Germline variants in UHRF1 are associated with multi-locus imprinting disturbance in humans and mice

Genomic imprinting provides is an epigenetic process crucial for normal development and is disrupted in congenital imprinting disorders(CIDs). There is great interest in the clinical consequences and aetiology of multilocus imprinting disturbance(MLID) which occurs in some individuals with CID, though the cause of MLID is unknown in most cases. We investigated a kindred with a CID and MLID and identified a rare genetic variant in the UHRF1 gene which has a critical role in the establishment and maintenance of DNA methylation. We generated a mouse model and found that the equivalent Uhrf1 variant was associated with prenatal lethality and disruption of normal imprinting mechanisms. These findings support UHRF1 as a novel candidate gene for CIDs with MLID.

• Type: Exome Sequencing
• Archiver: European Genome-Phenome Archive (EGA)