Intellectual disability - microarray and sequencing
Gene: SHMT2 Green List (high evidence)The rating of this gene has been updated following NHS Genomic Medicine Service approval.Created: 9 Mar 2022, 3:40 p.m. | Last Modified: 9 Mar 2022, 3:40 p.m.
Panel Version: 3.1510
Comment on list classification: New gene added by Konstantinos Varvagiannis. Sufficient number of unrelated cases (>3) with ID of relevant severity to this panel. Some functional data indicating variants result in impaired SHMT2 enzymatic function. Rating Amber but should be promoted to Green at the next GMS panel update (added 'for-review' tag)
SHMT2 is listed in Gene2Phenotype with a 'probable' disease confidence rating for 'SHMT2-related neurodevelopmental syndrome', and is also associated with 'Neurodevelopmental disorder with cardiomyopathy, spasticity, and brain abnormalities, MIM# 619121' in OMIM.Created: 21 Dec 2020, 11:18 a.m. | Last Modified: 21 Dec 2020, 11:18 a.m.
Panel Version: 3.665
Green List (high evidence)
García‑Cazorla et al. (2020 - PMID: 33015733) report 5 individuals (from 4 families) with a novel brain and heart developmental syndrome caused by biallelic SHMT2 pathogenic variants.
All affected subjects presented similar phenotype incl. microcephaly at birth (5/5 OFC < -2 SD though in 2/5 cases N OFC was observed later), DD and ID (1/5 mild-moderate, 1/5 moderate, 3/5 severe), motor dysfunction in the form of spastic (5/5) paraparesis, ataxia/dysmetria (3/4), intention tremor (in 3/?) and/or peripheral neuropathy (2 sibs). They exhibited corpus callosum hypoplasia (5/5) and perisylvian microgyria-like pattern (4/5). Cardiac problems were reported in all, with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 4/5 (from 3 families) and atrial-SD in the 5th individual (1/5). Common dysmorphic features incl. long palpebral/fissures, eversion of lateral third of lower eylids, arched eyebrows, long eyelashes, thin upper lip, short Vth finger, fetal pads, mild 2-3 toe syndactyly, proximally placed thumbs.
Biallelic variants were identified following exome sequencing in all (other investigations not mentioned). Identified variants were in all cases missense SNVs or in-frame del, which together with evidence from population databases and mouse model might suggest a hypomorphic effect of variants and intolerance/embryonic lethality for homozygous LoF ones.
SHMT2 encodes the mitohondrial form of serine hydroxymethyltransferase. The enzyme transfers one-carbon units from serine to tetrahydrofolate (THF) and generates glycine and 5,10,methylene-THF.
Mitochondrial defect was suggested by presence of ragged red fibers in myocardial biopsy of one patient. Quadriceps and myocardial biopsies of the same individual were overall suggestive of myopathic changes.
While plasma metabolites were within N range and SHMT2 protein levels not significantly altered in patient fibroblasts, the authors provide evidence for impaired enzymatic function eg. presence of the SHMT2 substrate (THF) in patient but not control (mitochondria-enriched) fibroblasts , decrease in glycine/serine ratios, impared folate metabolism. Patient fibroblasts displayed impaired oxidative capacity (reduced ATP levels in a medium without glucose, diminished oxygen consumption rates). Mitochondrial membrane potential and ROS levels were also suggestive of redox malfunction.
Shmt2 ko in mice was previously shown to be embryonically lethal attributed to severe mitochondrial respiration defects, although there was no observed brain metabolic defect.
The authors performed Shmt2 knockdown in motoneurons in Drosophila, demonstrating neuromuscular junction (# of satellite boutons) and motility defects (climbing distance/velocity).
Overall this gene can be considered for inclusion with (probably) green rating in gene panels for ID, metabolic / mitochondrial disorders, cardiomyopathy, congenital microcephaly, corpus callosum anomalies, etc.
Sources: LiteratureCreated: 10 Oct 2020, 9:56 p.m.
Mode of inheritance
BIALLELIC, autosomal or pseudoautosomal
Phenotypes
Congenital microcephaly; Infantile axial hypotonia; Spastic paraparesis; Global developmental delay; Intellectual disability; Abnormality of the corpus callosum; Abnormal cortical gyration; Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; Abnormality of the face; Proximal placement of thumb; 2-3 toe syndactyly
Publications
Tag for-review was removed from gene: SHMT2.
Source Expert Review Green was added to SHMT2. Rating Changed from Amber List (moderate evidence) to Green List (high evidence)
Tag for-review tag was added to gene: SHMT2.
Gene: shmt2 has been classified as Amber List (Moderate Evidence).
Phenotypes for gene: SHMT2 were changed from Congenital microcephaly; Infantile axial hypotonia; Spastic paraparesis; Global developmental delay; Intellectual disability; Abnormality of the corpus callosum; Abnormal cortical gyration; Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; Abnormality of the face; Proximal placement of thumb; 2-3 toe syndactyly to Neurodevelopmental disorder with cardiomyopathy, spasticity, and brain abnormalities, OMIM:619121
gene: SHMT2 was added gene: SHMT2 was added to Intellectual disability. Sources: Literature Mode of inheritance for gene: SHMT2 was set to BIALLELIC, autosomal or pseudoautosomal Publications for gene: SHMT2 were set to 33015733 Phenotypes for gene: SHMT2 were set to Congenital microcephaly; Infantile axial hypotonia; Spastic paraparesis; Global developmental delay; Intellectual disability; Abnormality of the corpus callosum; Abnormal cortical gyration; Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; Abnormality of the face; Proximal placement of thumb; 2-3 toe syndactyly Penetrance for gene: SHMT2 were set to Complete Review for gene: SHMT2 was set to GREEN
If promoting or demoting a gene, please provide comments to justify a decision to move it.
