1
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Dai R, Wang C, Shen Q, Xu H. The emerging role of clinical genetics in pediatric patients with chronic kidney disease. Pediatr Nephrol 2024; 39:2549-2553. [PMID: 38502225 DOI: 10.1007/s00467-024-06329-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2024] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Rufeng Dai
- Department of Nephrology, Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, National Children's Medical Center, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Chunyan Wang
- Department of Nephrology, Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, National Children's Medical Center, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Qian Shen
- Department of Nephrology, Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, National Children's Medical Center, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Hong Xu
- Department of Nephrology, Shanghai Kidney Development and Pediatric Kidney Disease Research Center, National Children's Medical Center, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
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2
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Nicolas-Martinez EC, Robinson O, Pflueger C, Gardner A, Corbett MA, Ritchie T, Kroes T, van Eyk CL, Scheffer IE, Hildebrand MS, Barnier JV, Rousseau V, Genevieve D, Haushalter V, Piton A, Denommé-Pichon AS, Bruel AL, Nambot S, Isidor B, Grigg J, Gonzalez T, Ghedia S, Marchant RG, Bournazos A, Wong WK, Webster RI, Evesson FJ, Jones KJ, Cooper ST, Lister R, Gecz J, Jolly LA. RNA variant assessment using transactivation and transdifferentiation. Am J Hum Genet 2024:S0002-9297(24)00224-6. [PMID: 39084224 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2024.06.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2024] [Revised: 06/27/2024] [Accepted: 06/28/2024] [Indexed: 08/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Understanding the impact of splicing and nonsense variants on RNA is crucial for the resolution of variant classification as well as their suitability for precision medicine interventions. This is primarily enabled through RNA studies involving transcriptomics followed by targeted assays using RNA isolated from clinically accessible tissues (CATs) such as blood or skin of affected individuals. Insufficient disease gene expression in CATs does however pose a major barrier to RNA based investigations, which we show is relevant to 1,436 Mendelian disease genes. We term these "silent" Mendelian genes (SMGs), the largest portion (36%) of which are associated with neurological disorders. We developed two approaches to induce SMG expression in human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) to overcome this limitation, including CRISPR-activation-based gene transactivation and fibroblast-to-neuron transdifferentiation. Initial transactivation screens involving 40 SMGs stimulated our development of a highly multiplexed transactivation system culminating in the 6- to 90,000-fold induction of expression of 20/20 (100%) SMGs tested in HDFs. Transdifferentiation of HDFs directly to neurons led to expression of 193/516 (37.4%) of SMGs implicated in neurological disease. The magnitude and isoform diversity of SMG expression following either transactivation or transdifferentiation was comparable to clinically relevant tissues. We apply transdifferentiation and/or gene transactivation combined with short- and long-read RNA sequencing to investigate the impact that variants in USH2A, SCN1A, DMD, and PAK3 have on RNA using HDFs derived from affected individuals. Transactivation and transdifferentiation represent rapid, scalable functional genomic solutions to investigate variants impacting SMGs in the patient cell and genomic context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emmylou C Nicolas-Martinez
- The Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; School of Biomedicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Olivia Robinson
- The Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; School of Biomedicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Christian Pflueger
- Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; The Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Alison Gardner
- The Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Mark A Corbett
- The Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; The Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Tarin Ritchie
- The Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Thessa Kroes
- The Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Clare L van Eyk
- The Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; The Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Ingrid E Scheffer
- Epilepsy Research Centre, Department of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, Austin Health, Heidelberg, VIC 3084, Australia; Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia; Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Michael S Hildebrand
- Epilepsy Research Centre, Department of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, Austin Health, Heidelberg, VIC 3084, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia; The Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Jean-Vianney Barnier
- Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay, UMR 9197, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Saclay, France
| | - Véronique Rousseau
- Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay, UMR 9197, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Saclay, France
| | - David Genevieve
- Montpellier University, Inserm U1183, Reference Center for Rare Diseases Developmental Anomaly and Malformative Syndromes, Genetics Department, Montpellier Hospital, Montpellier, France
| | - Virginie Haushalter
- Genetic Diagnosis Laboratory, Strasbourg University Hospital, Strasbourg, France
| | - Amélie Piton
- Genetic Diagnosis Laboratory, Strasbourg University Hospital, Strasbourg, France
| | - Anne-Sophie Denommé-Pichon
- CRMRs "Anomalies du Développement et syndromes malformatifs" et "Déficiences Intellectuelles de causes rares", Centre de Génétique, CHU Dijon, Dijon, France; INSERM UMR1231, GAD "Génétique des Anomalies du Développement," FHU-TRANSLAD, University of Burgundy, Dijon, France
| | - Ange-Line Bruel
- CRMRs "Anomalies du Développement et syndromes malformatifs" et "Déficiences Intellectuelles de causes rares", Centre de Génétique, CHU Dijon, Dijon, France; INSERM UMR1231, GAD "Génétique des Anomalies du Développement," FHU-TRANSLAD, University of Burgundy, Dijon, France
| | - Sophie Nambot
- CRMRs "Anomalies du Développement et syndromes malformatifs" et "Déficiences Intellectuelles de causes rares", Centre de Génétique, CHU Dijon, Dijon, France; INSERM UMR1231, GAD "Génétique des Anomalies du Développement," FHU-TRANSLAD, University of Burgundy, Dijon, France
| | - Bertrand Isidor
- CRMRs "Anomalies du Développement et syndromes malformatifs" et "Déficiences Intellectuelles de causes rares", Centre de Génétique, CHU Dijon, Dijon, France; INSERM UMR1231, GAD "Génétique des Anomalies du Développement," FHU-TRANSLAD, University of Burgundy, Dijon, France
| | - John Grigg
- Speciality of Ophthalmology, Save Sight Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
| | - Tina Gonzalez
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia
| | - Sondhya Ghedia
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia
| | - Rhett G Marchant
- Kids Neuroscience Centre, Kids Research, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
| | - Adam Bournazos
- Kids Neuroscience Centre, Kids Research, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; Children's Medical Research Institute, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
| | - Wui-Kwan Wong
- Kids Neuroscience Centre, Kids Research, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; Children's Medical Research Institute, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; Department of Paediatric Neurology, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
| | - Richard I Webster
- Department of Paediatric Neurology, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
| | - Frances J Evesson
- Kids Neuroscience Centre, Kids Research, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia; Children's Medical Research Institute, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
| | - Kristi J Jones
- Kids Neuroscience Centre, Kids Research, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; Children's Medical Research Institute, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; Department of Clinical Genetics, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
| | - Sandra T Cooper
- Kids Neuroscience Centre, Kids Research, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia; Children's Medical Research Institute, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
| | - Ryan Lister
- Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
| | - Jozef Gecz
- The Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
| | - Lachlan A Jolly
- The Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; School of Biomedicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
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3
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Ungar RA, Goddard PC, Jensen TD, Degalez F, Smith KS, Jin CA, Bonner DE, Bernstein JA, Wheeler MT, Montgomery SB. Impact of genome build on RNA-seq interpretation and diagnostics. Am J Hum Genet 2024; 111:1282-1300. [PMID: 38834072 PMCID: PMC11267525 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2024.05.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2024] [Revised: 05/04/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Transcriptomics is a powerful tool for unraveling the molecular effects of genetic variants and disease diagnosis. Prior studies have demonstrated that choice of genome build impacts variant interpretation and diagnostic yield for genomic analyses. To identify the extent genome build also impacts transcriptomics analyses, we studied the effect of the hg19, hg38, and CHM13 genome builds on expression quantification and outlier detection in 386 rare disease and familial control samples from both the Undiagnosed Diseases Network and Genomics Research to Elucidate the Genetics of Rare Disease Consortium. Across six routinely collected biospecimens, 61% of quantified genes were not influenced by genome build. However, we identified 1,492 genes with build-dependent quantification, 3,377 genes with build-exclusive expression, and 9,077 genes with annotation-specific expression across six routinely collected biospecimens, including 566 clinically relevant and 512 known OMIM genes. Further, we demonstrate that between builds for a given gene, a larger difference in quantification is well correlated with a larger change in expression outlier calling. Combined, we provide a database of genes impacted by build choice and recommend that transcriptomics-guided analyses and diagnoses are cross referenced with these data for robustness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel A Ungar
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Pagé C Goddard
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Tanner D Jensen
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | - Kevin S Smith
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Christopher A Jin
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Devon E Bonner
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Center for Undiagnosed Diseases, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Jonathan A Bernstein
- Stanford Center for Undiagnosed Diseases, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Matthew T Wheeler
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Stephen B Montgomery
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Department of Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
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4
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Gangaram B, Lee V, Slavotinek A. Biallelic OTUD6B variants associated with a Kabuki syndrome-like disorder in three siblings: A clinical report and literature review. Am J Med Genet A 2024; 194:e63567. [PMID: 38389298 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.a.63567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 01/19/2024] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
Biallelic variants in the OTUD6B gene have been reported in the literature in association with an intellectual developmental disorder featuring dysmorphic facies, seizures, and distal limb abnormalities. Physical differences described for affected individuals suggest that the disorder may be clinically recognizable, but previous publications have reported an initial clinical suspicion for Kabuki syndrome (KS) in some affected individuals. Here, we report on three siblings with biallelic variants in OTUD6B co-segregating with neurodevelopmental delay, shared physical differences, and other clinical findings similar to those of previously reported individuals. However, clinical manifestations such as long palpebral fissures, prominent and cupped ears, developmental delay, growth deficiency, persistent fetal fingertip pads, vertebral anomaly, and seizures in the proband were initially suggestive of KS. In addition, previously unreported clinical manifestations such as delayed eruption of primary dentition, soft doughy skin with reduced sweating, and mirror movements present in our patients suggest an expansion of the phenotype, and we perform a literature review to update on current information related to OTUD6B and human gene-disease association.
