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An Z, Jiang A, Chen J. Toward understanding the role of genomic repeat elements in neurodegenerative diseases. Neural Regen Res 2025; 20:646-659. [PMID: 38886931 DOI: 10.4103/nrr.nrr-d-23-01568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Neurodegenerative diseases cause great medical and economic burdens for both patients and society; however, the complex molecular mechanisms thereof are not yet well understood. With the development of high-coverage sequencing technology, researchers have started to notice that genomic repeat regions, previously neglected in search of disease culprits, are active contributors to multiple neurodegenerative diseases. In this review, we describe the association between repeat element variants and multiple degenerative diseases through genome-wide association studies and targeted sequencing. We discuss the identification of disease-relevant repeat element variants, further powered by the advancement of long-read sequencing technologies and their related tools, and summarize recent findings in the molecular mechanisms of repeat element variants in brain degeneration, such as those causing transcriptional silencing or RNA-mediated gain of toxic function. Furthermore, we describe how in silico predictions using innovative computational models, such as deep learning language models, could enhance and accelerate our understanding of the functional impact of repeat element variants. Finally, we discuss future directions to advance current findings for a better understanding of neurodegenerative diseases and the clinical applications of genomic repeat elements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhengyu An
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Aidi Jiang
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jingqi Chen
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- MOE Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Zhangjiang Fudan International Innovation Center, Shanghai, China
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2
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Gillani M, Pollastri G. Protein subcellular localization prediction tools. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2024; 23:1796-1807. [PMID: 38707539 PMCID: PMC11066471 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2024.04.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2024] [Revised: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/11/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Protein subcellular localization prediction is of great significance in bioinformatics and biological research. Most of the proteins do not have experimentally determined localization information, computational prediction methods and tools have been acting as an active research area for more than two decades now. Knowledge of the subcellular location of a protein provides valuable information about its functionalities, the functioning of the cell, and other possible interactions with proteins. Fast, reliable, and accurate predictors provides platforms to harness the abundance of sequence data to predict subcellular locations accordingly. During the last decade, there has been a considerable amount of research effort aimed at developing subcellular localization predictors. This paper reviews recent subcellular localization prediction tools in the Eukaryotic, Prokaryotic, and Virus-based categories followed by a detailed analysis. Each predictor is discussed based on its main features, strengths, weaknesses, algorithms used, prediction techniques, and analysis. This review is supported by prediction tools taxonomies that highlight their rele- vant area and examples for uncomplicated categorization and ease of understandability. These taxonomies help users find suitable tools according to their needs. Furthermore, recent research gaps and challenges are discussed to cover areas that need the utmost attention. This survey provides an in-depth analysis of the most recent prediction tools to facilitate readers and can be considered a quick guide for researchers to identify and explore the recent literature advancements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Gillani
- School of Computer Science, University College Dublin (UCD), Dublin, D04 V1W8, Ireland
| | - Gianluca Pollastri
- School of Computer Science, University College Dublin (UCD), Dublin, D04 V1W8, Ireland
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3
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Vegezzi E, Ishiura H, Bragg DC, Pellerin D, Magrinelli F, Currò R, Facchini S, Tucci A, Hardy J, Sharma N, Danzi MC, Zuchner S, Brais B, Reilly MM, Tsuji S, Houlden H, Cortese A. Neurological disorders caused by novel non-coding repeat expansions: clinical features and differential diagnosis. Lancet Neurol 2024; 23:725-739. [PMID: 38876750 DOI: 10.1016/s1474-4422(24)00167-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2024] [Revised: 04/04/2024] [Accepted: 04/09/2024] [Indexed: 06/16/2024]
Abstract
Nucleotide repeat expansions in the human genome are a well-known cause of neurological disease. In the past decade, advances in DNA sequencing technologies have led to a better understanding of the role of non-coding DNA, that is, the DNA that is not transcribed into proteins. These techniques have also enabled the identification of pathogenic non-coding repeat expansions that cause neurological disorders. Mounting evidence shows that adult patients with familial or sporadic presentations of epilepsy, cognitive dysfunction, myopathy, neuropathy, ataxia, or movement disorders can be carriers of non-coding repeat expansions. The description of the clinical, epidemiological, and molecular features of these recently identified non-coding repeat expansion disorders should guide clinicians in the diagnosis and management of these patients, and help in the genetic counselling for patients and their families.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Hiroyuki Ishiura
- Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - D Cristopher Bragg
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - David Pellerin
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK; Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Hospital and Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Francesca Magrinelli
- Department of Clinical and Movement Neurosciences, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK
| | - Riccardo Currò
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK; Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Stefano Facchini
- IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy; Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK
| | - Arianna Tucci
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK; William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - John Hardy
- Department of Neurogedengerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK
| | - Nutan Sharma
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Matt C Danzi
- Department of Human Genetics and Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Stephan Zuchner
- Department of Human Genetics and Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Bernard Brais
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Hospital and Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Mary M Reilly
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK
| | - Shoji Tsuji
- Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; Institute of Medical Genomics, International University of Health and Welfare, Chiba, Japan
| | - Henry Houlden
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK
| | - Andrea Cortese
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK; Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
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4
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Arpa Gutiérrez FJ, Abenza Abildúa MJ, Rouco Axpe I, Adarmes Gómez AD, Serrano Munuera C. Practical recommendations for the clinical evaluation of patients with hereditary ataxia and hereditary spastic paraplegia. Neurologia 2024; 39:515-522. [PMID: 36396094 DOI: 10.1016/j.nrleng.2022.02.002] [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: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 02/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Hereditary ataxia (HA) and hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) are rare diseases; as such, they are rarely managed in general neurology consultations. We present a set of brief, practical recommendations for the diagnosis and management of these patients, as well as a standardised procedure for comprehensive evaluation of disability. We provide definitions for HA and "HA plus," and "pure" and "complicated" HSP; describe the clinical assessment of these patients, indicating the main complementary tests and clinical scales for physical and psychological assessment of the patients; and summarise the available treatments. These recommendations are intended to facilitate daily neurological practice and to unify clinical criteria and disability assessment protocols for patients with HA and HSP.
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Affiliation(s)
- F J Arpa Gutiérrez
- Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Fundación IdiPAZ, Madrid, Spain; Comisión de Ataxias y Paraparesias Espásticas de la Sociedad Española de Neurología (CEAPED)
| | - M J Abenza Abildúa
- Comisión de Ataxias y Paraparesias Espásticas de la Sociedad Española de Neurología (CEAPED); Sección de Neurología, Hospital Universitario Infanta Sofía, San Sebastián de los Reyes, Madrid, Spain.
| | - I Rouco Axpe
- Comisión de Ataxias y Paraparesias Espásticas de la Sociedad Española de Neurología (CEAPED); Unidad de Ataxias y Paraparesias Espásticas Hereditarias, Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Universitario de Cruces, Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - A D Adarmes Gómez
- Comisión de Ataxias y Paraparesias Espásticas de la Sociedad Española de Neurología (CEAPED); Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, Spain
| | - C Serrano Munuera
- Comisión de Ataxias y Paraparesias Espásticas de la Sociedad Española de Neurología (CEAPED); Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Martorell, Spain
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5
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Tanudisastro HA, Deveson IW, Dashnow H, MacArthur DG. Sequencing and characterizing short tandem repeats in the human genome. Nat Rev Genet 2024; 25:460-475. [PMID: 38366034 DOI: 10.1038/s41576-024-00692-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
Short tandem repeats (STRs) are highly polymorphic sequences throughout the human genome that are composed of repeated copies of a 1-6-bp motif. Over 1 million variable STR loci are known, some of which regulate gene expression and influence complex traits, such as height. Moreover, variants in at least 60 STR loci cause genetic disorders, including Huntington disease and fragile X syndrome. Accurately identifying and genotyping STR variants is challenging, in particular mapping short reads to repetitive regions and inferring expanded repeat lengths. Recent advances in sequencing technology and computational tools for STR genotyping from sequencing data promise to help overcome this challenge and solve genetically unresolved cases and the 'missing heritability' of polygenic traits. Here, we compare STR genotyping methods, analytical tools and their applications to understand the effect of STR variation on health and disease. We identify emergent opportunities to refine genotyping and quality-control approaches as well as to integrate STRs into variant-calling workflows and large cohort analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hope A Tanudisastro
- Centre for Population Genomics, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Centre for Population Genomics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ira W Deveson
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Genomics and Inherited Disease Program, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Harriet Dashnow
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
| | - Daniel G MacArthur
- Centre for Population Genomics, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
- Centre for Population Genomics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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6
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Rajan-Babu IS, Dolzhenko E, Eberle MA, Friedman JM. Sequence composition changes in short tandem repeats: heterogeneity, detection, mechanisms and clinical implications. Nat Rev Genet 2024; 25:476-499. [PMID: 38467784 DOI: 10.1038/s41576-024-00696-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
Short tandem repeats (STRs) are a class of repetitive elements, composed of tandem arrays of 1-6 base pair sequence motifs, that comprise a substantial fraction of the human genome. STR expansions can cause a wide range of neurological and neuromuscular conditions, known as repeat expansion disorders, whose age of onset, severity, penetrance and/or clinical phenotype are influenced by the length of the repeats and their sequence composition. The presence of non-canonical motifs, depending on the type, frequency and position within the repeat tract, can alter clinical outcomes by modifying somatic and intergenerational repeat stability, gene expression and mutant transcript-mediated and/or protein-mediated toxicities. Here, we review the diverse structural conformations of repeat expansions, technological advances for the characterization of changes in sequence composition, their clinical correlations and the impact on disease mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Indhu-Shree Rajan-Babu
- Department of Medical Genetics, The University of British Columbia, and Children's & Women's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
| | | | | | - Jan M Friedman
- Department of Medical Genetics, The University of British Columbia, and Children's & Women's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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Shukla S, Gupta K, Singh K, Mishra A, Kumar A. An Updated Canvas of the RFC1-mediated CANVAS (Cerebellar Ataxia, Neuropathy and Vestibular Areflexia Syndrome). Mol Neurobiol 2024:10.1007/s12035-024-04307-0. [PMID: 38898197 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-024-04307-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2024] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
Proliferation of specific nucleotide sequences within the coding and non-coding regions of numerous genes has been implicated in approximately 40 neurodegenerative disorders. Cerebellar ataxia, neuropathy and vestibular areflexia syndrome (CANVAS), a neurodegenerative disorder, is distinguished by a pathological triad of sensory neuropathy, bilateral vestibular areflexia and cerebellar impairments. It manifests in adults gradually and is autosomal recessive and multi-system ataxia. Predominantly, CANVAS is associated with biallelic AAGGG repeat expansions in intron 2 of the RFC1 gene. Although various motifs have been identified, only a subset induces pathological consequences, by forming stable secondary structures that disrupt gene functions both in vitro and in vivo. The pathogenesis of CANVAS remains a subject of intensive research, yet its precise mechanisms remain elusive. Herein, we aim to comprehensively review the epidemiology, clinical ramifications, molecular mechanisms, genetics, and potential therapeutics in light of the current findings, extending an overview of the most significant research on CANVAS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sakshi Shukla
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Simrol, Indore, 453552, India
| | - Kanav Gupta
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Simrol, Indore, 453552, India
| | - Krishna Singh
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Simrol, Indore, 453552, India
| | - Amit Mishra
- Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology Unit, Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 342037, India
| | - Amit Kumar
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Simrol, Indore, 453552, India.
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8
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Choi DE, Shin JW, Zeng S, Hong EP, Jang JH, Loupe JM, Wheeler VC, Stutzman HE, Kleinstiver B, Lee JM. Base editing strategies to convert CAG to CAA diminish the disease-causing mutation in Huntington's disease. eLife 2024; 12:RP89782. [PMID: 38869243 PMCID: PMC11175616 DOI: 10.7554/elife.89782] [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] [Indexed: 06/14/2024] Open
Abstract
An expanded CAG repeat in the huntingtin gene (HTT) causes Huntington's disease (HD). Since the length of uninterrupted CAG repeat, not polyglutamine, determines the age-at-onset in HD, base editing strategies to convert CAG to CAA are anticipated to delay onset by shortening the uninterrupted CAG repeat. Here, we developed base editing strategies to convert CAG in the repeat to CAA and determined their molecular outcomes and effects on relevant disease phenotypes. Base editing strategies employing combinations of cytosine base editors and guide RNAs (gRNAs) efficiently converted CAG to CAA at various sites in the CAG repeat without generating significant indels, off-target edits, or transcriptome alterations, demonstrating their feasibility and specificity. Candidate BE strategies converted CAG to CAA on both expanded and non-expanded CAG repeats without altering HTT mRNA and protein levels. In addition, somatic CAG repeat expansion, which is the major disease driver in HD, was significantly decreased in the liver by a candidate BE strategy treatment in HD knock-in mice carrying canonical CAG repeats. Notably, CAG repeat expansion was abolished entirely in HD knock-in mice carrying CAA-interrupted repeats, supporting the therapeutic potential of CAG-to-CAA conversion strategies in HD and potentially other repeat expansion disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doo Eun Choi
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General HospitalBostonUnited States
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonUnited States
| | - Jun Wan Shin
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General HospitalBostonUnited States
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonUnited States
| | - Sophia Zeng
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General HospitalBostonUnited States
| | - Eun Pyo Hong
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General HospitalBostonUnited States
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonUnited States
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, The Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardCambridgeUnited States
| | - Jae-Hyun Jang
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General HospitalBostonUnited States
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonUnited States
| | - Jacob M Loupe
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General HospitalBostonUnited States
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonUnited States
| | - Vanessa C Wheeler
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General HospitalBostonUnited States
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonUnited States
| | - Hannah E Stutzman
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General HospitalBostonUnited States
- Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General HospitalBostonUnited States
| | - Ben Kleinstiver
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General HospitalBostonUnited States
- Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General HospitalBostonUnited States
- Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonUnited States
| | - Jong-Min Lee
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General HospitalBostonUnited States
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonUnited States
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, The Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardCambridgeUnited States
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9
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Zheng ZH, Cao CY, Cheng B, Yuan RY, Zeng YH, Guo ZB, Qiu YS, Lv WQ, Liang H, Li JL, Zhang WX, Fang MK, Sun YH, Lin W, Hong JM, Gan SR, Wang N, Chen WJ, Du GQ, Fang L. Characteristics of tandem repeat inheritance and sympathetic nerve involvement in GAA-FGF14 ataxia. J Hum Genet 2024:10.1038/s10038-024-01262-5. [PMID: 38866925 DOI: 10.1038/s10038-024-01262-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2024] [Revised: 05/12/2024] [Accepted: 05/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Intronic GAA repeat expansion ([GAA] ≥250) in FGF14 is associated with the late-onset neurodegenerative disorder, spinocerebellar ataxia 27B (SCA27B, GAA-FGF14 ataxia). We aim to determine the prevalence of the GAA repeat expansion in FGF14 in Chinese populations presenting late-onset cerebellar ataxia (LOCA) and evaluate the characteristics of tandem repeat inheritance, radiological features and sympathetic nerve involvement. METHODS GAA-FGF14 repeat expansion was screened in an undiagnosed LOCA cohort (n = 664) and variations in repeat-length were analyzed in families of confirmed GAA-FGF14 ataxia patients. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to evaluate the radiological feature in GAA-FGF14 ataxia patients. Clinical examinations and sympathetic skin response (SSR) recordings in GAA-FGF14 patients (n = 16) were used to quantify sympathetic nerve involvement. RESULTS Two unrelated probands (2/664) were identified. Genetic screening for GAA-FGF14 repeat expansion was performed in 39 family members, 16 of whom were genetically diagnosed with GAA-FGF14 ataxia. Familial screening revealed expansion of GAA repeats in maternal transmissions, but contraction upon paternal transmission. Brain MRI showed slight to moderate cerebellar atrophy. SSR amplitude was lower in GAA-FGF14 patients in pre-symptomatic stage compared to healthy controls, and further decreased in the symptomatic stage. CONCLUSIONS GAA-FGF14 ataxia was rare among Chinese LOCA cases. Parental gender appears to affect variability in GAA repeat number between generations. Reduced SSR amplitude is a prominent feature in GAA-FGF14 patients, even in the pre-symptomatic stage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ze-Hong Zheng
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China
| | - Chun-Yan Cao
- The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471003, China
| | - Bi Cheng
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China
| | - Ru-Ying Yuan
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China
| | - Yi-Heng Zeng
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China
| | - Zhang-Bao Guo
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China
| | - Yu-Sen Qiu
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China
| | - Wen-Qi Lv
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China
| | - Hui Liang
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China
| | - Jin-Lan Li
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China
| | - Wei-Xiong Zhang
- The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471003, China
| | - Min-Kun Fang
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China
| | - Yu-Hao Sun
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China
| | - Wei Lin
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China
| | - Jing-Mei Hong
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China
| | - Shi-Rui Gan
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China
| | - Ning Wang
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China
| | - Wan-Jin Chen
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China
| | - Gan-Qin Du
- The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471003, China.
