SYNE1 Deficiency Manifesting Primarily With Motor Neuron Disease

SYNE1 deficiency is an autosomal recessive disorder with a broad phenotypic spectrum, most commonly presenting as adult-onset cerebellar ataxia with or without motor neuron dysfunction. We aimed to expand this spectrum by describing the clinical and genetic findings in 2 unrelated families with early-onset motor neuron disease and virtually no cerebellar signs over time.

We performed detailed clinical, neurophysiologic, and genetic studies of 2 unrelated families with juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and biallelic variants in SYNE1.

The phenotypes of both families showed onset of symptoms in childhood or adolescence, with signs of upper and lower motor neuron dysfunction in multiple territories suggestive of juvenile ALS. Patients developed progressive muscle weakness, eventually leading to respiratory distress and bulbar signs. Whole-exome sequencing identified SYNE1 biallelic truncating variants in both families: a homozygous nonsense variant, c.23131C>T (p.Gln7711*), in Family 1, and a novel homozygous splice-site variant, c.17851-1G>A, in Family 2. Notably, mild or no cerebellar manifestations were observed during the follow-up.

This report highlights a novel phenotype of SYNE1 deficiency characterized by early-onset motor neuron disease and virtually no cerebellar manifestations, broadening the phenotypic spectrum of this complex neurodegenerative disease. These findings support investigating SYNE1 variants in juvenile ALS and including SYNE1 in motor neuron disease gene panels.