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Affiliation(s)
- Balram Gangaram
- Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Virgina Lee
- Division of Child Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Anne Slavotinek
- Division of Human Genetics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
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5
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Lambourne L, Mattioli K, Santoso C, Sheynkman G, Inukai S, Kaundal B, Berenson A, Spirohn-Fitzgerald K, Bhattacharjee A, Rothman E, Shrestha S, Laval F, Yang Z, Bisht D, Sewell JA, Li G, Prasad A, Phanor S, Lane R, Campbell DM, Hunt T, Balcha D, Gebbia M, Twizere JC, Hao T, Frankish A, Riback JA, Salomonis N, Calderwood MA, Hill DE, Sahni N, Vidal M, Bulyk ML, Fuxman Bass JI. Widespread variation in molecular interactions and regulatory properties among transcription factor isoforms. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.12.584681. [PMID: 38617209 PMCID: PMC11014633 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.12.584681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/16/2024]
Abstract
Most human Transcription factors (TFs) genes encode multiple protein isoforms differing in DNA binding domains, effector domains, or other protein regions. The global extent to which this results in functional differences between isoforms remains unknown. Here, we systematically compared 693 isoforms of 246 TF genes, assessing DNA binding, protein binding, transcriptional activation, subcellular localization, and condensate formation. Relative to reference isoforms, two-thirds of alternative TF isoforms exhibit differences in one or more molecular activities, which often could not be predicted from sequence. We observed two primary categories of alternative TF isoforms: "rewirers" and "negative regulators", both of which were associated with differentiation and cancer. Our results support a model wherein the relative expression levels of, and interactions involving, TF isoforms add an understudied layer of complexity to gene regulatory networks, demonstrating the importance of isoform-aware characterization of TF functions and providing a rich resource for further studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke Lambourne
- Center for Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kaia Mattioli
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Clarissa Santoso
- Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
- Bioinformatics Program, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Gloria Sheynkman
- Center for Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sachi Inukai
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Babita Kaundal
- Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Anna Berenson
- Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry Program, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kerstin Spirohn-Fitzgerald
- Center for Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Anukana Bhattacharjee
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Division of Biomedical Informatics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Elisabeth Rothman
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Florent Laval
- Center for Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- TERRA Teaching and Research Centre, University of Liège, Gembloux, Belgium
- Laboratory of Viral Interactomes, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Zhipeng Yang
- Center for Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Deepa Bisht
- Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jared A Sewell
- Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Guangyuan Li
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Division of Biomedical Informatics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Anisa Prasad
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Harvard College, Cambridge MA, USA
| | - Sabrina Phanor
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ryan Lane
- Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Toby Hunt
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK
| | - Dawit Balcha
- Center for Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Marinella Gebbia
- Center for Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- The Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (LTRI), Sinai Health System, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jean-Claude Twizere
- TERRA Teaching and Research Centre, University of Liège, Gembloux, Belgium
- Laboratory of Viral Interactomes, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Tong Hao
- Center for Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Adam Frankish
- Laboratory of Viral Interactomes, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Josh A Riback
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Nathan Salomonis
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Division of Biomedical Informatics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Michael A Calderwood
- Center for Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - David E Hill
- Center for Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nidhi Sahni
- Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Marc Vidal
- Center for Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Martha L Bulyk
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Juan I Fuxman Bass
- Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
- Bioinformatics Program, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
- Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry Program, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
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Martínez-Pizarro A, Álvarez M, Dembic M, Lindegaard CA, Castro M, Richard E, Andresen BS, Desviat LR. Splice-Switching Antisense Oligonucleotides Correct Phenylalanine Hydroxylase Exon 11 Skipping Defects and Rescue Enzyme Activity in Phenylketonuria. Nucleic Acid Ther 2024; 34:134-142. [PMID: 38591802 DOI: 10.1089/nat.2024.0014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/10/2024] Open
Abstract
The PAH gene encodes the hepatic enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH), and its deficiency, known as phenylketonuria (PKU), leads to neurotoxic high levels of phenylalanine. PAH exon 11 is weakly defined, and several missense and intronic variants identified in patients affect the splicing process. Recently, we identified a novel intron 11 splicing regulatory element where U1snRNP binds, participating in exon 11 definition. In this work, we describe the implementation of an antisense strategy targeting intron 11 sequences to correct the effect of PAH mis-splicing variants. We used an in vitro assay with minigenes and identified splice-switching antisense oligonucleotides (SSOs) that correct the exon skipping defect of PAH variants c.1199+17G>A, c.1199+20G>C, c.1144T>C, and c.1066-3C>T. To examine the functional rescue induced by the SSOs, we generated a hepatoma cell model with variant c.1199+17G>A using CRISPR/Cas9. The edited cell line reproduces the exon 11 skipping pattern observed from minigenes, leading to reduced PAH protein levels and activity. SSO transfection results in an increase in exon 11 inclusion and corrects PAH deficiency. Our results provide proof of concept of the potential therapeutic use of a single SSO for different exonic and intronic splicing variants causing PAH exon 11 skipping in PKU.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ainhoa Martínez-Pizarro
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, IUBM, CIBERER, IdiPaz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Mar Álvarez
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, IUBM, CIBERER, IdiPaz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Maja Dembic
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Caroline A Lindegaard
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Margarita Castro
- Centro de Diagnóstico de Enfermedades Moleculares (CEDEM), CIBERER, IdiPaz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Eva Richard
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, IUBM, CIBERER, IdiPaz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Brage S Andresen
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Lourdes R Desviat
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, IUBM, CIBERER, IdiPaz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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7
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Terkelsen T, Mikkelsen NS, Bak EN, Vad-Nielsen J, Blechingberg J, Weiss S, Drue SO, Andersen H, Andresen BS, Bak RO, Jensen UB. CRISPR activation to characterize splice-altering variants in easily accessible cells. Am J Hum Genet 2024; 111:309-322. [PMID: 38272032 PMCID: PMC10870130 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2023.12.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Genetic variants that affect mRNA splicing are a major cause of hereditary disorders, but the spliceogenicity of variants is challenging to predict. RNA diagnostics of clinically accessible tissues enable rapid functional characterization of splice-altering variants within their natural genetic context. However, this analysis cannot be offered to all individuals as one in five human disease genes are not expressed in easily accessible cell types. To overcome this problem, we have used CRISPR activation (CRISPRa) based on a dCas9-VPR mRNA-based delivery platform to induce expression of the gene of interest in skin fibroblasts from individuals with suspected monogenic disorders. Using this ex vivo splicing assay, we characterized the splicing patterns associated with germline variants in the myelin protein zero gene (MPZ), which is exclusively expressed in Schwann cells of the peripheral nerves, and the spastin gene (SPAST), which is predominantly expressed in the central nervous system. After overnight incubation, CRISPRa strongly upregulated MPZ and SPAST transcription in skin fibroblasts, which enabled splice variant profiling using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, next-generation sequencing, and long-read sequencing. Our investigations show proof of principle of a promising genetic diagnostic tool that involves CRISPRa to activate gene expression in easily accessible cells to study the functional impact of genetic variants. The procedure is easy to perform in a diagnostic laboratory with equipment and reagents all readily available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thorkild Terkelsen
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
| | | | - Ebbe Norskov Bak
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Johan Vad-Nielsen
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Jenny Blechingberg
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Simone Weiss
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Simon Opstrup Drue
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Henning Andersen
- Department of Neurology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Brage Storstein Andresen
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Rasmus O Bak
- Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Uffe Birk Jensen
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
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Ungar RA, Goddard PC, Jensen TD, Degalez F, Smith KS, Jin CA, Bonner DE, Bernstein JA, Wheeler MT, Montgomery SB. Impact of genome build on RNA-seq interpretation and diagnostics. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2024.01.11.24301165. [PMID: 38260490 PMCID: PMC10802764 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.11.24301165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Transcriptomics is a powerful tool for unraveling the molecular effects of genetic variants and disease diagnosis. Prior studies have demonstrated that choice of genome build impacts variant interpretation and diagnostic yield for genomic analyses. To identify the extent genome build also impacts transcriptomics analyses, we studied the effect of the hg19, hg38, and CHM13 genome builds on expression quantification and outlier detection in 386 rare disease and familial control samples from both the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) and Genomics Research to Elucidate the Genetics of Rare Disease (GREGoR) Consortium. We identified 2,800 genes with build-dependent quantification across six routinely-collected biospecimens, including 1,391 protein-coding genes and 341 known rare disease genes. We further observed multiple genes that only have detectable expression in a subset of genome builds. Finally, we characterized how genome build impacts the detection of outlier transcriptomic events. Combined, we provide a database of genes impacted by build choice, and recommend that transcriptomics-guided analyses and diagnoses are cross-referenced with these data for robustness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel A. Ungar
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Stanford University
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Stanford University
| | - Pagé C. Goddard
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Stanford University
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Stanford University
| | - Tanner D. Jensen
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Stanford University
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Stanford University
| | | | - Kevin S. Smith
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Stanford University
| | | | | | - Devon E. Bonner
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Stanford University
- Stanford Center for Undiagnosed Diseases, Stanford University
| | | | - Matthew T. Wheeler
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, School of Medicine, Stanford University
| | - Stephen B. Montgomery
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Stanford University
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Stanford University
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University
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9
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Li K, Xiao J, Ling Z, Luo T, Xiong J, Chen Q, Dong L, Wang Y, Wang X, Jiang Z, Xia L, Yu Z, Hua R, Guo R, Tang D, Lv M, Lian A, Li B, Zhao G, He X, Xia K, Cao Y, Li J. Prioritizing de novo potential non-canonical splicing variants in neurodevelopmental disorders. EBioMedicine 2024; 99:104928. [PMID: 38113761 PMCID: PMC10767160 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2023.104928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2023] [Revised: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Genomic variants outside of the canonical splicing site (±2) may generate abnormal mRNA splicing, which are defined as non-canonical splicing variants (NCSVs). However, the clinical interpretation of NCSVs in neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) is largely unknown. METHODS We investigated the contribution of NCSVs to NDDs from 345,787 de novo variants (DNVs) in 47,574 patients with NDDs. We performed functional enrichment and protein-protein interaction analysis to assess the association between genes carrying prioritised NCSVs and NDDs. Minigene was used to validate the impact of NCSVs on mRNA splicing. FINDINGS We observed significantly more NCSVs (p = 0.02, odds ratio [OR] = 2.05) among patients with NDD than in controls. Both canonical splicing variants (CSVs) and NCSVs contributed to an equal proportion of patients with NDD (0.76% vs. 0.82%). The candidate genes carrying NCSVs were associated with glutamatergic synapse and chromatin remodelling. Minigene successfully validated 59 of 79 (74.68%) NCSVs that led to abnormal splicing in 40 candidate genes, and 9 of the genes (ARID1B, KAT6B, TCF4, SMARCA2, SHANK3, PDHA1, WDR45, SCN2A, SYNGAP1) harboured recurrent NCSVs with the same variant present in more than two unrelated patients with NDD. Moreover, 36 of 59 (61.02%) NCSVs are novel clinically relevant variants, including 34 unreported and 2 clinically conflicting interpretations or of uncertain significance NCSVs in the ClinVar database. INTERPRETATION This study highlights the common pathology and clinical importance of NCSVs in unsolved patients with NDD. FUNDING The present study was funded by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, the Hunan Youth Science and Technology Innovation Talent Project, the Provincial Natural Science Foundation of Hunan, The Scientific Research Program of FuRong laboratory, and the Natural Science Project of the University of Anhui Province.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kuokuo Li
- Reproductive Medicine Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, China; NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract (Anhui Medical University), No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China; Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle (Anhui Medical University), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Jifang Xiao
- Bioinformatics Center, National Clinical Research Centre for Geriatric Disorders, Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Bioinformatics Center, Furong Laboratory, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Zhengbao Ling
- Centre for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Tengfei Luo
- Centre for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Jingyu Xiong
- Centre for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Qian Chen
- Bioinformatics Center, National Clinical Research Centre for Geriatric Disorders, Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Bioinformatics Center, Furong Laboratory, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Lijie Dong
- Centre for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Bioinformatics Center, Furong Laboratory, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Yijing Wang
- Bioinformatics Center, National Clinical Research Centre for Geriatric Disorders, Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Centre for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Bioinformatics Center, Furong Laboratory, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Xiaomeng Wang
- Centre for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Bioinformatics Center, Furong Laboratory, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Zhaowei Jiang
- Centre for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Lu Xia
- Centre for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Zhen Yu
- Reproductive Medicine Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, China; NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract (Anhui Medical University), No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China; Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle (Anhui Medical University), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Rong Hua
- Reproductive Medicine Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, China; NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract (Anhui Medical University), No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China; Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle (Anhui Medical University), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Rui Guo
- Reproductive Medicine Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, China; NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract (Anhui Medical University), No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China; Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle (Anhui Medical University), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Dongdong Tang
- Reproductive Medicine Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, China; NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract (Anhui Medical University), No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China; Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle (Anhui Medical University), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Mingrong Lv
- Reproductive Medicine Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, China; NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract (Anhui Medical University), No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China; Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle (Anhui Medical University), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Aojie Lian
- National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Birth Defect Research and Prevention, Hunan Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Bin Li
- Bioinformatics Center, National Clinical Research Centre for Geriatric Disorders, Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Bioinformatics Center, Furong Laboratory, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - GuiHu Zhao
- Bioinformatics Center, National Clinical Research Centre for Geriatric Disorders, Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Bioinformatics Center, Furong Laboratory, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Xiaojin He
- Reproductive Medicine Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, China; NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract (Anhui Medical University), No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China; Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle (Anhui Medical University), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China; Anhui Provincial Human Sperm Bank, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, China.
| | - Kun Xia
- Centre for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
| | - Yunxia Cao
- Reproductive Medicine Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, China; NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract (Anhui Medical University), No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China; Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle (Anhui Medical University), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China.
