricular block (phecode 426.2, p = 2.81 × 10<sup>- 4</sup>). Additionally, the same mutation in East Asians (EAS) showed associations with endocrine-metabolic traits (fold-enrichment = 4.47, p = 0.003). In the cross-ancestry meta-analysis, Val122Ile mutation was associated with peripheral nerve disorders (phecode 351, p = 0.004) in addition to cardiac congenital anomalies (fold-enrichment = 6.94, p = 0.003).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Overall, these findings highlight that TTR amyloidogenic mutations present ancestry-specific and ancestry-convergent associations related to a range of health domains. This supports the need to increase awareness regarding the range of outcomes associated with TTR mutations across worldwide populations to reduce misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis of TTR-related amyloidosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":13183,"journal":{"name":"Human Genomics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10962184/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140206751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GenomicsPub Date : 2024-03-22DOI: 10.1186/s40246-024-00600-0
V Alesi, S Genovese, M C Roberti, E Sallicandro, S Di Tommaso, S Loddo, V Orlando, D Pompili, C Calacci, V Mei, E Pisaneschi, M V Faggiano, A Morgia, C Mammì, G Astrea, R Battini, M Priolo, M L Dentici, R Milone, A Novelli
{"title":"Structural rearrangements as a recurrent pathogenic mechanism for SETBP1 haploinsufficiency.","authors":"V Alesi, S Genovese, M C Roberti, E Sallicandro, S Di Tommaso, S Loddo, V Orlando, D Pompili, C Calacci, V Mei, E Pisaneschi, M V Faggiano, A Morgia, C Mammì, G Astrea, R Battini, M Priolo, M L Dentici, R Milone, A Novelli","doi":"10.1186/s40246-024-00600-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40246-024-00600-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chromosomal structural rearrangements consist of anomalies in genomic architecture that may or may not be associated with genetic material gain and loss. Evaluating the precise breakpoint is crucial from a diagnostic point of view, highlighting possible gene disruption and addressing to appropriate genotype-phenotype association. Structural rearrangements can either occur randomly within the genome or present with a recurrence, mainly due to peculiar genomic features of the surrounding regions. We report about three non-related individuals, harboring chromosomal structural rearrangements interrupting SETBP1, leading to gene haploinsufficiency. Two out of them resulted negative to Chromosomal Microarray Analysis (CMA), being the rearrangement balanced at a microarray resolution. The third one, presenting with a complex three-chromosome rearrangement, had been previously diagnosed with SETBP1 haploinsufficiency due to a partial gene deletion at one of the chromosomal breakpoints. We thoroughly characterized the rearrangements by means of Optical Genome Mapping (OGM) and Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS), providing details about the involved sequences and the underlying mechanisms. We propose structural variants as a recurrent event in SETBP1 haploinsufficiency, which may be overlooked by laboratory routine genomic analyses (CMA and Whole Exome Sequencing) or only partially determined when associated with genomic losses at breakpoints. We finally introduce a possible role of SETBP1 in a Noonan-like phenotype.</p>","PeriodicalId":13183,"journal":{"name":"Human Genomics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10960460/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140193705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GenomicsPub Date : 2024-03-21DOI: 10.1186/s40246-024-00595-8
Ho Heon Kim, Dong-Wook Kim, Junwoo Woo, Kyoungyeul Lee
{"title":"Explicable prioritization of genetic variants by integration of rule-based and machine learning algorithms for diagnosis of rare Mendelian disorders.","authors":"Ho Heon Kim, Dong-Wook Kim, Junwoo Woo, Kyoungyeul Lee","doi":"10.1186/s40246-024-00595-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40246-024-00595-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In the process of finding the causative variant of rare diseases, accurate assessment and prioritization of genetic variants is essential. Previous variant prioritization tools mainly depend on the in-silico prediction of the pathogenicity of variants, which results in low sensitivity and difficulty in interpreting the prioritization result. In this study, we propose an explainable algorithm for variant prioritization, named 3ASC, with higher sensitivity and ability to annotate evidence used for prioritization. 3ASC annotates each variant with the 28 criteria defined by the ACMG/AMP genome interpretation guidelines and features related to the clinical interpretation of the variants. The system can explain the result based on annotated evidence and feature contributions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We trained various machine learning algorithms using in-house patient data. The performance of variant ranking was assessed using the recall rate of identifying causative variants in the top-ranked variants. The best practice model was a random forest classifier that showed top 1 recall of 85.6% and top 3 recall of 94.4%. The 3ASC annotates the ACMG/AMP criteria for each genetic variant of a patient so that clinical geneticists can interpret the result as in the CAGI6 SickKids challenge. In the challenge, 3ASC identified causal genes for 10 out of 14 patient cases, with evidence of decreased gene expression for 6 cases. Among them, two genes (HDAC8 and CASK) had decreased gene expression profiles confirmed by transcriptome data.