Genetic Analyses Identified a SALL4 Gene Mutation Associated with Holt-Oram Syndrome

Holt-Oram syndrome (HOS) is an autosomal dominant disorder, which is characterized by deformities of upper limbs and congenital heart defects. Alterations of TBX5 gene have been identified to be the leading cause of HOS, while some cases could not be explained by TBX5 mutations. In our study, we preliminarily diagnosed a newborn baby, who had Tetralogy of Fallot, thumb agenesis, facial dysplasia, and right ear canal malformation, as HOS. Chromosome microarray analyses showed no pathological deletions or replications of chromosome segments; whole exome sequencing screened out six candidate genes that were involved in cardiac diseases or syndromes among which SALL4 has been reported as HOS related gene. We evaluated the pathogenicity of SALL4 mutant sites by series of software. The results indicated that SALL4-M143V may be a polymorphism site, and SALL4-R418C could cause disease. HOPE and SWISS PDB viewer showed that SALL4-R418C leads to changes in amino acid properties, loss of protein hydrogen bond, and functional impact of SALL4 zinc finger domain. These results further confirmed the pathogenic significance of SALL4-R418C mutant. When genetic analyses coupled with bioinformatic analyses, we identified a SALL4 gene rare mutation which might contribute to a newborn with HOS. Although some doubts need to be further discussed and explored, our study deepened the understanding of phenotype difference among syndromes and role of SALL4 mutations in disease occurrence.