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Makhdoom EUH, Waseem SS, Iqbal M, Abdullah U, Hussain G, Asif M, Budde B, Höhne W, Tinschert S, Saadi SM, Yousaf H, Ali Z, Fatima A, Kaygusuz E, Khan A, Jameel M, Khan S, Tariq M, Anjum I, Altmüller J, Thiele H, Höning S, Baig SM, Nürnberg P, Hussain MS. Modifier Genes in Microcephaly: A Report on WDR62, CEP63, RAD50 and PCNT Variants Exacerbating Disease Caused by Biallelic Mutations of ASPM and CENPJ. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:731. [PMID: 34068194 PMCID: PMC8153008 DOI: 10.3390/genes12050731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2021] [Revised: 05/09/2021] [Accepted: 05/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Congenital microcephaly is the clinical presentation of significantly reduced head circumference at birth. It manifests as both non-syndromic-microcephaly primary hereditary (MCPH)-and syndromic forms and shows considerable inter- and intrafamilial variability. It has been hypothesized that additional genetic variants may be responsible for this variability, but data are sparse. We have conducted deep phenotyping and genotyping of five Pakistani multiplex families with either MCPH (n = 3) or Seckel syndrome (n = 2). In addition to homozygous causal variants in ASPM or CENPJ, we discovered additional heterozygous modifier variants in WDR62, CEP63, RAD50 and PCNT-genes already known to be associated with neurological disorders. MCPH patients carrying an additional heterozygous modifier variant showed more severe phenotypic features. Likewise, the phenotype of Seckel syndrome caused by a novel CENPJ variant was aggravated to microcephalic osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II (MOPDII) in conjunction with an additional PCNT variant. We show that the CENPJ missense variant impairs splicing and decreases protein expression. We also observed centrosome amplification errors in patient cells, which were twofold higher in MOPDII as compared to Seckel cells. Taken together, these observations advocate for consideration of additional variants in related genes for their role in modifying the expressivity of the phenotype and need to be considered in genetic counseling and risk assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ehtisham Ul Haq Makhdoom
- Cologne Center for Genomics (CCG), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany; (E.U.H.M.); (S.S.W.); (M.I.); (M.A.); (B.B.); (W.H.); (J.A.); (H.T.); (P.N.)
- Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Health Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) College, PIEAS, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan; (S.M.S.); (H.Y.); (A.K.); (M.J.); (S.K.); (M.T.); (S.M.B.)
- Neurochemicalbiology and Genetics Laboratory (NGL), Department of Physiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan;
| | - Syeda Seema Waseem
- Cologne Center for Genomics (CCG), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany; (E.U.H.M.); (S.S.W.); (M.I.); (M.A.); (B.B.); (W.H.); (J.A.); (H.T.); (P.N.)
- Institute of Biochemistry I, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany;
| | - Maria Iqbal
- Cologne Center for Genomics (CCG), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany; (E.U.H.M.); (S.S.W.); (M.I.); (M.A.); (B.B.); (W.H.); (J.A.); (H.T.); (P.N.)
- Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Health Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) College, PIEAS, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan; (S.M.S.); (H.Y.); (A.K.); (M.J.); (S.K.); (M.T.); (S.M.B.)
- Institute of Biochemistry I, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany;
| | - Uzma Abdullah
- University Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology (UIBB), PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan;
| | - Ghulam Hussain
- Neurochemicalbiology and Genetics Laboratory (NGL), Department of Physiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan;
| | - Maria Asif
- Cologne Center for Genomics (CCG), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany; (E.U.H.M.); (S.S.W.); (M.I.); (M.A.); (B.B.); (W.H.); (J.A.); (H.T.); (P.N.)
- Institute of Biochemistry I, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany;
| | - Birgit Budde
- Cologne Center for Genomics (CCG), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany; (E.U.H.M.); (S.S.W.); (M.I.); (M.A.); (B.B.); (W.H.); (J.A.); (H.T.); (P.N.)
| | - Wolfgang Höhne
- Cologne Center for Genomics (CCG), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany; (E.U.H.M.); (S.S.W.); (M.I.); (M.A.); (B.B.); (W.H.); (J.A.); (H.T.); (P.N.)
| | - Sigrid Tinschert
- Zentrum Medizinische Genetik, Medizinische Universität, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria;
| | - Saadia Maryam Saadi
- Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Health Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) College, PIEAS, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan; (S.M.S.); (H.Y.); (A.K.); (M.J.); (S.K.); (M.T.); (S.M.B.)
| | - Hammad Yousaf
- Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Health Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) College, PIEAS, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan; (S.M.S.); (H.Y.); (A.K.); (M.J.); (S.K.); (M.T.); (S.M.B.)
| | - Zafar Ali
- Centre for Biotechnology and Microbiology, University of Swat, Swat 19130, Pakistan;
| | - Ambrin Fatima
- Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi 74000, Pakistan;
| | - Emrah Kaygusuz
- Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University, Molecular Biology and Genetics, Gülümbe Campus, Bilecik 11230, Turkey;
| | - Ayaz Khan
- Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Health Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) College, PIEAS, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan; (S.M.S.); (H.Y.); (A.K.); (M.J.); (S.K.); (M.T.); (S.M.B.)
| | - Muhammad Jameel
- Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Health Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) College, PIEAS, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan; (S.M.S.); (H.Y.); (A.K.); (M.J.); (S.K.); (M.T.); (S.M.B.)
| | - Sheraz Khan
- Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Health Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) College, PIEAS, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan; (S.M.S.); (H.Y.); (A.K.); (M.J.); (S.K.); (M.T.); (S.M.B.)
| | - Muhammad Tariq
- Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Health Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) College, PIEAS, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan; (S.M.S.); (H.Y.); (A.K.); (M.J.); (S.K.); (M.T.); (S.M.B.)
| | - Iram Anjum
- Department of Biotechnology, Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore 54000, Pakistan;
| | - Janine Altmüller
- Cologne Center for Genomics (CCG), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany; (E.U.H.M.); (S.S.W.); (M.I.); (M.A.); (B.B.); (W.H.); (J.A.); (H.T.); (P.N.)
| | - Holger Thiele
- Cologne Center for Genomics (CCG), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany; (E.U.H.M.); (S.S.W.); (M.I.); (M.A.); (B.B.); (W.H.); (J.A.); (H.T.); (P.N.)
| | - Stefan Höning
- Institute of Biochemistry I, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany;
| | - Shahid Mahmood Baig
- Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Health Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) College, PIEAS, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan; (S.M.S.); (H.Y.); (A.K.); (M.J.); (S.K.); (M.T.); (S.M.B.)
- Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi 74000, Pakistan;
- Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF), 1- Constitution Avenue, G-5/2, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
| | - Peter Nürnberg
- Cologne Center for Genomics (CCG), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany; (E.U.H.M.); (S.S.W.); (M.I.); (M.A.); (B.B.); (W.H.); (J.A.); (H.T.); (P.N.)
- Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC), University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
| | - Muhammad Sajid Hussain
- Cologne Center for Genomics (CCG), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany; (E.U.H.M.); (S.S.W.); (M.I.); (M.A.); (B.B.); (W.H.); (J.A.); (H.T.); (P.N.)
- Institute of Biochemistry I, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany;
- Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC), University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
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