Genes included in a Genomics England gene panel for a rare disease category (green list) should fit the criteria A-E outlined below.
These guidelines were developed as a combination of the ClinGen DEFINITIVE evidence for a causal role of the gene in the disease(a), and the Developmental Disorder Genotype-Phenotype (DDG2P) CONFIRMED DD Gene evidence level(b) (please see the original references provided below for full details). These help provide a guideline for expert reviewers when assessing whether a gene should be on the green or the red list of a panel.
A. There are plausible disease-causing mutations(i) within, affecting or encompassing an interpretable functional region(ii) of this gene identified in multiple (>3) unrelated cases/families with the phenotype(iii).
OR
B. There are plausible disease-causing mutations(i) within, affecting or encompassing cis-regulatory elements convincingly affecting the expression of a single gene identified in multiple (>3) unrelated cases/families with the phenotype(iii).
OR
C. As definitions A or B but in 2 or 3 unrelated cases/families with the phenotype, with the addition of convincing bioinformatic or functional evidence of causation e.g. known inborn error of metabolism with mutation in orthologous gene which is known to have the relevant deficient enzymatic activity in other species; existence of an animal model which recapitulates the human phenotype.
AND
D. Evidence indicates that disease-causing mutations follow a Mendelian pattern of causation appropriate for reporting in a diagnostic setting(iv).
AND
E. No convincing evidence exists or has emerged that contradicts the role of the gene in the specified phenotype.
(i)Plausible disease-causing mutations: Recurrent de novo mutations convincingly affecting gene function. Rare, fully-penetrant mutations - relevant genotype never, or very rarely, seen in controls. (ii) Interpretable functional region: ORF in protein coding genes miRNA stem or loop. (iii) Phenotype: the rare disease category, as described in the eligibility statement. (iv) Intermediate penetrance genes should not be included.
It’s assumed that loss-of-function variants in this gene can cause the disease/phenotype unless an exception to this rule is known. We would like to collect information regarding exceptions. An example exception is the PCSK9 gene, where loss-of-function variants are not relevant for a hypercholesterolemia phenotype as they are associated with increased LDL-cholesterol uptake via LDLR (PMID: 25911073).
If a curated set of known-pathogenic variants is available for this gene-phenotype, please contact us at [email protected]
We classify loss-of-function variants as those with the following Sequence Ontology (SO) terms:
Term descriptions can be found on the PanelApp homepage and Ensembl.
If you are submitting this evaluation on behalf of a clinical laboratory please indicate whether you report variants in this gene as part of your current diagnostic practice by checking the box
Standardised terms were used to represent the gene-disease mode of inheritance, and were mapped to commonly used terms from the different sources. Below each of the terms is described, along with the equivalent commonly-used terms.
A variant on one allele of this gene can cause the disease, and imprinting has not been implicated.
A variant on the paternally-inherited allele of this gene can cause the disease, if the alternate allele is imprinted (function muted).
A variant on the maternally-inherited allele of this gene can cause the disease, if the alternate allele is imprinted (function muted).
A variant on one allele of this gene can cause the disease. This is the default used for autosomal dominant mode of inheritance where no knowledge of the imprinting status of the gene required to cause the disease is known. Mapped to the following commonly used terms from different sources: autosomal dominant, dominant, AD, DOMINANT.
A variant on both alleles of this gene is required to cause the disease. Mapped to the following commonly used terms from different sources: autosomal recessive, recessive, AR, RECESSIVE.
The disease can be caused by a variant on one or both alleles of this gene. Mapped to the following commonly used terms from different sources: autosomal recessive or autosomal dominant, recessive or dominant, AR/AD, AD/AR, DOMINANT/RECESSIVE, RECESSIVE/DOMINANT.
A variant on one allele of this gene can cause the disease, however a variant on both alleles of this gene can result in a more severe form of the disease/phenotype.
A variant in this gene can cause the disease in males as they have one X-chromosome allele, whereas a variant on both X-chromosome alleles is required to cause the disease in females. Mapped to the following commonly used term from different sources: X-linked recessive.
A variant in this gene can cause the disease in males as they have one X-chromosome allele. A variant on one allele of this gene may also cause the disease in females, though the disease/phenotype may be less severe and may have a later-onset than is seen in males. X-linked inactivation and mosaicism in different tissues complicate whether a female presents with the disease, and can change over their lifetime. This term is the default setting used for X-linked genes, where it is not known definitately whether females require a variant on each allele of this gene in order to be affected. Mapped to the following commonly used terms from different sources: X-linked dominant, x-linked, X-LINKED, X-linked.
The gene is in the mitochondrial genome and variants within this can cause this disease, maternally inherited. Mapped to the following commonly used term from different sources: Mitochondrial.
Mapped to the following commonly used terms from different sources: Unknown, NA, information not provided.
For example, if the mode of inheritance is digenic, please indicate this in the comments and which other gene is involved.