Abnormal biomarkers predict complex FAS or FADD defects missed by exome sequencing.

BACKGROUNDElevated TCRαβCD4CD8 double-negative T cells (DNT) and serum biomarkers help identify FAS mutant patients with autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS). However, in some patients with clinical features and biomarkers consistent with ALPS, germline or somatic FAS mutations cannot be identified on standard exon sequencing (ALPS-undetermined: ALPS-U).OBJECTIVEWe sought to explore whether complex genetic alterations in the FAS gene escaping standard sequencing or mutations in other FAS pathway-related genes could explain these cases.METHODSGenetic analysis included whole FAS gene sequencing, copy number variation analysis, and sequencing of FAS cDNA and other FAS pathway-related genes. It was guided by FAS expression analysis on CD57DNT, which can predict somatic loss of heterozygosity (sLOH).RESULTSNine of 16 patients with ALPS-U lacked FAS expression on CD57DNT predicting heterozygous "loss-of-expression" FAS mutations plus acquired somatic second hits in the FAS gene, enriched in DNT. Indeed, 7 of 9 analyzed patients carried deep intronic mutations or large deletions in the FAS gene combined with sLOH detectable in DNT; 1 patient showed a FAS exon duplication. Three patients had reduced FAS expression, and 2 of them harbored mutations in the FAS promoter, which reduced FAS expression in reporter assays. Three of the 4 ALPS-U patients with normal FAS expression carried heterozygous FADD mutations with sLOH.CONCLUSIONA combination of serum biomarkers and DNT phenotyping is an accurate means to identify patients with ALPS who are missed by routine exome sequencing.KEYWORDSALPS, ALPS-U, DNT, FADD, FAS, double-negative T cells, genetic defect accumulation, loss of heterozygosity, promoter, somatic mutationsCopyright © 2023 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.