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. 2022 Jan;24(1):130-145.
doi: 10.1016/j.gim.2021.09.001. Epub 2021 Nov 30.

Standardized practices for RNA diagnostics using clinically accessible specimens reclassifies 75% of putative splicing variants

Adam M Bournazos  1 Lisa G Riley  2 Shobhana Bommireddipalli  3 Lesley Ades  4 Lauren S Akesson  5 Mohammad Al-Shinnag  6 Stephen I Alexander  7 Alison D Archibald  8 Shanti Balasubramaniam  9 Yemima Berman  10 Victoria Beshay  11 Kirsten Boggs  12 Jasmina Bojadzieva  13 Natasha J Brown  8 Samantha J Bryen  1 Michael F Buckley  14 Belinda Chong  15 Mark R Davis  16 Ruebena Dawes  1 Martin Delatycki  8 Liz Donaldson  17 Lilian Downie  18 Caitlin Edwards  16 Matthew Edwards  19 Amanda Engel  20 Lisa J Ewans  21 Fathimath Faiz  16 Andrew Fennell  22 Michael Field  23 Mary-Louise Freckmann  24 Lyndon Gallacher  8 Russell Gear  15 Himanshu Goel  25 Shuxiang Goh  26 Linda Goodwin  27 Bernadette Hanna  28 James Harraway  29 Megan Higgins  30 Gladys Ho  31 Bruce K Hopper  32 Ari E Horton  33 Matthew F Hunter  34 Aamira J Huq  35 Sarah Josephi-Taylor  36 Himanshu Joshi  3 Edwin Kirk  37 Emma Krzesinski  34 Kishore R Kumar  38 Frances Lemckert  1 Richard J Leventer  39 Suzanna E Lindsey-Temple  40 Sebastian Lunke  41 Alan Ma  4 Steven Macaskill  11 Amali Mallawaarachchi  42 Melanie Marty  15 Justine E Marum  15 Hugh J McCarthy  7 Manoj P Menezes  43 Alison McLean  26 Di Milnes  30 Shekeeb Mohammad  43 David Mowat  44 Aram Niaz  45 Elizabeth E Palmer  44 Chirag Patel  30 Shilpan G Patel  46 Dean Phelan  15 Jason R Pinner  44 Sulekha Rajagopalan  26 Matthew Regan  34 Jonathan Rodgers  30 Miriam Rodrigues  47 Richard H Roxburgh  47 Rani Sachdev  48 Tony Roscioli  49 Ruvishani Samarasekera  50 Sarah A Sandaradura  51 Elena Savva  15 Tim Schindler  52 Margit Shah  50 Ingrid B Sinnerbrink  53 Janine M Smith  54 Richard J Smith  55 Amanda Springer  56 Zornitza Stark  8 Samuel P Strom  57 Carolyn M Sue  58 Kenneth Tan  59 Tiong Y Tan  8 Esther Tantsis  43 Michel C Tchan  60 Bryony A Thompson  61 Alison H Trainer  62 Karin van Spaendonck-Zwarts  30 Rebecca Walsh  14 Linda Warwick  20 Stephanie White  63 Susan M White  8 Mark G Williams  64 Meredith J Wilson  54 Wui Kwan Wong  65 Dale C Wright  66 Patrick Yap  67 Alison Yeung  8 Helen Young  68 Kristi J Jones  51 Bruce Bennetts  31 Sandra T Cooper  69 Australasian Consortium for RNA Diagnostics
Collaborators, Affiliations
Free article

Standardized practices for RNA diagnostics using clinically accessible specimens reclassifies 75% of putative splicing variants

Adam M Bournazos et al. Genet Med. 2022 Jan.
Free article

Abstract

Purpose: Genetic variants causing aberrant premessenger RNA splicing are increasingly being recognized as causal variants in genetic disorders. In this study, we devise standardized practices for polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based RNA diagnostics using clinically accessible specimens (blood, fibroblasts, urothelia, biopsy).

Methods: A total of 74 families with diverse monogenic conditions (31% prenatal-congenital onset, 47% early childhood, and 22% teenage-adult onset) were triaged into PCR-based RNA testing, with comparative RNA sequencing for 19 cases.

Results: Informative RNA assay data were obtained for 96% of cases, enabling variant reclassification for 75% variants that can be used for genetic counseling (71%), to inform clinical care (32%) and prenatal counseling (41%). Variant-associated mis-splicing was highly reproducible for 28 cases with samples from ≥2 affected individuals or heterozygotes and 10 cases with ≥2 biospecimens. PCR amplicons encompassing another segregated heterozygous variant was vital for clinical interpretation of 22 of 79 variants to phase RNA splicing events and discern complete from partial mis-splicing.

Conclusion: RNA diagnostics enabled provision of a genetic diagnosis for 64% of recruited cases. PCR-based RNA diagnostics has capacity to analyze 81.3% of clinically significant genes, with long amplicons providing an advantage over RNA sequencing to phase RNA splicing events. The Australasian Consortium for RNA Diagnostics (SpliceACORD) provide clinically-endorsed, standardized protocols and recommendations for interpreting RNA assay data.

Keywords: Genetic diagnosis; Noncoding variant; Pre-mRNA splicing; Putative splice variant; Variant classification.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Sandra T. Cooper is director of Frontier Genomics Pty Ltd (Australia). Sandra T. Cooper currently receives no consultancy fees or other remuneration for this role. Frontier Genomics Pty Ltd (Australia) has no existing financial relationships that will benefit from publication of these data. Samuel P. Strom is an employee and shareholder of Fulgent Genetics. Michael F. Buckley is an employee and shareholder of Invitae. The remaining coauthors declare no conflicts of interest.

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