| | - Ling Fang
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology of First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China.
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10
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Parasrampuria MA, White AA, Chilamkurthy R, Pater AA, El-Azzouzi F, Ovington KN, Jensik PJ, Gagnon KT. Sequencing-guided design of genetically encoded small RNAs targeting CAG repeats for selective inhibition of mutant huntingtin. MOLECULAR THERAPY. NUCLEIC ACIDS 2024; 35:102206. [PMID: 38803421 PMCID: PMC11129097 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtn.2024.102206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is an incurable neurodegenerative disorder caused by genetic expansion of a CAG repeat sequence in one allele of the huntingtin (HTT) gene. Reducing expression of the mutant HTT (mutHTT) protein has remained a clear therapeutic goal, but reduction of wild-type HTT (wtHTT) is undesirable, as it compromises gene function and potential therapeutic efficacy. One promising allele-selective approach involves targeting the CAG repeat expansion with steric binding small RNAs bearing central mismatches. However, successful genetic encoding requires consistent placement of mismatches to the target within the small RNA guide sequence, which involves 5' processing precision by cellular enzymes. Here, we used small RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to monitor the processing precision of a limited set of CAG repeat-targeted small RNAs expressed from multiple scaffold contexts. Small RNA-seq identified expression constructs with high-guide strand 5' processing precision and promising allele-selective inhibition of mutHTT. Transcriptome-wide mRNA-seq also identified an allele-selective small RNA with a favorable off-target profile. These results support continued investigation and optimization of genetically encoded repeat-targeted small RNAs for allele-selective HD gene therapy and underscore the value of sequencing methods to balance specificity with allele selectivity during the design and selection process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mansi A. Parasrampuria
- Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
| | - Adam A. White
- Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
| | - Ramadevi Chilamkurthy
- Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
| | - Adrian A. Pater
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
| | - Fatima El-Azzouzi
- Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
| | - Katy N. Ovington
- Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
| | - Philip J. Jensik
- Division of Physiology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
| | - Keith T. Gagnon
- Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
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11
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Kojak N, Kuno J, Fittipaldi KE, Khan A, Wenger D, Glasser M, Donnianni RA, Tang Y, Zhang J, Huling K, Ally R, Mujica AO, Turner T, Magardino G, Huang PY, Kerk SY, Droguett G, Prissette M, Rojas J, Gomez T, Gagliardi A, Hunt C, Rabinowitz JS, Gong G, Poueymirou W, Chiao E, Zambrowicz B, Siao CJ, Kajimura D. Somatic and intergenerational G4C2 hexanucleotide repeat instability in a human C9orf72 knock-in mouse model. Nucleic Acids Res 2024; 52:5732-5755. [PMID: 38597682 PMCID: PMC11162798 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkae250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Revised: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Expansion of a G4C2 repeat in the C9orf72 gene is associated with familial Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). To investigate the underlying mechanisms of repeat instability, which occurs both somatically and intergenerationally, we created a novel mouse model of familial ALS/FTD that harbors 96 copies of G4C2 repeats at a humanized C9orf72 locus. In mouse embryonic stem cells, we observed two modes of repeat expansion. First, we noted minor increases in repeat length per expansion event, which was dependent on a mismatch repair pathway protein Msh2. Second, we found major increases in repeat length per event when a DNA double- or single-strand break (DSB/SSB) was artificially introduced proximal to the repeats, and which was dependent on the homology-directed repair (HDR) pathway. In mice, the first mode primarily drove somatic repeat expansion. Major changes in repeat length, including expansion, were observed when SSB was introduced in one-cell embryos, or intergenerationally without DSB/SSB introduction if G4C2 repeats exceeded 400 copies, although spontaneous HDR-mediated expansion has yet to be identified. These findings provide a novel strategy to model repeat expansion in a non-human genome and offer insights into the mechanism behind C9orf72 G4C2 repeat instability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nada Kojak
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA
| | - Junko Kuno
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA
| | | | | | - David Wenger
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA
| | | | | | - Yajun Tang
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA
| | - Jade Zhang
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA
| | - Katie Huling
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA
| | - Roxanne Ally
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA
| | | | | | | | - Pei Yi Huang
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA
| | - Sze Yen Kerk
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA
| | | | | | - Jose Rojas
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Guochun Gong
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA
| | | | - Eric Chiao
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA
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12
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Hwang HY, Gim D, Yi H, Jung H, Lee J, Kim D. Precise editing of pathogenic nucleotide repeat expansions in iPSCs using paired prime editor. Nucleic Acids Res 2024; 52:5792-5803. [PMID: 38661210 PMCID: PMC11162781 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkae310] [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: 01/09/2024] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 04/11/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Nucleotide repeat expansion disorders, a group of genetic diseases characterized by the expansion of specific DNA sequences, pose significant challenges to treatment and therapy development. Here, we present a precise and programmable method called prime editor-mediated correction of nucleotide repeat expansion (PE-CORE) for correcting pathogenic nucleotide repeat expansion. PE-CORE leverages a prime editor and paired pegRNAs to achieve targeted correction of repeat sequences. We demonstrate the effectiveness of PE-CORE in HEK293T cells and patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Specifically, we focus on spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy and spinocerebellar ataxia type, two diseases associated with nucleotide repeat expansion. Our results demonstrate the successful correction of pathogenic expansions in iPSCs and subsequent differentiation into motor neurons. Specifically, we detect distinct downshifts in the size of both the mRNA and protein, confirming the functional correction of the iPSC-derived motor neurons. These findings highlight PE-CORE as a precision tool for addressing the intricate challenges of nucleotide repeat expansion disorders, paving the way for targeted therapies and potential clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hye-Yeon Hwang
- Department of Precision Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Dongmin Gim
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
- Department of Biopharmaceutical Convergence, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Hwalin Yi
- Department of Precision Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyewon Jung
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Jaecheol Lee
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
- Department of Biopharmaceutical Convergence, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
- Biomedical Institute for Convergence at SKKU (BICS), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
- Department of Biohealth Regulatory Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Daesik Kim
- Department of Precision Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
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13
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Mouro Pinto R, Murtha R, Azevedo A, Douglas C, Kovalenko M, Ulloa J, Crescenti S, Burch Z, Oliver E, Vitalo A, Mota-Silva E, Riggs MJ, Correia K, Elezi E, Demelo B, Carroll JB, Gillis T, Gusella JF, MacDonald ME, Wheeler VC. Identification of genetic modifiers of Huntington's disease somatic CAG repeat instability by in vivo CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.08.597823. [PMID: 38895438 PMCID: PMC11185783 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.08.597823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD), one of >50 inherited repeat expansion disorders (Depienne and Mandel, 2021), is a dominantly-inherited neurodegenerative disease caused by a CAG expansion in HTT (The Huntington's Disease Collaborative Research Group, 1993). Inherited CAG repeat length is the primary determinant of age of onset, with human genetic studies underscoring that the property driving disease is the CAG length-dependent propensity of the repeat to further expand in brain (Swami et al ., 2009; GeM-HD, 2015; Hensman Moss et al ., 2017; Ciosi et al ., 2019; GeM-HD, 2019; Hong et al ., 2021). Routes to slowing somatic CAG expansion therefore hold great promise for disease-modifying therapies. Several DNA repair genes, notably in the mismatch repair (MMR) pathway, modify somatic expansion in HD mouse models (Wheeler and Dion, 2021). To identify novel modifiers of somatic expansion, we have used CRISPR-Cas9 editing in HD knock-in mice to enable in vivo screening of expansion-modifier candidates at scale. This has included testing of HD onset modifier genes emerging from human genome-wide association studies (GWAS), as well as interactions between modifier genes, thereby providing new insight into pathways underlying CAG expansion and potential therapeutic targets.
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14
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Milovanović A, Dragaševic‐Mišković N, Thomsen M, Borsche M, Hinrichs F, Westenberger A, Klein C, Brüggemann N, Branković M, Marjanović A, Svetel M, Kostić VS, Lohmann K. RFC1 and FGF14 Repeat Expansions in Serbian Patients with Cerebellar Ataxia. Mov Disord Clin Pract 2024; 11:626-633. [PMID: 38487929 PMCID: PMC11145142 DOI: 10.1002/mdc3.14020] [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: 10/06/2023] [Revised: 01/26/2024] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/04/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The newly discovered intronic repeat expansions in the genes encoding replication factor C subunit 1 (RFC1) and fibroblast growth factor 14 (FGF14) frequently cause late-onset cerebellar ataxia. OBJECTIVES To investigate the presence of RFC1 and FGF14 pathogenic repeat expansions in Serbian patients with adult-onset cerebellar ataxia. METHODS The study included 167 unrelated patients with sporadic or familial cerebellar ataxia. The RFC1 repeat expansion analysis was performed by duplex PCR and Sanger sequencing, while the FGF14 repeat expansion was tested for by long-range PCR, repeat-primed PCR, and Sanger sequencing. RESULTS We identified pathogenic repeat expansions in RFC1 in seven patients (7/167; 4.2%) with late-onset sporadic ataxia with neuropathy and chronic cough. Two patients also had bilateral vestibulopathy. Repeat expansions in FGF14 were found in nine unrelated patients (9/167; 5.4%) with ataxia, less than half of whom presented with neuropathy and two-thirds with global brain atrophy. Tremor and episodic features were the most frequent additional characteristics in carriers of uninterrupted FGF14 repeat expansions. Among the 122 sporadic cases, 12 (9.8%) carried an expansion in either RFC1 or FGF14, comparable to 4/45 (8.9%) among the patients with a positive family history. CONCLUSIONS Pathogenic repeat expansions in RFC1 and FGF14 are relatively frequent causes of adult-onset cerebellar ataxia, especially among sporadic patients, indicating that family history should not be considered when prioritizing ataxia patients for testing of RFC1 or FGF14 repeat expansions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nataša Dragaševic‐Mišković
- Neurology ClinicUniversity Clinical Center of SerbiaBelgradeSerbia
- Medical FacultyUniversity BelgradeBelgradeSerbia
| | - Mirja Thomsen
- Institute of NeurogeneticsUniversity of LübeckLübeckGermany
| | - Max Borsche
- Institute of NeurogeneticsUniversity of LübeckLübeckGermany
- Department of NeurologyUniversity of Lübeck and University Hospital Schleswig‐Holstein, Campus LübeckLübeckGermany
| | | | | | | | - Norbert Brüggemann
- Institute of NeurogeneticsUniversity of LübeckLübeckGermany
- Department of NeurologyUniversity of Lübeck and University Hospital Schleswig‐Holstein, Campus LübeckLübeckGermany
| | - Marija Branković
- Neurology ClinicUniversity Clinical Center of SerbiaBelgradeSerbia
| | - Ana Marjanović
- Neurology ClinicUniversity Clinical Center of SerbiaBelgradeSerbia
| | - Marina Svetel
- Neurology ClinicUniversity Clinical Center of SerbiaBelgradeSerbia
- Medical FacultyUniversity BelgradeBelgradeSerbia
| | - Vladimir S. Kostić
- Neurology ClinicUniversity Clinical Center of SerbiaBelgradeSerbia
- Medical FacultyUniversity BelgradeBelgradeSerbia
| | - Katja Lohmann
- Institute of NeurogeneticsUniversity of LübeckLübeckGermany
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15
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Zhang M. STRAS:a snakemake pipeline for genome-wide short tandem repeats annotation and score. Hum Genet 2024; 143:735-738. [PMID: 38507015 DOI: 10.1007/s00439-024-02662-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
High-throughput whole genome sequencing (WGS) is clinically used in finding single nucleotide variants and small indels. Several bioinformatics tools are developed to call short tandem repeats (STRs) copy numbers from WGS data, such as ExpansionHunter denovo, GangSTR and HipSTR. However, expansion disorders are rare and it is hard to find candidate expansions in single patient sequencing data with ~ 800,000 STRs calls. In this paper I describe a snakemake pipeline for genome-wide STRs Annotation and Score (STRAS) using a Random Forest (RF) model to predict pathogenicity. The predictor was validated by benchmark data from Clinvar and PUBMED. True positive rate was 93.8%. True negative rate was 98.0%.Precision was 98.6% and recall rate was 93.8%. F1-score was 0.961. Sensitivity was 93.8% and specificity was 99.6%. These results showed STRAS could be a useful tool for clinical researchers to find STR loci of interest and filter out neutral STRs. STRAS is freely available at https://github.com/fancheyu5/STRAS .
