Genetic basis of neurodevelopmental disorders in 103 Jordanian families.

We recruited 103 families from Jordan with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) and patterns of inheritance mostly suggestive of autosomal recessive inheritance. In each family, we investigated at least one affected individual using exome sequencing and an in-house diagnostic variant interpretation pipeline including a search for copy number variation. This approach led us to identify the likely molecular defect in established disease genes in 37 families.

Epileptic Encephalopathy Caused by Mutations in the Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor DENND5A.

Epileptic encephalopathies are a catastrophic group of epilepsies characterized by refractory seizures and cognitive arrest, often resulting from abnormal brain development. Here, we have identified an epileptic encephalopathy additionally featuring cerebral calcifications and coarse facial features caused by recessive loss-of-function mutations in DENND5A. DENND5A contains a DENN domain, an evolutionarily ancient enzymatic module conferring guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) activity to multiple proteins serving as GEFs for Rabs, which are key regulators of membrane trafficking.