Classification of the canonical splice alteration MUTYH c.934-2A > G is likely benign based on RNA and clinical data

Abstract

MUTYH-associated polyposis (MAP) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by the development of multiple adenomatous colonic polyps and an increased lifetime risk of colorectal cancer. Germline biallelic pathogenic variants in MUTYH are responsible for MAP. The MUTYH c.934-2A>G (NM_001128425.1) variant, which is also known as c.850-2A>G for NM_001048174.2, has been identified in our laboratory in more than 800 patients, including homozygous and compound heterozygote carriers. The variant was initially classified as a variant of uncertain significance (VUS) due to lack of a MAP phenotype in biallelic carriers. In two unrelated female patients who were heterozygous carriers of this variant, further testing by RNA sequencing identified an aberrant transcript with a deletion of 9 nucleotides at the start of exon 11 (MUTYH r.934_942del9). This event is predicted to lead to an in-frame loss of 3 amino acids in a non-critical domain of the protein. This was the only splice defect identified in these patients which was not present in the controls and the aberrant transcript is derived exclusively from the variant allele, strongly supporting the cause of this splice defect as being the intronic variant, MUTYH c.934-2A>G. The splicing analysis demonstrating a small in-frame skipping of 3 amino acids in a non-critical domain along with the absence of a MAP phenotype in our internal cohort of biallelic carriers provides evidence that the variant is likely benign and not of clinical significance.