2. Academic Validation
  3. Use of whole-exome sequencing to determine the genetic basis of multiple mitochondrial respiratory chain complex deficiencies

Use of whole-exome sequencing to determine the genetic basis of multiple mitochondrial respiratory chain complex deficiencies

  • JAMA. 2014 Jul 2;312(1):68-77. doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.7184.
Robert W Taylor 1,  Angela Pyle 2,  Helen Griffin 2,  Emma L Blakely 1,  Jennifer Duff 2,  Langping He 1,  Tania Smertenko 2,  Charlotte L Alston 1,  Vivienne C Neeve 2,  Andrew Best 2,  John W Yarham 1,  Janbernd Kirschner 3,  Ulrike Schara 4,  Beril Talim 5,  Haluk Topaloglu 5,  Ivo Baric 6,  Elke Holinski-Feder 7,  Angela Abicht 7,  Birgit Czermin 7,  Stephanie Kleinle 7,  Andrew A M Morris 8,  Grace Vassallo 9,  Grainne S Gorman 1,  Venkateswaran Ramesh 10,  Douglass M Turnbull 1,  Mauro Santibanez-Koref 2,  Robert McFarland 11,  Rita Horvath 2,  Patrick F Chinnery 2
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research, Institute for Ageing and Health, The Medical School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
  • 2 Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research, Institute of Genetic Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
  • 3 Division of Neuropediatrics and Muscle Disorders, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
  • 4 Department of Neuropediatrics, University of Essen, Essen, Germany.
  • 5 Department of Pediatrics, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
  • 6 Department of Paediatrics, University Hospital Center Zagreb, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
  • 7 Medical Genetics Center, Munich, Germany.
  • 8 Willink Biochemical Genetics Unit, Manchester Centre for Genomic Medicine, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, England.
  • 9 Department of Paediatric Neurology, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, England.
  • 10 Department of Paediatric Neurology, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
  • 11 Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research, Institute for Ageing and Health, The Medical School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England10Department of Paediatric Neurology, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, En.
PMID: 25058219 DOI: 10.1001/jama.2014.7184
Abstract

Importance: Mitochondrial disorders have emerged as a common cause of inherited disease, but their diagnosis remains challenging. Multiple respiratory chain complex defects are particularly difficult to diagnose at the molecular level because of the massive number of nuclear genes potentially involved in intramitochondrial protein synthesis, with many not yet linked to human disease.

Objective: To determine the molecular basis of multiple respiratory chain complex deficiencies.

Design, setting, and participants: We studied 53 patients referred to 2 national centers in the United Kingdom and Germany between 2005 and 2012. All had biochemical evidence of multiple respiratory chain complex defects but no primary pathogenic mitochondrial DNA mutation. Whole-exome sequencing was performed using 62-Mb exome enrichment, followed by variant prioritization using bioinformatic prediction tools, variant validation by Sanger sequencing, and segregation of the variant with the disease phenotype in the family.

Results: Presumptive causal variants were identified in 28 patients (53%; 95% CI, 39%-67%) and possible causal variants were identified in 4 (8%; 95% CI, 2%-18%). Together these accounted for 32 patients (60% 95% CI, 46%-74%) and involved 18 different genes. These included recurrent mutations in RMND1, AARS2, and MTO1, each on a haplotype background consistent with a shared founder allele, and potential novel mutations in 4 possible mitochondrial disease genes (VARS2, GARS, FLAD1, and PTCD1). Distinguishing clinical features included deafness and renal involvement associated with RMND1 and cardiomyopathy with AARS2 and MTO1. However, atypical clinical features were present in some patients, including normal liver function and Leigh syndrome (subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy) seen in association with TRMU mutations and no cardiomyopathy with founder SCO2 mutations. It was not possible to confidently identify the underlying genetic basis in 21 patients (40%; 95% CI, 26%-54%).

Conclusions and relevance: Exome sequencing enhances the ability to identify potential nuclear gene mutations in patients with biochemically defined defects affecting multiple mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes. Additional study is required in independent patient populations to determine the utility of this approach in comparison with traditional diagnostic methods.

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