| | - Jinchen Li
- Bioinformatics Center, National Clinical Research Centre for Geriatric Disorders, Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Centre for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Bioinformatics Center, Furong Laboratory, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
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10
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Smith C, Kitzman JO. Benchmarking splice variant prediction algorithms using massively parallel splicing assays. Genome Biol 2023; 24:294. [PMID: 38129864 PMCID: PMC10734170 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-023-03144-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Variants that disrupt mRNA splicing account for a sizable fraction of the pathogenic burden in many genetic disorders, but identifying splice-disruptive variants (SDVs) beyond the essential splice site dinucleotides remains difficult. Computational predictors are often discordant, compounding the challenge of variant interpretation. Because they are primarily validated using clinical variant sets heavily biased to known canonical splice site mutations, it remains unclear how well their performance generalizes. RESULTS We benchmark eight widely used splicing effect prediction algorithms, leveraging massively parallel splicing assays (MPSAs) as a source of experimentally determined ground-truth. MPSAs simultaneously assay many variants to nominate candidate SDVs. We compare experimentally measured splicing outcomes with bioinformatic predictions for 3,616 variants in five genes. Algorithms' concordance with MPSA measurements, and with each other, is lower for exonic than intronic variants, underscoring the difficulty of identifying missense or synonymous SDVs. Deep learning-based predictors trained on gene model annotations achieve the best overall performance at distinguishing disruptive and neutral variants, and controlling for overall call rate genome-wide, SpliceAI and Pangolin have superior sensitivity. Finally, our results highlight two practical considerations when scoring variants genome-wide: finding an optimal score cutoff, and the substantial variability introduced by differences in gene model annotation, and we suggest strategies for optimal splice effect prediction in the face of these issues. CONCLUSION SpliceAI and Pangolin show the best overall performance among predictors tested, however, improvements in splice effect prediction are still needed especially within exons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cathy Smith
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Jacob O Kitzman
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
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11
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Guo Q, Ji S, Takeuchi K, Urasaki W, Suzuki A, Iwasaki Y, Saito H, Xu Z, Arai M, Nakamura S, Momozawa Y, Chiba N, Miki Y, Matsuura M, Sunada S. Functional evaluation of BRCA1/2 variants of unknown significance with homologous recombination assay and integrative in silico prediction model. J Hum Genet 2023; 68:849-857. [PMID: 37731132 DOI: 10.1038/s10038-023-01194-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2022] [Revised: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023]
Abstract
Numerous variants of unknown significance (VUSs) exist in hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. Although multiple methods have been developed to assess the significance of BRCA1/2 variants, functional discrepancies among these approaches remain. Therefore, a comprehensive functional evaluation system for these variants should be established. We performed conventional homologous recombination (HR) assays for 50 BRCA1 and 108 BRCA2 VUSs and complementarily predicted VUSs using a statistical logistic regression prediction model that integrated six in silico functional prediction tools. BRCA1/2 VUSs were classified according to the results of the integrative in vitro and in silico analyses. Using HR assays, we identified 10 BRCA1 and 4 BRCA2 VUSs as low-functional pathogenic variants. For in silico prediction, the statistical prediction model showed high accuracy for both BRCA1 and BRCA2 compared with each in silico prediction tool individually and predicted nine BRCA1 and seven BRCA2 variants to be pathogenic. Integrative functional evaluation in this study and the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics and the Association for Molecular Pathology (ACMG/AMP) guidelines strongly suggested that seven BRCA1 variants (p.Glu272Gly, p.Lys1095Glu, p.Val1653Leu, p.Thr1681Pro, p.Phe1761Val, p.Thr1773Ile, and p.Gly1803Ser) and four BRCA2 variants (p.Trp31Gly, p.Ser2616Phe, p.Tyr2660Cys, and p.Leu2792Arg) were pathogenic. This study demonstrates that integrative evaluation using conventional HR assays and optimized in silico prediction comprehensively classified the significance of BRCA VUSs for future clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qianqian Guo
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8510, Japan
| | - Shuting Ji
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8510, Japan
| | - Kazuma Takeuchi
- Graduate School of Public Health, Teikyo University, 2-11-1 Kaga, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-8605, Japan
| | - Wataru Urasaki
- Department of Information Sciences, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda City, Chiba, 278-8510, Japan
| | - Asuka Suzuki
- Graduate School of Public Health, Teikyo University, 2-11-1 Kaga, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-8605, Japan
| | - Yusuke Iwasaki
- Laboratory for Genotyping Development, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa, 230-0045, Japan
| | - Hiroko Saito
- Department of Genetic Diagnosis, The Cancer Institute, Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, 3-8-31 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo, 135-8550, Japan
| | - Zeyu Xu
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8510, Japan
| | - Masami Arai
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Juntendo University, Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan
| | - Seigo Nakamura
- Division of Breast Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Showa University School of Medicine, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, 142-8555, Japan
| | - Yukihide Momozawa
- Laboratory for Genotyping Development, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa, 230-0045, Japan
| | - Natsuko Chiba
- Department of Cancer Biology; Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, 4-1 Seiryomachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan
| | - Yoshio Miki
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8510, Japan.
- Department of Genetic Diagnosis, The Cancer Institute, Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, 3-8-31 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo, 135-8550, Japan.
| | - Masaaki Matsuura
- Graduate School of Public Health, Teikyo University, 2-11-1 Kaga, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-8605, Japan.
| | - Shigeaki Sunada
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8510, Japan.
- Juntendo Advanced Research Institute for Health Science, Juntendo University, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan.
- Department of Oncology, School of Medicine, Juntendo University School of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan.
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12
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O'Neill MJ, Yang T, Laudeman J, Calandranis M, Solus J, Roden DM, Glazer AM. ParSE-seq: A Calibrated Multiplexed Assay to Facilitate the Clinical Classification of Putative Splice-altering Variants. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2023:2023.09.04.23295019. [PMID: 37732247 PMCID: PMC10508793 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.04.23295019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/22/2023]
Abstract
Background Interpreting the clinical significance of putative splice-altering variants outside 2-base pair canonical splice sites remains difficult without functional studies. Methods We developed Parallel Splice Effect Sequencing (ParSE-seq), a multiplexed minigene-based assay, to test variant effects on RNA splicing quantified by high-throughput sequencing. We studied variants in SCN5A, an arrhythmia-associated gene which encodes the major cardiac voltage-gated sodium channel. We used the computational tool SpliceAI to prioritize exonic and intronic candidate splice variants, and ClinVar to select benign and pathogenic control variants. We generated a pool of 284 barcoded minigene plasmids, transfected them into Human Embryonic Kidney (HEK293) cells and induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs), sequenced the resulting pools of splicing products, and calibrated the assay to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics scheme. Variants were interpreted using the calibrated functional data, and experimental data were compared to SpliceAI predictions. We further studied some splice-altering missense variants by cDNA-based automated patch clamping (APC) in HEK cells and assessed splicing and sodium channel function in CRISPR-edited iPSC-CMs. Results ParSE-seq revealed the splicing effect of 224 SCN5A variants in iPSC-CMs and 244 variants in HEK293 cells. The scores between the cell types were highly correlated (R2=0.84). In iPSCs, the assay had concordant scores for 21/22 benign/likely benign and 24/25 pathogenic/likely pathogenic control variants from ClinVar. 43/112 exonic variants and 35/70 intronic variants with determinate scores disrupted splicing. 11 of 42 variants of uncertain significance were reclassified, and 29 of 34 variants with conflicting interpretations were reclassified using the functional data. SpliceAI computational predictions correlated well with experimental data (AUC = 0.96). We identified 20 unique SCN5A missense variants that disrupted splicing, and 2 clinically observed splice-altering missense variants of uncertain significance had normal function when tested with the cDNA-based APC assay. A splice-altering intronic variant detected by ParSE-seq, c.1891-5C>G, also disrupted splicing and sodium current when introduced into iPSC-CMs at the endogenous locus by CRISPR editing. Conclusions ParSE-seq is a calibrated, multiplexed, high-throughput assay to facilitate the classification of candidate splice-altering variants.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tao Yang
- Vanderbilt Center for Arrhythmia Research and Therapeutics (VanCART), Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Julie Laudeman
- Vanderbilt Center for Arrhythmia Research and Therapeutics (VanCART), Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Maria Calandranis
- Vanderbilt Center for Arrhythmia Research and Therapeutics (VanCART), Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Joseph Solus
- Vanderbilt Center for Arrhythmia Research and Therapeutics (VanCART), Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Dan M Roden
- Vanderbilt Center for Arrhythmia Research and Therapeutics (VanCART), Departments of Medicine, Pharmacology, and Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Andrew M Glazer
- Vanderbilt Center for Arrhythmia Research and Therapeutics (VanCART), Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
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13
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O'Brien TD, Potter AB, Driscoll CC, Goh G, Letaw JH, McCabe S, Thanner J, Kulkarni A, Wong R, Medica S, Week T, Buitrago J, Larson A, Camacho KJ, Brown K, Crist R, Conrad C, Evans-Dutson S, Lutz R, Mitchell A, Anur P, Serrato V, Shafer A, Marriott LK, Hamman KJ, Mulford A, Wiszniewski W, Sampson JE, Adey A, O'Roak BJ, Harrington CA, Shannon J, Spellman PT, Richards CS. Population screening shows risk of inherited cancer and familial hypercholesterolemia in Oregon. Am J Hum Genet 2023; 110:1249-1265. [PMID: 37506692 PMCID: PMC10432140 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2023.06.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2023] [Revised: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 06/29/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The Healthy Oregon Project (HOP) is a statewide effort that aims to build a large research repository and influence the health of Oregonians through providing no-cost genetic screening to participants for a next-generation sequencing 32-gene panel comprising genes related to inherited cancers and familial hypercholesterolemia. This type of unbiased population screening can detect at-risk individuals who may otherwise be missed by conventional medical approaches. However, challenges exist for this type of high-throughput testing in an academic setting, including developing a low-cost high-efficiency test and scaling up the clinical laboratory for processing large numbers of samples. Modifications to our academic clinical laboratory including efficient test design, robotics, and a streamlined analysis approach increased our ability to test more than 1,000 samples per month for HOP using only one dedicated HOP laboratory technologist. Additionally, enrollment using a HIPAA-compliant smartphone app and sample collection using mouthwash increased efficiency and reduced cost. Here, we present our experience three years into HOP and discuss the lessons learned, including our successes, challenges, opportunities, and future directions, as well as the genetic screening results for the first 13,670 participants tested. Overall, we have identified 730 pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants in 710 participants in 24 of the 32 genes on the panel. The carrier rate for pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants in the inherited cancer genes on the panel for an unselected population was 5.0% and for familial hypercholesterolemia was 0.3%. Our laboratory experience described here may provide a useful model for population screening projects in other states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy D O'Brien
- Knight Diagnostic Laboratories, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Amiee B Potter
- Knight Diagnostic Laboratories, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Catherine C Driscoll
- Knight Diagnostic Laboratories, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA; Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97201, USA
| | - Gregory Goh
- Knight Diagnostic Laboratories, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA; Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97201, USA
| | - John H Letaw
- Knight Diagnostic Laboratories, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Sarah McCabe
- Knight Diagnostic Laboratories, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Jane Thanner
- Information Technology Group, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97201, USA
| | - Arpita Kulkarni
- Knight Diagnostic Laboratories, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Rossana Wong
- Knight Diagnostic Laboratories, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Samuel Medica
- Integrated Genomics Laboratory, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Tiana Week
- Integrated Genomics Laboratory, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Jacob Buitrago
- Integrated Genomics Laboratory, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Aaron Larson
- Integrated Genomics Laboratory, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Katie Johnson Camacho
- Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97201, USA
| | - Kim Brown
- Knight Cancer Institute, Community Outreach and Engagement, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97201, USA
| | - Rachel Crist
- Knight Cancer Institute, Community Outreach and Engagement, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97201, USA
| | - Casey Conrad
- Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97201, USA
| | - Sara Evans-Dutson
- Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97201, USA
| | - Ryan Lutz
- Knight Cancer Institute, Community Outreach and Engagement, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97201, USA
| | - Asia Mitchell
- Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97201, USA
| | - Pavana Anur
- Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97201, USA
| | - Vanessa Serrato
- Knight Cancer Institute, Community Outreach and Engagement, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97201, USA
| | - Autumn Shafer
- University of Oregon, School of Journalism and Communication, Portland, OR 97209, USA
| | | | - K J Hamman
- Department of Molecular & Medical Genetics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Amelia Mulford
- Department of Molecular & Medical Genetics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Wojciech Wiszniewski
- Department of Molecular & Medical Genetics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Jone E Sampson
- Department of Molecular & Medical Genetics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Andrew Adey
- Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97201, USA; Department of Molecular & Medical Genetics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Brian J O'Roak
- Department of Molecular & Medical Genetics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Christina A Harrington
- Integrated Genomics Laboratory, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA; Department of Molecular & Medical Genetics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Jackilen Shannon
- Knight Cancer Institute, Community Outreach and Engagement, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97201, USA; Division of Oncological Sciences, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Paul T Spellman
- Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97201, USA; Department of Molecular & Medical Genetics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - C Sue Richards
- Knight Diagnostic Laboratories, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA; Department of Molecular & Medical Genetics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
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14
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Smith C, Kitzman JO. Benchmarking splice variant prediction algorithms using massively parallel splicing assays. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.05.04.539398. [PMID: 37205456 PMCID: PMC10187268 DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.04.539398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Background Variants that disrupt mRNA splicing account for a sizable fraction of the pathogenic burden in many genetic disorders, but identifying splice-disruptive variants (SDVs) beyond the essential splice site dinucleotides remains difficult. Computational predictors are often discordant, compounding the challenge of variant interpretation. Because they are primarily validated using clinical variant sets heavily biased to known canonical splice site mutations, it remains unclear how well their performance generalizes. Results We benchmarked eight widely used splicing effect prediction algorithms, leveraging massively parallel splicing assays (MPSAs) as a source of experimentally determined ground-truth. MPSAs simultaneously assay many variants to nominate candidate SDVs. We compared experimentally measured splicing outcomes with bioinformatic predictions for 3,616 variants in five genes. Algorithms' concordance with MPSA measurements, and with each other, was lower for exonic than intronic variants, underscoring the difficulty of identifying missense or synonymous SDVs. Deep learning-based predictors trained on gene model annotations achieved the best overall performance at distinguishing disruptive and neutral variants. Controlling for overall call rate genome-wide, SpliceAI and Pangolin also showed superior overall sensitivity for identifying SDVs. Finally, our results highlight two practical considerations when scoring variants genome-wide: finding an optimal score cutoff, and the substantial variability introduced by differences in gene model annotation, and we suggest strategies for optimal splice effect prediction in the face of these issues. Conclusion SpliceAI and Pangolin showed the best overall performance among predictors tested, however, improvements in splice effect prediction are still needed especially within exons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cathy Smith
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Jacob O. Kitzman
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
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15
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Boschann F, Kosmehl S, Bloching M, Grünhagen J, Hildebrand G, Horn D, Lyutenski S. Novel noncanonical splice site variant causes mild CHD7-related disorder with variable intrafamilial expressivity. Am J Med Genet A 2023; 191:1128-1132. [PMID: 36708132 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.a.63122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
The clinical diagnosis criteria for CHARGE syndrome have been revised several times in the last 25 years. Variable expressivity and reduced penetrance are known, particularly in mild and familial cases. Therefore, it has been proposed to include the detection of a pathogenic CHD7 variant as a major diagnostic criterion. However, intronic variants not located at the canonical splice site are still underrepresented in mutation databases, often because functional analysis is not performed in the diagnostic setting. Here, we report a two-generation family that did not meet the criteria for CHARGE syndrome, until the molecular findings were taken into account. By exome sequencing, we detected an intronic variant in a male individual, who presented with unilateral external ear malformation, bilateral semicircular canal aplasia, polydactyly, vertebral body fusion and a heart defect. The variant was inherited by his mother, who also had bilateral semicircular canal aplasia additionally to unilateral sensorineural hearing impairment, unilateral mandibular palpebral synkinesia, orofacial cleft, and dysphagia. Using RNA studies, we were able to demonstrate that aberrant splicing occurs at an upstream cryptic splice acceptor site, resulting in a frameshift and premature stop of translation. Our data show causality of the noncanonical intronic CHD7 variant and end the diagnostic odyssey of this unsolved phenotype of the family.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix Boschann
- Institute of Medical Genetics and Human Genetics, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, BIH Biomedical Innovation Academy, BIH Charité Clinician Scientist Program, Berlin, Germany
| | - Sabine Kosmehl
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch, Berlin, Germany
| | - Marc Bloching
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch, Berlin, Germany
| | - Johannes Grünhagen
- Labor Berlin Charité Vivantes GmbH-Corporate Member of Institute for Medical Genetics and Human Genetics, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Gabriele Hildebrand
- Institute of Medical Genetics and Human Genetics, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Denise Horn
- Institute of Medical Genetics and Human Genetics, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Stefan Lyutenski
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch, Berlin, Germany
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16
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Washington C, Stolerman ES, Cooley‐Coleman JA, Jones JR, Chen‐Deutsch X. RNA analysis of intronic variants in the LAMA2 gene detected by whole genome sequencing confirms a rare dual diagnosis of incontinentia pigmenti with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. Clin Case Rep 2023; 11:e7165. [PMID: 37038535 PMCID: PMC10082350 DOI: 10.1002/ccr3.7165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Revised: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/12/2023] Open
Abstract
We see that a multiple methods approach to diagnosis remains necessary in the era of whole genome sequencing. We also observe that reproductive risk genetic counseling can be a motivating factor for further testing along the diagnostic odyssey.
