A novel cardiomyopathy phenotype linked to a CHD7 missense variant

A novel cardiomyopathy phenotype linked to a CHD7 missense variant

Abstract Loss of function in the chromatin remodeler CHD7 causes CHARGE syndrome, characterized by variable penetrance and diverse abnormalities. However, establishing genotype-phenotype correlations has been challenging, as most CHD7 inactivating mutations are null alleles. Through CHD7 missense va...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: In Young Park, Chih-Wei Hsu, Karim Bouazoune, Christina E. Espindola, Madeline Hannah McLaughlin Armond, Cristian Coarfa, Sandra L. Grimm, James F. Martin, Donna M. Martin, Cheryl Lyn Walker
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-06-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Subjects:
CHARGE syndrome
CHD7
T730 phosphorylation
Cardiomyopathy
GSK3
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00606-1
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Loss of function in the chromatin remodeler CHD7 causes CHARGE syndrome, characterized by variable penetrance and diverse abnormalities. However, establishing genotype-phenotype correlations has been challenging, as most CHD7 inactivating mutations are null alleles. Through CHD7 missense variant analysis at potential phosphorylation sites, we identified T730 (T720 in mice) as a critical residue associated with pathogenesis. Using a CHD7 T730 missense variant (Chd7 T720A) and a frameshift null allele (Chd7 fs) in a mouse model, we found that Chd7 fs/fs mice were non-viable, while Chd7 fs/+ mice exhibited haploinsufficiency-related circling behavior. Notably, Chd7 fs/T720A mice died before postnatal day 2, indicating the Chd7 T720A allele is hypomorphic. Micro-CT analysis at E18.5 revealed that heterozygous mice primarily exhibited hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), while homozygous mice developed both HCM and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). RNA-seq analysis of neonatal Chd7 T720A/T720A hearts revealed a disrupted transcriptome, which in males and females was characterized by downregulation of mitochondrial energy metabolism genes and enrichment of ETS family transcription factor targets. We further identified GSK3β, GSK3α, HIPK1, and DYRK2 as candidate kinases for this site, suggesting a regulatory role in CHD7. This missense variant causing developmental heart abnormalities establishes the first genotype-phenotype correlation for CHD7, and offers new insights into CHARGE syndrome pathogenesis.
ISSN:2045-2322

Similar Items