A new patient with congenital myasthenic syndrome type 20 due to compound heterozygous missense SLC5A7 variants suggests trends in genotype-phenotype correlation.

BACKGROUND: Congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMSs) are characterized by hypotonia, episodic apnea, muscle weakness, ptosis and generalized fatigability. CMS type 20 (CMS20) is a rare disorder caused by variants in SLC5A7. In contrast to most other CMSs, CMS20 is also associated with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Only 19 patients from 14 families have been reported so far. METHODS: We studied a 12-year-old boy with symptoms manifested at six weeks of age. Later, he also showed speech delay, moderate intellectual disability and autism. Analysis of CMS genes known at the time of clinical diagnosis yielded no results. Trio exome sequencing (ES) was performed. RESULTS: ES revealed compound heterozygosity for two SLC5A7 variants, p.(Asn431Lys) and p.(Ile291Thr). While the first variant was absent from all databases, the second variant has already been described in one patient. In silico analysis of known pathogenic SLC5A7 variants showed that variants with a higher predicted deleteriousness may be associated with earlier onset and increased severity of neuromuscular manifestations. CONCLUSION: Our patient confirms that CMS20 can be associated with NDDs. The study illustrates the strength of ES in deciphering the genetic basis of rare diseases, contributes to characterization of CMS20 and suggests trends in genotype-phenotype correlation in CMS20.

A patient showing features of both SBBYSS and GPS supports the concept of a KAT6B-related disease spectrum, with mutations in mid-exon 18 possibly leading to combined phenotypes.

Genitopatellar syndrome (GPS) and Say-Barber-Biesecker-Young-Simpson syndrome (SBBYSS) are two distinct clinically overlapping syndromes caused by de novo heterozygous truncating mutations in the KAT6B gene encoding lysine acetyltransferase 6B, a part of the histone H3 acetyltransferase complex. We describe an 8-year-old girl with a KAT6B mutation and a combined GPS/SBBYSS phenotype. The comparison of this patient with 61 previously published cases with KAT6B mutations and GPS, SBBYSS or combined GPS/SBBYSS phenotypes allowed us to separate the KAT6B mutations into four groups according to their position in the gene (reflecting nonsense mediated RNA decay and protein domains) and their clinical outcome. We suggest that mutations in mid-exon 18 corresponding to the C-terminal end of the acidic (Asp/Glu-rich) domain of KAT6B may have more variable expressivity leading to GPS, SBBYSS or combined phenotypes, in contrast to defects in other regions of the gene which contribute more specifically to either GPS or SBBYSS. Notwithstanding the clinical overlap, our cluster analysis of phenotypes of all known patients with KAT6B mutations supports the existence of two clinical entities, GPS and SBBYSS, as poles within the KAT6B-related disease spectrum. The awareness of these phenomena is important for qualified genetic counselling of patients with KAT6B mutations.