Department of Neurology, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Department of Neurology, Suzhou Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Suzhou, China.
Clin Genet. 2024 Jul;106(1):56-65. doi: 10.1111/cge.14510. Epub 2024 Feb 25.
Spastic paraplegia type 4 (SPG4), caused by SPAST mutations, is the most predominant subtype of hereditary spastic paraplegia. Most documented SPG4 patients present as pure form, with the complex form rarely reported. We described the clinical and genetic features of 20 patients with complex phenotypes of SPG4 and further explored the genotype-phenotype correlations. We collected detailed clinical data of all SPG4 patients and assessed their phenotypes. SPAST gene mutations were identified by Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification in combination with whole exome sequencing. We further performed statistical analysis in genotype and phenotype among patients with various manifestations and different variants. Out of 90 SPG4 patients, 20 patients (male:female = 16:4) with additional neurologic deficits, namely complex form, were included in our study. The bimodal distribution of age of onset at 0-10 and 21-40 years old is concluded. On cranial MRI, obvious white matter lesions can be observed in five patients. We identified 9 novel and 8 reported SPAST mutations, of which 11 mutations were located in AAA (ATPase associated with various cellular activities) domain. The AAA cassette of spastin is the hottest mutated region among complex SPG4. All patients with cognitive impairment (CI) are males (n = 9/9). Additionally, 80% patients with ataxia are due to frameshift mutations (n = 4/5). Overall, our study summarized and analyzed the genetic and phenotypic characteristics of complex SPG4, making up over 1/5 of in-house SPG4 cohort, among which CI and ataxia are the most common features. Further studies are expected to explore the underlying mechanisms.
痉挛性截瘫 4 型(SPG4)是由 SPAST 突变引起的,是遗传性痉挛性截瘫最主要的亚型。大多数有记录的 SPG4 患者表现为纯合子形式,而复杂形式则很少报道。我们描述了 20 例具有复杂表型的 SPG4 患者的临床和遗传特征,并进一步探讨了基因型-表型相关性。我们收集了所有 SPG4 患者的详细临床资料并评估了他们的表型。通过多重连接依赖性探针扩增结合全外显子组测序确定 SPAST 基因突变。我们进一步对具有不同表现和不同变异的患者的基因型和表型进行了统计分析。在 90 例 SPG4 患者中,有 20 例(男:女=16:4)有额外的神经功能缺损,即复杂型,包括在我们的研究中。发病年龄呈双峰分布,0-10 岁和 21-40 岁。头颅 MRI 可见明显的白质病变。我们鉴定了 9 个新的和 8 个报道的 SPAST 突变,其中 11 个突变位于 AAA(与各种细胞活动相关的 ATP 酶)结构域。痉挛蛋白的 AAA 盒是复杂 SPG4 中最热门的突变区域。所有有认知障碍(CI)的患者均为男性(n=9/9)。此外,80%的共济失调患者是由于移码突变(n=4/5)。总体而言,我们的研究总结和分析了复杂 SPG4 的遗传和表型特征,占我们内部 SPG4 队列的 1/5 以上,其中 CI 和共济失调是最常见的特征。进一步的研究有望探索其潜在机制。