A Premature Stop Codon in MYO18B is Associated with Severe Nemaline Myopathy with Cardiomyopathy

Nemaline myopathies (NM) are rare and severe muscle diseases characterized by the presence of nemaline bodies (rods) in muscle fibers. Although ten genes have been implicated in the etiology of NM, an important number of patients remain without a molecular diagnosis.

Here we describe the clinical and histopathological features of a sporadic case presenting with severe NM and cardiomyopathy. Using exome sequencing, we aimed to identify the causative gene.

We identified a homozygous nonsense mutation in the last exon of MYO18B, leading to a truncated protein lacking the most C-terminal part. MYO18B codes for an unconventional myosin protein and it is mainly expressed in skeletal and cardiac muscles, two tissues severely affected in the patient. We showed that the mutation does not impact on mRNA stability. Immunostaining and Western blot confirmed the absence of the full-length protein.

We propose MYO18B as a novel gene associated with nemaline myopathy and cardiomyopathy.