Previously associated only with dominant form
Complicated SPG31 HSP caused by a mutation in the REEP1 gene has now been found with recessive inheritance in a 5-year-old boy.
OBJECTIVE:
To identify the underlying genetic cause of a congenital neuropathy in a 5-year-old boy as part of a cohort of 32 patients from 23 families with genetically unresolved neuropathies.
METHODS:
We used autozygosity mapping coupled with next-generation sequencing to investigate a consanguineous family from Lebanon with 1 affected and 2 healthy children. Variants were investigated for segregation in the family by Sanger sequencing. A splice site mutation was further evaluated on the messenger RNA level by quantitative reverse transcription PCR. Subsequently, a larger cohort was specifically screened for receptor expression-enhancing protein 1 (REEP1) gene mutations.
RESULTS:
We detected a homozygous splice donor mutation in REEP1 (c.303+1-7GTAATAT>AC, p.F62Kfs23*; NM_022912) that cosegregated with the phenotype in the family, leading to complete skipping of exon 4 and a premature stop codon. The phenotype of the patient is similar to spinal muscular atrophy with respiratory distress type 1 (SMARD1) with additional distal arthrogryposis and involvement of the upper motor neuron manifested by pronounced hyperreflexia.
CONCLUSION:
To date, only dominant REEP1 mutations have been reported to be associated with a slowly progressive hereditary spastic paraplegia. The findings from our patient expand the phenotypical spectrum and the mode of inheritance of REEP1-associated disorders. Recessive mutations in REEP1 should be considered in the molecular genetic workup of patients with a neuromuscular disorder resembling SMARD1, especially if additional signs of upper motor neuron involvement and distal arthrogryposis are present.
SOURCE: Neurol Genet. 2015 Oct 22;1(4):e32. doi: 10.1212/NXG.0000000000000032. eCollection 2015. PMID: 27066569 [PubMed] PMCID: PMC4811389
Recessive REEP1 mutation is associated with congenital axonal neuropathy and diaphragmatic palsy.
Schottmann G1, Seelow D1, Seifert F1, Morales-Gonzalez S1, Gill E1, von Au K1, von Moers A1, Stenzel W1, Schuelke M1.
1 Departments of Neuropediatrics (G.S., D.S., F.S., S.M.-G., E.G., M.S.) and Neuropediatrics/SPZ (K.v.A.), NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany; the Department of Neuropathology (W.S.), Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany; and the DRK Children’s Hospital Berlin (A.v.M.), Germany.