Detection of a DNA Methylation Signature for the Intellectual Developmental Disorder, X-Linked, Syndromic, Armfield Type

• Main Authors: Sadegheh Haghshenas, Michael A. Levy, Jennifer Kerkhof, Erfan Aref-Eshghi, Haley McConkey, Tugce Balci, Victoria Mok Siu, Cindy D. Skinner, Roger E. Stevenson, Bekim Sadikovic, Charles Schwartz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-01-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: epigenetics; DNA methylation; episignature; <i>FAM50A</i>; Armfield X-linked intellectual disability; constitutional disorders
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/3/1111
• ISSN: 1661-6596; 1422-0067

A growing number of genetic neurodevelopmental disorders are known to be associated with unique genomic DNA methylation patterns, called episignatures, which are detectable in peripheral blood. The intellectual developmental disorder, X-linked, syndromic, Armfield type (MRXSA) is caused by missense variants in <i>FAM50A</i>. Functional studies revealed the pathogenesis to be a spliceosomopathy that is characterized by atypical mRNA processing during development. In this study, we assessed the peripheral blood specimens in a cohort of individuals with MRXSA and detected a unique and highly specific DNA methylation episignature associated with this disorder. We used this episignature to construct a support vector machine model capable of sensitive and specific identification of individuals with pathogenic variants in <i>FAM50A</i>. This study contributes to the expanding number of genetic neurodevelopmental disorders with defined DNA methylation episignatures, provides an additional understanding of the associated molecular mechanisms, and further enhances our ability to diagnose patients with rare disorders.