De novo variants in FRYL are associated with developmental delay, intellectual disability, and dysmorphic features

Baylor College of Medicine Center for Precision Medicine Models, Xueyang Pan, Alice M. Tao, Shenzhao Lu, Mengqi Ma, Shabab B. Hannan, Rachel Slaugh, Sarah Drewes Williams, Lauren O'Grady, Oguz Kanca, Richard Person, Melissa T. Carter, Konrad Platzer, Franziska Schnabel, Rami Abou Jamra, Amy E. Roberts, Jane W. Newburger, Anya Revah-Politi, Jorge L. Granadillo, Alexander P.A. StegmannMargje Sinnema, Andrea Accogli, Vincenzo Salpietro, Valeria Capra, Lina Ghaloul-Gonzalez, Martina Brueckner, Marleen E.H. Simon, David A. Sweetser, Kevin E. Glinton, Susan E. Kirk, Lindsay C. Burrage, Jason D. Heaney, Seon Young Kim, Denise G. Lanza, Zhandong Liu, Dongxue Mao, Aleksander Milosavljevic, Sandesh C.S. Nagamani, Jennifer E. Posey, Uma Ramamurthy, Vivek Ramanathan, Jeffrey Rogers, Jill A. Rosenfeld, Matthew Roth, Ramin Zahedi Darshoori, Michael F. Wangler, Shinya Yamamoto, Wendy K. Chung, Hugo J. Bellen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

FRY-like transcription coactivator (FRYL) belongs to a Furry protein family that is evolutionarily conserved from yeast to humans. The functions of FRYL in mammals are largely unknown, and variants in FRYL have not previously been associated with a Mendelian disease. Here, we report fourteen individuals with heterozygous variants in FRYL who present with developmental delay, intellectual disability, dysmorphic features, and other congenital anomalies in multiple systems. The variants are confirmed de novo in all individuals except one. Human genetic data suggest that FRYL is intolerant to loss of function (LoF). We find that the fly FRYL ortholog, furry (fry), is expressed in multiple tissues, including the central nervous system where it is present in neurons but not in glia. Homozygous fry LoF mutation is lethal at various developmental stages, and loss of fry in mutant clones causes defects in wings and compound eyes. We next modeled four out of the five missense variants found in affected individuals using fry knockin alleles. One variant behaves as a severe LoF variant, whereas two others behave as partial LoF variants. One variant does not cause any observable defect in flies, and the corresponding human variant is not confirmed to be de novo, suggesting that this is a variant of uncertain significance. In summary, our findings support that fry is required for proper development in flies and that the LoF variants in FRYL cause a dominant disorder with developmental and neurological symptoms due to haploinsufficiency.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)742-760
Number of pages19
JournalAmerican journal of human genetics
Volume111
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 4 2024

Keywords

  • Drosophila
  • FRYL
  • developmental delay
  • furry
  • intellectual disability
  • rare disease

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'De novo variants in FRYL are associated with developmental delay, intellectual disability, and dysmorphic features'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this