Genome-wide identification of tandem repeats associated with splicing variation across 49 tissues in humans.

Tandem repeats (TRs) are one of the largest sources of polymorphism, and their length is associated with gene regulation. Although previous studies reported several tandem repeats regulating gene splicing in cis (spl-TRs), no large-scale study has been conducted. In this study, we established a genome-wide catalog of 9537 spl-TRs with a total of 58,290 significant TR-splicing associations across 49 tissues (false discovery rate 5%) by using Genotype-Tissue expression (GTex) Project data. Regression models explaining splicing variation by using spl-TRs and other flanking variants suggest that at least some of the spl-TRs directly modulate splicing. In our catalog, two spl-TRs are known loci for repeat expansion diseases, spinocerebellar ataxia 6 (SCA6) and 12 (SCA12). Splicing alterations by these spl-TRs were compatible with those observed in SCA6 and SCA12. Thus, our comprehensive spl-TR catalog may help elucidate the pathomechanism of genetic diseases.

A reverse genetics and genomics approach to gene paralog function and disease: Myokymia and the juxtaparanode.

The leucine-rich glioma-inactivated (LGI) family consists of four highly conserved paralogous genes, LGI1-4, that are highly expressed in mammalian central and/or peripheral nervous systems. LGI1 antibodies are detected in subjects with autoimmune limbic encephalitis and peripheral nerve hyperexcitability syndromes (PNHSs) such as Isaacs and Morvan syndromes. Pathogenic variations of LGI1 and LGI4 are associated with neurological disorders as disease traits including familial temporal lobe epilepsy and neurogenic arthrogryposis multiplex congenita 1 with myelin defects, respectively. No human disease has been reported associated with either LGI2 or LGI3. We implemented exome sequencing and family-based genomics to identify individuals with deleterious variants in LGI3 and utilized GeneMatcher to connect practitioners and researchers worldwide to investigate the clinical and electrophysiological phenotype in affected subjects. We also generated Lgi3-null mice and performed peripheral nerve dissection and immunohistochemistry to examine the juxtaparanode LGI3 microarchitecture. As a result, we identified 16 individuals from eight unrelated families with loss-of-function (LoF) bi-allelic variants in LGI3. Deep phenotypic characterization showed LGI3 LoF causes a potentially clinically recognizable PNHS trait characterized by global developmental delay, intellectual disability, distal deformities with diminished reflexes, visible facial myokymia, and distinctive electromyographic features suggestive of motor nerve instability. Lgi3-null mice showed reduced and mis-localized Kv1 channel complexes in myelinated peripheral axons. Our data demonstrate bi-allelic LoF variants in LGI3 cause a clinically distinguishable disease trait of PNHS, most likely caused by disturbed Kv1 channel distribution in the absence of LGI3.

RNA Foci in Two bi-Allelic RFC1 Expansion Carriers.

Cerebellar ataxia, neuropathy, vestibular areflexia syndrome (CANVAS) is a late-onset, autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder caused by biallelic AAGGG/ACAGG repeat expansion (AAGGG-exp/ACAGG-exp) in RFC1. The recent identification of patients with CANVAS exhibiting compound heterozygosity for AAGGG-exp and truncating variants supports the loss-of-function of RFC1 in CANVAS patients. We investigated the pathological changes in 2 autopsied patients with CANVAS harboring biallelic ACAGG-exp and AAGGG-exp. RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization of the 2 patients revealed CCTGT- and CCCTT-containing RNA foci, respectively, in neuronal nuclei of tissues with neuronal loss. Our findings suggest that RNA toxicity may be involved in the pathogenesis of CANVAS. ANN NEUROL 2024;95:607-613.

Biallelic null variants in PNPLA8 cause microcephaly by reducing the number of basal radial glia.

Patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing lipase 8 (PNPLA8), one of the calcium-independent phospholipase A2 enzymes, is involved in various physiological processes through the maintenance of membrane phospholipids. Biallelic variants in PNPLA8 have been associated with a range of paediatric neurodegenerative disorders. However, the phenotypic spectrum, genotype-phenotype correlations and the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we newly identified 14 individuals from 12 unrelated families with biallelic ultra-rare variants in PNPLA8 presenting with a wide phenotypic spectrum of clinical features. Analysis of the clinical features of current and previously reported individuals (25 affected individuals across 20 families) showed that PNPLA8-related neurological diseases manifest as a continuum ranging from variable developmental and/or degenerative epileptic-dyskinetic encephalopathy to childhood-onset neurodegeneration. We found that complete loss of PNPLA8 was associated with the more profound end of the spectrum, with congenital microcephaly. Using cerebral organoids generated from human induced pluripotent stem cells, we found that loss of PNPLA8 led to developmental defects by reducing the number of basal radial glial cells and upper-layer neurons. Spatial transcriptomics revealed that loss of PNPLA8 altered the fate specification of apical radial glial cells, as reflected by the enrichment of gene sets related to the cell cycle, basal radial glial cells and neural differentiation. Neural progenitor cells lacking PNPLA8 showed a reduced amount of lysophosphatidic acid, lysophosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidic acid. The reduced number of basal radial glial cells in patient-derived cerebral organoids was rescued, in part, by the addition of lysophosphatidic acid. Our data suggest that PNPLA8 is crucial to meet phospholipid synthetic needs and to produce abundant basal radial glial cells in human brain development.

Complex chromosomal 6q rearrangements revealed by combined long-molecule genomics technologies.

Technologies for detecting structural variation (SV) have advanced with the advent of long-read sequencing, which enables the validation of SV at a nucleotide level. Optical genome mapping (OGM), a technology based on physical mapping, can also provide comprehensive SVs analysis. We applied long-read whole genome sequencing (LRWGS) to accurately reconstruct breakpoint (BP) segments in a patient with complex chromosome 6q rearrangements that remained elusive by conventional karyotyping. Although all BPs were precisely identified by LRWGS, there were two possible ways to construct the BP segments in terms of their orders and orientations. Thus, we also used OGM analysis. Notably, OGM recognized entire inversions exceeding 500 kb in size, which LRWGS could not characterize. Consequently, here we successfully unveil the full genomic structure of this complex chromosomal 6q rearrangement and cryptic SVs through combined long-molecule genomic analyses, showcasing how LRWGS and OGM can complement each other in SV analysis.

Monoallelic and bi-allelic variants in NCDN cause neurodevelopmental delay, intellectual disability, and epilepsy.

Neurochondrin (NCDN) is a cytoplasmatic neural protein of importance for neural growth, glutamate receptor (mGluR) signaling, and synaptic plasticity. Conditional loss of Ncdn in mice neural tissue causes depressive-like behaviors, impaired spatial learning, and epileptic seizures. We report on NCDN missense variants in six affected individuals with variable degrees of developmental delay, intellectual disability (ID), and seizures. Three siblings were found homozygous for a NCDN missense variant, whereas another three unrelated individuals carried different de novo missense variants in NCDN. We assayed the missense variants for their capability to rescue impaired neurite formation in human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells depleted of NCDN. Overexpression of wild-type NCDN rescued the neurite-phenotype in contrast to expression of NCDN containing the variants of affected individuals. Two missense variants, associated with severe neurodevelopmental features and epilepsy, were unable to restore mGluR5-induced ERK phosphorylation. Electrophysiological analysis of SH-SY5Y cells depleted of NCDN exhibited altered membrane potential and impaired action potentials at repolarization, suggesting NCDN to be required for normal biophysical properties. Using available transcriptome data from human fetal cortex, we show that NCDN is highly expressed in maturing excitatory neurons. In combination, our data provide evidence that bi-allelic and de novo variants in NCDN cause a clinically variable form of neurodevelopmental delay and epilepsy, highlighting a critical role for NCDN in human brain development.

Prevalence of repeat expansions causing autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxias in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan.

In Japan, approximately 30% of spinocerebellar degeneration (SCD) is hereditary, and more than 90% of hereditary SCD is autosomal dominant SCD (AD-SCD). We have previously reported the types of AD-SCD in Hokkaido, twice. In this study, we investigated the status of AD-SCD mainly due to repeat expansions, covering the period since the last report. We performed genetic analysis for 312 patients with a clinical diagnosis of SCD, except for multiple system atrophy at medical institutions in Hokkaido between January 2007 and December 2020. The median age at the time of analysis was 58 (1-86) years. Pathogenic variants causing AD-SCD due to repeat expansion were found in 61.5% (192 cases). Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) 6 was the most common type in 25.3% (79 cases), followed by Machado-Joseph disease (MJD)/SCA3 in 13.8% (43), SCA1 in 6.4% (20), SCA2 in 5.1% (16), SCA31 in 4.8% (15), dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy in 4.8% (15), SCA7 in 0.6% (2), and SCA8 in 0.6% (2). SCA17, 27B, 36, and 37 were not found. Compared to previous reports, this study found a higher prevalence of SCA6 and a lower prevalence of MJD/SCA3. An increasing number of cases identified by genetic testing, including cases with no apparent family history, accurately revealed the distribution of disease types in Hokkaido.

