Integrating whole-genome sequencing and transcriptomic findings in the diagnosis and management of Coffin-Siris syndrome

Introduction

Although the whole-exome sequencing (WES) approach has been widely used in clinic, many rare diseases with syndromic and nonsyndromic neurological manifestations remain undiagnosed. Coffin-Siris syndrome (CSS) is a rare autosomal dominant genetic disease characterized by neurodevelopmental delay. A suspected diagnosis can be made based on the typical CSS clinical features; however, molecular genetic testing is necessary for a confirmed diagnosis.

Objectives

Three CSS-like patients with negative results in the WES and chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) were recruited in this study.

Methods

We used whole-genome sequencing (WGS) technology to sequence the peripheral blood of the three families. To further explore the possible pathogenesis of CSS, we performed RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq).

Results

WGS identified the three CSS patients were carrying de novo copy number variants of the ARID1B gene, which have not been reported before. RNA-seq identified 184 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), with 116 up-regulated and 68 down-regulated. Functional annotation of DEGs showed that two biological processes (immune response, chemokine activity) and two signaling pathways (cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, chemokine activity) were highlighted. We speculated that ARID1B deficiency might trigger abnormal immune responses, which may be involved in the pathophysiologic mechanisms of CSS.

Conclusion

Our research provided further support for WGS application in CSS diagnosis and made an investigational approach for the underlying mechanisms of CSS.