Gene family information facilitates variant interpretation and identification of disease-associated genes in neurodevelopmental disorders

in Genome Medicine (2020), 12(28),

Background: Classifying pathogenicity of missense variants represents a major challenge in clinical practice during the diagnoses of rare and genetic heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs ... [more ▼]

Background: Classifying pathogenicity of missense variants represents a major challenge in clinical practice during the diagnoses of rare and genetic heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). While orthologous gene conservation is commonly employed in variant annotation, approximately 80% of known disease-associated genes belong to gene families. The use of gene family information for disease gene discovery and variant interpretation has not yet been investigated on genome-wide scale. We empirically evaluate whether paralog conserved or non-conserved sites in human gene families are important in NDDs. Methods: Gene family information was collected from Ensembl. Paralog conserved sites were defined based on paralog sequence alignments. 10,068 NDD patients and 2,078 controls were statistically evaluated for de novo variant burden in gene families. Results: We demonstrate that disease-associated missense variants are enriched at paralog conserved sites across all disease groups and inheritance models tested. We developed a gene family de novo enrichment framework that identified 43 exome-wide enriched gene families including 98 de novo variant carrying genes in NDD patients of which 28 represent novel candidate genes for NDD which are brain expressed and under evolutionary constraint. Conclusion: This study represents the first method to incorporate gene-family information into a statistical framework to interpret variant data for NDDs and to discover newly NDD -associated genes. [less ▲]

CHD2 myoclonic encephalopathy is frequently associated with self-induced seizures

in Neurology (2015), 84(9), 951-958

Objective: To delineate the phenotype of early childhood epileptic encephalopathy due to de novo mutations of CHD2, which encodes the chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 2. Methods: We analyzed the ... [more ▼]

Objective: To delineate the phenotype of early childhood epileptic encephalopathy due to de novo mutations of CHD2, which encodes the chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 2. Methods: We analyzed the medical history, MRI, and video-EEG recordings of 9 individuals with de novo CHD2 mutations and one with a de novo 15q26 deletion encompassing CHD2. Results: Seizures began at a mean of 26 months (12–42) with myoclonic seizures in all 10 cases. Seven exhibited exquisite clinical photosensitivity; 6 self-induced with the television. Absence seizures occurred in 9 patients including typical (4), atypical (2), and absence seizures with eyelid myoclonias (4). Generalized tonic-clonic seizures occurred in 9 of 10 cases with a mean onset of 5.8 years. Convulsive and nonconvulsive status epilepticus were later features (6/10, mean onset 9 years). Tonic (40%) and atonic (30%) seizures also occurred. In 3 cases, an unusual seizure type, the atonic-myoclonic-absence was captured on video. A phenotypic spectrum was identified with 7 cases having moderate to severe intellectual disability and refractory seizures including tonic attacks. Their mean age at onset was 23 months. Three cases had a later age at onset (34 months) with relative preservation of intellect and an initial response to antiepileptic medication. Conclusion: The phenotypic spectrum of CHD2 encephalopathy has distinctive features of myoclonic epilepsy, marked clinical photosensitivity, atonic-myoclonic-absence, and intellectual disability ranging from mild to severe. Recognition of this genetic entity will permit earlier diagnosis and enable the development of targeted therapies. [less ▲]