Detection of hidden intronic DDC variant in aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase deficiency by adaptive sampling.

Aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency is an autosomal recessive neurotransmitter disorder caused by pathogenic DOPA decarboxylase (DDC) variants. We previously reported Japanese siblings with AADC deficiency, which was confirmed by the lack of enzyme activity; however, only a heterozygous missense variant was detected. We therefore performed targeted long-read sequencing by adaptive sampling to identify any missing variants. Haplotype phasing and variant calling identified a novel deep intronic variant (c.714+255 C > A), which was predicted to potentially activate the noncanonical splicing acceptor site. Minigene assay revealed that wild-type and c.714+255 C > A alleles had different impacts on splicing. Three transcripts, including the canonical transcript, were detected from the wild-type allele, but only the noncanonical cryptic exon was produced from the variant allele, indicating that c.714+255 C > A was pathogenic. Target long-read sequencing may be used to detect hidden pathogenic variants in unresolved autosomal recessive cases with only one disclosed hit variant.

A heterozygous germline deletion within USP8 causes severe neurodevelopmental delay with multiorgan abnormalities.

Ubiquitin-specific protease 8 (USP8) is a deubiquitinating enzyme involved in deubiquitinating the enhanced epidermal growth factor receptor for escape from degradation. Somatic variants at a hotspot in USP8 are a cause of Cushing's disease, and a de novo germline USP8 variant at this hotspot has been described only once previously, in a girl with Cushing's disease and developmental delay. In this study, we investigated an exome-negative patient with severe developmental delay, dysmorphic features, and multiorgan dysfunction by long-read sequencing, and identified a 22-kb de novo germline deletion within USP8 (chr15:50469966-50491995 [GRCh38]). The deletion involved the variant hotspot, one rhodanese domain, and two SH3 binding motifs, and was presumed to be generated through nonallelic homologous recombination through Alu elements. Thus, the patient may have perturbation of the endosomal sorting system and mitochondrial autophagy through the USP8 defect. This is the second reported case of a germline variant in USP8.

Novel missense variants cause intermediate phenotypes in the phenotypic spectrum of SLC5A6-related disorders.

SLC5A6 encodes the sodium-dependent multivitamin transporter, a transmembrane protein that uptakes biotin, pantothenic acid, and lipoic acid. Biallelic SLC5A6 variants cause sodium-dependent multivitamin transporter deficiency (SMVTD) and childhood-onset biotin-responsive peripheral motor neuropathy (COMNB), which both respond well to replacement therapy with the above three nutrients. SMVTD usually presents with various symptoms in multiple organs, such as gastrointestinal hemorrhage, brain atrophy, and global developmental delay, at birth or in infancy. Without nutrient replacement therapy, SMVTD can be lethal in early childhood. COMNB is clinically milder and has a later onset than SMVTD, at approximately 10 years of age. COMNB symptoms are mostly limited to peripheral motor neuropathy. Here we report three patients from one Japanese family harboring novel compound heterozygous missense variants in SLC5A6, namely NM_021095.4:c.[221C>T];[642G>C] p.[(Ser74Phe)];[(Gln214His)]. Both variants were predicted to be deleterious through multiple lines of evidence, including amino acid conservation, in silico predictions of pathogenicity, and protein structure considerations. Drosophila analysis also showed c.221C>T to be pathogenic. All three patients had congenital brain cysts on neonatal cranial imaging, but no other morphological abnormalities. They also had a mild motor developmental delay that almost completely resolved despite no treatment. In terms of severity, their phenotypes were intermediate between SMVTD and COMNB. From these findings we propose a new SLC5A6-related disorder, spontaneously remitting developmental delay with brain cysts (SRDDBC) whose phenotypic severity is between that of SMVTD and COMNB. Further clinical and genetic evidence is needed to support our suggestion.

Novel compound heterozygous ABCA2 variants cause IDPOGSA, a variable phenotypic syndrome with intellectual disability.

