Expanding the allelic spectrum of ELOVL4-related autosomal recessive neuro-ichthyosis.

BACKGROUND: Very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) composed of more than 20 carbon atoms are essential in the biosynthesis of cell membranes in the brain, skin, and retina. VLCFAs are elongated beyond 28 carbon atoms by ELOVL4 enzyme. Variants in ELOVL4 are associated with three Mendelian disorders: autosomal dominant (AD) Stargardt-like macular dystrophy type 3, AD spinocerebellar ataxia, and autosomal recessive disorder congenital ichthyosis, spastic quadriplegia and impaired intellectual development (ISQMR). Only seven subjects from five unrelated families with ISQMR have been described, all of which have biallelic single-nucleotide variants. METHODS: We performed clinical exome sequencing on probands from four unrelated families with neuro-ichthyosis. RESULTS: We identified three novel homozygous ELOVL4 variants. Two of the families originated from the same Saudi tribe and had the exact homozygous exonic deletion in ELOVL4, while the third and fourth probands had two different novel homozygous missense variants. Seven out of the eight affected subjects had profound developmental delay, epilepsy, axial hypotonia, peripheral hypertonia, and ichthyosis. Delayed myelination and corpus callosum hypoplasia were seen in two of five subjects with brain magnetic rosonance imaging and cerebral atrophy in three. CONCLUSION: Our study expands the allelic spectrum of ELOVL4-related ISQMR. The detection of the same exonic deletion in two unrelated Saudi family from same tribe suggests a tribal founder mutation.

Interstitial Deletion of 3q21 in a Kuwaiti Child with Multiple Congenital Anomalies-Expanding the Phenotype.

Interstitial deletions in the long arm of chromosome 3, although relatively rare, have previously been reported to be associated with several congenital anomalies and developmental delays. Around 11 individuals with interstitial deletion spanning the region 3q21 were reported to have overlapping phenotypes, including craniofacial dysmorphism, global developmental delay, skeletal manifestations, hypotonia, ophthalmological abnormalities, brain anomalies (mainly agenesis of corpus callosum), genitourinary tract anomalies, failure to thrive and microcephaly. We present a male individual from Kuwait with a 5.438 Mb interstitial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 3 (3q21.1q21.3) detected on the chromosomal microarray with previously unreported features, including feeding difficulties, gastroesophageal reflux, hypospadias, abdomino-scrotal hydrocele, chronic kidney disease, transaminitis, hypercalcemia, hypoglycemia, recurrent infections, inguinal hernia and cutis marmorata. Our report expands the phenotype associated with 3q21.1q21.3 while summarizing the cytogenetics and clinical data of the previously reported individuals with interstitial deletions involving 3q21, thus providing a comprehensive phenotypic summary.

Mutations in ELAC2 associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy impair mitochondrial tRNA 3'-end processing.

Mutations in either the mitochondrial or nuclear genomes are associated with a diverse group of human disorders characterized by impaired mitochondrial respiration. Within this group, an increasing number of mutations have been identified in nuclear genes involved in mitochondrial RNA metabolism, including ELAC2. The ELAC2 gene codes for the mitochondrial RNase Z, responsible for endonucleolytic cleavage of the 3' ends of mitochondrial pre-tRNAs. Here, we report the identification of 16 novel ELAC2 variants in individuals presenting with mitochondrial respiratory chain deficiency, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and lactic acidosis. We provide evidence for the pathogenicity of the novel missense variants by studying the RNase Z activity in an in vitro system. We also modeled the residues affected by a missense mutation in solved RNase Z structures, providing insight into enzyme structure and function. Finally, we show that primary fibroblasts from the affected individuals have elevated levels of unprocessed mitochondrial RNA precursors. Our study thus broadly confirms the correlation of ELAC2 variants with severe infantile-onset forms of HCM and mitochondrial respiratory chain dysfunction. One rare missense variant associated with the occurrence of prostate cancer (p.Arg781His) impairs the mitochondrial RNase Z activity of ELAC2, suggesting a functional link between tumorigenesis and mitochondrial RNA metabolism.

Circular RNA enrichment in platelets is a signature of transcriptome degradation.

