De novo damaging variants associated with congenital heart diseases contribute to the connectome

Sci Rep. 2020 Apr 27;10(1):7046. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-63928-2.

Abstract

Congenital heart disease (CHD) survivors are at risk for neurodevelopmental disability (NDD), and recent studies identify genes associated with both disorders, suggesting that NDD in CHD survivors may be of genetic origin. Genes contributing to neurogenesis, dendritic development and synaptogenesis organize neural elements into networks known as the connectome. We hypothesized that NDD in CHD may be attributable to genes altering both neural connectivity and cardiac patterning. To assess the contribution of de novo variants (DNVs) in connectome genes, we annotated 229 published NDD genes for connectome status and analyzed data from 3,684 CHD subjects and 1,789 controls for connectome gene mutations. CHD cases had more protein truncating and deleterious missense DNVs among connectome genes compared to controls (OR = 5.08, 95%CI:2.81-9.20, Fisher's exact test P = 6.30E-11). When removing three known syndromic CHD genes, the findings remained significant (OR = 3.69, 95%CI:2.02-6.73, Fisher's exact test P = 1.06E-06). In CHD subjects, the top 12 NDD genes with damaging DNVs that met statistical significance after Bonferroni correction (PTPN11, CHD7, CHD4, KMT2A, NOTCH1, ADNP, SMAD2, KDM5B, NSD2, FOXP1, MED13L, DYRK1A; one-tailed binomial test P ≤ 4.08E-05) contributed to the connectome. These data suggest that NDD in CHD patients may be attributable to genes that alter both cardiac patterning and the connectome.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Connectome / methods*
  • DNA Helicases / genetics
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / genetics
  • Exome / genetics*
  • Female
  • Heart Defects, Congenital / genetics*
  • Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase / genetics
  • Homeodomain Proteins / genetics
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mi-2 Nucleosome Remodeling and Deacetylase Complex / genetics
  • Mutation / genetics
  • Mutation, Missense / genetics
  • Myeloid-Lymphoid Leukemia Protein / genetics
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / genetics
  • Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, Non-Receptor Type 11 / genetics
  • Receptor, Notch1 / genetics

Substances

  • ADNP protein, human
  • CHD4 protein, human
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Homeodomain Proteins
  • KMT2A protein, human
  • NOTCH1 protein, human
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • Receptor, Notch1
  • Myeloid-Lymphoid Leukemia Protein
  • Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase
  • PTPN11 protein, human
  • Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, Non-Receptor Type 11
  • Mi-2 Nucleosome Remodeling and Deacetylase Complex
  • DNA Helicases
  • CHD7 protein, human