A Novel Truncating Mutation in HOMER2 Causes Nonsyndromic Progressive DFNA68 Hearing Loss in a Spanish Family

Nonsyndromic hereditary hearing loss is a common sensory defect in humans that is clinically and genetically highly heterogeneous. So far, 122 genes have been associated with this disorder and 50 of them have been linked to autosomal dominant (DFNA) forms like DFNA68, a rare subtype of hearing impai...

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Main Authors: María Lachgar, Matías Morín, Manuela Villamar, Ignacio del Castillo, Miguel Ángel Moreno-Pelayo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
Series:Genes
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/12/3/411
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author María Lachgar
Matías Morín
Manuela Villamar
Ignacio del Castillo
Miguel Ángel Moreno-Pelayo
author_facet María Lachgar
Matías Morín
Manuela Villamar
Ignacio del Castillo
Miguel Ángel Moreno-Pelayo
author_sort María Lachgar
collection DOAJ
description Nonsyndromic hereditary hearing loss is a common sensory defect in humans that is clinically and genetically highly heterogeneous. So far, 122 genes have been associated with this disorder and 50 of them have been linked to autosomal dominant (DFNA) forms like DFNA68, a rare subtype of hearing impairment caused by disruption of a stereociliary scaffolding protein (HOMER2) that is essential for normal hearing in humans and mice. In this study, we report a novel HOMER2 variant (c.832_836delCCTCA) identified in a Spanish family by using a custom NGS targeted gene panel (OTO-NGS-v2). This frameshift mutation produces a premature stop codon that may lead in the absence of NMD to a shorter variant (p.Pro278Alafs*10) that truncates HOMER2 at the CDC42 binding domain (CBD) of the coiled-coil structure, a region that is essential for protein multimerization and HOMER2-CDC42 interaction. c.832_836delCCTCA mutation is placed close to the previously identified c.840_840dup mutation found in a Chinese family that truncates the protein (p.Met281Hisfs*9) at the CBD. Functional assessment of the Chinese mutant revealed decreased protein stability, reduced ability to multimerize, and altered distribution pattern in transfected cells when compared with wild-type HOMER2. Interestingly, the Spanish and Chinese frameshift mutations might exert a similar effect at the protein level, leading to truncated mutants with the same Ct aberrant protein tail, thus suggesting that they can share a common mechanism of pathogenesis. Indeed, age-matched patients in both families display quite similar hearing loss phenotypes consisting of early-onset, moderate-to-profound progressive hearing loss. In summary, we have identified the third variant in HOMER2, which is the first one identified in the Spanish population, thus contributing to expanding the mutational spectrum of this gene in other populations, and also to clarifying the genotype–phenotype correlations of DFNA68 hearing loss.
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spelling doaj.art-710eb1d068684f23986d44203cb09b2a2023-11-21T10:17:08ZengMDPI AGGenes2073-44252021-03-0112341110.3390/genes12030411A Novel Truncating Mutation in HOMER2 Causes Nonsyndromic Progressive DFNA68 Hearing Loss in a Spanish FamilyMaría Lachgar0Matías Morín1Manuela Villamar2Ignacio del Castillo3Miguel Ángel Moreno-Pelayo4Servicio de Genética, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, IRYCIS, Carretera de Colmenar km 9.100, 28034 Madrid, SpainServicio de Genética, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, IRYCIS, Carretera de Colmenar km 9.100, 28034 Madrid, SpainServicio de Genética, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, IRYCIS, Carretera de Colmenar km 9.100, 28034 Madrid, SpainServicio de Genética, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, IRYCIS, Carretera de Colmenar km 9.100, 28034 Madrid, SpainServicio de Genética, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, IRYCIS, Carretera de Colmenar km 9.100, 28034 Madrid, SpainNonsyndromic hereditary hearing loss is a common sensory defect in humans that is clinically and genetically highly heterogeneous. So far, 122 genes have been associated with this disorder and 50 of them have been linked to autosomal dominant (DFNA) forms like DFNA68, a rare subtype of hearing impairment caused by disruption of a stereociliary scaffolding protein (HOMER2) that is essential for normal hearing in humans and mice. In this study, we report a novel HOMER2 variant (c.832_836delCCTCA) identified in a Spanish family by using a custom NGS targeted gene panel (OTO-NGS-v2). This frameshift mutation produces a premature stop codon that may lead in the absence of NMD to a shorter variant (p.Pro278Alafs*10) that truncates HOMER2 at the CDC42 binding domain (CBD) of the coiled-coil structure, a region that is essential for protein multimerization and HOMER2-CDC42 interaction. c.832_836delCCTCA mutation is placed close to the previously identified c.840_840dup mutation found in a Chinese family that truncates the protein (p.Met281Hisfs*9) at the CBD. Functional assessment of the Chinese mutant revealed decreased protein stability, reduced ability to multimerize, and altered distribution pattern in transfected cells when compared with wild-type HOMER2. Interestingly, the Spanish and Chinese frameshift mutations might exert a similar effect at the protein level, leading to truncated mutants with the same Ct aberrant protein tail, thus suggesting that they can share a common mechanism of pathogenesis. Indeed, age-matched patients in both families display quite similar hearing loss phenotypes consisting of early-onset, moderate-to-profound progressive hearing loss. In summary, we have identified the third variant in HOMER2, which is the first one identified in the Spanish population, thus contributing to expanding the mutational spectrum of this gene in other populations, and also to clarifying the genotype–phenotype correlations of DFNA68 hearing loss.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/12/3/411hereditary hearing lossnext-generation sequencingcustom panelHOMER2CDC42
spellingShingle María Lachgar
Matías Morín
Manuela Villamar
Ignacio del Castillo
Miguel Ángel Moreno-Pelayo
A Novel Truncating Mutation in HOMER2 Causes Nonsyndromic Progressive DFNA68 Hearing Loss in a Spanish Family
Genes
hereditary hearing loss
next-generation sequencing
custom panel
HOMER2
CDC42
title A Novel Truncating Mutation in HOMER2 Causes Nonsyndromic Progressive DFNA68 Hearing Loss in a Spanish Family
title_full A Novel Truncating Mutation in HOMER2 Causes Nonsyndromic Progressive DFNA68 Hearing Loss in a Spanish Family
title_fullStr A Novel Truncating Mutation in HOMER2 Causes Nonsyndromic Progressive DFNA68 Hearing Loss in a Spanish Family
title_full_unstemmed A Novel Truncating Mutation in HOMER2 Causes Nonsyndromic Progressive DFNA68 Hearing Loss in a Spanish Family
title_short A Novel Truncating Mutation in HOMER2 Causes Nonsyndromic Progressive DFNA68 Hearing Loss in a Spanish Family
title_sort novel truncating mutation in homer2 causes nonsyndromic progressive dfna68 hearing loss in a spanish family
topic hereditary hearing loss
next-generation sequencing
custom panel
HOMER2
CDC42
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/12/3/411
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