Extended Phenotyping and Functional Validation Facilitate Diagnosis of a Complex Patient Harboring Genetic Variants in MCCC1 and GNB5 Causing Overlapping Phenotypes

Abstract

Identifying multiple ultra-rare genetic syndromes with overlapping phenotypes is a diagnostic conundrum in clinical genetics. This study investigated the pathogenicity of a homozygous missense variant in GNB5 (GNB5L; NM_016194.4: c.920T > G (p. Leu307Arg); GNB5S; NM_006578.4: c.794T > G (p. Leu265Arg)) identified through exome sequencing in a female child who also had 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase (3-MCC) deficiency (newborn screening positive) and hemoglobin E trait. The proband presented with early-onset intellectual disability, the severity of which was more in keeping with GNB5-related disorder than 3-MCC deficiency. She later developed bradycardia and cardiac arrest, and upon re-phenotyping showed cone photo-transduction recovery deficit, all known only to GNB5-related disorders. Patient-derived fibroblast assays showed preserved GNB5S expression, but bioluminescence resonance energy transfer assay showed abolished function of the variant reconstituted Gβ5S containing RGS complexes for deactivation of D2 dopamine receptor activity, confirming variant pathogenicity. This study highlights the need for precise phenotyping and functional assays to facilitate variant classification and clinical diagnosis in patients with complex medical conditions.