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengna Zhang
- Molecular Diagnosis Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medical University, Chengde, 067000, China.
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16
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Graham JH, Schlachetzki JCM, Yang X, Breuss MW. Genomic Mosaicism of the Brain: Origin, Impact, and Utility. Neurosci Bull 2024; 40:759-776. [PMID: 37898991 PMCID: PMC11178748 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-023-01124-8] [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: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 07/16/2023] [Indexed: 10/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Genomic mosaicism describes the phenomenon where some but not all cells within a tissue harbor unique genetic mutations. Traditionally, research focused on the impact of genomic mosaicism on clinical phenotype-motivated by its involvement in cancers and overgrowth syndromes. More recently, we increasingly shifted towards the plethora of neutral mosaic variants that can act as recorders of cellular lineage and environmental exposures. Here, we summarize the current state of the field of genomic mosaicism research with a special emphasis on our current understanding of this phenomenon in brain development and homeostasis. Although the field of genomic mosaicism has a rich history, technological advances in the last decade have changed our approaches and greatly improved our knowledge. We will provide current definitions and an overview of contemporary detection approaches for genomic mosaicism. Finally, we will discuss the impact and utility of genomic mosaicism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared H Graham
- Department of Pediatrics, Section of Clinical Genetics and Metabolism, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, 80045-2581, CO, USA
| | - Johannes C M Schlachetzki
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, 92093-0021, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Xiaoxu Yang
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, 92093-0021, San Diego, CA, USA
- Rady Children's Institute for Genomic Medicine, San Diego, 92123, CA, USA
| | - Martin W Breuss
- Department of Pediatrics, Section of Clinical Genetics and Metabolism, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, 80045-2581, CO, USA.
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17
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Charlet-Berguerand N. An unexpected polyglycine route to spinocerebellar ataxia. Nat Genet 2024; 56:1039-1041. [PMID: 38811843 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-024-01770-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Charlet-Berguerand
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), INSERM U-1258, CNRS UMR-7104, University of Strasbourg, Illkirch, France.
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18
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Zhang Y, Liu X, Li Z, Li H, Miao Z, Wan B, Xu X. Advances on the Mechanisms and Therapeutic Strategies in Non-coding CGG Repeat Expansion Diseases. Mol Neurobiol 2024:10.1007/s12035-024-04239-9. [PMID: 38780719 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-024-04239-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Non-coding CGG repeat expansions within the 5' untranslated region are implicated in a range of neurological disorders, including fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome, oculopharyngeal myopathy with leukodystrophy, and oculopharyngodistal myopathy. This review outlined the general characteristics of diseases associated with non-coding CGG repeat expansions, detailing their clinical manifestations and neuroimaging patterns, which often overlap and indicate shared pathophysiological traits. We summarized the underlying molecular mechanisms of these disorders, providing new insights into the roles that DNA, RNA, and toxic proteins play. Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for the development of targeted therapeutic strategies. These strategies include a range of approaches, such as antisense oligonucleotides, RNA interference, genomic DNA editing, small molecule interventions, and other treatments aimed at correcting the dysregulated processes inherent in these disorders. A deeper understanding of the shared mechanisms among non-coding CGG repeat expansion disorders may hold the potential to catalyze the development of innovative therapies, ultimately offering relief to individuals grappling with these debilitating neurological conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yutong Zhang
- Departments of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou City, China
| | - Xuan Liu
- Departments of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou City, China
| | - Zeheng Li
- Departments of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou City, China
| | - Hao Li
- Departments of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou City, China
- Department of Neurology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215124, China
| | - Zhigang Miao
- The Institute of Neuroscience, Soochow University, Suzhou City, China
| | - Bo Wan
- The Institute of Neuroscience, Soochow University, Suzhou City, China
| | - Xingshun Xu
- Departments of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou City, China.
- The Institute of Neuroscience, Soochow University, Suzhou City, China.
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215000, China.
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19
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Hiatt L, Weisburd B, Dolzhenko E, VanNoy GE, Kurtas EN, Rehm HL, Quinlan A, Dashnow H. STRchive: a dynamic resource detailing population-level and locus-specific insights at tandem repeat disease loci. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2024.05.21.24307682. [PMID: 38826469 PMCID: PMC11142282 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.21.24307682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2024]
Abstract
Approximately 3% of the human genome consists of repetitive elements called tandem repeats (TRs), which include short tandem repeats (STRs) of 1-6bp motifs and variable number tandem repeats (VNTRs) of 7+bp motifs. TR variants contribute to several dozen mono- and polygenic diseases but remain understudied and "enigmatic," particularly relative to single nucleotide variants. It remains comparatively challenging to interpret the clinical significance of TR variants. Although existing resources provide portions of necessary data for interpretation at disease-associated loci, it is currently difficult or impossible to efficiently invoke the additional details critical to proper interpretation, such as motif pathogenicity, disease penetrance, and age of onset distributions. It is also often unclear how to apply population information to analyses. We present STRchive (S-T-archive, http://strchive.org/ ), a dynamic resource consolidating information on TR disease loci in humans from research literature, up-to-date clinical resources, and large-scale genomic databases, with the goal of streamlining TR variant interpretation at disease-associated loci. We apply STRchive -including pathogenic thresholds, motif classification, and clinical phenotypes-to a gnomAD cohort of ∼18.5k individuals genotyped at 60 disease-associated loci. Through detailed literature curation, we demonstrate that the majority of TR diseases affect children despite being thought of as adult diseases. Additionally, we show that pathogenic genotypes can be found within gnomAD which do not necessarily overlap with known disease prevalence, and leverage STRchive to interpret locus-specific findings therein. We apply a diagnostic blueprint empowered by STRchive to relevant clinical vignettes, highlighting possible pitfalls in TR variant interpretation. As a living resource, STRchive is maintained by experts, takes community contributions, and will evolve as understanding of TR diseases progresses.
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20
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Nguyen L. Updates on Disease Mechanisms and Therapeutics for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Cells 2024; 13:888. [PMID: 38891021 PMCID: PMC11172142 DOI: 10.3390/cells13110888] [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: 03/29/2024] [Revised: 05/08/2024] [Accepted: 05/15/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a motor neuron disease. In ALS, upper and lower motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord progressively degenerate during the course of the disease, leading to the loss of the voluntary movement of the arms and legs. Since its first description in 1869 by a French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, the scientific discoveries on ALS have increased our understanding of ALS genetics, pathology and mechanisms and provided novel therapeutic strategies. The goal of this review article is to provide a comprehensive summary of the recent findings on ALS mechanisms and related therapeutic strategies to the scientific audience. Several highlighted ALS research topics discussed in this article include the 2023 FDA approved drug for SOD1 ALS, the updated C9orf72 GGGGCC repeat-expansion-related mechanisms and therapeutic targets, TDP-43-mediated cryptic splicing and disease markers and diagnostic and therapeutic options offered by these recent discoveries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lien Nguyen
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA;
- Center for NeuroGenetics, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
- Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
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21
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Van Deynze K, Mumm C, Maltby CJ, Switzenberg JA, Todd PK, Boyle AP. Enhanced Detection and Genotyping of Disease-Associated Tandem Repeats Using HMMSTR and Targeted Long-Read Sequencing. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2024.05.01.24306681. [PMID: 38746091 PMCID: PMC11092683 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.01.24306681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Tandem repeat sequences comprise approximately 8% of the human genome and are linked to more than 50 neurodegenerative disorders. Accurate characterization of disease-associated repeat loci remains resource intensive and often lacks high resolution genotype calls. We introduce a multiplexed, targeted nanopore sequencing panel and HMMSTR, a sequence-based tandem repeat copy number caller. HMMSTR outperforms current signal- and sequence-based callers relative to two assemblies and we show it performs with high accuracy in heterozygous regions and at low read coverage. The flexible panel allows us to capture disease associated regions at an average coverage of >150x. Using these tools, we successfully characterize known or suspected repeat expansions in patient derived samples. In these samples we also identify unexpected expanded alleles at tandem repeat loci not previously associated with the underlying diagnosis. This genotyping approach for tandem repeat expansions is scalable, simple, flexible, and accurate, offering significant potential for diagnostic applications and investigation of expansion co-occurrence in neurodegenerative disorders. Abstract Figure
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22
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Currò R, Dominik N, Facchini S, Vegezzi E, Sullivan R, Galassi Deforie V, Fernández-Eulate G, Traschütz A, Rossi S, Garibaldi M, Kwarciany M, Taroni F, Brusco A, Good JM, Cavalcanti F, Hammans S, Ravenscroft G, Roxburgh RH, Parolin Schnekenberg R, Rugginini B, Abati E, Manini A, Quartesan I, Ghia A, Lòpez de Munaìn A, Manganelli F, Kennerson M, Santorelli FM, Infante J, Marques W, Jokela M, Murphy SM, Mandich P, Fabrizi GM, Briani C, Gosal D, Pareyson D, Ferrari A, Prados F, Yousry T, Khurana V, Kuo SH, Miller J, Troakes C, Jaunmuktane Z, Giunti P, Hartmann A, Basak N, Synofzik M, Stojkovic T, Hadjivassiliou M, Reilly MM, Houlden H, Cortese A. Role of the repeat expansion size in predicting age of onset and severity in RFC1 disease. Brain 2024; 147:1887-1898. [PMID: 38193360 PMCID: PMC11068103 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad436] [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: 10/06/2023] [Revised: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
RFC1 disease, caused by biallelic repeat expansion in RFC1, is clinically heterogeneous in terms of age of onset, disease progression and phenotype. We investigated the role of the repeat size in influencing clinical variables in RFC1 disease. We also assessed the presence and role of meiotic and somatic instability of the repeat. In this study, we identified 553 patients carrying biallelic RFC1 expansions and measured the repeat expansion size in 392 cases. Pearson's coefficient was calculated to assess the correlation between the repeat size and age at disease onset. A Cox model with robust cluster standard errors was adopted to describe the effect of repeat size on age at disease onset, on age at onset of each individual symptoms, and on disease progression. A quasi-Poisson regression model was used to analyse the relationship between phenotype and repeat size. We performed multivariate linear regression to assess the association of the repeat size with the degree of cerebellar atrophy. Meiotic stability was assessed by Southern blotting on first-degree relatives of 27 probands. Finally, somatic instability was investigated by optical genome mapping on cerebellar and frontal cortex and unaffected peripheral tissue from four post-mortem cases. A larger repeat size of both smaller and larger allele was associated with an earlier age at neurological onset [smaller allele hazard ratio (HR) = 2.06, P < 0.001; larger allele HR = 1.53, P < 0.001] and with a higher hazard of developing disabling symptoms, such as dysarthria or dysphagia (smaller allele HR = 3.40, P < 0.001; larger allele HR = 1.71, P = 0.002) or loss of independent walking (smaller allele HR = 2.78, P < 0.001; larger allele HR = 1.60; P < 0.001) earlier in disease course. Patients with more complex phenotypes carried larger expansions [smaller allele: complex neuropathy rate ratio (RR) = 1.30, P = 0.003; cerebellar ataxia, neuropathy and vestibular areflexia syndrome (CANVAS) RR = 1.34, P < 0.001; larger allele: complex neuropathy RR = 1.33, P = 0.008; CANVAS RR = 1.31, P = 0.009]. Furthermore, larger repeat expansions in the smaller allele were associated with more pronounced cerebellar vermis atrophy (lobules I-V β = -1.06, P < 0.001; lobules VI-VII β = -0.34, P = 0.005). The repeat did not show significant instability during vertical transmission and across different tissues and brain regions. RFC1 repeat size, particularly of the smaller allele, is one of the determinants of variability in RFC1 disease and represents a key prognostic factor to predict disease onset, phenotype and severity. Assessing the repeat size is warranted as part of the diagnostic test for RFC1 expansion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Currò
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Natalia Dominik
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Stefano Facchini
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | | | - Roisin Sullivan
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | | | - Gorka Fernández-Eulate
- Nord/Est/Ile-de-France Neuromuscular Reference Center, Institute of Myology, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, APHP, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Andreas Traschütz
- Research Division ‘Translational Genomics of Neurodegenerative Diseases’, Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research and Center of Neurology, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Salvatore Rossi
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Invecchiamento, Neurologiche, Ortopediche e della Testa-Collo, UOC Neurologia, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
- Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Matteo Garibaldi
- Neuromuscular and Rare Disease Center, Department of Neuroscience, Mental Health and Sensory Organs (NESMOS), Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, 00189 Rome, Italy
| | - Mariusz Kwarciany
- Department of Adult Neurology, Medical University of Gdańsk, 80-952 Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Franco Taroni
- Unit of Medical Genetics and Neurogenetics, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan 20133, Italy
| | - Alfredo Brusco
- Department of Medical Sciences, University of Torino, 10124 Turin, Italy
| | - Jean-Marc Good
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Francesca Cavalcanti
- Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), Italian National Research Council (CNR), 87050 Mangone, Italy
| | - Simon Hammans
- Wessex Neurological Centre, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK
| | - Gianina Ravenscroft
- Neurogenetic Diseases Group, Centre for Medical Research, QEII Medical Centre, University of Western Australia, Nedland, WA 6009, Australia
| | - Richard H Roxburgh
- Neurology Department, Auckland City Hospital, New Zealand and the Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
| | | | - Bianca Rugginini
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Elena Abati
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
- Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, 20122 Milan, Italy
| | - Arianna Manini
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
- Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, 20122 Milan, Italy
| | - Ilaria Quartesan
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Arianna Ghia
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Adolfo Lòpez de Munaìn
- Neurology Department, Donostia University Hospital, University of the Basque Country-Osakidetza-CIBERNED-Biodonostia, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Fiore Manganelli
- Department of Neuroscience and Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy
| | - Marina Kennerson
- Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
| | - Filippo Maria Santorelli
- IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Molecular Medicine for Neurodegenerative and Neuromuscular Disease Unit, 56128 Pisa, Italy
| | - Jon Infante
- University Hospital Marquès de Valdecilla-IDIVAL, University of Cantabria, 39008 Santander, Spain
| | - Wilson Marques
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, 2650 Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Manu Jokela
- Neuromuscular Research Center, Department of Neurology, Tampere University and University Hospital, 33520 Tampere, Finland
- Neurocenter, Department of Neurology, Clinical Neurosciences, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
| | - Sinéad M Murphy
- Department of Neurology, Tallaght University Hospital, D24 NR0A Dublin, Ireland
- Academic Unit of Neurology, Trinity College Dublin, D02 R590 Dublin, Ireland
| | - Paola Mandich
- Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy
- IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino-UOC Genetica Medica, 16132 Genova, Italy
| | - Gian Maria Fabrizi
- Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine, and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy
| | - Chiara Briani
- Department of Neurosciences, ERN Neuromuscular Unit, University of Padova, 35100 Padova, Italy
| | - David Gosal
- Manchester Centre for Clinical Neurosciences, Salford Royal Hospital, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, Greater Manchester, M6 8HD, UK
| | - Davide Pareyson
- Unit of Medical Genetics and Neurogenetics, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan 20133, Italy
| | | | - Ferran Prados
