Whole-exome sequencing identifies a heterozygous mutation in SLC12A6 associated with hereditary sensory and motor neuropathy

Abstract

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) represents a phenotypically and genetically heterogeneous disorder of the peripheral nervous system. Biallelic variants in SLC12A6 have been reported as the cause of autosomal-recessive (AR) hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy with agenesis of the corpus callosum (HMSN/ACC). Here we identified an autosomal-dominant (AD) heterozygous mutation in SLC12A6 in a Chinese patient with intermediate CMT. The patient presented with slowly progressive distal muscle weakness and atrophy. Electrophysiological examination showed a mixed axonal/demyelinating neuropathy. Cognition and brain MRI were normal. A single heterozygous missense mutation c.620G>A (p.R207H) in exon 5 of SLC12A6 was identified as the likely pathogenic mutation by whole-exome sequencing consistent with two previously published cases. It affects evolutionarily highly conserved amino acid residue and is predicted to be deleterious by using in silico tools. Modelling of the mutant KCC3 cotransporter showed altered formation of hydrogen bonds and weakened interaction force between the mutated site and its surrounding amino acid residues. Our findings expand the genotypic and phenotypic spectrum associated with SLC12A6 mutations from AR-HMSN/ACC to AD-CMT. The differences in the inheritance pattern might be associated with a dominant-negative pathomechanism.