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17
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Kamps-Hughes N, Carlton VEH, Fresard L, Osazuwa S, Starks E, Vincent JJ, Albritton S, Nussbaum RL, Nykamp K. A Systematic Method for Detecting Abnormal mRNA Splicing and Assessing Its Clinical Impact in Individuals Undergoing Genetic Testing for Hereditary Cancer Syndromes. J Mol Diagn 2023; 25:156-167. [PMID: 36563937 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoldx.2022.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2022] [Revised: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Nearly 14% of disease-causing germline variants result from the disruption of mRNA splicing. Most (67%) DNA variants predicted in silico to disrupt splicing are classified as variants of uncertain significance. An analytic workflow-splice effect event resolver (SPEER)-was developed and validated to use mRNA sequencing to reveal significant deviations in splicing, pinpoint the DNA variants potentially involved, and measure the deleterious effects of the altered splicing on mRNA transcripts, providing evidence for assessing the pathogenicity of the variant. SPEER was used to analyze leukocyte RNA encoding 63 hereditary cancer syndrome-related genes in 20,317 patients. Among 3563 patients (17.5%) with at least one DNA variant predicted to affect splicing, 971 (4.8%) had altered splicing with a deleterious effect on the transcript, and 40 had altered splicing due to a DNA variant located outside of the reportable range of the test. Integrating SPEER results into the interpretation of variants allowed variants of uncertain significance to be reclassified as pathogenic or likely pathogenic in 0.4%, and as benign or likely benign in 5.9%, of the 20,317 patients. SPEER-based evidence was associated with a significantly greater effect on classifications of pathogenic or likely pathogenic and benign or likely benign in nonwhite versus non-Hispanic white patients, illustrating that evidence derived from mRNA splicing analysis may help to reduce ethnic/ancestral disparities in genetic testing.
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18
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Deshwar AR, Yuki KE, Hou H, Liang Y, Khan T, Celik A, Ramani A, Mendoza-Londono R, Marshall CR, Brudno M, Shlien A, Meyn MS, Hayeems RZ, McKinlay BJ, Klentrou P, Wilson MD, Kyriakopoulou L, Costain G, Dowling JJ. Trio RNA sequencing in a cohort of medically complex children. Am J Hum Genet 2023; 110:895-900. [PMID: 36990084 PMCID: PMC10183368 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2023.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Genome sequencing (GS) is a powerful test for the diagnosis of rare genetic disorders. Although GS can enumerate most non-coding variation, determining which non-coding variants are disease-causing is challenging. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) has emerged as an important tool to help address this issue, but its diagnostic utility remains understudied, and the added value of a trio design is unknown. We performed GS plus RNA-seq from blood using an automated clinical-grade high-throughput platform on 97 individuals from 39 families where the proband was a child with unexplained medical complexity. RNA-seq was an effective adjunct test when paired with GS. It enabled clarification of putative splice variants in three families, but it did not reveal variants not already identified by GS analysis. Trio RNA-seq decreased the number of candidates requiring manual review when filtering for de novo dominant disease-causing variants, allowing for the exclusion of 16% of gene-expression outliers and 27% of allele-specific-expression outliers. However, clear diagnostic benefit from the trio design was not observed. Blood-based RNA-seq can facilitate genome analysis in children with suspected undiagnosed genetic disease. In contrast to DNA sequencing, the clinical advantages of a trio RNA-seq design may be more limited.
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19
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Web-accessible application for identifying pathogenic transcripts with RNA-seq: Increased sensitivity in diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders. Am J Hum Genet 2023; 110:251-272. [PMID: 36669495 PMCID: PMC9943747 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2022.12.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
For neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), a molecular diagnosis is key for management, predicting outcome, and counseling. Often, routine DNA-based tests fail to establish a genetic diagnosis in NDDs. Transcriptome analysis (RNA sequencing [RNA-seq]) promises to improve the diagnostic yield but has not been applied to NDDs in routine diagnostics. Here, we explored the diagnostic potential of RNA-seq in 96 individuals including 67 undiagnosed subjects with NDDs. We performed RNA-seq on single individuals' cultured skin fibroblasts, with and without cycloheximide treatment, and used modified OUTRIDER Z scores to detect gene expression outliers and mis-splicing by exonic and intronic outliers. Analysis was performed by a user-friendly web application, and candidate pathogenic transcriptional events were confirmed by secondary assays. We identified intragenic deletions, monoallelic expression, and pseudoexonic insertions but also synonymous and non-synonymous variants with deleterious effects on transcription, increasing the diagnostic yield for NDDs by 13%. We found that cycloheximide treatment and exonic/intronic Z score analysis increased detection and resolution of aberrant splicing. Importantly, in one individual mis-splicing was found in a candidate gene nearly matching the individual's specific phenotype. However, pathogenic splicing occurred in another neuronal-expressed gene and provided a molecular diagnosis, stressing the need to customize RNA-seq. Lastly, our web browser application allowed custom analysis settings that facilitate diagnostic application and ranked pathogenic transcripts as top candidates. Our results demonstrate that RNA-seq is a complementary method in the genomic diagnosis of NDDs and, by providing accessible analysis with improved sensitivity, our transcriptome analysis approach facilitates wider implementation of RNA-seq in routine genome diagnostics.
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20
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Mohammadi-Shemirani P, Sood T, Paré G. From 'Omics to Multi-omics Technologies: the Discovery of Novel Causal Mediators. Curr Atheroscler Rep 2023; 25:55-65. [PMID: 36595202 PMCID: PMC9807989 DOI: 10.1007/s11883-022-01078-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW 'Omics studies provide a comprehensive characterisation of a biological entity, such as the genome, epigenome, transcriptome, proteome, metabolome, or microbiome. This review covers the unique properties of these types of 'omics and their roles as causal mediators in cardiovascular disease. Moreover, applications and challenges of integrating multiple types of 'omics data to increase predictive power, improve causal inference, and elucidate biological mechanisms are discussed. RECENT FINDINGS Multi-omics approaches are growing in adoption as they provide orthogonal evidence and overcome the limitations of individual types of 'omics data. Studies with multiple types of 'omics data have improved the diagnosis and prediction of disease states and afforded a deeper understanding of underlying pathophysiological mechanisms, beyond any single type of 'omics data. For instance, disease-associated loci in the genome can be supplemented with other 'omics to prioritise causal genes and understand the function of non-coding variants. Alternatively, techniques, such as Mendelian randomisation, can leverage genetics to provide evidence supporting a causal role for disease-associated molecules, and elucidate their role in disease pathogenesis. As technologies improve, costs for 'omics studies will continue to fall and datasets will become increasingly accessible to researchers. The intrinsically unbiased nature of 'omics data is well-suited to exploratory analyses that discover causal mediators of disease, and multi-omics is an emerging discipline that leverages the strengths of each type of 'omics data to provide insights greater than the sum of its parts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedrum Mohammadi-Shemirani
- Population Health Research Institute, David Braley Cardiac, Vascular and Stroke Research Institute, Hamilton, ON Canada
- Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute, David Braley Cardiac, Vascular and Stroke Research Institute, Hamilton, ON Canada
| | - Tushar Sood
- Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Guillaume Paré
- Population Health Research Institute, David Braley Cardiac, Vascular and Stroke Research Institute, Hamilton, ON Canada
- Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute, David Braley Cardiac, Vascular and Stroke Research Institute, Hamilton, ON Canada
- Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON Canada
- Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON Canada
- Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON Canada
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21
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Ait-El-Mkadem Saadi S, Kaphan E, Morales Jaurrieta A, Fragaki K, Chaussenot A, Bannwarth S, Maues De Paula A, Paquis-Flucklinger V, Rouzier C. Splicing variants in NARS2 are associated with milder phenotypes and intra-familial variability. Eur J Med Genet 2022; 65:104643. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmg.2022.104643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Revised: 10/07/2022] [Accepted: 10/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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22
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Leman R, Parfait B, Vidaud D, Girodon E, Pacot L, Le Gac G, Ka C, Ferec C, Fichou Y, Quesnelle C, Aucouturier C, Muller E, Vaur D, Castera L, Boulouard F, Ricou A, Tubeuf H, Soukarieh O, Gaildrat P, Riant F, Guillaud‐Bataille M, Caputo SM, Caux‐Moncoutier V, Boutry‐Kryza N, Bonnet‐Dorion F, Schultz I, Rossing M, Quenez O, Goldenberg L, Harter V, Parsons MT, Spurdle AB, Frébourg T, Martins A, Houdayer C, Krieger S. SPiP: Splicing Prediction Pipeline, a machine learning tool for massive detection of exonic and intronic variant effects on mRNA splicing. Hum Mutat 2022; 43:2308-2323. [PMID: 36273432 PMCID: PMC10946553 DOI: 10.1002/humu.24491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2022] [Revised: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Modeling splicing is essential for tackling the challenge of variant interpretation as each nucleotide variation can be pathogenic by affecting pre-mRNA splicing via disruption/creation of splicing motifs such as 5'/3' splice sites, branch sites, or splicing regulatory elements. Unfortunately, most in silico tools focus on a specific type of splicing motif, which is why we developed the Splicing Prediction Pipeline (SPiP) to perform, in one single bioinformatic analysis based on a machine learning approach, a comprehensive assessment of the variant effect on different splicing motifs. We gathered a curated set of 4616 variants scattered all along the sequence of 227 genes, with their corresponding splicing studies. The Bayesian analysis provided us with the number of control variants, that is, variants without impact on splicing, to mimic the deluge of variants from high-throughput sequencing data. Results show that SPiP can deal with the diversity of splicing alterations, with 83.13% sensitivity and 99% specificity to detect spliceogenic variants. Overall performance as measured by area under the receiving operator curve was 0.986, better than SpliceAI and SQUIRLS (0.965 and 0.766) for the same data set. SPiP lends itself to a unique suite for comprehensive prediction of spliceogenicity in the genomic medicine era. SPiP is available at: https://sourceforge.net/projects/splicing-prediction-pipeline/.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raphaël Leman