The gene for ATP binding cassette subfamily A member 2 (ABCA2) is located at chromosome 9q34.3. Biallelic ABCA2 variants lead to intellectual developmental disorder with poor growth and with or without seizures or ataxia (IDPOGSA). In this study, we identified novel compound heterozygous ABCA2 variants (NM_001606.5:c.[5300-17C>A];[6379C>T]) by whole exome sequencing in a 28-year-old Korean female patient with intellectual disability. These variants included intronic and nonsense variants of paternal and maternal origin, respectively, and are absent from gnomAD. SpliceAI predicted that the intron variant creates a cryptic acceptor site. Reverse transcription-PCR using RNA extracted from a lymphoblastoid cell line of the patient confirmed two aberrant transcripts. Her clinical features are compatible with those of IDPOGSA.

Complete nanopore repeat sequencing of SCA27B (GAA-FGF14 ataxia) in Japanese.

BACKGROUND: Although pure GAA expansion is considered pathogenic in SCA27B, non-GAA repeat motif is mostly mixed into longer repeat sequences. This study aimed to unravel the complete sequencing of FGF14 repeat expansion to elucidate its repeat motifs and pathogenicity. METHODS: We screened FGF14 repeat expansion in a Japanese cohort of 460 molecularly undiagnosed adult-onset cerebellar ataxia patients and 1022 controls, together with 92 non-Japanese controls, and performed nanopore sequencing of FGF14 repeat expansion. RESULTS: In the Japanese population, the GCA motif was predominantly observed as the non-GAA motif, whereas the GGA motif was frequently detected in non-Japanese controls. The 5'-common flanking variant was observed in all Japanese GAA repeat alleles within normal length, demonstrating its meiotic stability against repeat expansion. In both patients and controls, pure GAA repeat was up to 400 units in length, whereas non-pathogenic GAA-GCA repeat was larger, up to 900 units, but they evolved from different haplotypes, as rs534066520, located just upstream of the repeat sequence, completely discriminated them. Both (GAA)≥250 and (GAA)≥200 were enriched in patients, whereas (GAA-GCA)≥200 was similarly observed in patients and controls, suggesting the pathogenic threshold of (GAA)≥200 for cerebellar ataxia. We identified 14 patients with SCA27B (3.0%), but their single-nucleotide polymorphism genotype indicated different founder alleles between Japanese and Caucasians. The low prevalence of SCA27B in Japanese may be due to the lower allele frequency of (GAA)≥250 in the Japanese population than in Caucasians (0.15% vs 0.32%-1.26%). CONCLUSIONS: FGF14 repeat expansion has unique features of pathogenicity and allelic origin, as revealed by a single ethnic study.

Clinical diversity and molecular mechanism of VPS35L-associated Ritscher-Schinzel syndrome.

PURPOSE: The Retriever subunit VPS35L is the third responsible gene for Ritscher-Schinzel syndrome (RSS) after WASHC5 and CCDC22. To date, only one pair of siblings have been reported and their condition was significantly more severe than typical RSS. This study aimed to understand the clinical spectrum and underlying molecular mechanism in VPS35L-associated RSS. METHODS: We report three new patients with biallelic VPS35L variants. Biochemical and cellular analyses were performed to elucidate disease aetiology. RESULTS: In addition to typical features of RSS, we confirmed hypercholesterolaemia, hypogammaglobulinaemia and intestinal lymphangiectasia as novel complications of VPS35L-associated RSS. The latter two complications as well as proteinuria have not been reported in patients with CCDC22 and WASHC5 variants. One patient showed a severe phenotype and the other two were milder. Cells established from patients with the milder phenotypes showed relatively higher VPS35L protein expression. Cellular analysis found VPS35L ablation decreased the cell surface level of lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 and low-density lipoprotein receptor, resulting in reduced low-density lipoprotein cellular uptake. CONCLUSION: VPS35L-associated RSS is a distinct clinical entity with diverse phenotype and severity, with a possible molecular mechanism of hypercholesterolaemia. These findings provide new insight into the essential and distinctive role of Retriever in human development.

De novo ARF3 variants cause neurodevelopmental disorder with brain abnormality.

