Conclusion of diagnostic odysseys due to inversions disruptingGLI3andFBN1

Abstract

Many genetic testing methodologies are biased towards picking up structural variants (SVs) that alter copy number. Copy-neutral rearrangements such as inversions are therefore likely to suffer from underascertainment. In this study, manual review prompted by a virtual multidisciplinary team meeting and subsequent bioinformatic prioritisation of data from the 100K Genomes Project was performed across 43 genes linked to well-characterised skeletal disorders. Ten individuals from three independent families were found to harbour diagnostic inversions. In two families, inverted segments of 1.2/14.8 Mb unequivocally disruptedGLI3and segregated with skeletal features consistent with Greig cephalopolysyndactyly syndrome. For one family, phenotypic blending was due to the opposing breakpoint lying ~45 kb fromHOXA13. In the third family, long suspected to have Marfan syndrome, a 2.0 Mb inversion disruptingFBN1was identified. These findings resolved lengthy diagnostic odysseys of 9–20 years and highlight the importance of direct interaction between clinicians and data-analysts. These exemplars of a rare mutational class inform future SV prioritisation strategies within the NHS Genomic Medicine Service and similar genome sequencing initiatives. In over 30 years since these two disease-gene associations were identified, large inversions have yet to be described and so our results extend the mutational spectra linked to these conditions.