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Génétique du CancerCentre François BaclesseCaenFrance
- Inserm U1245, UNIROUEN, FHU‐G4 génomiqueNormandie UniversitéRouenFrance
- UNICAENNormandie UniversitéCaenFrance
| | - Béatrice Parfait
- Service de Génétique et Biologie Moléculaires, APHP, HUPCHôpital CochinParisFrance
| | - Dominique Vidaud
- Service de Génétique et Biologie Moléculaires, APHP, HUPCHôpital CochinParisFrance
| | - Emmanuelle Girodon
- Service de Génétique et Biologie Moléculaires, APHP, HUPCHôpital CochinParisFrance
| | - Laurence Pacot
- Service de Génétique et Biologie Moléculaires, APHP, HUPCHôpital CochinParisFrance
| | - Gérald Le Gac
- Inserm UMR1078, Genetics, Functional Genomics and BiotechnologyUniversité de Bretagne OccidentaleBrestFrance
| | - Chandran Ka
- Inserm UMR1078, Genetics, Functional Genomics and BiotechnologyUniversité de Bretagne OccidentaleBrestFrance
| | - Claude Ferec
- Inserm UMR1078, Genetics, Functional Genomics and BiotechnologyUniversité de Bretagne OccidentaleBrestFrance
| | - Yann Fichou
- Inserm UMR1078, Genetics, Functional Genomics and BiotechnologyUniversité de Bretagne OccidentaleBrestFrance
| | - Céline Quesnelle
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Génétique du CancerCentre François BaclesseCaenFrance
| | - Camille Aucouturier
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Génétique du CancerCentre François BaclesseCaenFrance
- Inserm U1245, UNIROUEN, FHU‐G4 génomiqueNormandie UniversitéRouenFrance
| | - Etienne Muller
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Génétique du CancerCentre François BaclesseCaenFrance
| | - Dominique Vaur
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Génétique du CancerCentre François BaclesseCaenFrance
- Inserm U1245, UNIROUEN, FHU‐G4 génomiqueNormandie UniversitéRouenFrance
| | - Laurent Castera
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Génétique du CancerCentre François BaclesseCaenFrance
- Inserm U1245, UNIROUEN, FHU‐G4 génomiqueNormandie UniversitéRouenFrance
| | - Flavie Boulouard
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Génétique du CancerCentre François BaclesseCaenFrance
- Inserm U1245, UNIROUEN, FHU‐G4 génomiqueNormandie UniversitéRouenFrance
| | - Agathe Ricou
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Génétique du CancerCentre François BaclesseCaenFrance
- Inserm U1245, UNIROUEN, FHU‐G4 génomiqueNormandie UniversitéRouenFrance
| | - Hélène Tubeuf
- Inserm U1245, UNIROUEN, FHU‐G4 génomiqueNormandie UniversitéRouenFrance
- Integrative BiosoftwareRouenFrance
| | - Omar Soukarieh
- Inserm U1245, UNIROUEN, FHU‐G4 génomiqueNormandie UniversitéRouenFrance
| | | | - Florence Riant
- Laboratoire de Génétique, AP‐HPGH Saint‐Louis‐Lariboisière‐Fernand WidalParisFrance
| | | | - Sandrine M. Caputo
- Department of Genetics, Institut CurieParis Sciences Lettres Research UniversityParisFrance
| | | | - Nadia Boutry‐Kryza
- Unité Mixte de Génétique Constitutionnelle des Cancers FréquentsHospices Civils de LyonLyonFrance
| | - Françoise Bonnet‐Dorion
- Departement de Biopathologie Unité de Génétique ConstitutionnelleInstitut Bergonie—INSERM U1218BordeauxFrance
| | - Ines Schultz
- Laboratoire d'OncogénétiqueCentre Paul StraussStrasbourgFrance
| | - Maria Rossing
- Centre for Genomic Medicine, RigshospitaletUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark
| | - Olivier Quenez
- Inserm U1245, UNIROUEN, FHU‐G4 génomiqueNormandie UniversitéRouenFrance
| | - Louis Goldenberg
- Inserm U1245, UNIROUEN, FHU‐G4 génomiqueNormandie UniversitéRouenFrance
| | - Valentin Harter
- Department of BiostatisticsBaclesse Unicancer CenterCaenFrance
| | - Michael T. Parsons
- Department of Genetics and Computational BiologyQIMR Berghofer Medical Research InstituteHerstonQueenslandAustralia
| | - Amanda B. Spurdle
- Department of Genetics and Computational BiologyQIMR Berghofer Medical Research InstituteHerstonQueenslandAustralia
| | - Thierry Frébourg
- Inserm U1245, UNIROUEN, FHU‐G4 génomiqueNormandie UniversitéRouenFrance
- Department of geneticsRouen University HospitalRouenFrance
| | - Alexandra Martins
- Inserm U1245, UNIROUEN, FHU‐G4 génomiqueNormandie UniversitéRouenFrance
| | - Claude Houdayer
- Inserm U1245, UNIROUEN, FHU‐G4 génomiqueNormandie UniversitéRouenFrance
- Department of geneticsRouen University HospitalRouenFrance
| | - Sophie Krieger
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Génétique du CancerCentre François BaclesseCaenFrance
- Inserm U1245, UNIROUEN, FHU‐G4 génomiqueNormandie UniversitéRouenFrance
- UNICAENNormandie UniversitéCaenFrance
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23
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Singer ES, Bagnall RD. Splicing Functional Assays Into the Genetic Testing Pipeline. CIRCULATION. GENOMIC AND PRECISION MEDICINE 2022; 15:e003949. [PMID: 36350765 DOI: 10.1161/circgen.122.003949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Emma S Singer
- Agnes Ginges Centre for Molecular Cardiology at Centenary Institute (E.S.S., R.D.B.), The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Faculty of Medicine and Health (E.S.S., R.D.B.), The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Richard D Bagnall
- Agnes Ginges Centre for Molecular Cardiology at Centenary Institute (E.S.S., R.D.B.), The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Faculty of Medicine and Health (E.S.S., R.D.B.), The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia
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24
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Postel MD, Culver JO, Ricker C, Craig DW. Transcriptome analysis provides critical answers to the "variants of uncertain significance" conundrum. Hum Mutat 2022; 43:1590-1608. [PMID: 35510381 PMCID: PMC9560997 DOI: 10.1002/humu.24394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2021] [Revised: 03/16/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
While whole-genome and exome sequencing have transformed our collective understanding of genetics' role in disease pathogenesis, there are certain conditions and populations for whom DNA-level data fails to identify the underlying genetic etiology. Specifically, patients of non-White race and non-European ancestry are disproportionately affected by "variants of unknown/uncertain significance" (VUS), limiting the scope of precision medicine for minority patients and perpetuating health disparities. VUS often include deep intronic and splicing variants which are difficult to interpret from DNA data alone. RNA analysis can illuminate the consequences of VUS, thereby allowing for their reclassification as pathogenic versus benign. Here we review the critical role transcriptome analysis plays in clarifying VUS in both neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mackenzie D. Postel
- Department of Translational GenomicsUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
- Keck School of Medicine of USCUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - Julie O. Culver
- Keck School of Medicine of USCUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - Charité Ricker
- Keck School of Medicine of USCUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - David W. Craig
- Department of Translational GenomicsUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
- Keck School of Medicine of USCUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
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Horton C, Cass A, Conner BR, Hoang L, Zimmermann H, Abualkheir N, Burks D, Qian D, Molparia B, Vuong H, LaDuca H, Grzybowski J, Durda K, Pilarski R, Profato J, Clayback K, Mahoney M, Schroeder C, Torres-Martinez W, Elliott A, Chao EC, Karam R. Mutational and splicing landscape in a cohort of 43,000 patients tested for hereditary cancer. NPJ Genom Med 2022; 7:49. [PMID: 36008414 PMCID: PMC9411123 DOI: 10.1038/s41525-022-00323-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2022] [Accepted: 08/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
DNA germline genetic testing can identify individuals with cancer susceptibility. However, DNA sequencing alone is limited in its detection and classification of mRNA splicing variants, particularly those located far from coding sequences. Here we address the limitations of splicing variant identification and interpretation by pairing DNA and RNA sequencing and describe the mutational and splicing landscape in a clinical cohort of 43,524 individuals undergoing genetic testing for hereditary cancer predisposition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn Horton
- Ambry Genetics. One Enterprise, Aliso Viejo, CA, 92656, USA
| | - Ashley Cass
- Ambry Genetics. One Enterprise, Aliso Viejo, CA, 92656, USA
| | - Blair R Conner
- Ambry Genetics. One Enterprise, Aliso Viejo, CA, 92656, USA
| | - Lily Hoang
- Ambry Genetics. One Enterprise, Aliso Viejo, CA, 92656, USA
| | | | | | - David Burks
- Ambry Genetics. One Enterprise, Aliso Viejo, CA, 92656, USA
| | - Dajun Qian
- Ambry Genetics. One Enterprise, Aliso Viejo, CA, 92656, USA
| | | | - Huy Vuong
- Ambry Genetics. One Enterprise, Aliso Viejo, CA, 92656, USA
| | - Holly LaDuca
- Ambry Genetics. One Enterprise, Aliso Viejo, CA, 92656, USA
| | | | - Kate Durda
- Ambry Genetics. One Enterprise, Aliso Viejo, CA, 92656, USA
| | | | | | - Katherine Clayback
- Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, 665 Elm St, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
| | - Martin Mahoney
- Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, 665 Elm St, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
| | - Courtney Schroeder
- Indiana University School of Medicine, 975 W. Walnut Street, IB 130, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Wilfredo Torres-Martinez
- Indiana University School of Medicine, 975 W. Walnut Street, IB 130, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Aaron Elliott
- Realm IDx. One Enterprise, Aliso Viejo, CA, 92656, USA
| | - Elizabeth C Chao
- Ambry Genetics. One Enterprise, Aliso Viejo, CA, 92656, USA.,University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, 1001 Health Sciences Rd, Irvine, CA, 92617, USA
| | - Rachid Karam
- Ambry Genetics. One Enterprise, Aliso Viejo, CA, 92656, USA.
