UFSP2-related spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia: A confirmatory report

Spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasias (SEMDs), which comprise a heterogeneous group of autosomal-dominant, autosomal-recessive and X-linked recessive disorders, are characterized by anomalies of the spine, the epiphyses and metaphyses of the long bones, resulting in short stature and osteoarthritic changes of the joints. UFSP2 gene encodes a highly conserved cysteine protease which cleaves two C-terminal residues from ubiquitin-fold modifier 1, an ubiquitin-like post-translational modifier protein. In 2018, Di Rocco, M reported for the first time that a novel heterozygous variant exon 11: c.1277A > C of the UFSP2 gene was the cause to spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia mainly manifested as: short stature, anterior vertebral dysplasia, hip dysplasia, flat vertebra, spinal metaphyseal dysplasia, irregular acetabular apex, distal femoral metaphyseal dysplasia, proximal tibial metaphyseal dysplasia, osteoarthritis and so on. In this report, we describe a boy with spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia due to a novel mutation exon 11: c.1283A > G (leading to p. H428R) of the UFSP2 gene. This is the second report to describe children with SEMDs associated with an UFSP2 variant. However, it is the first to describe a UFSP2 gene mutation exon 11: c.1283A > G (leading to p. H428R). Our findings of a novel heterozygous mutation of UFSP2 gene add to the list of 2 reported heterozygous mutations of UFSP2 which led to hereditary osteopathy.