Pathogenic variants in TNRC6B cause a genetic disorder characterised by developmental delay/intellectual disability and a spectrum of neurobehavioural phenotypes including autism and ADHD
Recommended Citation
Granadillo JL, P A Stegmann A, Guo H, et al. Pathogenic variants in TNRC6B cause a genetic disorder characterised by developmental delay/intellectual disability and a spectrum of neurobehavioural phenotypes including autism and ADHD. J Med Genet. 2020;57(10):717-724.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Rare variants in hundreds of genes have been implicated in developmental delay (DD), intellectual disability (ID) and neurobehavioural phenotypes.
METHODS: Clinical and molecular characterisation was performed on 17 patients with TNRC6B variants. Clinical data were obtained by retrospective chart review, parent interviews, direct patient interaction with providers and formal neuropsychological evaluation.
RESULTS: Clinical findings included DD/ID (17/17) (speech delay in 94% (16/17), fine motor delay in 82% (14/17) and gross motor delay in 71% (12/17) of subjects), autism or autistic traits (13/17), attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (11/17), other behavioural problems (7/17) and musculoskeletal findings (12/17). Other congenital malformations or clinical findings were occasionally documented. The majority of patients exhibited some dysmorphic features but no recognisable gestalt was identified. 17 heterozygous TNRC6B variants were identified in 12 male and five female unrelated subjects by exome sequencing (14), a targeted panel (2) and a chromosomal microarray (1). The variants were nonsense (7), frameshift (5), splice site (2), intragenic deletions (2) and missense (1).
CONCLUSIONS: Variants in TNRC6B cause a novel genetic disorder characterised by recurrent neurocognitive and behavioural phenotypes featuring DD/ID, autism, ADHD and other behavioural abnormalities. Our data highly suggest that haploinsufficiency is the most likely pathogenic mechanism. TNRC6B should be added to the growing list of genes of the RNA-induced silencing complex associated with ID/DD, autism and ADHD.
Document Type
Article
PubMed ID
32152250
Affiliations
Advocate Lutheran General Hospital