Genome-wide copy number variation in epilepsy: novel susceptibility loci in idiopathic generalized and focal epilepsies

Abstract

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders in humans with a prevalence of 1% and a lifetime incidence of 3%. Several genes have been identified in rare autosomal dominant and severe sporadic forms of epilepsy, but the genetic cause is unknown in the vast majority of cases. Copy number variants (CNVs) are known to play an important role in the genetic etiology of many neurodevelopmental disorders, including intellectual disability (ID), autism, and schizophrenia. Genome-wide studies of copy number variation in epilepsy have not been performed. We have applied whole-genome oligonucleotide array comparative genomic hybridization to a cohort of 517 individuals with various idiopathic, non-lesional epilepsies. We detected one or more rare genic CNVs in 8.9% of affected individuals that are not present in 2,493 controls; five individuals had two rare CNVs. We identified CNVs in genes previously implicated in other neurodevelopmental disorders, including two deletions in AUTS2 and one deletion in CNTNAP2. Therefore, our findings indicate that rare CNVs are likely to contribute to a broad range of generalized and focal epilepsies. In addition, we find that 2.9% of patients carry deletions at 15q11.2, 15q13.3, or 16p13.11, genomic hotspots previously associated with ID, autism, or schizophrenia. In summary, our findings suggest common etiological factors for seemingly diverse diseases such as ID, autism, schizophrenia, and epilepsy.

Figure 1. Deletions and duplications at genomic rearrangement hotspots in 20 probands.

Array CGH results are depicted for (A) 15q13.3, chr15: 28.0–31.0 Mb, (B) 16p13.11, chr16: 14.5–18.5 Mb, (C) 15q11.2, chr15: 20.0–20.9 Mb, (D) 1q21.1, chr1: 144.0–147.5 Mb, (E) 16p12.1, chr16: 21.6–22.6 Mb, (F) 16p11.2, chr16:28.6–29.1 Mb, and (G) 16p11.2, chr16: 29.0–30.3 Mb. For each individual, deviations of probe log₂ ratios from 0 are depicted by gray and black lines. Those exceeding a threshold of 1.5 s.d. from the mean probe ratio are colored green and red to represent relative gains and losses, respectively. Segmental duplications of increasing similarity (90–98%, 98–99%, and >99%) are represented by gray, yellow, and orange bars, respectively. RefSeq genes are depicted in blue.

Figure 2. Two rare CNVs in five probands.

Array CGH results are shown for the for two rare CNVs detected in probands EMJ071 (A), ND05260 (B), EPI51 (C), K034 (D), and EMJ117 (E). Array CGH results are depicted as in Figure 1; segmental duplications are not shown in this figure.