PuSH - Publikationsserver des Helmholtz Zentrums München

Erdmann, H.* ; Schaub, A.* ; Lucas, M.C.* ; Scholz, V.* ; Benet-Pages, A. ; Becker, K.* ; Dineiger, C.* ; Mayer, V.* ; van Buren, I.* ; Breithausen, E.* ; Akbari, K.* ; Cordts, I.* ; Sauer, M.* ; Schneider, C.* ; Krakowsky, R.* ; Schnabel, F.* ; Dunker, K.* ; Fabritius, L.* ; Gerb, J.* ; Grabova, D.* ; Möhwald, K.* ; Näher, M.* ; Steinmetz, K.* ; Thiessen, F.* ; Jäck, A.* ; Schneider-Gold, C.* ; Zittel, S.* ; Petersen, C.* ; Schreyer, I.* ; Mämecke, L.* ; Wilfling, S.* ; Wunderlich, G.* ; Brenner, D.* ; Hellenbroich, Y.* ; Muhle, K.* ; Huchtemann, T.* ; Claus, I.* ; Klopstock, T.* ; Strupp, M.* ; Levin, J.* ; Höglinger, G.* ; Huppert, D.* ; Becker-Bense, S.* ; Filippopulos, F.* ; Kilpert, F.* ; Leitão, E.* ; Kaya, S.* ; Depienne, C.* ; Schöberl, F.* ; Neuhann, T.* ; Holinski-Feder, E.* ; Zwergal, A.* ; Abicht, A.*

Repeat-associated ataxias in a German patient cohort analysed by targeted parallel long-read sequencing.

Brain:awaf318 (2025)
Postprint Forschungsdaten DOI PMC
Open Access Green
Hereditary adult-onset ataxias are a heterogeneous group of phenotypically overlapping conditions, often caused by pathogenic expansions of short tandem repeats. Currently, 18 repeat disorders with a core phenotype of adult-onset ataxia are known. Diagnosis typically relies on sequential PCR-based methods, which are labour-intensive and lack precision. Long-read sequencing (LRS) has the potential to overcome these limitations and is currently implemented and validated in clinical genetics. Using clinical nanopore Cas9-targeted sequencing (Clin-CATS) for parallel in-depth repeat analysis, we evaluated a diagnostic cohort of 513 adult-onset ataxia patients, determining frequencies of all known repeat-associated ataxias except Spinocerebellar ataxia 4 (SCA4), as well as the carrier frequencies for autosomal-recessive disorders, RFC1 spectrum disorder and Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA). Additionally, phenotypes of patients with established genetic diagnoses were characterized, especially those of patients living with RFC1 spectrum disorder and SCA27B. Repeat-associated ataxias were confirmed in 33.3% of cases, including rare ataxias, such as SCA10, SCA36 and SCA37, alongside as the most prevalent conditions SCA27B and RFC1 spectrum disorder. Potentially pathogenic expansions in FGF14 were identified in an additional 4.7% of patients. Testing of another 347 patients for ZFHX3 expansions linked to SCA4 did not identify any cases. Dual diagnoses were frequent, occuring in 6.4% of patients with repeat-associated ataxia. We confirmed a high RFC1 spectrum disorder carrier frequency (7.2%) and reclassified certain FXN expansions as likely non-pathogenic, resulting in a lower than estimated carrier frequency for FRDA of 0.8%. We also identified novel repeat configurations in several loci and illustrated the high heterogeneity of repeat expansions in RFC1, highlighting it as a potential source of false results when using PCR-based methods. This study underscores the diagnostic advantages of LRS for comprehensive repeat analysis and recommends its adoption as a standard in clinical genetics, replacing Southern blot and PCR-based approaches. Furthermore, based on our findings in a large patient cohort a re-evaluation of existing phenotype-genotype correlations is recommended as well as evaluating additional parameters besides repeat length to improve diagnostic precision of repeat analysis.
Impact Factor
Scopus SNIP
Altmetric
11.700
0.000
Tags
Anmerkungen
Besondere Publikation
Auf Hompepage verbergern

Zusatzinfos bearbeiten
Eigene Tags bearbeiten
Privat
Eigene Anmerkung bearbeiten
Privat
Auf Publikationslisten für
Homepage nicht anzeigen
Als besondere Publikation
markieren
Publikationstyp Artikel: Journalartikel
Dokumenttyp Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
Schlagwörter Rfc1 ; Hereditary Ataxia ; Long-read Sequencing ; Repeat Analysis ; Repeat Expansion Disorders
Sprache englisch
Veröffentlichungsjahr 2025
HGF-Berichtsjahr 2025
ISSN (print) / ISBN 0006-8950
e-ISSN 1460-2156
Quellenangaben Band: , Heft: , Seiten: , Artikelnummer: awaf318 Supplement: ,
Verlag Oxford University Press
Begutachtungsstatus Peer reviewed
POF Topic(s) 30205 - Bioengineering and Digital Health
Forschungsfeld(er) Genetics and Epidemiology
PSP-Element(e) G-503200-001
PubMed ID 40898875
Erfassungsdatum 2025-10-17