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Investigating Genetics in Suspected Congenital Syndromes

We employed forward and reverse genetics to identify individuals with heterozygous JAK1 variants associated with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

We first recruited six unrelated probands and seven affected family members presenting with a range of autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. Whole exome sequencing revealed 4 different variants spanning all domains of the JAK1 protein: FERM domain (chr1: 64873438-G>A; c.415C>T; p.E139K), SH2 domain (chr1: 64855641-G>A; c.1516C>T; p.R506C), pseudokinase domain (chr1: 64845529-C>T; c.2099G>A; p.S700N, and kinase domain (chr1: 64838479-C>T; c.2953G>A; p.V985I).

We then performed a systematic review of electronic health records of the BioME BioBank database and identified 43 additional individuals with at least one of these JAK1 variants. Comparing variant-positive and variant-negative individuals, our study revealed increased occurrences of autoimmunity, atopy, colitis, and dermatitis in patients harboring these JAK1 gain-of-function variants.

We have deposited in dbGaP the whole exome sequencing files of the 43 patients identified in the BioME biobank, as well as their phenotype information.