- Centre for Medical Image Computing (CMIC), Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, WC1V 6LJ, UK
- NMR Research Unit, Institute of Neurology, University College London (UCL), London, WC1N 3BG, UK
- e-Health Centre, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, 08018 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Tarek Yousry
- Neuroradiological Academic Unit, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Vikram Khurana
- Division of Movement Disorders and Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Sheng-Han Kuo
- Department of Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - James Miller
- Department of Neurology, Royal Victoria Hospitals, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle, NE1 4LP, UK
| | - Claire Troakes
- London Neurodegenerative Diseases Brain Bank, Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, SE21 8EA, UK
| | - Zane Jaunmuktane
- Department of Clinical and Movement Neurosciences, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Paola Giunti
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Annette Hartmann
- Division of General Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Nazli Basak
- Koç University, School of Medicine, Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation, Neurodegeneration Research Laboratory (NDAL), Research Center for Translational Medicine, 34010 Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Matthis Synofzik
- Research Division ‘Translational Genomics of Neurodegenerative Diseases’, Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research and Center of Neurology, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Tanya Stojkovic
- Nord/Est/Ile-de-France Neuromuscular Reference Center, Institute of Myology, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, APHP, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Marios Hadjivassiliou
- Academic Department of Neurosciences, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2JF, UK
| | - Mary M Reilly
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Henry Houlden
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Andrea Cortese
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
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23
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Bhattacharyya N, Chai N, Hafford-Tear NJ, Sadan AN, Szabo A, Zarouchlioti C, Jedlickova J, Leung SK, Liao T, Dudakova L, Skalicka P, Parekh M, Moghul I, Jeffries AR, Cheetham ME, Muthusamy K, Hardcastle AJ, Pontikos N, Liskova P, Tuft SJ, Davidson AE. Deciphering novel TCF4-driven mechanisms underlying a common triplet repeat expansion-mediated disease. PLoS Genet 2024; 20:e1011230. [PMID: 38713708 PMCID: PMC11101122 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011230] [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: 11/03/2023] [Revised: 05/17/2024] [Accepted: 03/19/2024] [Indexed: 05/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) is an age-related cause of vision loss, and the most common repeat expansion-mediated disease in humans characterised to date. Up to 80% of European FECD cases have been attributed to expansion of a non-coding CTG repeat element (termed CTG18.1) located within the ubiquitously expressed transcription factor encoding gene, TCF4. The non-coding nature of the repeat and the transcriptomic complexity of TCF4 have made it extremely challenging to experimentally decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying this disease. Here we comprehensively describe CTG18.1 expansion-driven molecular components of disease within primary patient-derived corneal endothelial cells (CECs), generated from a large cohort of individuals with CTG18.1-expanded (Exp+) and CTG 18.1-independent (Exp-) FECD. We employ long-read, short-read, and spatial transcriptomic techniques to interrogate expansion-specific transcriptomic biomarkers. Interrogation of long-read sequencing and alternative splicing analysis of short-read transcriptomic data together reveals the global extent of altered splicing occurring within Exp+ FECD, and unique transcripts associated with CTG18.1-expansions. Similarly, differential gene expression analysis highlights the total transcriptomic consequences of Exp+ FECD within CECs. Furthermore, differential exon usage, pathway enrichment and spatial transcriptomics reveal TCF4 isoform ratio skewing solely in Exp+ FECD with potential downstream functional consequences. Lastly, exome data from 134 Exp- FECD cases identified rare (minor allele frequency <0.005) and potentially deleterious (CADD>15) TCF4 variants in 7/134 FECD Exp- cases, suggesting that TCF4 variants independent of CTG18.1 may increase FECD risk. In summary, our study supports the hypothesis that at least two distinct pathogenic mechanisms, RNA toxicity and TCF4 isoform-specific dysregulation, both underpin the pathophysiology of FECD. We anticipate these data will inform and guide the development of translational interventions for this common triplet-repeat mediated disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nihar Bhattacharyya
- University College London Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom
| | - Niuzheng Chai
- University College London Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Amanda N. Sadan
- University College London Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom
| | - Anita Szabo
- University College London Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Jana Jedlickova
- Department of Paediatrics and Inherited Metabolic Disorders, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Szi Kay Leung
- Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
| | - Tianyi Liao
- University College London Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom
| | - Lubica Dudakova
- Department of Paediatrics and Inherited Metabolic Disorders, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Pavlina Skalicka
- Department of Paediatrics and Inherited Metabolic Disorders, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Ophthalmology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Mohit Parekh
- University College London Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ismail Moghul
- University College London Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom
- Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Aaron R. Jeffries
- Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
| | - Michael E. Cheetham
- University College London Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Alison J. Hardcastle
- University College London Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom
- Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Nikolas Pontikos
- University College London Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom
- Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Petra Liskova
- Department of Paediatrics and Inherited Metabolic Disorders, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Ophthalmology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Stephen J. Tuft
- University College London Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom
- Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Alice E. Davidson
- University College London Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom
- Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom
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24
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Leitão E, Schröder C, Depienne C. Identification and characterization of repeat expansions in neurological disorders: Methodologies, tools, and strategies. Rev Neurol (Paris) 2024; 180:383-392. [PMID: 38594146 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurol.2024.03.005] [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: 03/08/2024] [Revised: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
Tandem repeats are a common, highly polymorphic class of variation in human genomes. Their expansion beyond a pathogenic threshold is a process that contributes to a wide range of neurological and neuromuscular genetic disorders, of which over 60 have been identified to date. The last few years have seen a resurgence in repeat expansion discovery propelled by technological advancements, enabling the identification of over 20 novel repeat expansion disorders. These expansions can occur in coding or non-coding regions of genes, resulting in a range of pathogenic mechanisms. In this article, we review strategies, tools and methods that can be used for efficient detection and characterization of known repeat expansions and identification of new expansion disorders. Features that can be used to prioritize repeat expansions include anticipation, which is characterized by increased severity or earlier onset of symptoms across generations, and founder effects, which contribute to higher prevalence rates in certain populations. Classical technologies such as Southern blotting, repeat-primed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and long-range PCR can still be used to detect known repeat expansions, although they usually have significant limitations linked to the absence of sequence context. Targeted sequencing of known expansions using either long-range PCR or CRISPR-Cas9 enrichment combined with long-read sequencing or adaptive nanopore sampling are usually better but more expensive alternatives. The development of new bioinformatics tools applied to short-read genome data can now be used to detect repeat expansions either in a targeted manner or at the genome-wide level. In addition, technological advances, particularly long-read technologies such as optical genome mapping (Bionano Genomics), Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) and Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) HiFi sequencing, offer promising avenues for the detection of repeat expansions. Despite challenges in specific DNA extraction requirements, computation resources needed and data interpretation, these technologies have an immense potential to advance our understanding of repeat expansion disorders and improve diagnostic accuracy.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Leitão
- Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - C Schröder
- Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - C Depienne
- Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
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25
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Yoon JG, Lee S, Cho J, Kim N, Kim S, Kim MJ, Kim SY, Moon J, Chae JH. Diagnostic uplift through the implementation of short tandem repeat analysis using exome sequencing. Eur J Hum Genet 2024; 32:584-587. [PMID: 38308084 PMCID: PMC11061289 DOI: 10.1038/s41431-024-01542-w] [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: 09/14/2023] [Revised: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/04/2024] Open
Abstract
To date, approximately 50 short tandem repeat (STR) disorders have been identified; yet, clinical laboratories rarely conduct STR analysis on exomes. To assess its diagnostic value, we analyzed STRs in 6099 exomes from 2510 families with mostly suspected neurogenetic disorders. We employed ExpansionHunter and REViewer to detect pathogenic repeat expansions, confirming them using orthogonal methods. Genotype-phenotype correlations led to the diagnosis of thirteen individuals in seven previously undiagnosed families, identifying three autosomal dominant disorders: dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (n = 3), spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (n = 2), and myotonic dystrophy type 1 (n = 2), resulting in a diagnostic gain of 0.28% (7/2510). Additionally, we found expanded ATXN1 alleles (≥39 repeats) with varying patterns of CAT interruptions in twelve individuals, accounting for approximately 0.19% in the Korean population. Our study underscores the importance of integrating STR analysis into exome sequencing pipeline, broadening the application of exome sequencing for STR assessments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jihoon G Yoon
- Department of Genomic Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Seungbok Lee
- Department of Genomic Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Children's Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jaeso Cho
- Department of Genomic Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Children's Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Narae Kim
- Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Sheehyun Kim
- Department of Genomic Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Man Jin Kim
- Department of Genomic Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Soo Yeon Kim
- Department of Genomic Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Children's Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jangsup Moon
- Department of Genomic Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
- Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
| | - Jong-Hee Chae
- Department of Genomic Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
- Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Children's Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
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26
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Sureshkumar S, Bandaranayake C, Lv J, Dent CI, Bhagat PK, Mukherjee S, Sarwade R, Atri C, York HM, Tamizhselvan P, Shamaya N, Folini G, Bergey BG, Yadav AS, Kumar S, Grummisch OS, Saini P, Yadav RK, Arumugam S, Rosonina E, Sadanandom A, Liu H, Balasubramanian S. SUMO protease FUG1, histone reader AL3 and chromodomain protein LHP1 are integral to repeat expansion-induced gene silencing in Arabidopsis thaliana. NATURE PLANTS 2024; 10:749-759. [PMID: 38641663 DOI: 10.1038/s41477-024-01672-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/21/2024]
Abstract
Epigenetic gene silencing induced by expanded repeats can cause diverse phenotypes ranging from severe growth defects in plants to genetic diseases such as Friedreich's ataxia in humans. The molecular mechanisms underlying repeat expansion-induced epigenetic silencing remain largely unknown. Using a plant model with a temperature-sensitive phenotype, we have previously shown that expanded repeats can induce small RNAs, which in turn can lead to epigenetic silencing through the RNA-dependent DNA methylation pathway. Here, using a genetic suppressor screen and yeast two-hybrid assays, we identified novel components required for epigenetic silencing caused by expanded repeats. We show that FOURTH ULP GENE CLASS 1 (FUG1)-an uncharacterized SUMO protease with no known role in gene silencing-is required for epigenetic silencing caused by expanded repeats. In addition, we demonstrate that FUG1 physically interacts with ALFIN-LIKE 3 (AL3)-a histone reader that is known to bind to active histone mark H3K4me2/3. Loss of function of AL3 abolishes epigenetic silencing caused by expanded repeats. AL3 physically interacts with the chromodomain protein LIKE HETEROCHROMATIN 1 (LHP1)-known to be associated with the spread of the repressive histone mark H3K27me3 to cause repeat expansion-induced epigenetic silencing. Loss of any of these components suppresses repeat expansion-associated phenotypes coupled with an increase in IIL1 expression with the reversal of gene silencing and associated change in epigenetic marks. Our findings suggest that the FUG1-AL3-LHP1 module is essential to confer repeat expansion-associated epigenetic silencing and highlight the importance of post-translational modifiers and histone readers in epigenetic silencing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sridevi Sureshkumar
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Champa Bandaranayake
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Junqing Lv
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Centre for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Craig I Dent
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | | | - Sourav Mukherjee
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Rucha Sarwade
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Chhaya Atri
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Harrison M York
- Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Australia (EMBL Australia), Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Prashanth Tamizhselvan
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Nawar Shamaya
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Giulia Folini
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | | | - Avilash Singh Yadav
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Subhasree Kumar
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Oliver S Grummisch
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Prince Saini
- Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, India
| | - Ram K Yadav
- Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, India
| | - Senthil Arumugam
- Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Australia (EMBL Australia), Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Emanuel Rosonina
- Department of Biology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Ari Sadanandom
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - Hongtao Liu
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Centre for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
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27
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English AC, Dolzhenko E, Ziaei Jam H, McKenzie SK, Olson ND, De Coster W, Park J, Gu B, Wagner J, Eberle MA, Gymrek M, Chaisson MJP, Zook JM, Sedlazeck FJ. Analysis and benchmarking of small and large genomic variants across tandem repeats. Nat Biotechnol 2024:10.1038/s41587-024-02225-z. [PMID: 38671154 DOI: 10.1038/s41587-024-02225-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
Tandem repeats (TRs) are highly polymorphic in the human genome, have thousands of associated molecular traits and are linked to over 60 disease phenotypes. However, they are often excluded from at-scale studies because of challenges with variant calling and representation, as well as a lack of a genome-wide standard. Here, to promote the development of TR methods, we created a catalog of TR regions and explored TR properties across 86 haplotype-resolved long-read human assemblies. We curated variants from the Genome in a Bottle (GIAB) HG002 individual to create a TR dataset to benchmark existing and future TR analysis methods. We also present an improved variant comparison method that handles variants greater than 4 bp in length and varying allelic representation. The 8.1% of the genome covered by the TR catalog holds ~24.9% of variants per individual, including 124,728 small and 17,988 large variants for the GIAB HG002 'truth-set' TR benchmark. We demonstrate the utility of this pipeline across short-read and long-read technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam C English
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
| | | | - Helyaneh Ziaei Jam
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | | | - Nathan D Olson
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | - Wouter De Coster
- Applied and Translational Neurogenomics Group, VIB Center for Molecular Neurology, VIB, Antwerp, Belgium
- Applied and Translational Neurogenomics Group, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Jonghun Park
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Bida Gu
- Department of Quantitative and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Justin Wagner
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | | | - Melissa Gymrek
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Mark J P Chaisson
- Department of Quantitative and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Justin M Zook
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | - Fritz J Sedlazeck
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
- Department of Computer Science, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.
