A Splicing Variant in OCRL Gene Might Explain the Second Case of Lowe Syndrome in Iran

Lowe syndrome is a condition that primarily affects eyes, brain, and kidneys. This disorder follows X-linked recessive mode of inheritance and it occurs in males mainly. Mutations in OCRL (located at Xq25) gene can cause accumulation of phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate and disturbed actin cytoskeleton remodeling. There are 268 mutations in OCRL gene causing Lowe syndrome or Dent disease 2 in HGMD database, however 10 - 20% of Lowe syndrome suspects remain undiagnosed at molecular level. Here we present a male case of Lowe syndrome with characteristic features. Comprehensive clinical examination and genetic counseling were performed. Sanger sequencing was employed to investigate the possible OCRL mutations and we identified a donor splice site variant (NM-000276: c.2469 + 1G > A) in hemizygous state. This is a pathogenic variant according to the ACMG standards and guidelines and might explain the clinical features of the patient. This result is in accordance with the clinical diagnosis of Lowe syndrome and it is absent from ExAC, 1000 G, Iranome, GME, gnomAD Genome databases of healthy controls. In-silico analysis of this splicing variant revealed that the position is highly conserved between species. Splicing prediction tools predicted some changes in splicing pattern of the OCRL transcript, elimination of some protein features, and malfunctioning the OCRL protein as a consequence of this variant. Accordingly, we proposed the c.2469 + 1G > A variant might explain the clinical features in studied patient and be employed for prenatal diagnosis of Lowe syndrome in the family.