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>3ASC can prioritize genetic variants with higher sensitivity compared to previous methods by integrating various features related to clinical interpretation, including features related to false positive risk such as quality control and disease inheritance pattern. The system allows interpretation of each variant based on the ACMG/AMP criteria and feature contribution assessed using explainable AI techniques.</p>","PeriodicalId":13183,"journal":{"name":"Human Genomics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10956189/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140174497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GenomicsPub Date : 2024-03-21DOI: 10.1186/s40246-024-00588-7
Zhiguang Huang, Jian Huang, Chun Kai Leung, Casper Jp Zhang, Babatunde Akinwunmi, Wai-Kit Ming
{"title":"Hemorrhoidal disease and its genetic association with depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia: a bidirectional mendelian randomization study.","authors":"Zhiguang Huang, Jian Huang, Chun Kai Leung, Casper Jp Zhang, Babatunde Akinwunmi, Wai-Kit Ming","doi":"10.1186/s40246-024-00588-7","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40246-024-00588-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Hemorrhoids and psychiatric disorders exhibit high prevalence rates and a tendency for relapse in epidemiological studies. Despite this, limited research has explored their correlation, and these studies are often subject to reverse causality and residual confounding. We conducted a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to comprehensively investigate the association between several mental illnesses and hemorrhoidal disease.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Genetic associations for four psychiatric disorders and hemorrhoidal disease were obtained from large consortia, the FinnGen study, and the UK Biobank. Genetic variants associated with depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and hemorrhoidal disease at the genome-wide significance level were selected as instrumental variables. Screening for potential confounders in genetic instrumental variables using PhenoScanner V2. Bidirectional MR estimates were employed to assess the effects of four psychiatric disorders on hemorrhoidal disease.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our analysis revealed a significant association between genetically predicted depression and the risk of hemorrhoidal disease (IVW, OR=1.20,95% CI=1.09 to 1.33, P <0.001). We found no evidence of associations between bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and hemorrhoidal disease. Inverse MR analysis provided evidence for a significant association between genetically predicted hemorrhoidal disease and depression (IVW, OR=1.07,95% CI=1.04 to 1.11, P <0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study offers MR evidence supporting a bidirectional causal relationship between depression and hemorrhoidal disease.</p>","PeriodicalId":13183,"journal":{"name":"Human Genomics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10956248/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140174498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GenomicsPub Date : 2024-03-15DOI: 10.1186/s40246-024-00585-w
Andrei-Emil Constantinescu, David A Hughes, Caroline J Bull, Kathryn Fleming, Ruth E Mitchell, Jie Zheng, Siddhartha Kar, Nicholas J Timpson, Borko Amulic, Emma E Vincent
{"title":"A genome-wide association study of neutrophil count in individuals associated to an African continental ancestry group facilitates studies of malaria pathogenesis.","authors":"Andrei-Emil Constantinescu, David A Hughes, Caroline J Bull, Kathryn Fleming, Ruth E Mitchell, Jie Zheng, Siddhartha Kar, Nicholas J Timpson, Borko Amulic, Emma E Vincent","doi":"10.1186/s40246-024-00585-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40246-024-00585-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>'Benign ethnic neutropenia' (BEN) is a heritable condition characterized by lower neutrophil counts, predominantly observed in individuals of African ancestry, and the genetic basis of BEN remains a subject of extensive research. In this study, we aimed to dissect the genetic architecture underlying neutrophil count variation through a linear-mixed model genome-wide association study (GWAS) in a population of African ancestry (N = 5976). Malaria caused by P. falciparum imposes a tremendous public health burden on people living in sub-Saharan Africa. Individuals living in malaria endemic regions often have a reduced circulating neutrophil count due to BEN, raising the possibility that reduced neutrophil counts modulate severity of malaria in susceptible populations. As a follow-up, we tested this hypothesis by conducting a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis of neutrophil counts on severe malaria (MalariaGEN, N = 17,056).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We carried out a GWAS of neutrophil count in individuals associated to an African continental ancestry group within UK Biobank, identifying 73 loci (r<sup>2</sup> = 0.1) and 10 index SNPs (GCTA-COJO loci) associated with neutrophil count, including previously unknown rare loci regulating neutrophil count in a non-European population. BOLT-LMM was reliable when conducted in a non-European population, and additional covariates added to the model did not largely alter the results of the top loci or index SNPs. The two-sample bi-directional MR analysis between neutrophil count and severe malaria showed the greatest evidence for an effect between neutrophil count and severe anaemia, although the confidence intervals crossed the null.