Mutation analysis of disease causing genes in patients with early onset or familial forms of Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia

• Background: Most dementia disorders have a clear genetic background and a number of disease genes have beenidentified. Mutations in the tau gene (MAPT) lead to frontotemporal dementia (FTD), whereas mutations in the genesfor the amyloid-β precursor protein (APP) and the presenilins (PSEN1, PSEN2) cause early-onset, dominantly inheritedforms of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).Even if mutations causing Mendelian forms of these diseases are uncommon, elucidation of the pathogenic effects ofsuch mutations have proven important for understanding the pathogenic processes. Here, we performed a screen toidentify novel pathogenic mutations in known disease genes among patients undergoing dementia investigation.Results: Using targeted exome sequencing we have screened all coding exons in eleven known dementia genes(PSEN1, PSEN2, APP, MAPT, APOE, GRN, TARDBP, CHMP2B, TREM2, VCP and FUS) in 102 patients with AD, FTD, otherdementia diagnoses or mild cognitive impairment.We found three AD patients with two previously identified pathogenic mutations in PSEN1 (Pro264Leu and Met-146Val). In this screen, we also identified the recently reported APP mutation in two siblings with AD. This mutation,named the Uppsala mutation, consists of a six amino acid intra-amyloid β deletion.In addition, we found several potentially pathogenic mutations in PSEN2, FUS, MAPT, GRN and APOE. Finally, APOE ε4was prevalent in this patient group with an allele frequency of 54%Conclusions: Among the 102 screened patients, we found two disease causing mutations in PSEN1 and one in APP,as well as several potentially pathogenic mutations in other genes related to neurodegenerative disorders. Apart fromgiving important information to the clinical investigation, the identification of disease mutations can contribute to anincreased understanding of disease mechanisms.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper -- Neurovetenskaper (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine -- Neurosciences (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper -- Medicinsk genetik (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine -- Medical Genetics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Alzheimer’s disease

Frontotemporal dementia

Neurodegenerative disorders

PSEN1

PSEN2

APP

MAPT

APOE

Exome sequencing

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