In platelets, splicing and translation occur in the absence of a nucleus. However, the integrity and stability of mRNAs derived from megakaryocyte progenitor cells remain poorly quantified on a transcriptome-wide level. As circular RNAs (circRNAs) are resistant to degradation by exonucleases, their abundance relative to linear RNAs can be used as a surrogate marker for mRNA stability in the absence of transcription. Here we show that circRNAs are enriched in human platelets 17- to 188-fold relative to nucleated tissues and 14- to 26-fold relative to samples digested with RNAse R to selectively remove linear RNA. We compare RNAseq read depths inside and outside circRNAs to provide in silico evidence of transcript circularity, show that exons within circRNAs are enriched on average 12.7 times in platelets relative to nucleated tissues and identify 3162 genes significantly enriched for circRNAs, including some where all RNAseq reads appear to be derived from circular molecules. We also confirm that this is a feature of other anucleate cells through transcriptome sequencing of mature erythrocytes, demonstrate that circRNAs are not enriched in cultured megakaryocytes, and demonstrate that linear RNAs decay more rapidly than circRNAs in platelet preparations. Collectively, these results suggest that circulating platelets have lost >90% of their progenitor mRNAs and that translation in platelets occurs against the backdrop of a highly degraded transcriptome. Finally, we find that transcripts previously classified as products of reverse transcriptase template switching are both enriched in platelets and resistant to decay, countering the recent suggestion that up to 50% of rearranged RNAs are artifacts.

Identification of a neuronal transcription factor network involved in medulloblastoma development.

BACKGROUND: Medulloblastomas, the most frequent malignant brain tumours affecting children, comprise at least 4 distinct clinicogenetic subgroups. Aberrant sonic hedgehog (SHH) signalling is observed in approximately 25% of tumours and defines one subgroup. Although alterations in SHH pathway genes (e.g. PTCH1, SUFU) are observed in many of these tumours, high throughput genomic analyses have identified few other recurring mutations. Here, we have mutagenised the Ptch+/- murine tumour model using the Sleeping Beauty transposon system to identify additional genes and pathways involved in SHH subgroup medulloblastoma development. RESULTS: Mutagenesis significantly increased medulloblastoma frequency and identified 17 candidate cancer genes, including orthologs of genes somatically mutated (PTEN, CREBBP) or associated with poor outcome (PTEN, MYT1L) in the human disease. Strikingly, these candidate genes were enriched for transcription factors (p=2x10-5), the majority of which (6/7; Crebbp, Myt1L, Nfia, Nfib, Tead1 and Tgif2) were linked within a single regulatory network enriched for genes associated with a differentiated neuronal phenotype. Furthermore, activity of this network varied significantly between the human subgroups, was associated with metastatic disease, and predicted poor survival specifically within the SHH subgroup of tumours. Igf2, previously implicated in medulloblastoma, was the most differentially expressed gene in murine tumours with network perturbation, and network activity in both mouse and human tumours was characterised by enrichment for multiple gene-sets indicating increased cell proliferation, IGF signalling, MYC target upregulation, and decreased neuronal differentiation. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, our data support a model of medulloblastoma development in SB-mutagenised Ptch+/- mice which involves disruption of a novel transcription factor network leading to Igf2 upregulation, proliferation of GNPs, and tumour formation. Moreover, our results identify rational therapeutic targets for SHH subgroup tumours, alongside prognostic biomarkers for the identification of poor-risk SHH patients.

Post-transcriptional exon shuffling events in humans can be evolutionarily conserved and abundant.

In silico analyses have established that transcripts from some genes can be processed into RNAs with rearranged exon order relative to genomic structure (post-transcriptional exon shuffling, or PTES). Although known to contribute to transcriptome diversity in some species, to date the structure, distribution, abundance, and functional significance of human PTES transcripts remains largely unknown. Here, using high-throughput transcriptome sequencing, we identify 205 putative human PTES products from 176 genes. We validate 72 out of 112 products analyzed using RT-PCR, and identify additional PTES products structurally related to 61% of validated targets. Sequencing of these additional products reveals GT-AG dinucleotides at >95% of the splice junctions, confirming that they are processed by the spliceosome. We show that most PTES transcripts are expressed in a wide variety of human tissues, that they can be polyadenylated, and that some are conserved in mouse. We also show that they can extend into 5' and 3' UTRs, consistent with formation via trans-splicing of independent pre-mRNA molecules. Finally, we use real-time PCR to compare the abundance of PTES exon junctions relative to canonical exon junctions within the transcripts from seven genes. PTES exon junctions are present at <0.01% to >90% of the levels of canonical junctions, with transcripts from MAN1A2, PHC3, TLE4, and CDK13 exhibiting the highest levels. This is the first systematic experimental analysis of PTES in human, and it suggests both that the phenomenon is much more widespread than previously thought and that some PTES transcripts could be functional.