Intellectual disability - microarray and sequencing
Gene: DROSHA
After NHS Genomic Medicine Service consideration, the rating of this gene has not been changed and remains Amber. Additional comments from reviewing GLH (C&S): 'Only 2 unrelated patients seen with variants in this gene. At least one more needed to upgrade to green'Created: 30 Jan 2023, 5:50 p.m. | Last Modified: 30 Jan 2023, 5:50 p.m.
Panel Version: 4.53
Not associated with a phenotype in OMIM (DROSHA entry last edited 11/24/2014) or Gen2Phen. Two missense variants have been reported in unrelated cases with a severe progressive neurological disorder, which also includes microcephaly and skeletal dysplasia. Studies in drosphila and worms demonstrate the role of DROSHA orthologs in neurological development and miRNA expression.Created: 24 May 2022, 10:13 a.m. | Last Modified: 24 May 2022, 10:13 a.m.
Panel Version: 3.1583
Profound DD, ID and seizures have been reported in 2 unrelated subjects with de novo missense variants. The gene has a role in miRNA biogenesis. Both variants described have been shown to have effect on DROSHA's function in Drosophila / C. elegans (partial loss-of-function vs possibility of antimorphic effect discussed || in gnomAD several individuals with LoF alleles / Z=3.98 – pLI : 0.09).
There is currently no DROSHA-related phenotype in OMIM, G2P, SysNDD. In PanelApp Australia the gene has amber rating in genetic epilepsy and microcephaly panels (not currently included in the ID one).
Consider inclusion in the current panel with amber rating. Also consider inclusion in other possibly relevant panels (given postnatal microcephaly, abn. corpus callosum, progressive white matter atrophy, etc) [ NOT added ]
-----
Barish, Senturk, Schoch et al (2022 - PMID: 35405010) describe the phenotype of 2 unrelated individuals with de novo missense DROSHA variants.
Features included generalized hypotonia, postnatal microcephaly (-2,6 and -6 SD), feeding difficulties, profound DD and ID, seizures, abnormal movements (choreoathetosis / stereotypic movements), variable respiratory symptoms (in one case episodes of hyperventilation/apnea), cardiovascular or skeletal findings. Brain MRI demonstrated white matter atrophy and thin corpus callosum in both. Brachycephaly with broad face as well as short feet were also among the shared features.
Both were investigated by trio ES/GS which were otherwise non diagnostic and without other candidate variants. The 1st individual harbored a de novo htz missense DROSHA variant (c.3656A>G/p.Asp1219Gly) while the 2nd subject had another missense variant (c.4024C>T/p.Arg1342Trp) [NM_013235.4] confirmed by Sanger seq.
DROSHA (on 5p13.3) encodes a ribonuclease, subunit of the microprocessor complex, involved in miRNA biogenesis. Specifically, miRNAs are transcribed as part of pri-miRNAs (primary-miRNAs) which are cleaved to pre-miRNAs (precursor-miRNAs) in the nucleus by DROSHA (and its partner DGCR8 or Pasha) and then exported to the cytoplasm for further processing. Cleavage of pre-miRNAs by DICER1 generates mature miRNAs subsequently loaded to the RISC (RNA-induced silencing) complex which uses miRNA as template for recognition and cleavage of complementary mRNA with RNAse.
As the authors discuss, miRNA defects have a well-established role in development of model organisms e.g. (several Refs. provided):
- in C. elegans miRNA mutants causing lethality, developmental arrest and heterochronicity
- in Drosophila playing a role in the development of ovary, eye, nervous system etc.
- in mice mRNAs play a role in BMP and TGF-beta signaling while neuronal loss of miRNA processing leads to neurodegeneration/anatomical defects.
Feingold syndrome 2 is the single Mendelian disease associated to date with miRNAs, through deletion of a cluster containing 6 MIR genes.
miRNA dysregulation is also observed in Rett syndrome - and DROSHA implicated in the pathogenesis of the syndrome - as MECP2 and FOXG1 are cofactors of the microprocessor complex regulating processing of miRNA. One of the individuals here reported had a clinical diagnosis of Rett spectrum while both had overlapping features with Rett s.
Studies of DROSHA-dependent miRNAs in fibroblasts from one individual revealed significantly altered expression of mature miRNA (e.g. increased miR98, a miRNA with reduced expression in studies of somatic DROSHA variants) although this was not likely due to processing errors (given only a modest decrease of precursor miRNAs).