An optimal Golgi transport system is important for mammalian cells. The adenosine diphosphate (ADP) ribosylation factors (ARF) are key proteins for regulating cargo sorting at the Golgi network. In this family, ARF3 mainly works at the trans-Golgi network (TGN), and no ARF3-related phenotypes have yet been described in humans. We here report the clinical and genetic evaluations of two unrelated children with de novo pathogenic variants in the ARF3 gene: c.200A > T (p.Asp67Val) and c.296G > T (p.Arg99Leu). Although the affected individuals presented commonly with developmental delay, epilepsy and brain abnormalities, there were differences in severity, clinical course and brain lesions. In vitro subcellular localization assays revealed that the p.Arg99Leu mutant localized to Golgi apparatus, similar to the wild-type, whereas the p.Asp67Val mutant tended to show a disperse cytosolic pattern together with abnormally dispersed Golgi localization, similar to that observed in a known dominant negative variant (p.Thr31Asn). Pull-down assays revealed that the p.Asp67Val had a loss-of-function effect and the p.Arg99Leu variant had increased binding of the adaptor protein, Golgi-localized, γ-adaptin ear-containing, ARF-binding protein 1 (GGA1), supporting the gain of function. Furthermore, in vivo studies revealed that p.Asp67Val transfection led to lethality in flies. In contrast, flies expressing p.Arg99Leu had abnormal rough eye, as observed in the gain-of-function variant p.Gln71Leu. These data indicate that two ARF3 variants, the possibly loss-of-function p.Asp67Val and the gain-of-function p.Arg99Leu, both impair the Golgi transport system. Therefore, it may not be unreasonable that they showed different clinical features like diffuse brain atrophy (p.Asp67Val) and cerebellar hypoplasia (p.Arg99Leu).

De Novo Truncating Variants in the Last Exon of SEMA6B Cause Progressive Myoclonic Epilepsy.

De novo variants (DNVs) cause many genetic diseases. When DNVs are examined in the whole coding regions of genes in next-generation sequencing analyses, pathogenic DNVs often cluster in a specific region. One such region is the last exon and the last 50 bp of the penultimate exon, where truncating DNVs cause escape from nonsense-mediated mRNA decay [NMD(-) region]. Such variants can have dominant-negative or gain-of-function effects. Here, we first developed a resource of rates of truncating DNVs in NMD(-) regions under the null model of DNVs. Utilizing this resource, we performed enrichment analysis of truncating DNVs in NMD(-) regions in 346 developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) trios. We observed statistically significant enrichment of truncating DNVs in semaphorin 6B (SEMA6B) (p value: 2.8 × 10-8; exome-wide threshold: 2.5 × 10-6). The initial analysis of the 346 individuals and additional screening of 1,406 and 4,293 independent individuals affected by DEE and developmental disorders collectively identified four truncating DNVs in the SEMA6B NMD(-) region in five individuals who came from unrelated families (p value: 1.9 × 10-13) and consistently showed progressive myoclonic epilepsy. RNA analysis of lymphoblastoid cells established from an affected individual showed that the mutant allele escaped NMD, indicating stable production of the truncated protein. Importantly, heterozygous truncating variants in the NMD(+) region of SEMA6B are observed in general populations, and SEMA6B is most likely loss-of-function tolerant. Zebrafish expressing truncating variants in the NMD(-) region of SEMA6B orthologs displayed defective development of brain neurons and enhanced pentylenetetrazole-induced seizure behavior. In summary, we show that truncating DNVs in the final exon of SEMA6B cause progressive myoclonic epilepsy.

Gain-of-Function MN1 Truncation Variants Cause a Recognizable Syndrome with Craniofacial and Brain Abnormalities.

MN1 was originally identified as a tumor-suppressor gene. Knockout mouse studies have suggested that Mn1 is associated with craniofacial development. However, no MN1-related phenotypes have been established in humans. Here, we report on three individuals who have de novo MN1 variants that lead to a protein lacking the carboxyl (C) terminus and who presented with severe developmental delay, craniofacial abnormalities with specific facial features, and structural abnormalities in the brain. An in vitro study revealed that the deletion of the C-terminal region led to increased protein stability, an inhibitory effect on cell proliferation, and enhanced MN1 aggregation in nuclei compared to what occurred in the wild type, suggesting that a gain-of-function mechanism is involved in this disease. Considering that C-terminal deletion increases the fraction of intrinsically disordered regions of MN1, it is possible that altered phase separation could be involved in the mechanism underlying the disease. Our data indicate that MN1 participates in transcriptional regulation of target genes through interaction with the transcription factors PBX1, PKNOX1, and ZBTB24 and that mutant MN1 impairs the binding with ZBTB24 and RING1, which is an E3 ubiquitin ligase. On the basis of our findings, we propose the model that C-terminal deletion interferes with MN1's interaction molecules related to the ubiquitin-mediated proteasome pathway, including RING1, and increases the amount of the mutant protein; this increase leads to the dysregulation of MN1 target genes by inhibiting rapid MN1 protein turnover.

A novel homozygous CHMP1A variant arising from segmental uniparental disomy causes pontocerebellar hypoplasia type 8.