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Ceyhan-Birsoy O, Jayakumaran G, Kemel Y, Misyura M, Aypar U, Jairam S, Yang C, Li Y, Mehta N, Maio A, Arnold A, Salo-Mullen E, Sheehan M, Syed A, Walsh M, Carlo M, Robson M, Offit K, Ladanyi M, Reis-Filho JS, Stadler ZK, Zhang L, Latham A, Zehir A, Mandelker D. Diagnostic yield and clinical relevance of expanded genetic testing for cancer patients. Genome Med 2022; 14:92. [PMID: 35971132 PMCID: PMC9377129 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-022-01101-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Genetic testing (GT) for hereditary cancer predisposition is traditionally performed on selected genes based on established guidelines for each cancer type. Recently, expanded GT (eGT) using large hereditary cancer gene panels uncovered hereditary predisposition in a greater proportion of patients than previously anticipated. We sought to define the diagnostic yield of eGT and its clinical relevance in a broad cancer patient population over a 5-year period. METHODS A total of 17,523 cancer patients with a broad range of solid tumors, who received eGT at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center between July 2015 to April 2020, were included in the study. The patients were unselected for current GT criteria such as cancer type, age of onset, and/or family history of disease. The diagnostic yield of eGT was determined for each cancer type. For 9187 patients with five common cancer types frequently interrogated for hereditary predisposition (breast, colorectal, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate cancer), the rate of pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) variants in genes that have been associated with each cancer type was analyzed. The clinical implications of additional findings in genes not known to be associated with a patients' cancer type were investigated. RESULTS 16.7% of patients in a broad cancer cohort had P/LP variants in hereditary cancer predisposition genes identified by eGT. The diagnostic yield of eGT in patients with breast, colorectal, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate cancer was 17.5%, 15.3%, 24.2%, 19.4%, and 15.9%, respectively. Additionally, 8% of the patients with five common cancers had P/LP variants in genes not known to be associated with the patient's current cancer type, with 0.8% of them having such a variant that confers a high risk for another cancer type. Analysis of clinical and family histories revealed that 74% of patients with variants in genes not associated with their current cancer type but which conferred a high risk for another cancer did not meet the current GT criteria for the genes harboring these variants. One or more variants of uncertain significance were identified in 57% of the patients. CONCLUSIONS Compared to targeted testing approaches, eGT can increase the yield of detection of hereditary cancer predisposition in patients with a range of tumors, allowing opportunities for enhanced surveillance and intervention. The benefits of performing eGT should be weighed against the added number of VUSs identified with this approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ozge Ceyhan-Birsoy
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Gowtham Jayakumaran
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Yelena Kemel
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Maksym Misyura
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Umut Aypar
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sowmya Jairam
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ciyu Yang
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Yirong Li
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Nikita Mehta
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Anna Maio
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Angela Arnold
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Erin Salo-Mullen
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Margaret Sheehan
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Aijazuddin Syed
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Michael Walsh
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Maria Carlo
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Mark Robson
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Kenneth Offit
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Marc Ladanyi
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jorge S Reis-Filho
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Zsofia K Stadler
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Liying Zhang
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
- Present Address: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Alicia Latham
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ahmet Zehir
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
- Present Address: Precision Medicine and Biosamples, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Diana Mandelker
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
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De Salis SKF, Li L, Chen Z, Lam KW, Skarratt KK, Balle T, Fuller SJ. Alternatively Spliced Isoforms of the P2X7 Receptor: Structure, Function and Disease Associations. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23158174. [PMID: 35897750 PMCID: PMC9329894 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23158174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Revised: 07/20/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) is an ATP-gated membrane ion channel that is expressed by multiple cell types. Following activation by extracellular ATP, the P2X7R mediates a broad range of cellular responses including cytokine and chemokine release, cell survival and differentiation, the activation of transcription factors, and apoptosis. The P2X7R is made up of three P2X7 subunits that contain specific domains essential for the receptor’s varied functions. Alternative splicing produces P2X7 isoforms that exclude one or more of these domains and assemble in combinations that alter P2X7R function. The modification of the structure and function of the P2X7R may adversely affect cellular responses to carcinogens and pathogens, and alternatively spliced (AS) P2X7 isoforms have been associated with several cancers. This review summarizes recent advances in understanding the structure and function of AS P2X7 isoforms and their associations with cancer and potential role in modulating the inflammatory response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie K. F. De Salis
- Sydney Pharmacy School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; (S.K.F.D.S.); (Z.C.); (T.B.)
| | - Lanxin Li
- Sydney Medical School Nepean, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Nepean Hospital, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia; (L.L.); (K.W.L.); (K.K.S.)
| | - Zheng Chen
- Sydney Pharmacy School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; (S.K.F.D.S.); (Z.C.); (T.B.)
| | - Kam Wa Lam
- Sydney Medical School Nepean, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Nepean Hospital, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia; (L.L.); (K.W.L.); (K.K.S.)
| | - Kristen K. Skarratt
- Sydney Medical School Nepean, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Nepean Hospital, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia; (L.L.); (K.W.L.); (K.K.S.)
| | - Thomas Balle
- Sydney Pharmacy School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; (S.K.F.D.S.); (Z.C.); (T.B.)
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia
| | - Stephen J. Fuller
- Sydney Medical School Nepean, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Nepean Hospital, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia; (L.L.); (K.W.L.); (K.K.S.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +61-2-4734-3732
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28
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Martínez-Pizarro A, Leal F, Holm LL, Doktor TK, Petersen USS, Bueno M, Thöny B, Pérez B, Andresen BS, Desviat LR. Antisense Oligonucleotide Rescue of Deep-Intronic Variants Activating Pseudoexons in the 6-Pyruvoyl-Tetrahydropterin Synthase Gene. Nucleic Acid Ther 2022; 32:378-390. [PMID: 35833796 PMCID: PMC9595628 DOI: 10.1089/nat.2021.0066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
We report two new 6-pyruvoyl-tetrahydropterin synthase splicing variants identified through genomic sequencing and transcript analysis in a patient with tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency, presenting with hyperphenylalaninemia and monoamine neurotransmitter deficiency. Variant c.243 + 3A>G causes exon 4 skipping. The deep-intronic c.164-672C>T variant creates a potential 5' splice site that leads to the inclusion of four overlapping pseudoexons, corresponding to exonizations of an antisense short interspersed nuclear element AluSq repeat sequence. Two of the identified pseudoexons have been reported previously, activated by different deep-intronic variants, and were also detected at residual levels in control cells. Interestingly, the predominant pseudoexon is nearly identical to a disease causing activated pseudoexon in the F8 gene, with the same 3' and 5' splice sites. Splice switching antisense oligonucleotides (SSOs) were designed to hybridize with splice sites and/or predicted binding sites for regulatory splice factors. Different SSOs corrected the aberrant pseudoexon inclusion, both in minigenes and in fibroblasts from patients carrying the new variant c.164-672C>T or the previously described c.164-716A>T. With SSO treatment PTPS protein was recovered, illustrating the therapeutic potential of the approach, for patients with different pseudoexon activating variants in the region. In addition, the natural presence of pseudoexons in the wild type context suggests the possibility of applying the antisense strategy in patients with hypomorphic PTS variants with the purpose of upregulating their expression to increase overall protein and activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ainhoa Martínez-Pizarro
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, Centro de Diagnóstico de Enfermedades Moleculares (CEDEM), CIBERER, IdiPaz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Fátima Leal
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, Centro de Diagnóstico de Enfermedades Moleculares (CEDEM), CIBERER, IdiPaz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Lise Lolle Holm
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Thomas K Doktor
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Ulrika S S Petersen
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - María Bueno
- Congenital Metabolic Diseases Unit, Hospital Virgen del Rocio, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Beat Thöny
- Division of Metabolism, University Children's Hospital Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Belén Pérez
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, Centro de Diagnóstico de Enfermedades Moleculares (CEDEM), CIBERER, IdiPaz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Brage S Andresen
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Lourdes R Desviat
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, Centro de Diagnóstico de Enfermedades Moleculares (CEDEM), CIBERER, IdiPaz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Minigene Splicing Assays Identify 20 Spliceogenic Variants of the Breast/Ovarian Cancer Susceptibility Gene RAD51C. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14122960. [PMID: 35740625 PMCID: PMC9221245 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14122960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
RAD51C loss-of-function variants are associated with an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancers. Likewise, splicing disruptions are a frequent mechanism of gene inactivation. Taking advantage of a previous splicing-reporter minigene with exons 2-8 (mgR51C_ex2-8), we proceeded to check its impact on the splicing of candidate ClinVar variants. A total of 141 RAD51C variants at the intron/exon boundaries were analyzed with MaxEntScan. Twenty variants were selected and genetically engineered into the wild-type minigene. All the variants disrupted splicing, and 18 induced major splicing anomalies without any trace or minimal amounts (<2.4%) of the minigene full-length (FL) transcript. Twenty-seven transcripts (including the wild-type and r.904A FL transcripts) were identified by fluorescent fragment electrophoresis; of these, 14 were predicted to truncate the RAD51C protein, 3 kept the reading frame, and 8 minor isoforms (1.1−4.7% of the overall expression) could not be characterized. Finally, we performed a tentative interpretation of the variants according to an ACMG/AMP (American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics/Association for Molecular Pathology)-based classification scheme, classifying 16 variants as likely pathogenic. Minigene assays have been proven as valuable tools for the initial characterization of potential spliceogenic variants. Hence, minigene mgR51C_ex2-8 provided useful splicing data for 40 RAD51C variants.
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30
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CI-SpliceAI—Improving machine learning predictions of disease causing splicing variants using curated alternative splice sites. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0269159. [PMID: 35657932 PMCID: PMC9165884 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0269159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background It is estimated that up to 50% of all disease causing variants disrupt splicing. Due to its complexity, our ability to predict which variants disrupt splicing is limited, meaning missed diagnoses for patients. The emergence of machine learning for targeted medicine holds great potential to improve prediction of splice disrupting variants. The recently published SpliceAI algorithm utilises deep neural networks and has been reported to have a greater accuracy than other commonly used methods. Methods and findings The original SpliceAI was trained on splice sites included in primary isoforms combined with novel junctions observed in GTEx data, which might introduce noise and de-correlate the machine learning input with its output. Limiting the data to only validated and manual annotated primary and alternatively spliced GENCODE sites in training may improve predictive abilities. All of these gene isoforms were collapsed (aggregated into one pseudo-isoform) and the SpliceAI architecture was retrained (CI-SpliceAI). Predictive performance on a newly curated dataset of 1,316 functionally validated variants from the literature was compared with the original SpliceAI, alongside MMSplice, MaxEntScan, and SQUIRLS. Both SpliceAI algorithms outperformed the other methods, with the original SpliceAI achieving an accuracy of ∼91%, and CI-SpliceAI showing an improvement at ∼92% overall. Predictive accuracy increased in the majority of curated variants. Conclusions We show that including only manually annotated alternatively spliced sites in training data improves prediction of clinically relevant variants, and highlight avenues for further performance improvements.
