Identification of two novel PATL2 variants and transcriptome sequencing reveals their role in oocyte maturation

Oocyte maturation defect (OMD) is a rare cause of female infertility characterized by the persistent arrest of oocytes at immature stages. While biallelic PATL2 variants have been associated with OMD, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to identify novel PATL2 variants in OMD patients and investigate their functional consequences using a Patl2 knockout (KO) mouse model.

We recruited two unrelated OMD patients and performed whole-exome sequencing (WES), followed by sanger validation of candidate variants. A CRISPR/Cas9-generated Patl2 KO mouse model was established, and transcriptomic profiling of oocytes from wild-type (WT) and Patl2^-/- mice was conducted to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and signaling pathways.

We identified three PATL2 variants in the patients: a novel frameshift variant (c.99delA, p.Glu35fs), a novel synonymous variant (c.930G > A, p.K310K) confirmed by mini-gene assay to disrupt splicing and a recurrent splicing variant (c.223 - 14_223-2delCCCTCCTGTTCCA, p.R75Vfs*21). Sequence variant analysis classified these variants as pathogenic/likely pathogenic according to the ACMG/AMP guidelines. Transcriptome sequencing of Patl2^-/-oocytes revealed dysregulation of key follicular development genes (Zfp36, Cited1, Fgf8, Id1, Efna1/4). KEGG pathway analysis highlighted significant upregulation of the hypoxia-inducible factor-1(HIF-1) signaling pathway and transforming growth factor-beta(TGF-beta) signaling pathway and mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, suggesting impaired oocyte energy metabolism and disrupted granulosa-oocyte communication.

We identified the first likely pathogenic synonymous PATL2 variant causing aberrant splicing and a novel frameshift variant in OMD, broadening the PATL2 mutational spectrum. These findings provide direct evidence for PATL2's critical role in female reproduction, where it regulates mRNA expression of proteins essential for oocyte meiotic progression and early embryonic development.