Infantile-onset myoclonic developmental and epileptic encephalopathy: A new RARS2 phenotype.

Abstract

Recessive variants in RARS2, a nuclear gene encoding a mitochondrial protein, were initially reported in pontocerebellar hypoplasia. Subsequently, a recessive RARS2 early-infantile (<12 weeks) developmental and epileptic encephalopathy was described with hypoglycaemia and lactic acidosis. Here, we describe two unrelated patients with a novel RARS2 phenotype and reanalyse the published RARS2 epilepsy phenotypes and variants. Our novel cases had infantile-onset myoclonic developmental and epileptic encephalopathy, presenting with a progressive movement disorder from 9 months on a background of normal development. Development plateaued and regressed thereafter, with mild to profound impairment. Multiple drug-resistant generalized and focal seizures occurred with episodes of non-convulsive status epilepticus. Seizure types included absence, atonic, myoclonic, and focal seizures. Electroencephalograms showed diffuse slowing, multifocal, and generalised spike-wave activity, activated by sleep. Both patients had compound heterozygous RARS2 variants with likely impact on splicing and transcription. Remarkably, of the now 52 RARS2 variants reported in 54 patients, our reanalysis found that 44 (85%) have been shown to or are predicted to affect splicing or gene expression leading to protein truncation or nonsense-mediated decay. We expand the RARS2 phenotypic spectrum to include infantile encephalopathy and suggest this gene is enriched for pathogenic variants that disrupt splicing.

• Authors: Guillem de Valles-Ibáñez, Michael S Hildebrand, Melanie Bahlo, Chontelle King, Matthew Coleman, Timothy E Green, John Goldsmith, Suzanne Davis, Deepak Gill, Simone Mandelstam, Ingrid E Scheffer, Lynette G Sadleir
• Journal: Epilepsia open (Epilepsia Open) Vol. 7 Issue 1 Pg. 170-180 (03 2022) ISSN: 2470-9239 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 34717047 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Epilepsia Open published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International League Against Epilepsy.

Chemical References

• Arginine-tRNA Ligase
• RARS2 protein, human

Topics

• Arginine-tRNA Ligase (genetics)
• Brain Diseases (genetics)
• Electroencephalography
• Epilepsy
• Humans
• Phenotype
• Seizures (genetics)