Need Help?

Next Generation Mendelian Genetics: Familial Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis

The NHGRI Next Generation Mendelian Genetics project uses exome resequencing to identify variants in unsolved Mendelian diseases.

Familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (fHLH) is a serious immune disorder that results from defective cytotoxic lymphocyte function. Autosomal recessive mutations in PFP1, UNC13D, STX11, STBP2, or RAB27, and hemizygous mutations in SH2D1A or BIRC4, account for known causes of the disease, but 30-70% of patients in North America lack a known genetic etiology. This project was designed to identify additional genetic abnormalities from HLH patients.

The exome sequences of four unrelated individuals with a diagnosis of HLH, but without mutations in genes known to cause disease, were obtained by massively parallel DNA sequencing.