Genetic analysis of a child with Primary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy

Abstract

To explore the genetic etiology of a child with Primary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy. A child who was admitted to Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University on July 27, 2021 was selected as the study subject. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples of the child and his parents and subjected to whole exome sequencing. Suspected splicing variant was verified by Sanger sequencing of family members. In vitro function was validated through a minigene assay, whilst the suspected exonic deletion was validated by long-fragment PCR. Whole exome sequencing revealed that the child has harbored compound heterozygous variants of HPGD gene, including a heterozygous deletion (exon 3 del) derived from his father and a splicing variant (c.421+1G>T) derived from his mother. Long-fragment PCR verified that the child and his father had both harbored a 7 565 bp heterozygous deletion (c.218-1304_324+6156del), whilst the minigene assay proved that the splicing variant has resulted in skipping of exon 4. The heterozygous c.218-1304_324+6156del deletion and the c.421+1G>T splicing variant of the HPGD gene probably underlay the pathogenesis in this child. Above finding has enriched the mutational spectrum of the HPGD gene and provided a basis for genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis for this family.