SUMO1 as a candidate gene for non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate: no evidence for the involvement of common or rare variants in Central European patients

Abstract

Objective: Studies in mice and humans have suggested that SUMO1, which codes for the small ubiquitin-related modifier 1 (SUMO1), is a promising candidate gene for non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P). To investigate the possible involvement of this gene in NSCL/P patients from Central Europe, we performed: (i) a case control association study, and (ii) a resequencing study.

Methods: Genotyping and the subsequent single marker and haplotype association analyses were performed for 413 NSCL/P patients and 412 controls. A total of 17 tagging single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were used. In the resequencing study, the complete coding region and splice sites were sequenced in 65 index patients from multiply affected families.

Results: One of the 17 tested SNPs (rs16838917) had a borderline significant P-value of 0.0416 in the single-marker association analysis. However, this result did not withstand correction for multiple testing (P(corr)=0.707). No association was observed for any haplotypic marker combination. Sequencing failed to identify any novel rare sequence variants.

Conclusions: The results of the present study do not support the hypothesis that common or rare variants in SUMO1 play a significant role in the development of NSCL/P in Central-European patients. However, smaller effects of common variants or the presence of rare high penetrance mutations in other non-investigated familial cases cannot be excluded. Further analysis of SUMO1 in independent samples from Central European and other populations is therefore warranted.