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28
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Cui Y, Ye W, Li JS, Li JJ, Vilain E, Sallam T, Li W. A genome-wide spectrum of tandem repeat expansions in 338,963 humans. Cell 2024; 187:2336-2341.e5. [PMID: 38582080 PMCID: PMC11065452 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.03.004] [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: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/08/2024]
Abstract
The Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD), widely recognized as the gold-standard reference map of human genetic variation, has largely overlooked tandem repeat (TR) expansions, despite the fact that TRs constitute ∼6% of our genome and are linked to over 50 human diseases. Here, we introduce the TR-gnomAD (https://wlcb.oit.uci.edu/TRgnomAD), a biobank-scale reference of 0.86 million TRs derived from 338,963 whole-genome sequencing (WGS) samples of diverse ancestries (39.5% non-European samples). TR-gnomAD offers critical insights into ancestry-specific disease prevalence using disparities in TR unit number frequencies among ancestries. Moreover, TR-gnomAD is able to differentiate between common, presumably benign TR expansions, which are prevalent in TR-gnomAD, from those potentially pathogenic TR expansions, which are found more frequently in disease groups than within TR-gnomAD. Together, TR-gnomAD is an invaluable resource for researchers and physicians to interpret TR expansions in individuals with genetic diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ya Cui
- Division of Computational Biomedicine, Department of Biological Chemistry, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
| | - Wenbin Ye
- Division of Computational Biomedicine, Department of Biological Chemistry, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
| | - Jason Sheng Li
- Division of Computational Biomedicine, Department of Biological Chemistry, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
| | - Jingyi Jessica Li
- Department of Statistics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Eric Vilain
- Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
| | - Tamer Sallam
- Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Wei Li
- Division of Computational Biomedicine, Department of Biological Chemistry, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
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29
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Maity H, Nguyen HT, Hori N, Thirumalai D. Salt-Dependent Self-Association of Trinucleotide Repeat RNA Sequences. J Phys Chem Lett 2024; 15:3820-3827. [PMID: 38557079 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c03553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Repeat RNA sequences self-associate to form condensates. Simulations of a coarse-grained single-interaction site model for (CAG)n (n = 30 and 31) show that the salt-dependent free energy gap, ΔGS, between the ground (perfect hairpin) and the excited state (slipped hairpin (SH) with one CAG overhang) of the monomer for (n even) is the primary factor that determines the rates and yield of self-assembly. For odd n, the free energy (GS) of the ground state, which is an SH, is used to predict the self-association kinetics. As the monovalent salt concentration, CS, increases, ΔGS and GS increase, which decreases the rates of dimer formation. In contrast, ΔGS for shuffled sequences, with the same length and sequence composition as (CAG)31, is larger, which suppresses their propensities to aggregate. Although demonstrated explicitly for (CAG) polymers, the finding of inverse correlation between the free energy gap and RNA aggregation is general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiranmay Maity
- Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Hung T Nguyen
- Department of Chemistry, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260, United States
| | - Naoto Hori
- School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG72RD, United Kingdom
| | - D Thirumalai
- Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
- Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
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Uppili B, Faruq M. STRIDE-DB: a comprehensive database for exploration of instability and phenotypic relevance of short tandem repeats in the human genome. Database (Oxford) 2024; 2024:baae020. [PMID: 38602506 PMCID: PMC11008502 DOI: 10.1093/database/baae020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Revised: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024]
Abstract
Short Tandem Repeats (STRs) are genetic markers made up of repeating DNA sequences. The variations of the STRs are widely studied in forensic analysis, population studies and genetic testing for a variety of neuromuscular disorders. Understanding polymorphic STR variation and its cause is crucial for deciphering genetic information and finding links to various disorders. In this paper, we present STRIDE-DB, a novel and unique platform to explore STR Instability and its Phenotypic Relevance, and a comprehensive database of STRs in the human genome. We utilized RepeatMasker to identify all the STRs in the human genome (hg19) and combined it with frequency data from the 1000 Genomes Project. STRIDE-DB, a user-friendly resource, plays a pivotal role in investigating the relationship between STR variation, instability and phenotype. By harnessing data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS), ClinVar database, Alu loci, Haploblocks in genome and Conservation of the STRs, it serves as an important tool for researchers exploring the variability of STRs in the human genome and its direct impact on phenotypes. STRIDE-DB has its broad applicability and significance in various research domains like forensic sciences and other repeat expansion disorders. Database URL: https://stridedb.igib.res.in.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bharathram Uppili
- Genomics and Molecular Medicine, CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB), Delhi 110007, India
- CSIR-HRDC Campus, Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research, Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Mohammed Faruq
- Genomics and Molecular Medicine, CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB), Delhi 110007, India
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Kudo K, Hori K, Asamitsu S, Maeda K, Aida Y, Hokimoto M, Matsuo K, Yabuki Y, Shioda N. Structural polymorphism of the nucleic acids in pentanucleotide repeats associated with the neurological disorder CANVAS. J Biol Chem 2024; 300:107138. [PMID: 38447794 PMCID: PMC10999818 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107138] [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: 08/17/2023] [Revised: 02/15/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Short tandem repeats are inherently unstable during DNA replication depending on repeat length, and the expansion of the repeat length in the human genome is responsible for repeat expansion disorders. Pentanucleotide AAGGG and ACAGG repeat expansions in intron 2 of the gene encoding replication factor C subunit 1 (RFC1) cause cerebellar ataxia, neuropathy, vestibular areflexia syndrome (CANVAS) and other phenotypes of late-onset cerebellar ataxia. Herein, we reveal the structural polymorphism of the RFC1 repeats associated with CANVAS in vitro. Single-stranded AAGGG repeat DNA formed a hybrid-type G-quadruplex, whereas its RNA formed a parallel-type G-quadruplex with three layers. The RNA of the ACAGG repeat formed hairpin structure comprising C-G and G-C base pairs with A:A and GA:AG mismatched repeats. Furthermore, both pathogenic repeat RNAs formed more rigid structures than those of the nonpathogenic repeat RNAs. These findings provide novel insights into the structural polymorphism of the RFC1 repeats, which may be closely related to the disease mechanism of CANVAS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenta Kudo
- Department of Genomic Neurology, Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics (IMEG), Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan; Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Karin Hori
- Department of Genomic Neurology, Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics (IMEG), Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Sefan Asamitsu
- Laboratory for Functional Non-coding Genomics, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS), Yokohama, Japan
| | - Kohei Maeda
- Department of Genomic Neurology, Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics (IMEG), Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan; Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Yukari Aida
- Department of Genomic Neurology, Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics (IMEG), Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan; Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Mei Hokimoto
- Department of Genomic Neurology, Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics (IMEG), Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan; Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Kazuya Matsuo
- Department of Genomic Neurology, Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics (IMEG), Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Yasushi Yabuki
- Department of Genomic Neurology, Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics (IMEG), Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan; Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Norifumi Shioda
- Department of Genomic Neurology, Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics (IMEG), Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan; Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan.
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Ouyang R, Wan L, Pellerin D, Long Z, Hu J, Jiang Q, Wang C, Peng L, Peng H, He L, Qiu R, Wang J, Guo J, Shen L, Brais B, Danzi MC, Zuchner S, Tang B, Chen Z, Jiang H. The genetic landscape and phenotypic spectrum of GAA-FGF14 ataxia in China: a large cohort study. EBioMedicine 2024; 102:105077. [PMID: 38513302 PMCID: PMC10960143 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2024.105077] [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: 10/25/2023] [Revised: 03/06/2024] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND An intronic GAA repeat expansion in FGF14 was recently identified as a cause of GAA-FGF14 ataxia. We aimed to characterise the frequency and phenotypic profile of GAA-FGF14 ataxia in a large Chinese ataxia cohort. METHODS A total of 1216 patients that included 399 typical late-onset cerebellar ataxia (LOCA), 290 early-onset cerebellar ataxia (EOCA), and 527 multiple system atrophy with predominant cerebellar ataxia (MSA-c) were enrolled. Long-range and repeat-primed PCR were performed to screen for GAA expansions in FGF14. Targeted long-read and whole-genome sequencing were performed to determine repeat size and sequence configuration. A multi-modal study including clinical assessment, MRI, and neurofilament light chain was conducted for disease assessment. FINDINGS 17 GAA-FGF14 positive patients with a (GAA)≥250 expansion (12 patients with a GAA-pure expansion, five patients with a (GAA)≥250-[(GAA)n (GCA)m]z expansion) and two possible patients with biallelic (GAA)202/222 alleles were identified. The clinical phenotypes of the 19 positive and possible positive cases covered LOCA phenotype, EOCA phenotype and MSA-c phenotype. Five of six patients with EOCA phenotype were found to have another genetic disorder. The NfL levels of patients with EOCA and MSA-c phenotypes were significantly higher than patients with LOCA phenotype and age-matched controls (p < 0.001). NfL levels of pre-ataxic GAA-FGF14 positive individuals were lower than pre-ataxic SCA3 (p < 0.001) and similar to controls. INTERPRETATION The frequency of GAA-FGF14 expansion in a large Chinese LOCA cohort was low (1.3%). Biallelic (GAA)202/222 alleles and co-occurrence with other acquired or hereditary diseases may contribute to phenotypic variation and different progression. FUNDING This study was funded by the National Key R&D Program of China (2021YFA0805200 to H.J.), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81974176 and 82171254 to H.J.; 82371272 to Z.C.; 82301628 to L.W.; 82301438 to Z.L.; 82201411 to L.H.), the Innovation Research Group Project of Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (2020JJ1008 to H.J.), the Key Research and Development Program of Hunan Province (2020SK2064 to H.J.), the Innovative Research and Development Program of Development and Reform Commission of Hunan Province to H.J., the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (2024JJ3050 to H.J.; 2022JJ20094 and 2021JJ40974 to Z.C.; 2022JJ40783 to L.H.; 2022JJ40703 to Z.L.), the Project Program of National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders (Xiangya Hospital, 2020LNJJ12 to H.J.), the Central South University Research Programme of Advanced Interdisciplinary Study (2023QYJC010 to H.J.) and the Science and Technology Innovation Program of Hunan Province (2022RC1027 to Z.C.). D.P. holds a Fellowship award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
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Affiliation(s)
- Riwei Ouyang
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China
| | - Linlin Wan
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Bioinformatics Center & National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Department of Radiology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; National International Collaborative Research Center for Medical Metabolomics, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - David Pellerin
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Hospital and Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Zhe Long
- Department of Neurology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410011, China
| | - Jian Hu
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China
| | - Qian Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China
| | - Chunrong Wang
- Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Linliu Peng
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China
| | - Huirong Peng
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China
| | - Lang He
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Rong Qiu
- School of Computer Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410083, China
| | - Junling Wang
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Bioinformatics Center & National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Hunan International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Neurodegenerative and Neurogenetic Diseases, Changsha, China
| | - Jifeng Guo
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Bioinformatics Center & National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Hunan International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Neurodegenerative and Neurogenetic Diseases, Changsha, China
| | - Lu Shen
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Bioinformatics Center & National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Hunan International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Neurodegenerative and Neurogenetic Diseases, Changsha, China
| | - Bernard Brais
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Hospital and Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Matt C Danzi
- Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics and John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Stephan Zuchner
- Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics and John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Beisha Tang
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Bioinformatics Center & National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Hunan International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Neurodegenerative and Neurogenetic Diseases, Changsha, China
| | - Zhao Chen
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Bioinformatics Center & National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Hunan International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Neurodegenerative and Neurogenetic Diseases, Changsha, China.
| | - Hong Jiang
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Department of Neurology, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Bioinformatics Center & National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Hunan International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Neurodegenerative and Neurogenetic Diseases, Changsha, China; National International Collaborative Research Center for Medical Metabolomics, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Furong Laboratory, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Brain Research Center, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China.
