Background: Coffin-Lowry syndrome (CLS) is a syndromic form of X-linked intellectual disability, in which specific associated facial, hand, and skeletal abnormalities are diagnostic features.
Methods: In the present study, an unreported missense genetic variant of the ribosomal S6 kinase 2 (RSK2) gene has been identified, by next-generation sequencing, in two related males with two different phenotypes of intellectual disability (ID) and peculiar facial dysmorphisms. We performed functional studies on this variant and another one, already reported in the literature, involving the same amino acid residue but, to date, without an efficient characterization.
Results: Our study demonstrated that the two variants involving residue 189 significantly impaired its kinase activity.
Conclusions: We detected a loss-of-function RSK2 mutation with loss in kinase activity in a three-generation family with an X-linked ID.
Keywords: Coffin–Lowry syndrome; RSK2 gene; functional assay; intellectual disability; kinase assay.