Novel VARS1 variants define new clinical and molecular subtypes of a rare neurodevelopmental syndrome

We aimed to broaden the understanding of autosomal recessive neurodevelopmental disorders caused by VARS1 by describing new clinical and molecular findings and assessing the predicted structural impact of identified variants.

We clinically evaluated 13 affected individuals from 10 unrelated families presenting with a neurodevelopmental disorder. We used exome sequencing and cosegregation analyses to identify disease-causing variants, followed by three-dimensional in silico analyses and molecular dynamics simulations to assess the likely functional consequences of both previously reported and novel variants.

In all affected individuals who presented with a neurodevelopmental syndrome with progressive microcephaly, seizures, and intellectual disability, we identified biallelic disease-causing variants in VARS1. Two variants were predicted to induce premature protein truncation leading to loss of VARS1 function. The remaining 13 detected missense variants were located in the catalytic and aminoacylation domains, and in silico analysis of the affected residues showed that such substitutions can disrupt local protein dynamics, RNA-interaction surfaces, or catalytic geometry, thereby affecting ligand recognition, substrate specificity, and tRNA interaction.

Together with prior reports, our results provide strong additional evidence supporting VARS1 as a recurrent cause of autosomal recessive neurodevelopmental disorders and expand the known clinical and allelic spectrum. While in silico analyses provide mechanistic plausibility for novel variants, functional studies will be important to confirm variant-specific effects and disease mechanisms.