Genotypes and phenotypes of DNM1 encephalopathy

Variants in the dynamin-1 (DNM1) gene typically cause synaptopathy, leading to developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE). We aimed to determine the genotypic and phenotypic spectrum of DNM1 encephalopathy beyond DEE.

Electroclinical phenotyping and genotyping of patients with a DNM1 variant were conducted for patients undergoing next-generation sequencing at our centre, followed by a systematic review.

Six patients with heterozygous DNM1 variants were identified in our cohort. Three had a typical DEE phenotype characterised by epileptic spasms, tonic seizures and severe-to-profound intellectual disability with pathogenic variants located in the GTPase or middle domain. The other three patients had atypical phenotypes of milder cognitive impairment and focal epilepsy. Genotypically, two patients with atypical phenotypes had variants located in the GTPase domain, while the third patient had a novel variant (p.M648R) in the linker region between pleckstrin homology and GTPase effector domains. The third patient with an atypical phenotype showed normal development until he developed febrile status epilepticus. Our systematic review on 55 reported cases revealed that those with GTPase or middle domain variants had more severe intellectual disability (p<0.001) and lower functional levels of ambulation (p=0.001) or speech and language (p<0.001) than the rest.

DNM1-related phenotypes encompass a wide spectrum of epilepsy and neurodevelopmental disorders, with specific variants underlying different phenotypes.