Summary: The largest and most diverse study on recessive genetic changes in developmental disorders reveals that over 80% of cases caused by recessive variants are linked to known genes. Researchers analyzed data from nearly 30,000 families and found that a shift in focus from gene discovery to interpreting changes in known genes could double diagnosis rates.
The study highlights the importance of genetic background in diagnosis and suggests that some patients may have multiple contributing genetic factors. These findings could lead to more personalized and accurate diagnoses for families affected by developmental disorders.
Key Facts:
- 80% of recessive genetic disorder cases are linked to known genes.
- Data from nearly 30,000 families across diverse ancestry groups were analyzed.
- Focusing on interpreting known genes may significantly improve diagnosis rates.
Source: Wellcome Sanger Institute
Scientists have conducted the largest and most diverse study to date on how recessive genetic changes contribute to developmental disorders. They found that most undiagnosed cases that are due to recessive causes are linked to genes we already know about, and suggest a shift in research focus could improve diagnosis rates.
Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators at GeneDx analysed genetic data from nearly 30,000 families affected by developmental disorders – six times more families with greater diversity in ancestral backgrounds compared to previous work.
While discovering several genes that were previously not linked to these conditions, researchers found that known genes explain over 80 percent of cases caused by recessive genetic variants. This is a significant increase from previous estimates.
The study also revealed the contribution of recessive genetic variants to developmental disorders varies significantly across the ethnic groups studied.
The findings, published today (23 September) in Nature Genetics, shed new light on the genetic basis of developmental disorders, and highlight the importance of considering a person’s genetic background in diagnosis and research.
The team suggests that efforts to discover recessive genes associated with these disorders in the last few years have been largely successful and that the challenge now lies more in interpreting genetic changes in known recessive genes.
Using this approach could potentially be used to diagnose twice as many patients compared to focusing solely on remaining gene discovery, they say.
Many developmental disorders, which can impact a child’s physical, intellectual, or behavioural development, have genetic origins. Some are caused by recessive genes, where a child must inherit an altered gene copy from both parents to develop the condition.
They include Joubert syndrome, Bardet-Biedl syndrome and Tay-Sachs disease. Until now, overall quantification of these recessive genetic causes across diverse populations has not been done.
In this new study, researchers combined summarised data from the Deciphering Developmental Disorders (DDD) study and GeneDx cohorts to identify individuals with similar genetic backgrounds, totalling 29,745 families.
Over 20 per cent of these families were from mostly non-European ancestries. Analysing this large dataset provided more insight, especially for smaller and less-studied groups.
The team found the number of patients affected by recessive genetic variants varied greatly between different ancestry groups, ranging from two to 19 per cent of cases. This variation is strongly linked to the prevalence of unions between close relatives – consanguinity – in these groups.
Researchers identified several genes, including KBTBD2, CRELD1 and ZDHHC16, newly associated with developmental disorders, providing answers for previously undiagnosed families.
They also estimate that around 12.5 per cent of patients may have multiple genetic factors contributing to their condition, highlighting the complexity of these disorders.
Importantly, they found known genes explain about 84 per cent of cases caused by recessive genetic variants, which was similar across individuals from European and non-European ancestry groups. This substantial increase from previous estimates suggests that the new recessive genes that have been discovered over the last few years account for a substantial fraction of previously undiagnosed patients with recessive causes.
However, the scientists found that there are likely still diagnoses being missed in these known genes that involve DNA changes that are difficult to interpret3. The findings emphasise the importance of improving interpretation of harmful genetic variants in known disease-causing genes.
Dr Kartik Chundru, first author of the study, formerly at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and now University of Exeter, said: “These gene discoveries will provide answers for some previously undiagnosed families and help clinicians better understand and identify these conditions.
“Our study highlights the importance of reanalysing genetic data with updated methods and knowledge, as it can lead to new diagnoses for patients without needing additional samples.”
Dr Vincent Ustach, senior author of the study at GeneDx, said: “This is the most diverse group of participants ever studied to address the recessive contribution to developmental disorders, and showcases the critical impact that a diverse dataset has for delivering a more comprehensive understanding of developmental disorders across different ancestries.
“Findings from this study can drive more personalised and actionable results for families with affected children, and overall enhances our ability to provide answers for underrepresented populations.”
Dr Hilary Martin, senior author of the study at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: “One of the surprising findings from this work was that many patients with one known genetic diagnosis might actually have additional rare genetic changes contributing to their condition.
“Identifying these additional changes could improve our understanding of the patient’s condition, lead to more accurate diagnoses, and potentially offer new treatment options. It also highlights the complexity of genetic disorders and the need for comprehensive genetic analysis.”
The data from the study can be accessed here.
Funding:
This research was supported by Wellcome and the National Institute for Health and Care Research Exeter Biomedical Research Centre. For full funding acknowledgements, please refer to the publication.
About this genetics and neurodevelopment research news
Author: Jelena Pupavac
Source: Wellcome Sanger Institute
Contact: Jelena Pupavac – Wellcome Sanger Institute
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Federated analysis of the contribution of autosomal recessive coding variants to 29,745 developmental disorder patients from diverse populations” by Kartik Chundru et al. Nature Genetics
Abstract
Federated analysis of the contribution of autosomal recessive coding variants to 29,745 developmental disorder patients from diverse populations
Autosomal recessive coding variants are well-known causes of rare disorders. We quantified the contribution of these variants to developmental disorders in a large, ancestrally diverse cohort comprising 29,745 trios, of whom 20.4% had genetically inferred non-European ancestries.
The estimated fraction of patients attributable to exome-wide autosomal recessive coding variants ranged from ~2–19% across genetically inferred ancestry groups and was significantly correlated with average autozygosity.
Established autosomal recessive developmental disorder-associated (ARDD) genes explained 84.0% of the total autosomal recessive coding burden, and 34.4% of the burden in these established genes was explained by variants not already reported as pathogenic in ClinVar. Statistical analyses identified two novel ARDD genes: KBTBD2 and ZDHHC16.
This study expands our understanding of the genetic architecture of developmental disorders across diverse genetically inferred ancestry groups and suggests that improving strategies for interpreting missense variants in known ARDD genes may help diagnose more patients than discovering the remaining genes.
