scholarly journals De novo mutations in regulatory elements cause neurodevelopmental disorders

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick J. Short ◽  
Jeremy F. McRae ◽  
Giuseppe Gallone ◽  
Alejandro Sifrim ◽  
Hyejung Won ◽  
...  

SummaryDe novo mutations in hundreds of different genes collectively cause 25-42% of severe developmental disorders (DD). The cause in the remaining cases is largely unknown. The role of de novo mutations in regulatory elements affecting known DD associated genes or other genes is essentially unexplored. We identified de novo mutations in three classes of putative regulatory elements in almost 8,000 DD patients. Here we show that de novo mutations in highly conserved fetal-brain active elements are significantly and specifically enriched in neurodevelopmental disorders. We identified a significant two-fold enrichment of recurrently mutated elements. We estimate that, genome-wide, de novo mutations in fetaLbrain active elements are likely to be causal for 1-3% of patients without a diagnostic coding variant and that only a small fraction (<2%) of de novo mutations in these elements are pathogenic. Our findings represent a robust estimate of the contribution of de novo mutations in regulatory elements to this genetically heterogeneous set of disorders, and emphasise the importance of combining functional and evolutionary evidence to delineate regulatory causes of genetic disorders.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
William M. Brandler ◽  
Danny Antaki ◽  
Madhusudan Gujral ◽  
Morgan L. Kleiber ◽  
Michelle S. Maile ◽  
...  

AbstractThe genetic architecture of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is known to consist of contributions from gene-disrupting de novo mutations and common variants of modest effect. We hypothesize that the unexplained heritability of ASD also includes rare inherited variants with intermediate effects. We investigated the genome-wide distribution and functional impact of structural variants (SVs) through whole genome analysis (≥30X coverage) of 3,169 subjects from 829 families affected by ASD. Genes that are intolerant to inactivating variants in the exome aggregation consortium (ExAC) were depleted for SVs in parents, specifically within fetal-brain promoters, UTRs and exons. Rare paternally-inherited SVs that disrupt promoters or UTRs were over-transmitted to probands (P = 0.0013) and not to their typically-developing siblings. Recurrent functional noncoding deletions implicate the gene LEO1 in ASD. Protein-coding SVs were also associated with ASD (P = 0.0025). Our results establish that rare inherited SVs predispose children to ASD, with differing contributions from each parent.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinmyung Choi ◽  
Parisa Shooshtari ◽  
Kaitlin E Samocha ◽  
Mark J Daly ◽  
Chris Cotsapas

Using robust, integrated analysis of multiple genomic datasets, we show that genes depleted for non-synonymous de novo mutations form a subnetwork of 72 members under strong selective constraint. We further show this subnetwork is preferentially expressed in the early development of the human hippocampus and is enriched for genes mutated in neurological, but not other, Mendelian disorders. We thus conclude that carefully orchestrated developmental processes are under strong constraint in early brain development, and perturbations caused by mutation have adverse outcomes subject to strong purifying selection. Our findings demonstrate that selective forces can act on groups of genes involved in the same process, supporting the notion that adaptation can act coordinately on multiple genes. Our approach provides a statistically robust, interpretable way to identify the tissues and developmental times where groups of disease genes are active. Our findings highlight the importance of considering the interactions between genes when analyzing genome-wide sequence data.


Nature ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 555 (7698) ◽  
pp. 611-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick J. Short ◽  
Jeremy F. McRae ◽  
Giuseppe Gallone ◽  
Alejandro Sifrim ◽  
Hyejung Won ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brennan H Baker ◽  
Shaoyi Zhang ◽  
Jeremy M Simon ◽  
Sarah M McLarnan ◽  
Wendy K Chung ◽  
...  

De novo mutations contribute to a large proportion of sporadic psychiatric and developmental disorders, yet the potential role of environmental carcinogens as drivers of causal de novo mutations in neurodevelopmental disorders is poorly studied. We demonstrate that several mutagens, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), disproportionately mutate genes related to neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorders (ASD), schizophrenia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Other disease genes including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimers disease, congenital heart disease, orofacial clefts, and coronary artery disease were generally not mutated more than expected. Our findings support a new paradigm of neurodevelopmental disease etiology driven by a contribution of environmentally induced rather than random mutations.


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