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Fehlings DL, Zarrei M, Engchuan W, Sondheimer N, Thiruvahindrapuram B, MacDonald JR, Higginbotham EJ, Thapa R, Behlim T, Aimola S, Switzer L, Ng P, Wei J, Danthi PS, Pellecchia G, Lamoureux S, Ho K, Pereira SL, de Rijke J, Sung WWL, Mowjoodi A, Howe JL, Nalpathamkalam T, Manshaei R, Ghaffari S, Whitney J, Patel RV, Hamdan O, Shaath R, Trost B, Knights S, Samdup D, McCormick A, Hunt C, Kirton A, Kawamura A, Mesterman R, Gorter JW, Dlamini N, Merico D, Hilali M, Hirschfeld K, Grover K, Bautista NX, Han K, Marshall CR, Yuen RKC, Subbarao P, Azad MB, Turvey SE, Mandhane P, Moraes TJ, Simons E, Maxwell G, Shevell M, Costain G, Michaud JL, Hamdan FF, Gauthier J, Uguen K, Stavropoulos DJ, Wintle RF, Oskoui M, Scherer SW. Comprehensive whole-genome sequence analyses provide insights into the genomic architecture of cerebral palsy. Nat Genet 2024; 56:585-594. [PMID: 38553553 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-024-01686-x] [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: 12/23/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024]
Abstract
We performed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) in 327 children with cerebral palsy (CP) and their biological parents. We classified 37 of 327 (11.3%) children as having pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) variants and 58 of 327 (17.7%) as having variants of uncertain significance. Multiple classes of P/LP variants included single-nucleotide variants (SNVs)/indels (6.7%), copy number variations (3.4%) and mitochondrial mutations (1.5%). The COL4A1 gene had the most P/LP SNVs. We also analyzed two pediatric control cohorts (n = 203 trios and n = 89 sib-pair families) to provide a baseline for de novo mutation rates and genetic burden analyses, the latter of which demonstrated associations between de novo deleterious variants and genes related to the nervous system. An enrichment analysis revealed previously undescribed plausible candidate CP genes (SMOC1, KDM5B, BCL11A and CYP51A1). A multifactorial CP risk profile and substantial presence of P/LP variants combine to support WGS in the diagnostic work-up across all CP and related phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darcy L Fehlings
- Division of Developmental Paediatrics, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Mehdi Zarrei
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Worrawat Engchuan
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Neal Sondheimer
- Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Jeffrey R MacDonald
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Edward J Higginbotham
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Genome Diagnostics, Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Ritesh Thapa
- Division of Developmental Paediatrics, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Tarannum Behlim
- Centre for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Sabrina Aimola
- Division of Developmental Paediatrics, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Lauren Switzer
- Division of Developmental Paediatrics, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Pamela Ng
- Centre for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - John Wei
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Prakroothi S Danthi
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Giovanna Pellecchia
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Sylvia Lamoureux
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Karen Ho
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Sergio L Pereira
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jill de Rijke
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Wilson W L Sung
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Alireza Mowjoodi
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jennifer L Howe
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Thomas Nalpathamkalam
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Roozbeh Manshaei
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research, Cardiac Genome Clinic, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Siavash Ghaffari
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Joseph Whitney
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Rohan V Patel
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Omar Hamdan
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Rulan Shaath
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Brett Trost
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Shannon Knights
- Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Grandview Children's Centre, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Dawa Samdup
- Department of Pediatrics, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Anna McCormick
- Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Carolyn Hunt
- Grandview Children's Centre, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Adam Kirton
- Department of Pediatrics, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Anne Kawamura
- Division of Developmental Paediatrics, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Ronit Mesterman
- Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jan Willem Gorter
- Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Nomazulu Dlamini
- Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Division of Neurology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Daniele Merico
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Deep Genomics Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Vevo Therapeutics Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Murto Hilali
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Kyle Hirschfeld
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Kritika Grover
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Nelson X Bautista
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Kara Han
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Christian R Marshall
- Genome Diagnostics, Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Ryan K C Yuen
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Padmaja Subbarao
- Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Meghan B Azad
- Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Stuart E Turvey
- Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Piush Mandhane
- Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, Pediatrics Department, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Theo J Moraes
- Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Program in Translation Medicine & Division of Respiratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Elinor Simons
- Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Section of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, University of Manitoba, Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - George Maxwell
- Women's Health Integrated Research Center, Inova Women's Service Line, Inova Health System, Falls Church, VA, USA
| | - Michael Shevell
- Centre for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Departments of Pediatrics and Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Gregory Costain
- Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Genome Diagnostics, Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Division of Clinical and Metabolic Genetics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jacques L Michaud
- Departments of Pediatrics and Neurosciences, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- CHU Sainte-Justine Azrieli Research Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Fadi F Hamdan
- CHU Sainte-Justine Azrieli Research Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Department of Pediatrics, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Julie Gauthier
- CHU Sainte-Justine Azrieli Research Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Department of Pediatrics, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Kevin Uguen
- CHU Sainte-Justine Azrieli Research Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Dimitri J Stavropoulos
- Genome Diagnostics, Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Richard F Wintle
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Maryam Oskoui
- Centre for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Departments of Pediatrics and Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Stephen W Scherer
- The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
- Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
- Department of Molecular Genetics and McLaughlin Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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Jensen TD, Ni B, Reuter CM, Gorzynski JE, Fazal S, Bonner D, Ungar RA, Goddard PC, Raja A, Ashley EA, Bernstein JA, Zuchner S, Greicius MD, Montgomery SB, Schatz MC, Wheeler MT, Battle A. Integration of transcriptomics and long-read genomics prioritizes structural variants in rare disease. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2024.03.22.24304565. [PMID: 38585781 PMCID: PMC10996727 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.22.24304565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Rare structural variants (SVs) - insertions, deletions, and complex rearrangements - can cause Mendelian disease, yet they remain difficult to accurately detect and interpret. We sequenced and analyzed Oxford Nanopore long-read genomes of 68 individuals from the Undiagnosed Disease Network (UDN) with no previously identified diagnostic mutations from short-read sequencing. Using our optimized SV detection pipelines and 571 control long-read genomes, we detected 716 long-read rare (MAF < 0.01) SV alleles per genome on average, achieving a 2.4x increase from short-reads. To characterize the functional effects of rare SVs, we assessed their relationship with gene expression from blood or fibroblasts from the same individuals, and found that rare SVs overlapping enhancers were enriched (LOR = 0.46) near expression outliers. We also evaluated tandem repeat expansions (TREs) and found 14 rare TREs per genome; notably these TREs were also enriched near overexpression outliers. To prioritize candidate functional SVs, we developed Watershed-SV, a probabilistic model that integrates expression data with SV-specific genomic annotations, which significantly outperforms baseline models that don't incorporate expression data. Watershed-SV identified a median of eight high-confidence functional SVs per UDN genome. Notably, this included compound heterozygous deletions in FAM177A1 shared by two siblings, which were likely causal for a rare neurodevelopmental disorder. Our observations demonstrate the promise of integrating long-read sequencing with gene expression towards improving the prioritization of functional SVs and TREs in rare disease patients.
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Chen X, Zhang F, Shi Y, Wang H, Chen M, Yang D, Wang L, Liu P, Xie F, Chen J, Fu A, Hu B, Wang B, Ouyang Z, Wu S, Lin Z, Cen Z, Luo W. Origin and evolution of pentanucleotide repeat expansions at the familial cortical myoclonic tremor with epilepsy type1 - SAMD12 locus. Eur J Hum Genet 2024:10.1038/s41431-024-01586-y. [PMID: 38467733 DOI: 10.1038/s41431-024-01586-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2023] [Revised: 02/23/2024] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Familial cortical myoclonic tremor with epilepsy type 1 (FCMTE1) is caused by (TTTTA)exp(TTTCA)exp repeat expansions in SAMD12, while pure (TTTTA)exp is polymorphic. Our investigation focused on the origin and evolution of pure (TTTTA)exp and (TTTTA)exp(TTTCA)exp at this locus. We observed a founder effect between them. The phylogenetic analysis suggested that the (TTTTA)exp(TTTCA)exp might be generated from pure (TTTTA)exp through infrequent transformation events. Long-read sequencing revealed somatic generation of (TTTTA)exp(TTTCA)exp from pure (TTTTA)exp, likely via long segment (TTTCA) repeats insertion. Our findings indicate close relationships between the non-pathogenic (TTTTA)exp and the pathogenic (TTTTA)exp(TTTCA)exp, with dynamic interconversions. This sheds light on the genesis of pathogenic repeat expansions from ancestral premutation alleles. Our results may guide future studies in detecting novel repeat expansion disorders and elucidating repeat expansion mutational processes, thereby enhancing our understanding of human genomic variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinhui Chen
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, Zhejiang, China
| | - Fan Zhang
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yihua Shi
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, Zhejiang, China
| | - Haotian Wang
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, Zhejiang, China
| | - Miao Chen
- Department of Neurology, Zhuji Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Zhuji, China
| | - Dehao Yang
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, Zhejiang, China
| | - Lebo Wang
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, Zhejiang, China
| | - Peng Liu
- Department of Neurology, Taizhou Central Hospital (Taizhou University Hospital), Taizhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Fei Xie
- Department of Neurology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310020, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jiawen Chen
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, Zhejiang, China
| | - Aisi Fu
- Wuhan Dgensee Clinical Laboratory Co., Ltd. Wuhan, Wuhan, 430075, China
| | - Ben Hu
- Center for Tumor Precision Diagnosis, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430062, China
| | - Bo Wang
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, Zhejiang, China
| | - Zhiyuan Ouyang
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, Zhejiang, China
| | - Sheng Wu
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, Zhejiang, China
| | - Zhiru Lin
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, Zhejiang, China
| | - Zhidong Cen
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, Zhejiang, China.
| | - Wei Luo
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, Zhejiang, China.
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Gustafson JA, Gibson SB, Damaraju N, Zalusky MPG, Hoekzema K, Twesigomwe D, Yang L, Snead AA, Richmond PA, De Coster W, Olson ND, Guarracino A, Li Q, Miller AL, Goffena J, Anderson Z, Storz SHR, Ward SA, Sinha M, Gonzaga-Jauregui C, Clarke WE, Basile AO, Corvelo A, Reeves C, Helland A, Musunuri RL, Revsine M, Patterson KE, Paschal CR, Zakarian C, Goodwin S, Jensen TD, Robb E, McCombie WR, Sedlazeck FJ, Zook JM, Montgomery SB, Garrison E, Kolmogorov M, Schatz MC, McLaughlin RN, Dashnow H, Zody MC, Loose M, Jain M, Eichler EE, Miller DE. Nanopore sequencing of 1000 Genomes Project samples to build a comprehensive catalog of human genetic variation. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2024.03.05.24303792. [PMID: 38496498 PMCID: PMC10942501 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.05.24303792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
Less than half of individuals with a suspected Mendelian condition receive a precise molecular diagnosis after comprehensive clinical genetic testing. Improvements in data quality and costs have heightened interest in using long-read sequencing (LRS) to streamline clinical genomic testing, but the absence of control datasets for variant filtering and prioritization has made tertiary analysis of LRS data challenging. To address this, the 1000 Genomes Project ONT Sequencing Consortium aims to generate LRS data from at least 800 of the 1000 Genomes Project samples. Our goal is to use LRS to identify a broader spectrum of variation so we may improve our understanding of normal patterns of human variation. Here, we present data from analysis of the first 100 samples, representing all 5 superpopulations and 19 subpopulations. These samples, sequenced to an average depth of coverage of 37x and sequence read N50 of 54 kbp, have high concordance with previous studies for identifying single nucleotide and indel variants outside of homopolymer regions. Using multiple structural variant (SV) callers, we identify an average of 24,543 high-confidence SVs per genome, including shared and private SVs likely to disrupt gene function as well as pathogenic expansions within disease-associated repeats that were not detected using short reads. Evaluation of methylation signatures revealed expected patterns at known imprinted loci, samples with skewed X-inactivation patterns, and novel differentially methylated regions. All raw sequencing data, processed data, and summary statistics are publicly available, providing a valuable resource for the clinical genetics community to discover pathogenic SVs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas A. Gustafson
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Sophia B. Gibson
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Nikhita Damaraju
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Institute for Public Health Genetics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Miranda PG Zalusky
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Kendra Hoekzema
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - David Twesigomwe
- Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Lei Yang
- Pacific Northwest Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | - Wouter De Coster
- Applied and Translational Neurogenomics Group, VIB Center for Molecular Neurology, VIB, Antwerp, Belgium
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Nathan D. Olson
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | - Andrea Guarracino
- Department of Genetics, Genomics and Informatics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
- Human Technopole, Milan, Italy
| | - Qiuhui Li
- Department of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Angela L. Miller
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Joy Goffena
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Zachery Anderson
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Sophie HR Storz
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Sydney A. Ward
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Maisha Sinha
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Claudia Gonzaga-Jauregui
- International Laboratory for Human Genome Research, Laboratorio Internacional de Investigación sobre el Genoma Humano, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
| | - Wayne E. Clarke
- New York Genome Center, New York, NY, USA
- Outlier Informatics Inc., Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Mahler Revsine
- Department of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | - Cate R. Paschal
- Department of Laboratories, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Christina Zakarian
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Sara Goodwin
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
| | | | - Esther Robb
- Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Fritz J. Sedlazeck
- Human Genome Sequencing Center Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Computer Science, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Justin M. Zook
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | | | - Erik Garrison
- Department of Genetics, Genomics and Informatics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Mikhail Kolmogorov
- Cancer Data Science Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Michael C. Schatz
- Department of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Richard N. McLaughlin
- Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Pacific Northwest Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Harriet Dashnow
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
| | | | - Matt Loose
- Deep Seq, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England
| | - Miten Jain
- Department of Bioengineering, Department of Physics, Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
| | - Evan E. Eichler
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Danny E. Miller
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
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Olivucci G, Iovino E, Innella G, Turchetti D, Pippucci T, Magini P. Long read sequencing on its way to the routine diagnostics of genetic diseases. Front Genet 2024; 15:1374860. [PMID: 38510277 PMCID: PMC10951082 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1374860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024] Open
Abstract
The clinical application of technological progress in the identification of DNA alterations has always led to improvements of diagnostic yields in genetic medicine. At chromosome side, from cytogenetic techniques evaluating number and gross structural defects to genomic microarrays detecting cryptic copy number variants, and at molecular level, from Sanger method studying the nucleotide sequence of single genes to the high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, resolution and sensitivity progressively increased expanding considerably the range of detectable DNA anomalies and alongside of Mendelian disorders with known genetic causes. However, particular genomic regions (i.e., repetitive and GC-rich sequences) are inefficiently analyzed by standard genetic tests, still relying on laborious, time-consuming and low-sensitive approaches (i.e., southern-blot for repeat expansion or long-PCR for genes with highly homologous pseudogenes), accounting for at least part of the patients with undiagnosed genetic disorders. Third generation sequencing, generating long reads with improved mappability, is more suitable for the detection of structural alterations and defects in hardly accessible genomic regions. Although recently implemented and not yet clinically available, long read sequencing (LRS) technologies have already shown their potential in genetic medicine research that might greatly impact on diagnostic yield and reporting times, through their translation to clinical settings. The main investigated LRS application concerns the identification of structural variants and repeat expansions, probably because techniques for their detection have not evolved as rapidly as those dedicated to single nucleotide variants (SNV) identification: gold standard analyses are karyotyping and microarrays for balanced and unbalanced chromosome rearrangements, respectively, and southern blot and repeat-primed PCR for the amplification and sizing of expanded alleles, impaired by limited resolution and sensitivity that have not been significantly improved by the advent of NGS. Nevertheless, more recently, with the increased accuracy provided by the latest product releases, LRS has been tested also for SNV detection, especially in genes with highly homologous pseudogenes and for haplotype reconstruction to assess the parental origin of alleles with de novo pathogenic variants. We provide a review of relevant recent scientific papers exploring LRS potential in the diagnosis of genetic diseases and its potential future applications in routine genetic testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Olivucci
- IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Department of Surgical and Oncological Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Emanuela Iovino
- IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Giovanni Innella
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Medical Genetics Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Daniela Turchetti