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31
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Gu H, Hong J, Lee W, Kim SB, Chun S, Min WK. RNA Sequencing for Elucidating an Intronic Variant of Uncertain Significance ( SDHD c.314+3A>T) in Splicing Site Consensus Sequences. Ann Lab Med 2022; 42:376-379. [PMID: 34907111 PMCID: PMC8677484 DOI: 10.3343/alm.2022.42.3.376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 09/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Hyunjung Gu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
| | - Jinyoung Hong
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
| | - Woochang Lee
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
| | - Sung-Bae Kim
- Department of Oncology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
| | - Sail Chun
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
| | - Won-Ki Min
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
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32
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Yépez VA, Gusic M, Kopajtich R, Mertes C, Smith NH, Alston CL, Ban R, Beblo S, Berutti R, Blessing H, Ciara E, Distelmaier F, Freisinger P, Häberle J, Hayflick SJ, Hempel M, Itkis YS, Kishita Y, Klopstock T, Krylova TD, Lamperti C, Lenz D, Makowski C, Mosegaard S, Müller MF, Muñoz-Pujol G, Nadel A, Ohtake A, Okazaki Y, Procopio E, Schwarzmayr T, Smet J, Staufner C, Stenton SL, Strom TM, Terrile C, Tort F, Van Coster R, Vanlander A, Wagner M, Xu M, Fang F, Ghezzi D, Mayr JA, Piekutowska-Abramczuk D, Ribes A, Rötig A, Taylor RW, Wortmann SB, Murayama K, Meitinger T, Gagneur J, Prokisch H. Clinical implementation of RNA sequencing for Mendelian disease diagnostics. Genome Med 2022; 14:38. [PMID: 35379322 PMCID: PMC8981716 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-022-01019-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 37.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Accepted: 02/03/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Lack of functional evidence hampers variant interpretation, leaving a large proportion of individuals with a suspected Mendelian disorder without genetic diagnosis after whole genome or whole exome sequencing (WES). Research studies advocate to further sequence transcriptomes to directly and systematically probe gene expression defects. However, collection of additional biopsies and establishment of lab workflows, analytical pipelines, and defined concepts in clinical interpretation of aberrant gene expression are still needed for adopting RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) in routine diagnostics. METHODS We implemented an automated RNA-seq protocol and a computational workflow with which we analyzed skin fibroblasts of 303 individuals with a suspected mitochondrial disease that previously underwent WES. We also assessed through simulations how aberrant expression and mono-allelic expression tests depend on RNA-seq coverage. RESULTS We detected on average 12,500 genes per sample including around 60% of all disease genes-a coverage substantially higher than with whole blood, supporting the use of skin biopsies. We prioritized genes demonstrating aberrant expression, aberrant splicing, or mono-allelic expression. The pipeline required less than 1 week from sample preparation to result reporting and provided a median of eight disease-associated genes per patient for inspection. A genetic diagnosis was established for 16% of the 205 WES-inconclusive cases. Detection of aberrant expression was a major contributor to diagnosis including instances of 50% reduction, which, together with mono-allelic expression, allowed for the diagnosis of dominant disorders caused by haploinsufficiency. Moreover, calling aberrant splicing and variants from RNA-seq data enabled detecting and validating splice-disrupting variants, of which the majority fell outside WES-covered regions. CONCLUSION Together, these results show that streamlined experimental and computational processes can accelerate the implementation of RNA-seq in routine diagnostics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vicente A. Yépez
- Institute of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany
- Quantitative Biosciences Munich, Department of Biochemistry, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany
| | - Mirjana Gusic
- Institute of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Institute of Neurogenomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
- DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), partner site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany
| | - Robert Kopajtich
- Institute of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Institute of Neurogenomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Christian Mertes
- Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany
| | - Nicholas H. Smith
- Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany
| | - Charlotte L. Alston
- Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research, Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH UK
- NHS Highly Specialised Services for Rare Mitochondrial Disorders, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Victoria Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4LP UK
| | - Rui Ban
- Institute of Neurogenomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Neurology, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s Health, Beijing, China
| | - Skadi Beblo
- Department of Women and Child Health, Hospital for Children and Adolescents, Center for Pediatric Research Leipzig (CPL), Center for Rare Diseases, University Hospitals, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Riccardo Berutti
- Institute of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Institute of Neurogenomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Holger Blessing
- Department for Inborn Metabolic Diseases, Children’s and Adolescents’ Hospital, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Elżbieta Ciara
- Department of Medical Genetics, Children’s Memorial Health Institute, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Felix Distelmaier
- Department of General Pediatrics, Neonatology and Pediatric Cardiology, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Peter Freisinger
- Department of Pediatrics, Klinikum Reutlingen, Reutlingen, Germany
| | - Johannes Häberle
- University Children’s Hospital Zurich and Children’s Research Centre, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Susan J. Hayflick
- Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, USA
| | - Maja Hempel
- Institute of Human Genetics, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | | | - Yoshihito Kishita
- Diagnostics and Therapeutics of Intractable Diseases, Intractable Disease Research Center, Juntendo University, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Life Science, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Kindai University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Thomas Klopstock
- Department of Neurology, Friedrich-Baur-Institute, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Munich, Germany
- Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), Munich, Germany
| | | | - Costanza Lamperti
- Unit of Medical Genetics and Neurogenetics, Fondazione IRCCS (Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico) Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy
| | - Dominic Lenz
- Division of Neuropediatrics and Pediatric Metabolic Medicine, Center for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Christine Makowski
- Department of Pediatrics, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Signe Mosegaard
- Research Unit for Molecular Medicine, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Michaela F. Müller
- Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany
| | - Gerard Muñoz-Pujol
- Section of Inborn Errors of Metabolism-IBC, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Hospital Clínic, IDIBAPS, CIBERER, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Agnieszka Nadel
- Institute of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Institute of Neurogenomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Akira Ohtake
- Department of Pediatrics & Clinical Genomics, Faculty of Medicine, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan
- Center for Intractable Diseases, Saitama Medical University Hospital, Saitama, Japan
| | - Yasushi Okazaki
- Diagnostics and Therapeutics of Intractable Diseases, Intractable Disease Research Center, Juntendo University, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Elena Procopio
- Inborn Metabolic and Muscular Disorders Unit, Anna Meyer Children Hospital, Florence, Italy
| | - Thomas Schwarzmayr
- Institute of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Institute of Neurogenomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Joél Smet
- Department of Pediatric Neurology and Metabolism, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Christian Staufner
- Division of Neuropediatrics and Pediatric Metabolic Medicine, Center for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sarah L. Stenton
- Institute of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Institute of Neurogenomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Tim M. Strom
- Institute of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Institute of Neurogenomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Caterina Terrile
- Institute of Neurogenomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Frederic Tort
- Section of Inborn Errors of Metabolism-IBC, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Hospital Clínic, IDIBAPS, CIBERER, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rudy Van Coster
- Department of Pediatric Neurology and Metabolism, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Arnaud Vanlander
- Department of Pediatric Neurology and Metabolism, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Matias Wagner
- Institute of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Institute of Neurogenomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Manting Xu
- Institute of Neurogenomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Neurology, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s Health, Beijing, China
| | - Fang Fang
- Department of Pediatric Neurology, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s Health, Beijing, China
| | - Daniele Ghezzi
- Unit of Medical Genetics and Neurogenetics, Fondazione IRCCS (Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico) Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy
- Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Johannes A. Mayr
- University Children’s Hospital, Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | | | - Antonia Ribes
- Section of Inborn Errors of Metabolism-IBC, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Hospital Clínic, IDIBAPS, CIBERER, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Agnès Rötig
- Université de Paris, Institut Imagine, INSERM UMR 1163, Paris, France
| | - Robert W. Taylor
- Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research, Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH UK
- NHS Highly Specialised Services for Rare Mitochondrial Disorders, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Victoria Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4LP UK
| | - Saskia B. Wortmann
- Institute of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- University Children’s Hospital, Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
- Amalia Children’s Hospital, Radboudumc Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Kei Murayama
- Department of Metabolism, Chiba Children’s Hospital, Chiba, Japan
| | - Thomas Meitinger
- Institute of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Julien Gagneur
- Institute of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany
- Institute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Holger Prokisch
- Institute of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Institute of Neurogenomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Neurology, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s Health, Beijing, China
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Empirical prediction of variant-activated cryptic splice donors using population-based RNA-Seq data. Nat Commun 2022; 13:1655. [PMID: 35351883 PMCID: PMC8964760 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29271-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Predicting which cryptic-donors may be activated by a splicing variant in patient DNA is notoriously difficult. Through analysis of 5145 cryptic-donors (versus 86,963 decoy-donors not used; any GT or GC), we define an empirical method predicting cryptic-donor activation with 87% sensitivity and 95% specificity. Strength (according to four algorithms) and proximity to the annotated-donor appear important determinants of cryptic-donor activation. However, other factors such as splicing regulatory elements, which are difficult to identify, play an important role and are likely responsible for current prediction inaccuracies. We find that the most frequently recurring natural mis-splicing events at each exon-intron junction, summarised over 40,233 RNA-sequencing samples (40K-RNA), predict with accuracy which cryptic-donor will be activated in rare disease. 40K-RNA provides an accurate, evidence-based method to predict variant-activated cryptic-donors in genetic disorders, assisting pathology consideration of possible consequences of a variant for the encoded protein and RNA diagnostic testing strategies. Genetic variants affecting the consensus splicing motifs can alter binding of spliceosomal components and induce mis-splicing. Here, the authors develop a method, showing that ranking the most common recurring mis-splicing events in public RNA-Seq data can predict the activation of cryptic-donors.
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Possible Catch-Up Developmental Trajectories for Children with Mild Developmental Delay Caused by NAA15 Pathogenic Variants. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13030536. [PMID: 35328089 PMCID: PMC8954815 DOI: 10.3390/genes13030536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Revised: 03/16/2022] [Accepted: 03/16/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Variants in NAA15 are closely related to neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). In this study, we investigated the spectrum and clinical features of NAA15 variants in a Chinese NDD cohort of 769 children. Four novel NAA15 pathogenic variants were detected by whole-exome sequencing, including three de novo variants and one maternal variant. The in vitro minigene splicing assay confirmed one noncanonical splicing variant (c.1410+5G>C), which resulted in abnormal mRNA splicing. All affected children presented mild developmental delay, and catch-up trajectories were noted in three patients based on their developmental scores at different ages. Meanwhile, the literature review also showed that half of the reported patients with NAA15 variants presented mild/moderate developmental delay or intellectual disability, and possible catch-up sign was indicated for three affected patients. Taken together, our study expanded the spectrum of NAA15 variants in NDD patients. The affected patients presented mild developmental delay, and possible catch-up developmental trajectories were suggested. Studying the natural neurodevelopmental trajectories of NDD patients with pathogenic variants and their benefits from physical rehabilitations are needed in the future for precise genetic counseling and clinical management.
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35
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Fischer J, Di Donato N. Diagnostic pitfalls in patients with malformations of cortical development. Eur J Paediatr Neurol 2022; 37:123-128. [PMID: 35228169 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpn.2022.01.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Revised: 01/25/2022] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Malformations of cortical development (MCDs) are a major source of morbidity and mortality in the pediatric patient cohort. Correct diagnosis of the cause is essential for symptom management, disease prognosis and family counselling but is frequently hampered due to numerous potential pitfalls in the diagnostic process. This review highlights potential problems that either prevent the establishment of a diagnosis or are the sources of diagnostic errors. The focus is placed on hereditary causes of MCDs and strategies will be proposed to circumvent potential diagnostic pitfalls. Errors may occur during variant detection, filtering, or interpretation in relation to patient's phenotype. Based on detailed clinical assessment suitable targeted and untargeted methods to identify pathogenic variants with context-dependent filtering and evaluation approaches will be discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Fischer
- Institute for Clinical Genetics, University Hospital, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Nataliya Di Donato
- Institute for Clinical Genetics, University Hospital, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
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36
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He WB, Xiao WJ, Dai CL, Wang YR, Li XR, Gong F, Meng LL, Tan C, Zeng SC, Lu GX, Lin G, Tan YQ, Hu H, Du J. RNA splicing analysis contributes to reclassifying variants of uncertain significance and improves the diagnosis of monogenic disorders. J Med Genet 2022; 59:1010-1016. [PMID: 35121647 DOI: 10.1136/jmedgenet-2021-108013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2021] [Accepted: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Numerous variants of uncertain significance (VUSs) have been identified by whole exome sequencing in clinical practice. However, VUSs are not currently considered medically actionable. OBJECTIVE To assess the splicing patterns of 49 VUSs in 48 families identified clinically to improve genetic counselling and family planning. METHODS Forty-nine participants with 49 VUSs were recruited from the Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of CITIC-Xiangya. Bioinformatic analysis was performed to preliminarily predict the splicing effects of these VUSs. RT-PCR and minigene analysis were used to assess the splicing patterns of the VUSs. According to the results obtained, couples opted for different methods of reproductive interventions to conceive a child, including prenatal diagnosis and preimplantation genetic testing (PGT). RESULTS Eleven variants were found to alter pre-mRNA splicing and one variant caused nonsense-mediated mRNA decay, which resulted in the reclassification of these VUSs as likely pathogenic. One couple chose to undergo in vitro fertilisation with PGT treatment; a healthy embryo was transferred and the pregnancy is ongoing. Three couples opted for natural pregnancy with prenatal diagnosis. One couple terminated the pregnancy because the fetus was affected by short-rib thoracic dysplasia and harboured the related variant. The infants of the other two couples were born and were healthy at their last recorded follow-up. CONCLUSION RNA splicing analysis is an important method to assess the impact of sequence variants on splicing in clinical practice and can contribute to the reclassification of a significant proportion of VUSs. RNA splicing analysis should be considered for genetic disease diagnostics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen-Bin He