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our GWAS of neutrophil count revealed unique loci present in individuals of African ancestry. We note that a small sample-size reduced our power to identify variants with low allele frequencies and/or low effect sizes in our GWAS. Our work highlights the need for conducting large-scale biobank studies in Africa and for further exploring the link between neutrophils and severe malaria.</p>","PeriodicalId":13183,"journal":{"name":"Human Genomics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10941368/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140140180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Statistical methods for assessing the effects of de novo variants on birth defects","authors":"Yuhan Xie, Ruoxuan Wu, Hongyu Li, Weilai Dong, Geyu Zhou, Hongyu Zhao","doi":"10.1186/s40246-024-00590-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40246-024-00590-z","url":null,"abstract":"With the development of next-generation sequencing technology, de novo variants (DNVs) with deleterious effects can be identified and investigated for their effects on birth defects such as congenital heart disease (CHD). However, statistical power is still limited for such studies because of the small sample size due to the high cost of recruiting and sequencing samples and the low occurrence of DNVs. DNV analysis is further complicated by genetic heterogeneity across diseased individuals. Therefore, it is critical to jointly analyze DNVs with other types of genomic/biological information to improve statistical power to identify genes associated with birth defects. In this review, we discuss the general workflow, recent developments in statistical methods, and future directions for DNV analysis.","PeriodicalId":13183,"journal":{"name":"Human Genomics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2024-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140124836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GenomicsPub Date : 2024-03-12DOI: 10.1186/s40246-024-00592-x
Edward Wiltshire, Manuel Castro de Moura, David Piñeyro, Ricky S Joshi
{"title":"Cellular and clinical impact of protein phosphatase enzyme epigenetic silencing in multiple cancer tissues.","authors":"Edward Wiltshire, Manuel Castro de Moura, David Piñeyro, Ricky S Joshi","doi":"10.1186/s40246-024-00592-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40246-024-00592-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Protein Phosphatase Enzymes (PPE) and protein kinases simultaneously control phosphorylation mechanisms that tightly regulate intracellular signalling pathways and stimulate cellular responses. In human malignancies, PPE and protein kinases are frequently mutated resulting in uncontrolled kinase activity and PPE suppression, leading to cell proliferation, migration and resistance to anti-cancer therapies. Cancer associated DNA hypermethylation at PPE promoters gives rise to transcriptional silencing (epimutations) and is a hallmark of cancer. Despite recent advances in sequencing technologies, data availability and computational capabilities, only a fraction of PPE have been reported as transcriptionally inactive as a consequence of epimutations.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this study, we examined promoter-associated DNA methylation profiles in Protein Phosphatase Enzymes and their Interacting Proteins (PPEIP) in a cohort of 705 cancer patients in five tissues (Large intestine, Oesophagus, Lung, Pancreas and Stomach) in three cell models (primary tumours, cancer cell lines and 3D embedded cancer cell cultures). As a subset of PPEIP are known tumour suppressor genes, we analysed the impact of PPEIP promoter hypermethylation marks on gene expression, cellular networks and in a clinical setting.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Here, we report epimutations in PPEIP are a frequent occurrence in the cancer genome and manifest independent of transcriptional activity. We observed that different tumours have varying susceptibility to epimutations and identify specific cellular signalling networks that are primarily affected by epimutations. Additionally, RNA-seq analysis showed the negative impact of epimutations on most (not all) Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase transcription. Finally, we detected novel clinical biomarkers that inform on patient mortality and anti-cancer treatment sensitivity.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We propose that DNA hypermethylation marks at PPEIP frequently contribute to the pathogenesis of malignancies and within the precision medicine space, hold promise as biomarkers to inform on clinical features such as patient survival and therapeutic response.</p>","PeriodicalId":13183,"journal":{"name":"Human Genomics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10935810/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140109941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GenomicsPub Date : 2024-03-06DOI: 10.1186/s40246-024-00593-w
Asuman Koparir, Caroline Lekszas, Kemal Keseroglu, Thalia Rose, Lena Rappl, Aboulfazl Rad, Reza Maroofian, Nakul Narendran, Atefeh Hasanzadeh, Ehsan Ghayoor Karimiani, Felix Boschann, Uwe Kornak, Eva Klopocki, Ertuğrul M. Özbudak, Barbara Vona, Thomas Haaf, Daniel Liedtke
