Novel microduplications at Xp11.22 including HUWE1: clinical and molecular insights into these genomic rearrangements associated with intellectual disability

Recently, we defined a minimal overlapping region for causal Xp11.22 copy number gains in males with intellectual disability (ID), and identified HECT, UBA and WWE domain-containing protein-1 (HUWE1) as the primary dosage-sensitive gene, whose overexpression leads to ID. In the present study, we used this minimal interval to search for HUWE1 copy number variations by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in a large cohort of Brazilian males with idiopathic ID. We detected two unrelated sporadic individuals with syndromic ID carrying unique overlapping duplications encompassing HUWE1. Breakpoint junction analysis showed a simple tandem duplication in the first patient, which has probably arisen by microhomology-mediated break-induced repair mechanism. In the second patient, the rearrangement is complex having an insertion of an intrachromosomal sequence at its junction. This kind of rearrangement has not been reported in Xp11.22 duplications and might have emerged by a replication- or recombination-based mechanism. Furthermore, the presence of infantile seizures in the second family suggests a potential role of increased KDM5C expression on epilepsy. Our findings highlight the importance of microduplications at Xp11.22 to ID, even in sporadic cases, and reveal new clinical and molecular insight into HUWE1 copy number gains.