A unique STK4 mutation truncating only the C-terminal SARAH domain results in a mild clinical phenotype despite severe T cell lymphopenia: Case report

Mutations in STK4 (MST1) are implicated in a form of autosomal recessive combined immunodeficiency, resulting in recurrent infections (especially Epstein-Barr virus viremia), autoimmunity, and cardiac malformations. Here we report a patient with an atypically mild presentation of this disease, initially presenting with severe T cell lymphopenia (< 500 per mm3) and intermittent neutropenia, but now surviving well on immunoglobulins and prophylactic antibacterial treatment. She harbors a unique STK4 mutation that lies further downstream than all others reported to date. Unlike other published cases, her mRNA transcript is not vulnerable to nonsense mediated decay (NMD) and yields a truncated protein that is expected to lose only the C-terminal SARAH domain. This domain is critical for autodimerization and autophosphorylation. While exhibiting significant differences from controls, this patient's T cell proliferation defects and susceptibility to apoptosis are not as severe as reported elsewhere. Expression of PD-1 is in line with healthy controls. Similarly, the dysregulation seen in immunophenotyping is not as pronounced as in other published cases. The nature of this mutation, enabling its evasion from NMD, provides a rare glimpse into the clinical and cellular features associated with the absence of a "null" phenotype of this protein.