{"title":"Zebrafish as a model to investigate a biallelic gain-of-function variant in MSGN1, associated with a novel skeletal dysplasia syndrome","authors":"Asuman Koparir, Caroline Lekszas, Kemal Keseroglu, Thalia Rose, Lena Rappl, Aboulfazl Rad, Reza Maroofian, Nakul Narendran, Atefeh Hasanzadeh, Ehsan Ghayoor Karimiani, Felix Boschann, Uwe Kornak, Eva Klopocki, Ertuğrul M. Özbudak, Barbara Vona, Thomas Haaf, Daniel Liedtke","doi":"10.1186/s40246-024-00593-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40246-024-00593-w","url":null,"abstract":"Rare genetic disorders causing specific congenital developmental abnormalities often manifest in single families. Investigation of disease-causing molecular features are most times lacking, although these investigations may open novel therapeutic options for patients. In this study, we aimed to identify the genetic cause in an Iranian patient with severe skeletal dysplasia and to model its molecular function in zebrafish embryos. The proband displays short stature and multiple skeletal abnormalities, including mesomelic dysplasia of the arms with complete humero-radio-ulna synostosis, arched clavicles, pelvic dysplasia, short and thin fibulae, proportionally short vertebrae, hyperlordosis and mild kyphosis. Exome sequencing of the patient revealed a novel homozygous c.374G > T, p.(Arg125Leu) missense variant in MSGN1 (NM_001105569). MSGN1, a basic-Helix–Loop–Helix transcription factor, plays a crucial role in formation of presomitic mesoderm progenitor cells/mesodermal stem cells during early developmental processes in vertebrates. Initial in vitro experiments show protein stability and correct intracellular localization of the novel variant in the nucleus and imply retained transcription factor function. To test the pathogenicity of the detected variant, we overexpressed wild-type and mutant msgn1 mRNA in zebrafish embryos and analyzed tbxta (T/brachyury/ntl). Overexpression of wild-type or mutant msgn1 mRNA significantly reduces tbxta expression in the tailbud compared to control embryos. Mutant msgn1 mRNA injected embryos depict a more severe effect, implying a gain-of-function mechanism. In vivo analysis on embryonic development was performed by clonal msgn1 overexpression in zebrafish embryos further demonstrated altered cell compartments in the presomitic mesoderm, notochord and pectoral fin buds. Detection of ectopic tbx6 and bmp2 expression in these embryos hint to affected downstream signals due to Msgn1 gain-of-function. In contrast to loss-of-function effects described in animal knockdown models, gain-of-function of MSGN1 explains the only mildly affected axial skeleton of the proband and rather normal vertebrae. In this context we observed notochord bending and potentially disruption of pectoral fin buds/upper extremity after overexpression of msgn1 in zebrafish embryos. The latter might result from Msgn1 function on mesenchymal stem cells or on chondrogenesis in these regions. In addition, we detected ectopic tbx6 and bmp2a expression after gain of Msgn1 function in zebrafish, which are interconnected to short stature, congenital scoliosis, limb shortening and prominent skeletal malformations in patients. Our findings highlight a rare, so far undescribed skeletal dysplasia syndrome associated with a gain-of-function mutation in MSGN1 and hint to its molecular downstream effectors.","PeriodicalId":13183,"journal":{"name":"Human Genomics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140045706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GenomicsPub Date : 2024-03-01DOI: 10.1186/s40246-024-00589-6
Yuqiao Ju, Tianhui Chen, Lu Ruan, Ye Zhao, Qing Chang, Xin Huang
{"title":"Mutations in TSPAN12 gene causing familial exudative vitreoretinopathy.","authors":"Yuqiao Ju, Tianhui Chen, Lu Ruan, Ye Zhao, Qing Chang, Xin Huang","doi":"10.1186/s40246-024-00589-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40246-024-00589-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>To report newly found TSPAN12 mutations with a unique form of familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) and find out the possible mechanism of a repeated novel intronic variant in TSPAN12 led to FEVR.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Nine TSPAN12 mutations with a unique form of FEVR were detected by panel-based NGS. MINI-Gene assay showed two splicing modes of mRNA that process two different bands A and B, and mutant-type shows replacement with the splicing mode of Exon11 hopping. Construction of wild-type and mutant TSPAN12 vector showed the appearance of premature termination codons (PTC). In vitro expression detection showed significant down-regulated expression level of TSPAN12 mRNAs and proteins in cells transfected with mutant vectors compared with in wild-type group. On the contrary, translation inhibitor CHX and small interfering RNA of UPF1 (si-UPF1) significantly increased mRNA or protein expression of TSPAN12 in cells transfected with the mutant vectors.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Nine mutations in TSPAN12 gene are reported in 9 FEVR patients with a unique series of ocular abnormalities. The three novel TSPAN12 mutations trigger NMD would cause the decrease of TSPAN12 proteins that participate in biosynthesis and assembly of microfibers, which might lead to FEVR, and suggest that intronic sequence analysis might be a vital tool for genetic counseling and prenatal diagnoses.</p>","PeriodicalId":13183,"journal":{"name":"Human Genomics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10905792/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139996171","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}