Heterozygous UCHL1 loss-of-function variants cause a neurodegenerative disorder with spasticity, ataxia, neuropathy, and optic atrophy

Park, Joohyun; Tucci, Arianna; Cipriani, Valentina; Demidov, German; Rocca, Clarissa; Senderek, Jan; Butryn, Michaela; Velic, Ana; Lam, Tanya; Galanaki, Evangelia; Cali, Elisa; Vestito, Letizia; Maroofian, Reza; Deininger, Natalie; Rautenberg, Maren; Admard, Jakob; Hahn, Gesa-Astrid; Bartels, Claudius; Os, Nienke J. H. van; Horvath, Rita; Chinnery, Patrick F.; Tiet, May Yung; Hewamadduma, Channa; Hadjivassiliou, Marios; Tofaris, George K.; Wood, Nicholas W.; Hayer, Stefanie N.; Bender, Friedemann; Menden, Benita; Cordts, Isabell; Klein, Katrin; Huu, Phuc Nguyen; Krauss, Joachim K.; Blahak, Christian; Strom, Tim M.; Sturm, Marc; Warrenburg, Bart vam de; Lerche, Holger; Macek, Boris; Synofzik, Matthis; Ossowski, Stephan; Timmann, Dagmar; Wolf, Marc E.; Smedley, Damian; Riess, Olaf; Schoels, Ludger; Houlden, Henry; Haack, Tobias B. und Hengel, Holger (2022): Heterozygous UCHL1 loss-of-function variants cause a neurodegenerative disorder with spasticity, ataxia, neuropathy, and optic atrophy. In: Genetics in Medicine, Bd. 24, Nr. 10: S. 2079-2090

Abstract

Purpose: Biallelic variants in UCHL1 have been associated with a progressive early-onset neurodegenerative disorder, autosomal recessive spastic paraplegia type 79. In this study, we investigated heterozygous UCHL1 variants on the basis of results from cohort-based burden analyses. Methods: Gene-burden analyses were performed on exome and genome data of independent cohorts of patients with hereditary ataxia and spastic paraplegia from Germany and the United Kingdom in a total of 3169 patients and 33,141 controls. Clinical data of affected individuals and additional independent families were collected and evaluated. Patients' fibroblasts were used to perform mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Results: UCHL1 was prioritized in both independent cohorts as a candidate gene for an autosomal dominant disorder. We identified a total of 34 cases from 18 unrelated families, carrying 13 heterozygous loss-of-function variants (15 families) and an inframe insertion (3 families). Affected individuals mainly presented with spasticity (24/31), ataxia (28/31), neuropathy (11/21), and optic atrophy (9/17). The mass spectrometry-based proteomics showed approximately 50% reduction of UCHL1 expression in patients' fibroblasts. Conclusion: Our bioinformatic analysis, in-depth clinical and genetic workup, and functional studies established haploinsufficiency of UCHL1 as a novel disease mechanism in spastic ataxia. (C) 2022 by American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics. Published by Elsevier Inc.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Medizin
• Themengebiete: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften > 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
• ISSN: 1098-3600
• Sprache: Englisch
• DFG: Gefördert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - 418081722
• DFG: Gefördert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - 433158657