title: Combined genetic and high-throughput strategies for molecular diagnosis of inherited retinal dystrophies.
abstract: Most diagnostic laboratories are confronted with the increasing demand for molecular diagnosis from patients and families and the ever-increasing genetic heterogeneity of visual disorders. Concerning Retinal Dystrophies (RD), almost 200 causative genes have been reported to date, and most families carry private mutations. We aimed to approach RD genetic diagnosis using all the available genetic information to prioritize candidates for mutational screening, and then restrict the number of cases to be analyzed by massive sequencing. We constructed and optimized a comprehensive cosegregation RD-chip based on SNP genotyping and haplotype analysis. The RD-chip allows to genotype 768 selected SNPs (closely linked to 100 RD causative genes) in a single cost-, time-effective step. Full diagnosis was attained in 17/36 Spanish pedigrees, yielding 12 new and 12 previously reported mutations in 9 RD genes. The most frequently mutated genes were USH2A and CRB1. Notably, RD3-up to now only associated to Leber Congenital Amaurosis- was identified as causative of Retinitis Pigmentosa. The main assets of the RD-chip are: i) the robustness of the genetic information that underscores the most probable candidates, ii) the invaluable clues in cases of shared haplotypes, which are indicative of a common founder effect, and iii) the detection of extended haplotypes over closely mapping genes, which substantiates cosegregation, although the assumptions in which the genetic analysis is based could exceptionally lead astray. The combination of the genetic approach with whole exome sequencing (WES) greatly increases the diagnosis efficiency, and revealed novel mutations in USH2A and GUCY2D. Overall, the RD-chip diagnosis efficiency ranges from 16% in dominant, to 80% in consanguineous recessive pedigrees, with an average of 47%, well within the upper range of massive sequencing approaches, highlighting the validity of this time- and cost-effective approach whilst high-throughput methodologies become amenable for routine diagnosis in medium sized labs.
authors: Departament de Genètica, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain ; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain ; Institut de Biomedicina (IBUB), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Marta
authors: M
authors: de Castro-Miró
authors: Departament de Genètica, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain ; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Esther
authors: E
authors: Pomares
authors: Departament de Genètica, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Laura
authors: L
authors: Lorés-Motta
authors: Centre Nacional d'Anàlisi Genòmica, PCB, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Raul
authors: R
authors: Tonda
authors: Department of Computational Genomics, Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, Valencia, Spain ; BIER, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Valencia, Spain.
authors: Joaquín
authors: J
authors: Dopazo
authors: Departament de Genètica, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain ; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain ; Institut de Biomedicina (IBUB), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Gemma
authors: G
authors: Marfany
authors: Departament de Genètica, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain ; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain ; Institut de Biomedicina (IBUB), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Roser
authors: R
authors: Gonzàlez-Duarte
mesh_terms: D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D005260:Female; D005820:Genetic Testing; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D009154:Mutation; D010375:Pedigree; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D058499:Retinal Dystrophies / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D013030:Spain