Previous studies have demonstrated that drosha (the Drosophila ortholog) null mutants die during post-embryonic development with 100% lethality before adulthood (3rd instar larval stage/beginning of pupariation). Mosaic flies with mutant eyes are small-eyed, while viable hypomorphic alleles display synaptic transmission defects (several Refs provided).
Here, homozygous flies for null alleles died at the end of 3rd instar larval stage/beginning of pupariation, while loss of drosha resulted in lack of imaginal disc tissue (which surrounds the larval brain) and severely reduced brain size, the latter similar to the microcephaly phenotype. [To the best of my understanding] introduction of a mutated genomic rescue construct (carrying similar substitutions as those observed in human subjects) in eye-specific drosha null (W1123X) flies was partially able to rescue eye/head size for wt or Asp1219Gly (human:Asp1084Gly) suggesting that the latter is a partial LoF allele. Arg1210Trp (corresponding to human Arg1342Trp) was able to rescue the eye phenotype and was not damaging to the function in the specific assay. Drosha expression levels were similar for genomic rescue flies either for wt or for the Asp-Gly variant suggesting that the effect was not due to expression levels (but rather function). Expression of mature miRNAs known to be regulated by Drosha were not affected when comparing wildtype larvae with genomic construct for wt or Asp1084Gly.
Upon expression of human cDNA using GAL4/UAS system in drosha mutant (null) eye clones, the reference partially rescued the eye size defect, Asp-Gly behaved as partial loss-of-function allele (~50% function compared to ref), while the Arg-Trp variant was shown to behave as a weaker loss-of-function allele.
The authors generated eye-specific drosha mutant clones to study the aging adult eye using ERG recordings. While null mutants display almost no response to light (7- and 20-day old flies), wt genomic rescue was shown to rescue ERG responses, Asp-Gly variant had significant defects (at both 7 and 20 days) and the Arg-Trp had defects approaching statistical significance only at the age of 20 days. Overall these data suggested that Arg-Trp had less severe effect compared to Asp-Gly (as above) while both variants led to progressive neuronal dysfunction.
Using CRISPR/Cas9 the authors generated C.elegans knock-ins for a variant analogous to the Asp1219Gly human one. Homozygous animals were inviable at larval stages, displayed a heterochronic phenotype (heterochronicity : development of cells or tissues at an abnormal time relative to other unaffected events in an organism / miRNAs are known to be involved in the heterochronic gene pathway) while this variant was deleterious to the Drosha's ability to process miRNAs.
Sources: LiteratureCreated: 22 May 2022, 7:17 a.m.
Mode of inheritance
MONOALLELIC, autosomal or pseudoautosomal, imprinted status unknown
Phenotypes
Global developmental delay; Intellectual disability; Seizures; Cerebral white matter atrophy; Abnormality of the corpus callosum; Abnormality of movement; Stereotypic behavior; Abnormality of head or neck; Short foot
Publications
Mode of pathogenicity
Loss-of-function variants (as defined in pop up message) DO NOT cause this phenotype - please provide details in the comments
Tag gene-checked tag was added to gene: DROSHA.
Tag Q2_22_rating was removed from gene: DROSHA.
Source NHS GMS was added to DROSHA.
Gene: drosha has been classified as Amber List (Moderate Evidence).
Tag locus-type-rna-micro tag was added to gene: DROSHA. Tag Q2_22_rating tag was added to gene: DROSHA.
gene: DROSHA was added gene: DROSHA was added to Intellectual disability. Sources: Literature Mode of inheritance for gene: DROSHA was set to MONOALLELIC, autosomal or pseudoautosomal, imprinted status unknown Publications for gene: DROSHA were set to 35405010 Phenotypes for gene: DROSHA were set to Global developmental delay; Intellectual disability; Seizures; Cerebral white matter atrophy; Abnormality of the corpus callosum; Abnormality of movement; Stereotypic behavior; Abnormality of head or neck; Short foot Penetrance for gene: DROSHA were set to unknown Mode of pathogenicity for gene: DROSHA was set to Loss-of-function variants (as defined in pop up message) DO NOT cause this phenotype - please provide details in the comments Review for gene: DROSHA was set to AMBER