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. 2020 Jul;22(7):1215-1226.
doi: 10.1038/s41436-020-0792-7. Epub 2020 May 7.

Phenotypic spectrum and transcriptomic profile associated with germline variants in TRAF7

Laura Castilla-Vallmanya  1 Kaja K Selmer  2   3 Clémantine Dimartino  4   5 Raquel Rabionet  1 Bernardo Blanco-Sánchez  4   5 Sandra Yang  6 Margot R F Reijnders  7 Antonie J van Essen  8 Myriam Oufadem  4   5 Magnus D Vigeland  9   10 Barbro Stadheim  9 Gunnar Houge  11 Helen Cox  12 Helen Kingston  13   14 Jill Clayton-Smith  13   14 Jeffrey W Innis  15 Maria Iascone  16 Anna Cereda  16 Sara Gabbiadini  16 Wendy K Chung  17 Victoria Sanders  18   19 Joel Charrow  18 Emily Bryant  18 John Millichap  18 Antonio Vitobello  20   21 Christel Thauvin  20   22 Frederic Tran Mau-Them  20   21 Laurence Faivre  21   22 Gaetan Lesca  23   24 Audrey Labalme  23 Christelle Rougeot  25 Nicolas Chatron  23   24 Damien Sanlaville  23   24 Katherine M Christensen  26 Amelia Kirby  26 Raymond Lewandowski  27 Rachel Gannaway  27 Maha Aly  4   5 Anna Lehman  28 Lorne Clarke  28 Luitgard Graul-Neumann  29 Christiane Zweier  30 Davor Lessel  31 Bernarda Lozic  32 Ingvild Aukrust  11 Ryan Peretz  33 Robert Stratton  33 Thomas Smol  34   35 Anne Dieux-Coëslier  34 Joanna Meira  36 Elizabeth Wohler  37 Nara Sobreira  37 Erin M Beaver  38 Jennifer Heeley  38 Lauren C Briere  39 Frances A High  39 David A Sweetser  39 Melissa A Walker  40 Catherine E Keegan  15 Parul Jayakar  41 Marwan Shinawi  42 Wilhelmina S Kerstjens-Frederikse  8 Dawn L Earl  43 Victoria M Siu  44 Emma Reesor  44 Tony Yao  44 Robert A Hegele  44 Olena M Vaske  45 Shannon Rego  46 Undiagnosed Diseases Network, Care4Rare Canada ConsortiumKevin A Shapiro  47 Brian Wong  47 Michael J Gambello  48 Marie McDonald  49 Danielle Karlowicz  49 Roberto Colombo  50   51 Alessandro Serretti  52 Lynn Pais  53 Anne O'Donnell-Luria  53 Alison Wray  54 Simon Sadedin  55 Belinda Chong  55 Tiong Y Tan  55   56 John Christodoulou  55   56 Susan M White  55   56 Anne Slavotinek  57 Deborah Barbouth  58 Dayna Morel Swols  58 Mélanie Parisot  59   60 Christine Bole-Feysot  59   60 Patrick Nitschké  5   61 Véronique Pingault  4   5   62 Arnold Munnich  5   62 Megan T Cho  6 Valérie Cormier-Daire  5   62   63 Susanna Balcells  1 Stanislas Lyonnet  4   5   62 Daniel Grinberg  1 Jeanne Amiel  4   5   62 Roser Urreizti #  1 Christopher T Gordon #  64   65
Affiliations

Phenotypic spectrum and transcriptomic profile associated with germline variants in TRAF7

Laura Castilla-Vallmanya et al. Genet Med. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

Purpose: Somatic variants in tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 7 (TRAF7) cause meningioma, while germline variants have recently been identified in seven patients with developmental delay and cardiac, facial, and digital anomalies. We aimed to define the clinical and mutational spectrum associated with TRAF7 germline variants in a large series of patients, and to determine the molecular effects of the variants through transcriptomic analysis of patient fibroblasts.

Methods: We performed exome, targeted capture, and Sanger sequencing of patients with undiagnosed developmental disorders, in multiple independent diagnostic or research centers. Phenotypic and mutational comparisons were facilitated through data exchange platforms. Whole-transcriptome sequencing was performed on RNA from patient- and control-derived fibroblasts.

Results: We identified heterozygous missense variants in TRAF7 as the cause of a developmental delay-malformation syndrome in 45 patients. Major features include a recognizable facial gestalt (characterized in particular by blepharophimosis), short neck, pectus carinatum, digital deviations, and patent ductus arteriosus. Almost all variants occur in the WD40 repeats and most are recurrent. Several differentially expressed genes were identified in patient fibroblasts.

Conclusion: We provide the first large-scale analysis of the clinical and mutational spectrum associated with the TRAF7 developmental syndrome, and we shed light on its molecular etiology through transcriptome studies.

Keywords: TRAF7; blepharophimosis; craniofacial development; intellectual disability; patent ductus arteriosus.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
TRAF7 variants. Domain boundaries drawn approximately to scale, based on ref. Variants causing the TRAF7 syndrome are indicated in red (reported here) or grey (previously reported). In pink, variants of unknown significance reported here. Beneath the protein, the most recurrent somatic variants (ie, in greater than five samples) are indicated; in black, those reported in meningiomas, and in blue, those in adenomatoid tumors of the genital tract. CC; coiled-coil.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Facial features of patients with variants in TRAF7. Patient numbers are indicated at the top of each panel. See text for description of the major features.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Anomalies of the extremities (A) and upper body appearance (B) of patients with variants in TRAF7. Patient numbers are indicated at the top of each panel. See text for description of the major features.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
qRT-PCR quantification of mRNA levels in TRAF7 syndrome patient fibroblasts. (A) qRT-PCR of BCL2, PTGS2, IGFBP7, NOTCH3, TRAF7 and FLNB in fibroblasts from three patients, with or without TNFα treatment. Relative mRNA level was normalized to the mean of six controls in each treatment condition (dotted line). GAPDH was used as a reference gene (the use of PPIA gave similar results). Data shown represents the mean ± SEM of the three patients, in six independent experiments. Asterisks indicate significant differences (p<0.05) between patients and controls in the corresponding condition (treated or untreated). (B) qRT-PCR validation of DEGs identified by RNA-Seq: ANGPT1, CASK, KIF26B, KRAS, RIT1, WNT5A, CFD, GPC6 and KAZALD1. Relative mRNA level was normalized to the mean of six controls in each treatment condition (dotted line). GAPDH was used as a reference gene (the use of PPIA gave similar results). Data shown represents the mean ± SEM of the four patients, in two independent experiments. Asterisks indicate significant differences (p<0.05) between patients and controls in the corresponding condition (treated or untreated).
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Transcriptome analysis of fibroblasts bearing missense TRAF7 variants. (A) Volcano plots representing differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in each condition (untreated or treated with TNFα (10 ng/ml) for 6 hours), measuring changes in expression (log2 fold change) and their significance (FDR; -log10 adjusted p-value). (B) Proportions of up- and down-regulated transcripts in untreated or treated patient fibroblasts. (C) Venn diagrams representing overlapping up- and down-regulated DEGs. (D and E) Ingenuity Pathway Analysis of DEGs in TRAF7 syndrome patient fibroblasts. (D) Selected over-represented Canonical Pathways. The number of DEGs included in each pathway is specified and a −log10 p-value >1.3 was considered significant. (E) Selected over-represented categories of “Cellular Functions and Physiological System Development”. The number of DEGs associated with each category is specified and a −log10 p-value >1.3 was considered significant.

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