Aicardi Syndrome Is a Genetically Heterogeneous Disorder

Thuong T. Ha, Rosemary Burgess, Morgan Newman, Ching Moey, Simone A. Mandelstam, Alison E. Gardner, Atma M. Ivancevic, Duyen Pham, Raman Kumar, Nicholas Smith, Chirag Patel, Stephen Malone, Monique M. Ryan, Sophie Calvert, Clare L. van Eyk, Michael Lardelli, Samuel F. Berkovic, Richard J. Leventer, Linda J. Richards, Ingrid E. SchefferJozef Gecz, Mark A. Corbett

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Aicardi Syndrome (AIC) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder recognized by the classical triad of agenesis of the corpus callosum, chorioretinal lacunae and infantile epileptic spasms syndrome. The diagnostic criteria of AIC were revised in 2005 to include additional phenotypes that are frequently observed in this patient group. AIC has been traditionally considered as X-linked and male lethal because it almost exclusively affects females. Despite numerous genetic and genomic investigations on AIC, a unifying X-linked cause has not been identified. Here, we performed exome and genome sequencing of 10 females with AIC or suspected AIC based on current criteria. We identified a unique de novo variant, each in different genes: KMT2B, SLF1, SMARCB1, SZT2 and WNT8B, in five of these females. Notably, genomic analyses of coding and non-coding single nucleotide variants, short tandem repeats and structural variation highlighted a distinct lack of X-linked candidate genes. We assessed the likely pathogenicity of our candidate autosomal variants using the TOPflash assay for WNT8B and morpholino knockdown in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos for other candidates. We show expression of Wnt8b and Slf1 are restricted to clinically relevant cortical tissues during mouse development. Our findings suggest that AIC is genetically heterogeneous with implicated genes converging on molecular pathways central to cortical development.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1565
JournalGenes
Volume14
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2023

Keywords

  • DNA repair
  • DNA sequencing
  • X-linked
  • developmental epileptic encephalopathy
  • sex bias
  • wnt signalling

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