posted on 2023-03-24, 16:41authored byNeringa Jurkute, Francesca Cancellieri, Lisa Pohl, Catherina HZ Li, Robert A Heaton, Janine Reurink, James Bellingham, Mathieu Quinodoz, Georgia Yioti, Maria Stefaniotou, Marianna Weener, Theresia Zuleger, Tobias B Haack, Katarina Stingl, Carel B Hoyng, Omar A Mahroo, Iain Hargreaves, F Lucy Raymond, Michel Michaelides, Carlo Rivolta, Susanne Kohl, Susanne Roosing, Andrew R Webster, Gavin Arno
The aim of this study was to investigate coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) biosynthesis pathway defects in inherited retinal dystrophy. Individuals affected by inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) underwent exome or genome sequencing for molecular diagnosis of their condition. Following negative IRD gene panel analysis, patients carrying biallelic variants in CoQ10 biosynthesis pathway genes were identified. Clinical data were collected from the medical records. Haplotypes harbouring the same missense variant were characterised from family genome sequencing (GS) data and direct Sanger sequencing. Candidate splice variants were characterised using Oxford Nanopore Technologies single molecule sequencing. The CoQ10 status of the human plasma was determined in some of the study patients. 13 individuals from 12 unrelated families harboured candidate pathogenic genotypes in the genes: PDSS1, COQ2, COQ4 and COQ5. The PDSS1 variant c.589 A > G was identified in three affected individuals from three unrelated families on a possible ancestral haplotype. Three variants (PDSS1 c.468-25 A > G, PDSS1 c.722-2 A > G, COQ5 c.682-7 T > G) were shown to lead to cryptic splicing. 6 affected individuals were diagnosed with non-syndromic retinitis pigmentosa and 7 had additional clinical findings. This study provides evidence of CoQ10 biosynthesis pathway gene defects leading to non-syndromic retinitis pigmentosa in some cases. Intronic variants outside of the canonical splice-sites represent an important cause of disease. RT-PCR nanopore sequencing is effective in characterising these splice defects.
Funding
This work was supported by Moorfields Eye Charity (GR001203 and Stephen and Elizabeth Archer in memory of Marion Woods), National Eye Research Centre (SAC051), National Institute of Health Research Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR-BRC) at Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. GA is funded by a Fight For Sight UK Early Career Investigator Award (5045/46) and NIHR-BRC at Great Ormond Street Hospital Institute for Child Health. NJ is funded by Moorfields Eye Charity (GR001203), National Eye Research Centre (SAC051) and NIHR-BRC at Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. JB and OAM are funded by the Wellcome Trust (206619/Z/17/Z). FLR was funded by the Cambridge NIHR Biomedical Research Centre and NIHR Bioresource for Rare Diseases. The work of CHZL, CBH and SR is funded by the Foundation Fighting Blindness USA Project Program Award, grant no. PPA‐ 0517–0717‐RAD, Fighting Blindness Ireland (FB18CRE), the Algemene Nederlandse Vereniging ter Voorkoming van Blindheid, Oogfonds, Landelijke Stichting voor Blinden en Slechtzienden; Rotterdamse Stichting Blindenbelangen, Stichting Blindenhulp, Stichting tot Verbetering van het Lot der Blinden, and Stichting Blinden-Penning. The work of JR was funded by the Velux Stiftung (Project number: 1129). TH was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation; grant no. 418081722 and 433158657). Genome sequencing at the Institute of Medical Genetics and Applied Genomics, University of Tübingen, Germany was supported in part by Illumina. CR is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant # 176097).
History
Citation
Jurkute, N., Cancellieri, F., Pohl, L. et al. Biallelic variants in coenzyme Q10 biosynthesis pathway genes cause a retinitis pigmentosa phenotype. npj Genom. Med. 7, 60 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41525-022-00330-z