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Medical Genetics Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Tommaso Pippucci
- IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Pamela Magini
- Medical Genetics Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
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Faust H, Duffek P, Hentschel J, Popp D. Evaluation of Automated Magnetic Bead-Based DNA Extraction for Detection of Short Tandem Repeat Expansions With Nanopore Sequencing. J Clin Lab Anal 2024; 38:e25029. [PMID: 38506401 PMCID: PMC10997813 DOI: 10.1002/jcla.25029] [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: 08/12/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Long-read technologies such as nanopore sequencing provide new opportunities to detect short tandem repeat expansions. Therefore, a DNA extraction method is necessary that minimizes DNA fragmentation and hence allows the identification of large repeat expansions. In this study, an automated magnetic bead-based DNA extraction method and the required EDTA blood storage conditions as well as DNA and sequencing quality were evaluated for their suitability for repeat expansion detection with nanopore sequencing. METHODS DNA was extracted from EDTA blood, and subsequently, its concentration, purity, and integrity were assessed. DNA was then subjected to nanopore sequencing, and quality metrics of the obtained sequencing data were evaluated. RESULTS DNA extracted from fresh EDTA blood as well as from cooled or frozen EDTA blood revealed high DNA integrity whereas storage at room temperature over 7 days had detrimental effects. After nanopore sequencing, the read length N50 values of approximately 9 kb were obtained, and based on adaptive sampling of samples with a known repeat expansion, repeat expansions up to 10 kb could be detected. CONCLUSION The automated magnetic bead-based DNA extraction was sufficient to detect short tandem repeat expansions, omitting the need for high-molecular-weight DNA extraction methods. Therefore, DNA should be extracted either from fresh blood or from blood stored in cooled or frozen conditions. Consequently, this study may help other laboratories to evaluate their DNA extraction method regarding the suitability for detecting repeat expansions with nanopore sequencing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helene Faust
- Institute of Human GeneticsUniversity of Leipzig Medical CenterLeipzigGermany
| | - Patricia Duffek
- Institute of Human GeneticsUniversity of Leipzig Medical CenterLeipzigGermany
| | - Julia Hentschel
- Institute of Human GeneticsUniversity of Leipzig Medical CenterLeipzigGermany
| | - Denny Popp
- Institute of Human GeneticsUniversity of Leipzig Medical CenterLeipzigGermany
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Mitina A, Khan M, Lesurf R, Yin Y, Engchuan W, Hamdan O, Pellecchia G, Trost B, Backstrom I, Guo K, Pallotto LM, Lam Doong PH, Wang Z, Nalpathamkalam T, Thiruvahindrapuram B, Papaz T, Pearson CE, Ragoussis J, Subbarao P, Azad MB, Turvey SE, Mandhane P, Moraes TJ, Simons E, Scherer SW, Lougheed J, Mondal T, Smythe J, Altamirano-Diaz L, Oechslin E, Mital S, Yuen RKC. Genome-wide enhancer-associated tandem repeats are expanded in cardiomyopathy. EBioMedicine 2024; 101:105027. [PMID: 38418263 PMCID: PMC10944212 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2024.105027] [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: 09/29/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 03/01/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cardiomyopathy is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous heart condition that can lead to heart failure and sudden cardiac death in childhood. While it has a strong genetic basis, the genetic aetiology for over 50% of cardiomyopathy cases remains unknown. METHODS In this study, we analyse the characteristics of tandem repeats from genome sequence data of unrelated individuals diagnosed with cardiomyopathy from Canada and the United Kingdom (n = 1216) and compare them to those found in the general population. We perform burden analysis to identify genomic and epigenomic features that are impacted by rare tandem repeat expansions (TREs), and enrichment analysis to identify functional pathways that are involved in the TRE-associated genes in cardiomyopathy. We use Oxford Nanopore targeted long-read sequencing to validate repeat size and methylation status of one of the most recurrent TREs. We also compare the TRE-associated genes to those that are dysregulated in the heart tissues of individuals with cardiomyopathy. FINDINGS We demonstrate that tandem repeats that are rarely expanded in the general population are predominantly expanded in cardiomyopathy. We find that rare TREs are disproportionately present in constrained genes near transcriptional start sites, have high GC content, and frequently overlap active enhancer H3K27ac marks, where expansion-related DNA methylation may reduce gene expression. We demonstrate the gene silencing effect of expanded CGG tandem repeats in DIP2B through promoter hypermethylation. We show that the enhancer-associated loci are found in genes that are highly expressed in human cardiomyocytes and are differentially expressed in the left ventricle of the heart in individuals with cardiomyopathy. INTERPRETATION Our findings highlight the underrecognized contribution of rare tandem repeat expansions to the risk of cardiomyopathy and suggest that rare TREs contribute to ∼4% of cardiomyopathy risk. FUNDING Government of Ontario (RKCY), The Canadian Institutes of Health Research PJT 175329 (RKCY), The Azrieli Foundation (RKCY), SickKids Catalyst Scholar in Genetics (RKCY), The University of Toronto McLaughlin Centre (RKCY, SM), Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research (SM), Data Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto (SM), The Canadian Institutes of Health Research PJT 175034 (SM), The Canadian Institutes of Health Research ENP 161429 under the frame of ERA PerMed (SM, RL), Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario & Robert M Freedom Chair in Cardiovascular Science (SM), Bitove Family Professorship of Adult Congenital Heart Disease (EO), Canada Foundation for Innovation (SWS, JR), Canada Research Chair (PS), Genome Canada (PS, JR), The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (PS).
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleksandra Mitina
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Mahreen Khan
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Robert Lesurf
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Yue Yin
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Worrawat Engchuan
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Omar Hamdan
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Giovanna Pellecchia
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Brett Trost
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Ian Backstrom
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Keyi Guo
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Linda M Pallotto
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Phoenix Hoi Lam Doong
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Zhuozhi Wang
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Thomas Nalpathamkalam
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Bhooma Thiruvahindrapuram
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Tanya Papaz
- Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Division of Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Christopher E Pearson
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jiannis Ragoussis
- McGill Genome Centre, Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Institute of Genomic Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Padmaja Subbarao
- Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Program in Translation Medicine & Division of Respiratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Meghan B Azad
- Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Stuart E Turvey
- Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Piushkumar Mandhane
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Theo J Moraes
- Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Program in Translation Medicine & Division of Respiratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Elinor Simons
- Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Section of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Stephen W Scherer
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Molecular Genetics and McLaughlin Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jane Lougheed
- Division of Cardiology, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Tapas Mondal
- Division of Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, McMaster Children's Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - John Smythe
- Division of Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Luis Altamirano-Diaz
- Division of Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Erwin Oechslin
- Division of Cardiology, Toronto Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program at Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, Department of Medicine, University Health Network, and University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Seema Mital
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Division of Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto; Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
| | - Ryan K C Yuen
- Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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Broeckel U, Iqbal MA, Levy B, Sahajpal N, Nagy PL, Scharer G, Rodriguez V, Bossler A, Stence A, Skinner C, Skinner SA, Kolhe R, Stevenson R. Detection of Constitutional Structural Variants by Optical Genome Mapping: A Multisite Study of Postnatal Samples. J Mol Diagn 2024; 26:213-226. [PMID: 38211722 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoldx.2023.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Optical genome mapping is a high-resolution technology that can detect all types of structural variations in the genome. This second phase of a multisite study compares the performance of optical genome mapping and current standard-of-care methods for diagnostic testing of individuals with constitutional disorders, including neurodevelopmental impairments and congenital anomalies. Among the 627 analyses in phase 2, 405 were of retrospective samples supplied by five diagnostic centers in the United States and 94 were prospective samples collected over 18 months by two diagnostic centers (June 2021 to October 2022). Additional samples represented a family cohort to determine inheritance (n = 119) and controls (n = 9). Full concordance of results between optical genome mapping and one or more standard-of-care diagnostic tests was 98.6% (618/627), with partial concordance in an additional 1.1% (7/627).
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulrich Broeckel
- Section of Genomic Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
| | - M Anwar Iqbal
- DNA Microarray CGH Laboratory, Department of Pathology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York
| | - Brynn Levy
- Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York
| | | | - Peter L Nagy
- Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York
| | - Gunter Scharer
- Section of Genomic Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
| | | | | | - Aaron Stence
- University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa
| | | | | | - Ravindra Kolhe
- Department of Pathology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia.
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Trajkovski M, Pastore A, Plavec J. Dimeric structures of DNA ATTTC repeats promoted by divalent cations. Nucleic Acids Res 2024; 52:1591-1601. [PMID: 38296828 PMCID: PMC10899783 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkae052] [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: 10/26/2023] [Revised: 01/10/2024] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Structural studies of repetitive DNA sequences may provide insights why and how certain repeat instabilities in their number and nucleotide sequence are managed or even required for normal cell physiology, while genomic variability associated with repeat expansions may also be disease-causing. The pentanucleotide ATTTC repeats occur in hundreds of genes important for various cellular processes, while their insertion and expansion in noncoding regions are associated with neurodegeneration, particularly with subtypes of spinocerebellar ataxia and familial adult myoclonic epilepsy. We describe a new striking domain-swapped DNA-DNA interaction triggered by the addition of divalent cations, including Mg2+ and Ca2+. The results of NMR characterization of d(ATTTC)3 in solution show that the oligonucleotide folds into a novel 3D architecture with two central C:C+ base pairs sandwiched between a couple of T:T base pairs. This structural element, referred to here as the TCCTzip, is characterized by intercalative hydrogen-bonding, while the nucleobase moieties are poorly stacked. The 5'- and 3'-ends of TCCTzip motif are connected by stem-loop segments characterized by A:T base pairs and stacking interactions. Insights embodied in the non-canonical DNA structure are expected to advance our understanding of why only certain pyrimidine-rich DNA repeats appear to be pathogenic, while others can occur in the human genome without any harmful consequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marko Trajkovski
- Slovenian NMR Centre, National Institute of Chemistry, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Annalisa Pastore
- King's College London, the Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, London, UK
| | - Janez Plavec
- Slovenian NMR Centre, National Institute of Chemistry, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
- EN-FIST, Center of Excellence, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
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42
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Wan L, He A, Li J, Guo P, Han D. High-Resolution NMR Structures of Intrastrand Hairpins Formed by CTG Trinucleotide Repeats. ACS Chem Neurosci 2024; 15:868-876. [PMID: 38319692 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.3c00769] [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: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
The CAG and CTG trinucleotide repeat expansions cause more than 10 human neurodegenerative diseases. Intrastrand hairpins formed by trinucleotide repeats contribute to repeat expansions, establishing them as potential drug targets. High-resolution structural determination of CAG and CTG hairpins poses as a long-standing goal to aid drug development, yet it has not been realized due to the intrinsic conformational flexibility of repetitive sequences. We herein investigate the solution structures of CTG hairpins using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and found that four CTG repeats with a clamping G-C base pair was able to form a stable hairpin structure. We determine the first solution NMR structure of dG(CTG)4C hairpin and decipher a type I folding geometry of the TGCT tetraloop, wherein the two thymine residues form a T·T loop-closing base pair and the first three loop residues continuously stack. We further reveal that the CTG hairpin can be bound and stabilized by a small-molecule ligand, and the binding interferes with replication of a DNA template containing CTG repeats. Our determined high-resolution structures lay an important foundation for studying molecular interactions between native CTG hairpins and ligands, and benefit drug development for trinucleotide repeat expansion diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liqi Wan
- Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM), Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China
- Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310022, China
| | - Axin He
- Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM), Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China
- Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310022, China
| | - Jinxing Li
- ReviR Therapeutics, Shenzhen Bay Hi-Tech Ecological Park, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518067, China
| | - Pei Guo
- Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310022, China
| | - Da Han
- Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM), Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China
- Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310022, China
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Liu Q, Chen J, Xue J, Zhou X, Tian Y, Xiao Q, Huang W, Pan Y, Zhou X, Li J, Zhao Y, Pan H, Wang Y, He R, Xiang Y, Tu T, Xu Q, Sun Q, Tan J, Yan X, Li J, Guo J, Shen L, Duan R, Tang B, Liu Z. GGC expansions in NOTCH2NLC contribute to Parkinson disease and dopaminergic neuron degeneration. Eur J Neurol 2024; 31:e16145. [PMID: 37975799 DOI: 10.1111/ene.16145] [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: 05/27/2023] [Revised: 09/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The role of GGC repeat expansions within NOTCH2NLC in Parkinson's disease (PD) and the substantia nigra (SN) dopaminergic neuron remains unclear. Here, we profile the NOTCH2NLC GGC repeat expansions in a large cohort of patients with PD. We also investigate the role of GGC repeat expansions within NOTCH2NLC in the dopaminergic neurodegeneration of SN. METHODS A total of 2,522 patients diagnosed with PD and 1,085 health controls were analyzed for the repeat expansions of NOTCH2NLC by repeat-primed PCR and GC-rich PCR assay. Furthermore, the effects of GGC repeat expansions in NOTCH2NLC on dopaminergic neurons were investigated by using recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated overexpression of NOTCH2NLC with 98 GGC repeats in the SN of mice by stereotactic injection. RESULTS Four PD pedigrees (4/333, 1.2%) and three sporadic PD patients (3/2189, 0.14%) were identified with pathogenic GGC repeat expansions (larger than 60 GGC repeats) in the NOTCH2NLC gene, while eight PD patients and one healthy control were identified with intermediate GGC repeat expansions ranging from 41 to 60 repeats. No significant difference was observed in the distribution of intermediate NOTCH2NLC GGC repeat expansions between PD cases and controls (Fisher's exact test p-value = 0.29). Skin biopsy showed P62-positive intranuclear NOTCH2NLC-polyGlycine (polyG) inclusions in the skin nerve fibers of patient. Expanded GGC repeats in NOTCH2NLC produced widespread intranuclear and perinuclear polyG inclusions, which led to a severe loss of dopaminergic neurons in the SN. Consistently, polyG inclusions were presented in the SN of EIIa-NOTCH2NLC-(GGC)98 transgenic mice and also led to dopaminergic neuron loss in the SN. CONCLUSIONS Overall, our findings provide strong evidence that GGC repeat expansions within NOTCH2NLC contribute to the pathogenesis of PD and cause degeneration of nigral dopaminergic neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiong Liu
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Juan Chen
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Jin Xue
- Center for Medical Genetics and Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Xun Zhou
- Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Yun Tian
- Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Qiao Xiao
- Center for Medical Genetics and Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Wen Huang
- Center for Medical Genetics and Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Yongcheng Pan
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Xiaoxia Zhou
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Jian Li
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Yuwen Zhao
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Hongxu Pan
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Yige Wang
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Runcheng He
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Yaqin Xiang
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Tian Tu
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Qian Xu
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Qiying Sun
- Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Jieqiong Tan
- Center for Medical Genetics and Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Xinxiang Yan
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Jinchen Li
- Center for Medical Genetics and Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Jifeng Guo
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Lu Shen
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Ranhui Duan
- Center for Medical Genetics and Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Beisha Tang
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Zhenhua Liu
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
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Novis LE, Alavi S, Pellerin D, Della Coleta MV, Raskin S, Spitz M, Cortese A, Houlden H, Teive HA. Unraveling the genetic landscape of undiagnosed cerebellar ataxia in Brazilian patients. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2024; 119:105961. [PMID: 38145611 DOI: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2023.105961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Revised: 12/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/27/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Hereditary ataxias (HAs) encompass a diverse and genetically intricate group of rare neurodegenerative disorders, presenting diagnostic challenges. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) has significantly improved diagnostic success. This study aimed to elucidate genetic causes of cerebellar ataxia within a diverse Brazilian cohort. METHODS Biological samples were collected from individuals with sporadic or familial cerebellar ataxia, spanning various ages and phenotypes, excluding common SCAs and Friedreich ataxia. RFC1 biallelic AAGGG repeat expansion was screened in all patients. For AAGGG-negative cases, WES targeting 441 ataxia-related genes was performed, followed by ExpansionHunter analysis for repeat expansions, including the recently described GGC-ZFHX3. Variant classification adhered to ClinGen guidelines, yielding definitive or probable diagnoses. RESULTS The study involved 76 diverse Brazilian families. 16 % received definitive diagnoses, and another 16 % received probable ones. RFC1-related ataxia was predominant, with two definitive cases, followed by KIF1A (one definitive and one probable) and SYNE-1 (two probable). Early-onset cases exhibited higher diagnostic rates. ExpansionHunter improved diagnosis by 4 %.We did not detected GGC-ZFHX3 repeat expansion in this cohort. CONCLUSION This study highlights diagnostic complexities in cerebellar ataxia, even with advanced genetic methods. RFC1, KIF1A, and SYNE1 emerged as prevalent mutations. ZFHX3 repeat expansion seem to be rare in Brazilian population. Early-onset cases showed higher diagnostic success. WES coupled with ExpansionHunter holds promise as a primary diagnostic tool, emphasizing the need for broader NGS accessibility in Brazil.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luiz Eduardo Novis
- Pós-graduação em Medicina Interna e Ciências da Saúde, Hospital de Clínicas da Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil; Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK.
