Complex germline genomic rearrangements can affect many genes and regulatory elements, but the precise mechanisms that caused the phenotype of patients with such rearrangements are often unknown. To dissect the impact of germline chromothripsis in a relevant developmental context, we performed trio-based RNA expression analysis on blood cells,induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells and iPS-cell derived neuronal cells from a patient with de novo germline chromothripsis and both healthy parents. In addition, we performed Hi-C on iPS cell-derived neural progenitors of the patient and the father to study the effects of the chromothripsis rearrangements on the architecture of the derivative chromosomes. We demonstrate that a combination of patient-derived iPS cell differentiation and trio-based molecular profiling is a powerful approach to improve the interpretation of pathogenic complex genomic rearrangements.

Complex germline genomic rearrangements can affect many genes and regulatory elements, but the precise mechanisms that caused the phenotype of patients with such rearrangements are often unknown. To dissect the impact of germline chromothripsis in a relevant developmental context, we performed trio-based RNA expression analysis on blood cells,induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells and iPS-cell derived neuronal cells from a patient with de novo germline chromothripsis and both healthy parents. In addition, we performed Hi-C on iPS cell-derived neural progenitors of the patient and the father to study the effects of the chromothripsis rearrangements on the architecture of the derivative chromosomes. We demonstrate that a combination of patient-derived iPS cell differentiation and trio-based molecular profiling is a powerful approach to improve the interpretation of pathogenic complex genomic rearrangements.

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