Loss of helicase C-terminal domain of SMARCAL1 protein associated with severe Schimke immuno-osseous dysplasia

Abstract

Schimke immuno-osseous dysplasia (SIOD) is a rare multi-system condition caused by biallelic loss-of-function mutations in the SMARCAL1 gene. This disorder is characterized by disproportionate growth failure, T-cell deficiency, and renal dysfunction. Pathogenic variants in the SMARCAL1 gene have been reported in only approximately half of SIOD-affected individuals. Among these alterations, nonsense and frameshift mutations generally lead to a severe phenotype with early onset. In this study, we identified novel mutations in an Iranian patient with SIOD. A 4-year-old girl with developmental delay and facial dysmorphism was referred to our center for molecular diagnosis. We applied whole-exome and Sanger sequencing for co-segregation analysis. Subsequently, bioinformatic analysis was performed to assess the pathogenic effects of the variants and their post-transcriptional effects. We discovered two novel mutations (c.2281delT and c.2283delA) in exon 15 of the SMARCAL1 gene, resulting in a truncated protein with a loss of 193 amino acids (p.S761Rfs*1). Variant effect predictors indicated that these variants are pathogenic, and multi-sequence alignments revealed high conservation of this region among different species. Given that our patient exhibited severe a phenotype and passed away soon after receiving a definitive molecular diagnosis, we propose that the loss of the helicase C-terminal domain in the deleted part of SMARCAL1 may lead to the severe form of SIOD. Besides, the combination of growth retardation and bone abnormalities also plays a crucial role in the early diagnosis of the disease.