1. Bi-allelic loss-of-function variants inKIF21Acause severe fetal akinesia with arthrogryposis multiplex
- Author
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Alma Kuechler, Wolfram Klein, Ruth Falb, Tilman Heinrich, Susanne Haen, Amelie J. Müller, Natalia Prodan, Eva M. C. Schwaibold, Andreas Dufke, Marc Sturm, Nina Hirt, Mona Grimmel, Markus Hoopmann, Ulrich Gembruch, Petra Stöbe, Dirk Emmerich, Silke Hartmann, Stephan Waldmüller, Ute Grasshoff, Glen Kristiansen, Olga Kelemen, Armin Neumann, Darja Gauck, Dieter Gläser, Karl Oliver Kagan, Tobias B. Haack, Rebecca Buchert, Stefanie Beck-Wödl, Nicola Dikow, Christoph Schmidt, Ismail Tekesin, Sabine Hentze, Denise Horn, Olaf Riess, Martin Kehrer, Joohyun Park, Stephan Ossowski, Felix Distelmaier, Stephanie Spranger, Reiner Siebert, and Luisa Averdunk
- Subjects
Genetics ,Arthrogryposis ,Medizin ,Neuropathologie ,Disease ,Biology ,Neuromuscular diseases ,medicine.disease ,Phenotype ,Pathogenesis ,Neuromuskuläre Krankheit ,Pulmonary hypoplasia ,DDC 570 / Life sciences ,Locus heterogeneity ,ddc:570 ,Nervous system diseases ,medicine ,ddc:610 ,Genetik ,medicine.symptom ,DDC 610 / Medicine & health ,Gene ,Genetics (clinical) ,Exome sequencing - Abstract
BackgroundFetal akinesia (FA) results in variable clinical presentations and has been associated with more than 166 different disease loci. However, the underlying molecular cause remains unclear in many individuals. We aimed to further define the set of genes involved.MethodsWe performed in-depth clinical characterisation and exome sequencing on a cohort of 23 FA index cases sharing arthrogryposis as a common feature.ResultsWe identified likely pathogenic or pathogenic variants in 12 different established disease genes explaining the disease phenotype in 13 index cases and report 12 novel variants. In the unsolved families, a search for recessive-type variants affecting the same gene was performed; and in five affected fetuses of two unrelated families, a homozygous loss-of-function variant in the kinesin family member 21A gene (KIF21A) was found.ConclusionOur study underlines the broad locus heterogeneity of FA with well-established and atypical genotype–phenotype associations. We describe KIF21A as a new factor implicated in the pathogenesis of severe neurogenic FA sequence with arthrogryposis of multiple joints, pulmonary hypoplasia and facial dysmorphisms. This hypothesis is further corroborated by a recent report on overlapping phenotypes observed in Kif21a null piglets., publishedVersion
- Published
- 2021