Microcephaly, WDR62, and how to analyze recessive epilepsy families

Success rate. What is in an exome? There are lots of rare and unknown variants that are hard to make sense of unless we can ask a specific question or have further data to limit the number of genes that we look at. Genetic studies in recessive diseases with limited candidate genes to consider might represent one of the most straightforward cases. In a recent paper in BMC Neurology, the genetic cause of a recessive epilepsy/intellectual disability syndrome in a consanguineous family presenting with primary microcephaly was solved using a single exome of an affected individual. Was this just lucky or can this strategy be applied to any recessive family with a reasonable chance? Continue reading

ST3GAL3 and exome sequencing in autosomal recessive West Syndrome

Autosomal recessive West Syndrome. Exome sequencing and other high-throughput sequencing technologies work best in the identification of recessive disorders. While many cases of West Syndrome are thought to be the result of de novo mutations, recessive inheritance is seen in a subset of patients. In a recent paper in Epilepsia, Edvardson and colleagues now report mutations in ST3GAL3 in a consanguineous Palestinian family with four affected individuals with West Syndrome. This report takes us deep into the chromosomal anatomy of the linkage region, raising the question at what point we can claim that a gene is found. Continue reading