A Novel Homozygous Founder Variant of RTN4IP1 in Two Consanguineous Saudi Families

Mazhor Aldosary, Maysoon Alsagob, Hanan AlQudairy, Ana C. González-Álvarez, Stefan T. Arold, Mohammad Anas Dababo, Omar A. Alharbi, Rawan Almass, AlBandary AlBakheet, Dalia AlSarar, Alya Qari, Mysoon M Al-Ansari, Monika Oláhová, Saif A. Al-Shahrani, Moeenaldeen AlSayed, Dilek Colak, Robert W. Taylor, Mohammed AlOwain*, Namik Kaya*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

The genetic architecture of mitochondrial disease continues to expand and currently exceeds more than 350 disease-causing genes. Bi-allelic variants in RTN4IP1, also known as Optic Atrophy-10 (OPA10), lead to early-onset recessive optic neuropathy, atrophy, and encephalopathy in the afflicted patients. The gene is known to encode a mitochondrial ubiquinol oxidoreductase that interacts with reticulon 4 and is thought to be a mitochondrial antioxidant NADPH oxidoreductase. Here, we describe two unrelated consanguineous families from the northern region of Saudi Arabia harboring a missense variant (RTN4IP1:NM_032730.5; c.475G<T, p.Val159Phe) in the gene. Clinically affected individuals presented with intellectual disability, encephalopathy, ataxia, optic atrophy, and seizures. Based on whole exome sequencing and confirmatory Sanger sequencing, the variant was fully segregated with the phenotype in the families, absent among large ethnically matching controls as well as numerous in-house exomes, and predicted to be pathogenic by different in silico classifiers. Structural modeling and immunoblot analyses strongly indicated this variant to be pathogenic. Since the families belong to one of the tribal inhabitants of Saudi Arabia, we postulate that the variant is likely to be a founder. We provide the estimated age of the variant and present data confirming the disease-causality of this founder variant.

Original languageEnglish
Article number3154
Number of pages15
JournalCells
Volume11
Issue number19
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Oct 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Antioxidants
  • Brain Diseases
  • Carrier Proteins/genetics
  • Humans
  • Mitochondrial Proteins/genetics
  • Mutation/genetics
  • NADP/genetics
  • Optic Atrophy/genetics
  • Oxidoreductases/genetics
  • Saudi Arabia

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