1. Episignatures in practice: independent evaluation of published episignatures for the molecular diagnostics of ten neurodevelopmental disorders
- Author
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Thomas Husson, François Lecoquierre, Gaël Nicolas, Anne-Claire Richard, Alexandra Afenjar, Séverine AUDEBERT-BELLANGER, Catherine Badens, Frédéric Bilan, Varoona Bizaoui, Anne Boland, Marie-Noelle Bonnet-Dupeyron, Elise Brischoux-Boucher, Céline Bonnet, Marie Bournez, Odile Boute, Perrine Brunelle, Roseline Caumes, Perrine Charles, Nicolas Chassaing, Nicolas Chatron, Benjamin Cogné, Estelle Colin, Valérie Cormier-Daire, Rodolphe Dard, Benjamin Dauriat, Julian Delanne, Jean-François Deleuze, Florence Demurger, Anne-Sophie Denommé-Pichon, Christel Depienne, Anne Dieux Coeslier, Christèle Dubourg, Patrick Edery, salima EL CHEHADEH, Laurence Faivre, Mélanie FRADIN, Aurore Garde, David Geneviève, Brigitte Gilbert-Dussardier, Cyril Goizet, Alice Goldenberg, Evan Gouy, Anne-Marie Guerrot, Anne Guimier, Ines HARZALLAH, Delphine Héron, Bertrand Isidor, Xavier Le Guillou Horn, Boris Keren, Alma Kuechler, Elodie Lacaze, Alinoë Lavillaureix, Daphné Lehalle, Gaetan Lesca, James Lespinasse, Jonathan Levy, Stanislas Lyonnet, Godelieve Morel, Nolwenn Jean Marçais, Sandrine Marlin, Luisa Marsili, Cyril Mignot, Sophie Nambot, Mathilde Nizon, Robert Olaso, Laurent PASQUIER, Laurine Perrin, Florence Petit, Amélie Piton, Fabienne Prieur, Audrey Putoux, Marc Planes, Sylvie Odent, Chloé Quelin, Sylvia Quemener, Mélanie Rama, Marlène RIO, Massimiliano Rossi, Elise Schaefer, Sophie Rondeau, Pascale SAUGIER-VEBER, Thomas Smol, Sabine Sigaudy, Renaud TOURAINE, Frédéric Tran-Mau-Them, Aurélien Trimouille, Clémence Vanlerberghe, Valérie Vantalon, Gabriella Vera, Marie Vincent, Alban Ziegler, Olivier Guillin, Dominique Campion, and Camille Charbonnier
- Abstract
Variants of uncertain significance (VUS) are a significant issue for the molecular diagnosis of rare diseases. The publication of episignatures as effective biomarkers of certain Mendelian neurodevelopmental disorders has raised hopes to help classify VUS. However, prediction abilities of most published episignatures have not been independently investigated yet, which is a prerequisite for an informed and rigorous use in a diagnostic setting. We generated DNA methylation data from 102 carriers of (likely) pathogenic variants in ten different genes, 58 VUS carriers, and 25 healthy controls. Combining published episignature information and new validation data with a k-nearest-neighbour classifier within a leave-one-out scheme, we provide unbiased specificity and sensitivity estimates for each of the signatures. Our procedure reached 100% specificity, but the sensitivities unexpectedly spanned a very large spectrum. While ATRX, DNMT3A, KMT2D, and NSD1 signatures displayed a 100% sensitivity, CREBBP-RSTS and one of the CHD8 signatures reached less than 40% sensitivity on our dataset. Remaining Cornelia de Lange syndrome, KMT2A, KDM5C and CHD7 signatures reached 70%-100% sensibility at best with unstable performances, suffering from heterogeneous methylation profiles among cases and rare discordant samples. Our results call for cautiousness and demonstrate that episignatures do not perform equally well. Some signatures are ready for confident use in a diagnostic setting. Yet, it is imperative to characterise the actual validity perimeter and interpretation of each episignature with the help of larger validation sample sizes and in a broader set of episignatures.
- Published
- 2023
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