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Updated: May 24, 2025

Targeted Next-generation Sequencing and Bioinformatics Pipeline to Evaluate Genetic Determinants of Constitutional Disease
Published on: April 4, 2018
Genetic variants and phenotypic data curated for the CAGI6 intellectual disability panel challenge
Maria Cristina Aspromonte1,2, Alessio Del Conte1, Roberta Polli2,3
1Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
Genetic variants cause neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). This study identified pathogenic variants in 25% of pediatric NDD cases, highlighting the importance of genetic analysis for diagnosis and intervention.
Area of Science:
- Genetics
- Neuroscience
- Computational Biology
Background:
- Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) are common, genetically diverse conditions.
- Understanding the genetic basis of NDDs is crucial for diagnosis and treatment.
- Heterogeneous genetic architectures and clinical presentations pose challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the genetic causes of NDDs in pediatric patients.
- To evaluate computational methods for predicting phenotypic outcomes from genetic data (CAGI6 ID Panel Challenge).
- To curate a dataset for assessing genome interpretation efficacy.
Main Methods:
- Targeted gene panel sequencing in 415 pediatric patients.
- Identification and classification of pathogenic and likely pathogenic variants.
- In silico analysis of variant impact on splicing and protein function.
Main Results:
- Identified 60 pathogenic and 49 likely pathogenic variants in 102 individuals (25% of NDD cases).
- Most common mutated genes include ANKRD11, MECP2, ARID1B, and CHD8.
- Loss-of-function variants were most prevalent; many pathogenic variants were de novo.
Conclusions:
- Genetic variants are significant contributors to NDDs.
- Accurate diagnosis and intervention development require understanding underlying genetic factors.
- Challenges in variant interpretation exist, especially with atypical phenotypes.
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Intellectual Disability