- Institute of Reproductive and Stem Cell Engineering, School of Basic Medical Science, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.,National Engineering and Research Center of Human Stem Cells, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of CITIC-Xiangya, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Clinical Research Center For Reproduction and Genetics In Hunan Province, Changsha, China
| | - Wen-Juan Xiao
- National Engineering and Research Center of Human Stem Cells, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Hunan Guangxiu Hospital, Medical College of Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Cong-Ling Dai
- Institute of Reproductive and Stem Cell Engineering, School of Basic Medical Science, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.,National Engineering and Research Center of Human Stem Cells, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of CITIC-Xiangya, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Clinical Research Center For Reproduction and Genetics In Hunan Province, Changsha, China
| | - Yu-Rong Wang
- Hunan Guangxiu Hospital, Medical College of Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Xiu-Rong Li
- Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of CITIC-Xiangya, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Clinical Research Center For Reproduction and Genetics In Hunan Province, Changsha, China
| | - Fei Gong
- Institute of Reproductive and Stem Cell Engineering, School of Basic Medical Science, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.,National Engineering and Research Center of Human Stem Cells, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of CITIC-Xiangya, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Clinical Research Center For Reproduction and Genetics In Hunan Province, Changsha, China
| | - Lan-Lan Meng
- Institute of Reproductive and Stem Cell Engineering, School of Basic Medical Science, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of CITIC-Xiangya, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Chen Tan
- Institute of Reproductive and Stem Cell Engineering, School of Basic Medical Science, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Si-Cong Zeng
- Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of CITIC-Xiangya, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Hunan Guangxiu Hospital, Medical College of Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Guang-Xiu Lu
- National Engineering and Research Center of Human Stem Cells, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of CITIC-Xiangya, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Clinical Research Center For Reproduction and Genetics In Hunan Province, Changsha, China.,Hunan Guangxiu Hospital, Medical College of Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Ge Lin
- Institute of Reproductive and Stem Cell Engineering, School of Basic Medical Science, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.,National Engineering and Research Center of Human Stem Cells, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of CITIC-Xiangya, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Clinical Research Center For Reproduction and Genetics In Hunan Province, Changsha, China
| | - Yue-Qiu Tan
- Institute of Reproductive and Stem Cell Engineering, School of Basic Medical Science, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.,National Engineering and Research Center of Human Stem Cells, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of CITIC-Xiangya, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Clinical Research Center For Reproduction and Genetics In Hunan Province, Changsha, China.,Hunan Guangxiu Hospital, Medical College of Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Hao Hu
- Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of CITIC-Xiangya, Changsha, Hunan, China .,Clinical Research Center For Reproduction and Genetics In Hunan Province, Changsha, China
| | - Juan Du
- Institute of Reproductive and Stem Cell Engineering, School of Basic Medical Science, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China .,National Engineering and Research Center of Human Stem Cells, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of CITIC-Xiangya, Changsha, Hunan, China.,Clinical Research Center For Reproduction and Genetics In Hunan Province, Changsha, China
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37
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Canson DM, Dumenil T, Parsons MT, O'Mara TA, Davidson AL, Okano S, Signal B, Mercer TR, Glubb DM, Spurdle AB. The splicing effect of variants at branchpoint elements in cancer genes. Genet Med 2022; 24:398-409. [PMID: 34906448 DOI: 10.1016/j.gim.2021.09.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Branchpoint elements are required for intron removal, and variants at these elements can result in aberrant splicing. We aimed to assess the value of branchpoint annotations generated from recent large-scale studies to select branchpoint-abrogating variants, using hereditary cancer genes as model. METHODS We identified branchpoint elements in 119 genes associated with hereditary cancer from 3 genome-wide experimentally-inferred and 2 predicted branchpoint data sets. We then identified variants that occur within branchpoint elements from public databases. We compared conservation, unique variant observations, and population frequencies at different nucleotides within branchpoint motifs. Finally, selected minigene assays were performed to assess the splicing effect of variants at branchpoint elements within mismatch repair genes. RESULTS There was poor overlap between predicted and experimentally-inferred branchpoints. Our analysis of cancer genes suggested that variants at -2 nucleotide, -1 nucleotide, and branchpoint positions in experimentally-inferred canonical motifs are more likely to be clinically relevant. Minigene assay data showed the -2 nucleotide to be more important to branchpoint motif integrity but also showed fluidity in branchpoint usage. CONCLUSION Data from cancer gene analysis suggest that there are few high-risk alleles that severely impact function via branchpoint abrogation. Results of this study inform a general scheme to prioritize branchpoint motif variants for further study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daffodil M Canson
- Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Troy Dumenil
- Immunology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Michael T Parsons
- Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Tracy A O'Mara
- Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Aimee L Davidson
- Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Satomi Okano
- Statistics, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Bethany Signal
- Genomics and Epigenetics, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Tim R Mercer
- Genomics and Epigenetics, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Dylan M Glubb
- Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Amanda B Spurdle
- Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
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38
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Villate O, Maortua H, Tejada MI, Llano-Rivas I. RNA Analysis and Clinical Characterization of a Novel Splice Variant in the NSD1 Gene Causing Familial Sotos Syndrome. Front Pediatr 2022; 10:827802. [PMID: 35186810 PMCID: PMC8848324 DOI: 10.3389/fped.2022.827802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2021] [Accepted: 01/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sotos syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by overgrowth, macrocephaly, distinctive facial features and learning disabilities. Haploinsufficiency of the nuclear receptor SET domain-containing protein 1 (NSD1) gene located on chromosome 5q35 is the major cause of the syndrome. This syndrome shares characteristics with other overgrowth syndromes, which can complicate the differential diagnosis. METHODS Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples of members of the same family and targeted exome analysis was performed. In silico study of the variant found by next-generation sequencing was used to predict disruption/creation of splice sites and the identification of potential cryptic splice sites. RNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples of patients and functional analyses were performed to confirm the pathogenicity. RESULTS We found a novel c.6463 + 5G>A heterozygous NSD1 gene pathogenic variant in a son and his father. Molecular analyses revealed that part of the intron 22 of NSD1 is retained due to the destruction of the splicing donor site, causing the appearance of a premature stop codon in the NSD1 protein. CONCLUSIONS Our findings underline the importance of performing RNA functional assays in order to determine the clinical significance of intronic variants, and contribute to the genetic counseling and clinical management of patients and their relatives. Our work also highlights the relevance of using in silico prediction tools to detect a potential alteration in the splicing process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olatz Villate
- Pediatric Oncology Group, Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Barakaldo, Spain
| | - Hiart Maortua
- Neurodegenerative Diseases Group, Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Barakaldo, Spain.,Genetics Service, Hospital Universitario Cruces-Osakidetza, Barakaldo, Spain
| | - María-Isabel Tejada
- Genetics Service, Hospital Universitario Cruces-Osakidetza, Barakaldo, Spain.,Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Barakaldo, Spain.,Spanish Consortium for Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER), Madrid, Spain
| | - Isabel Llano-Rivas
- Genetics Service, Hospital Universitario Cruces-Osakidetza, Barakaldo, Spain
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39
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Abstract
Background: Iodide transport defect is an uncommon cause of dyshormonogenic congenital hypothyroidism due to homozygous or compound heterozygous pathogenic variants in the SLC5A5 gene, which encodes the sodium/iodide symporter (NIS), causing deficient iodide accumulation in thyroid follicular cells, thus impairing thyroid hormonogenesis. Methods:SLC5A5 gene variants were compiled from public databases and research articles exploring the molecular bases of congenital hypothyroidism. Using a dataset of 198 missense NIS variants classified as either benign or pathogenic, we developed and validated a machine learning-based NIS-specific variant classifier to predict the impact of missense NIS variants. Results: We generated a manually curated dataset containing 7793 unique SLC5A5 variants. As most databases compiled exome sequencing data, variant mapping revealed an increased density of variants in SLC5A5 coding exons. Based on allele frequency (AF) analysis, we established an AF threshold of 1:10,000 above which a variant should be considered benign. Most pathogenic NIS variants were located in the protein-coding region, as most patients were genetically diagnosed by using a candidate gene strategy limited to this region. Significantly, we evidenced that 94.5% of missense NIS variants were classified as of uncertain significance. Therefore, we developed an NIS-specific variant classifier to improve the prediction of pathogenicity of missense variants. Our classifier predicted the clinical outcome of missense variants with high accuracy (90%), outperforming state-of-the-art pathogenicity predictors, such as REVEL, PolyPhen-2, and SIFT. Based on the excellent performance of our classifier, we predicted the mutational landscape of NIS. The analysis of the mutational landscape revealed that most missense variants located in transmembrane segments are frequently pathogenic. Moreover, we predicted that ∼28% of all single-nucleotide variants that could cause missense NIS variants are pathogenic, thus putatively leading to congenital hypothyroidism if present in homozygous or compound heterozygous state. Conclusions: We reported the first NIS-specific variant classifier aiming at improving the interpretation of missense NIS variants in clinical practice. Deciphering the mutational landscape for every protein involved in thyroid hormonogenesis is a relevant task for a deep understanding of the molecular mechanisms causing dyshormonogenic congenital hypothyroidism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariano Martín
- Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
- Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CIBICI-CONICET), Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Juan Pablo Nicola
- Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
- Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CIBICI-CONICET), Córdoba, Argentina
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40
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Synofzik M, van Roon-Mom WMC, Marckmann G, van Duyvenvoorde HA, Graessner H, Schüle R, Aartsma-Rus A. Preparing n-of-1 Antisense Oligonucleotide Treatments for Rare Neurological Diseases in Europe: Genetic, Regulatory, and Ethical Perspectives. Nucleic Acid Ther 2021; 32:83-94. [PMID: 34591693 PMCID: PMC9058873 DOI: 10.1089/nat.2021.0039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapies present a promising disease-modifying treatment approach for rare neurological diseases (RNDs). However, the current focus is on "more common" RNDs, leaving a large share of RND patients still without prospect of disease-modifying treatments. In response to this gap, n-of-1 ASO treatment approaches are targeting ultrarare or even private variants. While highly attractive, this emerging, academia-driven field of ultimately individualized precision medicine is in need of systematic guidance and standards, which will allow global scaling of this approach. We provide here genetic, regulatory, and ethical perspectives for preparing n-of-1 ASO treatments and research programs, with a specific focus on the European context. By example of splice modulating ASOs, we outline genetic criteria for variant prioritization, chart the regulatory field of n-of-1 ASO treatment development in Europe, and propose an ethically informed classification for n-of-1 ASO treatment strategies and level of outcome assessments. To accommodate the ethical requirements of both individual patient benefit and knowledge gain, we propose a stronger integration of patient care and clinical research when developing novel n-of-1 ASO treatments: each single trial of therapy should inherently be driven to generate generalizable knowledge, be registered in a ASO treatment registry, and include assessment of generic outcomes, which allow aggregated analysis across n-of-1 trials of therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthis Synofzik
- Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research and Center of Neurology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Tübingen, Germany
| | | | - Georg Marckmann
- Institute of Ethics, History and Theory of Medicine, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | | | - Holm Graessner
- Institute of Medical Genetics and Applied Genomics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Center for Rare Diseases, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Rebecca Schüle
- Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research and Center of Neurology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Tübingen, Germany
| | - Annemieke Aartsma-Rus
- Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
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41
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Lin JH, Wu H, Zou WB, Masson E, Fichou Y, Le Gac G, Cooper DN, Férec C, Liao Z, Chen JM. Splicing Outcomes of 5' Splice Site GT>GC Variants That Generate Wild-Type Transcripts Differ Significantly Between Full-Length and Minigene Splicing Assays. Front Genet 2021; 12:701652. [PMID: 34422003 PMCID: PMC8375439 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.701652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Combining data derived from a meta-analysis of human disease-associated 5' splice site GT>GC (i.e., +2T>C) variants and a cell culture-based full-length gene splicing assay (FLGSA) of forward engineered +2T>C substitutions, we recently estimated that ∼15-18% of +2T>C variants can generate up to 84% wild-type transcripts relative to their wild-type counterparts. Herein, we analyzed the splicing outcomes of 20 +2T>C variants that generate some wild-type transcripts in two minigene assays. We found a high discordance rate in terms of the generation of wild-type transcripts, not only between FLGSA and the minigene assays but also between the different minigene assays. In the pET01 context, all 20 wild-type minigene constructs generated the expected wild-type transcripts; of the 20 corresponding variant minigene constructs, 14 (70%) generated wild-type transcripts. In the pSPL3 context, only 18 of the 20 wild-type minigene constructs generated the expected wild-type transcripts whereas 8 of the 18 (44%) corresponding variant minigene constructs generated wild-type transcripts. Thus, in the context of a particular type of variant, we raise awareness of the limitations of minigene splicing assays and emphasize the importance of sequence context in regulating splicing. Whether or not our findings apply to other types of splice-altering variant remains to be investigated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin-Huan Lin
- Department of Gastroenterology, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Institute of Pancreatic Diseases, Shanghai, China
| | - Hao Wu
- Department of Gastroenterology, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Institute of Pancreatic Diseases, Shanghai, China
| | - Wen-Bin Zou
- Department of Gastroenterology, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Institute of Pancreatic Diseases, Shanghai, China
| | - Emmanuelle Masson
- Univ Brest, Inserm, EFS, UMR 1078, GGB, Brest, France.,Service de Génétique Médicale et de Biologie de la Reproduction, CHRU Brest, Brest, France
| | - Yann Fichou
- Univ Brest, Inserm, EFS, UMR 1078, GGB, Brest, France.,Laboratory of Excellence GR-Ex, Paris, France
| | - Gerald Le Gac
- Univ Brest, Inserm, EFS, UMR 1078, GGB, Brest, France.,Service de Génétique Médicale et de Biologie de la Reproduction, CHRU Brest, Brest, France.,Laboratory of Excellence GR-Ex, Paris, France
| | - David N Cooper
- Institute of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Claude Férec
- Univ Brest, Inserm, EFS, UMR 1078, GGB, Brest, France.,Service de Génétique Médicale et de Biologie de la Reproduction, CHRU Brest, Brest, France
| | - Zhuan Liao
- Department of Gastroenterology, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Institute of Pancreatic Diseases, Shanghai, China
| | - Jian-Min Chen
- Univ Brest, Inserm, EFS, UMR 1078, GGB, Brest, France
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