Pontocerebellar hypoplasia (PCH) is currently classified into 16 subgroups. Using mostly next-generation sequencing, pathogenic variants have been identified in as many as 24 PCH-associated genes. PCH type 8 (PCH8) is a rare heterogeneous disorder. Its clinical presentation includes severe development delay, increased muscle tone, microcephaly, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abnormalities such as reduced cerebral white matter, a thin corpus callosum, and brainstem and cerebellar hypoplasia. To date, only two variants in the CHMP1A gene (MIM: 164010), NM_002768.5: c.88 C > T (p.Glu30*) and c.28-13 G > A, have been identified homozygously in seven patients with PCH8 from four families (MIM: 614961). CHMP1A is a subunit of the endosomal sorting complex required for transport III (ESCRT-III), which regulates the formation and release of extracellular vesicles. Biallelic CHMP1A loss of function impairs the ESCRT-III-mediated release of extracellular vesicles, which causes impaired progenitor proliferation in the developing brain. Herein, we report a patient with PCH8 who had a homozygous CHMP1A variant, c.122delA (p.Asn41Metfs*2), which arose from segmental uniparental disomy. Although our patient had similar MRI findings to those of previously reported patients, with no progression, we report some novel neurological and developmental findings that expand our knowledge of the clinical consequences associated with CHMP1A variants.

Distal arthrogryposis in a girl arising from a novel TNNI2 variant inherited from paternal somatic mosaicism.

TNNI2 at 11p15.5 encodes troponin I2, fast skeletal type, which is a member of the troponin I gene family and a component of the troponin complex. Distal arthrogryposis (DA) is characterized by congenital limb contractures without primary neurological or muscular effects. DA is inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion and is clinically and genetically heterogeneous. Exome sequencing identified a causative variant in TNNI2 [NM_003282.4:c.532T>C p.(Phe178Leu)] in a Japanese girl with typical DA2b. Interestingly, the familial study using Sanger sequencing suggested a mosaic variant in her healthy father. Subsequent targeted amplicon-based deep sequencing detected the TNNI2 variant with variant allele frequencies of 9.4-17.7% in genomic DNA derived from peripheral blood leukocytes, saliva, hair, and nails in the father. We confirmed a disease-causing variant in TNNI2 in the proband inherited from her asymptomatic father with its somatic variant. Our case demonstrates that careful clinical and genetic evaluation is required in DA.

Complete SAMD12 repeat expansion sequencing in a four-generation BAFME1 family with anticipation.

Benign adult familial myoclonic epilepsy type 1 (BAFME1) is an autosomal dominant, adult-onset neurological disease caused by SAMD12 repeat expansion. In BAFME1, anticipation, such as the earlier onset of tremor and/or seizures in the next generation, was reported. This could be explained by intergenerational repeat instability, leading to larger expansions in successive generations. We report a four-generation BAFME1-affected family with anticipation. Using Nanopore long-read sequencing, detailed information regarding the sizes, configurations, and compositions of the expanded SAMD12 repeats across generations was obtained. Unexpectedly, a grandmother-mother-daughter triad showed similar repeat structures but with slight repeat expansions, despite quite variable age of onset of seizures (range: 52-14 years old), implying a complex relationship between the SAMD12 repeat expansion sequence and anticipation. This study suggests that different factor(s) from repeat expansion could modify the anticipation in BAFME1.

Long-read sequencing revealing intragenic deletions in exome-negative spastic paraplegias.

Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs) are a heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative disorders characterized by progressive spasticity and weakness in the lower extremities. To date, a total of 88 types of SPG are known. To diagnose HSP, multiple technologies, including microarray, direct sequencing, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification, and short-read next-generation sequencing, are often chosen based on the frequency of HSP subtypes. Exome sequencing (ES) is commonly used. We used ES to analyze ten cases of HSP from eight families. We identified pathogenic variants in three cases (from three different families); however, we were unable to determine the cause of the other seven cases using ES. We therefore applied long-read sequencing to the seven undetermined HSP cases (from five families). We detected intragenic deletions within the SPAST gene in four families, and a deletion within PSEN1 in the remaining family. The size of the deletion ranged from 4.7 to 12.5 kb and involved 1-7 exons. All deletions were entirely included in one long read. We retrospectively performed an ES-based copy number variation analysis focusing on pathogenic deletions, but were not able to accurately detect these deletions. This study demonstrated the efficiency of long-read sequencing in detecting intragenic pathogenic deletions in ES-negative HSP patients.