| | - Shahryar Alavi
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK
| | - David Pellerin
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK; Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Hospital and Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | | | | | - Mariana Spitz
- Departamento de Especialidades Médicas, Serviço de Neurologia, Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Andrea Cortese
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK; Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Henry Houlden
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK
| | - Helio Afonso Teive
- Pós-graduação em Medicina Interna e Ciências da Saúde, Hospital de Clínicas da Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
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Lu J, Toro C, Adams DR, Moreno CAM, Lee WP, Leung YY, Harms MB, Vardarajan B, Heinzen EL. LUSTR: a new customizable tool for calling genome-wide germline and somatic short tandem repeat variants. BMC Genomics 2024; 25:115. [PMID: 38279154 PMCID: PMC10811831 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-023-09935-9] [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: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/28/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Short tandem repeats (STRs) are widely distributed across the human genome and are associated with numerous neurological disorders. However, the extent that STRs contribute to disease is likely under-estimated because of the challenges calling these variants in short read next generation sequencing data. Several computational tools have been developed for STR variant calling, but none fully address all of the complexities associated with this variant class. RESULTS Here we introduce LUSTR which is designed to address some of the challenges associated with STR variant calling by enabling more flexibility in defining STR loci, allowing for customizable modules to tailor analyses, and expanding the capability to call somatic and multiallelic STR variants. LUSTR is a user-friendly and easily customizable tool for targeted or unbiased genome-wide STR variant screening that can use either predefined or novel genome builds. Using both simulated and real data sets, we demonstrated that LUSTR accurately infers germline and somatic STR expansions in individuals with and without diseases. CONCLUSIONS LUSTR offers a powerful and user-friendly approach that allows for the identification of STR variants and can facilitate more comprehensive studies evaluating the role of pathogenic STR variants across human diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinfeng Lu
- Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
- The Taub Institute for Research On Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, Department of Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, The New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
| | - Camilo Toro
- NIH Undiagnosed Diseases Program, National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - David R Adams
- NIH Undiagnosed Diseases Program, National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | | | - Wan-Ping Lee
- Penn Neurodegeneration Genomics Center, Department of Pathology and Laboratory MedicinePerelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Yuk Yee Leung
- Penn Neurodegeneration Genomics Center, Department of Pathology and Laboratory MedicinePerelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Mathew B Harms
- Department of Neurology, Division of Neuromuscular Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | - Badri Vardarajan
- The Taub Institute for Research On Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, Department of Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, The New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | - Erin L Heinzen
- Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
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Hong EP, Ramos EM, Aziz NA, Massey TH, McAllister B, Lobanov S, Jones L, Holmans P, Kwak S, Orth M, Ciosi M, Lomeikaite V, Monckton DG, Long JD, Lucente D, Wheeler VC, Gillis T, MacDonald ME, Sequeiros J, Gusella JF, Lee JM. Modification of Huntington's disease by short tandem repeats. Brain Commun 2024; 6:fcae016. [PMID: 38449714 PMCID: PMC10917446 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcae016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Expansions of glutamine-coding CAG trinucleotide repeats cause a number of neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington's disease and several of spinocerebellar ataxias. In general, age-at-onset of the polyglutamine diseases is inversely correlated with the size of the respective inherited expanded CAG repeat. Expanded CAG repeats are also somatically unstable in certain tissues, and age-at-onset of Huntington's disease corrected for individual HTT CAG repeat length (i.e. residual age-at-onset), is modified by repeat instability-related DNA maintenance/repair genes as demonstrated by recent genome-wide association studies. Modification of one polyglutamine disease (e.g. Huntington's disease) by the repeat length of another (e.g. ATXN3, CAG expansions in which cause spinocerebellar ataxia 3) has also been hypothesized. Consequently, we determined whether age-at-onset in Huntington's disease is modified by the CAG repeats of other polyglutamine disease genes. We found that the CAG measured repeat sizes of other polyglutamine disease genes that were polymorphic in Huntington's disease participants but did not influence Huntington's disease age-at-onset. Additional analysis focusing specifically on ATXN3 in a larger sample set (n = 1388) confirmed the lack of association between Huntington's disease residual age-at-onset and ATXN3 CAG repeat length. Additionally, neither our Huntington's disease onset modifier genome-wide association studies single nucleotide polymorphism data nor imputed short tandem repeat data supported the involvement of other polyglutamine disease genes in modifying Huntington's disease. By contrast, our genome-wide association studies based on imputed short tandem repeats revealed significant modification signals for other genomic regions. Together, our short tandem repeat genome-wide association studies show that modification of Huntington's disease is associated with short tandem repeats that do not involve other polyglutamine disease-causing genes, refining the landscape of Huntington's disease modification and highlighting the importance of rigorous data analysis, especially in genetic studies testing candidate modifiers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eun Pyo Hong
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, The Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Eliana Marisa Ramos
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - N Ahmad Aziz
- Population & Clinical Neuroepidemiology, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, 53127 Bonn, Germany
- Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bonn, Bonn D-53113, Germany
| | - Thomas H Massey
- Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - Branduff McAllister
- Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - Sergey Lobanov
- Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - Lesley Jones
- Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - Peter Holmans
- Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - Seung Kwak
- Molecular System Biology, CHDI Foundation, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Michael Orth
- University Hospital of Old Age Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Bern University, CH-3000 Bern 60, Switzerland
| | - Marc Ciosi
- School of Molecular Biosciences, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Vilija Lomeikaite
- School of Molecular Biosciences, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Darren G Monckton
- School of Molecular Biosciences, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Jeffrey D Long
- Department of Psychiatry, Carver College of Medicine and Department of Biostatistics, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
| | - Diane Lucente
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Vanessa C Wheeler
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Tammy Gillis
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Marcy E MacDonald
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, The Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Jorge Sequeiros
- UnIGENe, IBMC—Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, i3S—Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto 420-135, Portugal
- ICBAS School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, Porto 420-135, Portugal
| | - James F Gusella
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, The Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Jong-Min Lee
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, The Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
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Manigbas CA, Jadhav B, Garg P, Shadrina M, Lee W, Martin-Trujillo A, Sharp AJ. A phenome-wide association study of tandem repeat variation in 168,554 individuals from the UK Biobank. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2024.01.22.24301630. [PMID: 38343850 PMCID: PMC10854328 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.22.24301630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2024]
Abstract
Most genetic association studies focus on binary variants. To identify the effects of multi-allelic variation of tandem repeats (TRs) on human traits, we performed direct TR genotyping and phenome-wide association studies in 168,554 individuals from the UK Biobank, identifying 47 TRs showing causal associations with 73 traits. We replicated 23 of 31 (74%) of these causal associations in the All of Us cohort. While this set included several known repeat expansion disorders, novel associations we found were attributable to common polymorphic variation in TR length rather than rare expansions and include e.g. a coding polyhistidine motif in HRCT1 influencing risk of hypertension and a poly(CGC) in the 5'UTR of GNB2 influencing heart rate. Causal TRs were strongly enriched for associations with local gene expression and DNA methylation. Our study highlights the contribution of multi-allelic TRs to the "missing heritability" of the human genome.
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48
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Behera S, Catreux S, Rossi M, Truong S, Huang Z, Ruehle M, Visvanath A, Parnaby G, Roddey C, Onuchic V, Cameron DL, English A, Mehtalia S, Han J, Mehio R, Sedlazeck FJ. Comprehensive and accurate genome analysis at scale using DRAGEN accelerated algorithms. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.02.573821. [PMID: 38260545 PMCID: PMC10802302 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.02.573821] [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
Research and medical genomics require comprehensive and scalable solutions to drive the discovery of novel disease targets, evolutionary drivers, and genetic markers with clinical significance. This necessitates a framework to identify all types of variants independent of their size (e.g., SNV/SV) or location (e.g., repeats). Here we present DRAGEN that utilizes novel methods based on multigenomes, hardware acceleration, and machine learning based variant detection to provide novel insights into individual genomes with ~30min computation time (from raw reads to variant detection). DRAGEN outperforms all other state-of-the-art methods in speed and accuracy across all variant types (SNV, indel, STR, SV, CNV) and further incorporates specialized methods to obtain key insights in medically relevant genes (e.g., HLA, SMN, GBA). We showcase DRAGEN across 3,202 genomes and demonstrate its scalability, accuracy, and innovations to further advance the integration of comprehensive genomics for research and medical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sairam Behera
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Adam English
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | | | | | | | - Fritz J Sedlazeck
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, TX, USA
- Department of Computer Science, Rice University, TX, USA
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Wallenius J, Kafantari E, Jhaveri E, Gorcenco S, Ameur A, Karremo C, Dobloug S, Karrman K, de Koning T, Ilinca A, Landqvist Waldö M, Arvidsson A, Persson S, Englund E, Ehrencrona H, Puschmann A. Exonic trinucleotide repeat expansions in ZFHX3 cause spinocerebellar ataxia type 4: A poly-glycine disease. Am J Hum Genet 2024; 111:82-95. [PMID: 38035881 PMCID: PMC10806739 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2023.11.008] [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: 10/23/2023] [Revised: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 11/19/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Autosomal-dominant ataxia with sensory and autonomic neuropathy is a highly specific combined phenotype that we described in two Swedish kindreds in 2014; its genetic cause had remained unknown. Here, we report the discovery of exonic GGC trinucleotide repeat expansions, encoding poly-glycine, in zinc finger homeobox 3 (ZFHX3) in these families. The expansions were identified in whole-genome datasets within genomic segments that all affected family members shared. Non-expanded alleles carried one or more interruptions within the repeat. We also found ZFHX3 repeat expansions in three additional families, all from the region of Skåne in southern Sweden. Individuals with expanded repeats developed balance and gait disturbances at 15 to 60 years of age and had sensory neuropathy and slow saccades. Anticipation was observed in all families and correlated with different repeat lengths determined through long-read sequencing in two family members. The most severely affected individuals had marked autonomic dysfunction, with severe orthostatism as the most disabling clinical feature. Neuropathology revealed p62-positive intracytoplasmic and intranuclear inclusions in neurons of the central and enteric nervous system, as well as alpha-synuclein positivity. ZFHX3 is located within the 16q22 locus, to which spinocerebellar ataxia type 4 (SCA4) repeatedly had been mapped; the clinical phenotype in our families corresponded well with the unique phenotype described in SCA4, and the original SCA4 kindred originated from Sweden. ZFHX3 has known functions in neuronal development and differentiation n both the central and peripheral nervous system. Our findings demonstrate that SCA4 is caused by repeat expansions in ZFHX3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joel Wallenius
- Neurology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 222 42 Lund, Sweden
| | - Efthymia Kafantari
- Neurology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 222 42 Lund, Sweden
| | - Emma Jhaveri
- Neurology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 222 42 Lund, Sweden
| | - Sorina Gorcenco
- Neurology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 222 42 Lund, Sweden
| | - Adam Ameur
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, 751 23 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Christin Karremo
- Neurology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 222 42 Lund, Sweden
| | - Sigurd Dobloug
- Neurology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 222 42 Lund, Sweden; Department of Neurology, Helsingborg General Hospital, 252 23 Helsingborg, Sweden
| | - Kristina Karrman
- Division of Clinical Genetics, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, 222 42 Lund, Sweden; Department of Clinical Genetics, Pathology and Molecular Diagnostics, Office for Medical Services, Region Skåne, 221 85 Lund, Sweden
| | - Tom de Koning
- Pediatrics, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, 221 84 Lund, Sweden
| | - Andreea Ilinca
- Neurology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 222 42 Lund, Sweden
| | - Maria Landqvist Waldö
- Division of Clinical Sciences Helsingborg, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, 221 84 Lund, Sweden
| | - Andreas Arvidsson
- Neurology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 222 42 Lund, Sweden
| | - Staffan Persson
- Neurology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 222 42 Lund, Sweden
| | - Elisabet Englund
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Pathology and Molecular Diagnostics, Office for Medical Services, Region Skåne, 221 85 Lund, Sweden; Pathology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 222 42 Lund, Sweden
| | - Hans Ehrencrona
- Division of Clinical Genetics, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, 222 42 Lund, Sweden; Department of Clinical Genetics, Pathology and Molecular Diagnostics, Office for Medical Services, Region Skåne, 221 85 Lund, Sweden
| | - Andreas Puschmann
- Neurology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, 222 42 Lund, Sweden; SciLifeLab National Research Infrastructure, Lund University, 221 84 Lund, Sweden.
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TRGT-ing the dark genome to accurately characterize tandem repeats at scale. Nat Biotechnol 2024:10.1038/s41587-023-02073-3. [PMID: 38168998 DOI: 10.1038/s41587-023-02073-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
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