Dataset Information

Genetic Variants Associated with the Age of Onset Identified by Whole-Exome Sequencing in Fatal Familial Insomnia.

ABSTRACT: Fatal familial insomnia (FFI) is a rare autosomal-dominant inherited prion disease with a wide variability in age of onset. Its causes are not known. In the present study, we aimed to analyze genetic risk factors other than the prion protein gene (PRNP), in FFI patients with varying ages of onset. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) analysis was performed for twenty-five individuals with FFI (D178N-129M). Gene ontology enrichment analysis was carried out by Reactome to generate hypotheses regarding the biological processes of the identified genes. In the present study, we used a statistical approach tailored to the specifics of the data and identified nineteen potential gene variants with a potential effect on the age of onset. Evidence for potential disease modulatory risk loci was observed in two pseudogenes (NR1H5P, GNA13P1) and three protein coding genes (EXOC1L, SRSF11 and MSANTD3). These genetic variants are absent in FFI patients with early disease onset (19-40 years). The biological function of these genes and PRNP is associated with programmed cell death, caspase-mediated cleavage of cytoskeletal proteins and apoptotic cleavage of cellular proteins. In conclusions, our study provided first evidence for the involvement of genetic risk factors additional to PRNP, which may influence the onset of clinical symptoms in FFI.

SUBMITTER: Thune K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10453322 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Genetic Variants Associated with the Age of Onset Identified by Whole-Exome Sequencing in Fatal Familial Insomnia.

Thüne Katrin K Schmitz Matthias M Wiedenhöft John J Shomroni Orr O Göbel Stefan S Bunck Timothy T Younas Neelam N Zafar Saima S Hermann Peter P Zerr Inga I

Cells 20230812 16

Fatal familial insomnia (FFI) is a rare autosomal-dominant inherited prion disease with a wide variability in age of onset. Its causes are not known. In the present study, we aimed to analyze genetic risk factors other than the prion protein gene (<i>PRNP</i>), in FFI patients with varying ages of onset. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) analysis was performed for twenty-five individuals with FFI (D178N-129M). Gene ontology enrichment analysis was carried out by Reactome to generate hypotheses regard ...[more]

PMID: 37626863

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Project description:ImportanceParkinson disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease for which susceptibility is linked to genetic and environmental risk factors.ObjectiveTo identify genetic variants contributing to disease risk in familial PD.Design, setting, and participantsA 2-stage study design that included a discovery cohort of families with PD and a replication cohort of familial probands was used. In the discovery cohort, rare exonic variants that segregated in multiple affected individuals in a family and were predicted to be conserved or damaging were retained. Genes with retained variants were prioritized if expressed in the brain and located within PD-relevant pathways. Genes in which prioritized variants were observed in at least 4 families were selected as candidate genes for replication in the replication cohort. The setting was among individuals with familial PD enrolled from academic movement disorder specialty clinics across the United States. All participants had a family history of PD.Main outcomes and measuresIdentification of genes containing rare, likely deleterious, genetic variants in individuals with familial PD using a 2-stage exome sequencing study design.ResultsThe 93 individuals from 32 families in the discovery cohort (49.5% [46 of 93] female) had a mean (SD) age at onset of 61.8 (10.0) years. The 49 individuals with familial PD in the replication cohort (32.6% [16 of 49] female) had a mean (SD) age at onset of 50.1 (15.7) years. Discovery cohort recruitment dates were 1999 to 2009, and replication cohort recruitment dates were 2003 to 2014. Data analysis dates were 2011 to 2015. Three genes containing a total of 13 rare and potentially damaging variants were prioritized in the discovery cohort. Two of these genes (TNK2 and TNR) also had rare variants that were predicted to be damaging in the replication cohort. All 9 variants identified in the 2 replicated genes in 12 families across the discovery and replication cohorts were confirmed via Sanger sequencing.Conclusions and relevanceTNK2 and TNR harbored rare, likely deleterious, variants in individuals having familial PD, with similar findings in an independent cohort. To our knowledge, these genes have not been previously associated with PD, although they have been linked to critical neuronal functions. Further studies are required to confirm a potential role for these genes in the pathogenesis of PD.

Dataset Information

Genetic Variants Associated with the Age of Onset Identified by Whole-Exome Sequencing in Fatal Familial Insomnia.

Publications

Genetic Variants Associated with the Age of Onset Identified by Whole-Exome Sequencing in Fatal Familial Insomnia.

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