Go to The Journal of Clinical Investigation
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Transfers
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Physician-Scientist Development
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • All ...
  • Videos
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Resource and Technical Advances
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Editorials
    • Perspectives
    • Physician-Scientist Development
    • Reviews
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • In-Press Preview
  • Resource and Technical Advances
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Editorials
  • Perspectives
  • Physician-Scientist Development
  • Reviews
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Transfers
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Quantitative hypermorphic FAM111A alleles cause autosomal recessive Kenny-Caffey syndrome type 2 and osteocraniostenosis
Dong Li, … , Hakon Hakonarson, Michael A. Levine
Dong Li, … , Hakon Hakonarson, Michael A. Levine
Published February 11, 2025
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2025;10(6):e186862. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.186862.
View: Text | PDF
Research Article Endocrinology Genetics

Quantitative hypermorphic FAM111A alleles cause autosomal recessive Kenny-Caffey syndrome type 2 and osteocraniostenosis

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

Kenny-Caffey syndrome (KCS) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by extreme short stature, cortical thickening and medullary stenosis of tubular bones, facial dysmorphism, abnormal T cell function, and hypoparathyroidism. Biallelic loss-of-function variants in TBCE cause autosomal recessive type 1 KCS (KCS1). By contrast, heterozygous missense variants in a restricted region of the FAM111A gene have been identified in autosomal dominant type 2 KCS (KCS2) and a more severe lethal phenotype, osteocraniostenosis (OCS); these variants have recently been shown to confer a gain of function. In this study, we describe 2 unrelated children with KCS and OCS who were homozygous for different FAM111A variant alleles that result in replacement of the same residue, Tyr414 (c.1241A>G, p.Y414C and c.1240T>A, p.Y414N), in the mature FAM111A protein. Their heterozygous relatives are asymptomatic. Functional studies of recombinant FAM111AY414C demonstrated normal dimerization and a mild gain-of-function effect. This study provides evidence that both biallelic and monoallelic variants of FAM111A with varying degrees of activation can lead to dominant or recessive KCS2 and OCS.

Authors

Dong Li, Niels Mailand, Emma Ewing, Saskia Hoffmann, Richard C. Caswell, Lewis Pang, Jacqueline Eason, Ying Dou, Kathleen E. Sullivan, Hakon Hakonarson, Michael A. Levine

×

Figure 1

Pedigrees, clinical images, and molecular analysis.

Options: View larger image (or click on image) Download as PowerPoint
Pedigrees, clinical images, and molecular analysis.
(A) The pedigree of ...
(A) The pedigree of Family A. (B) Radiographic studies of the proband of Family A showing cortical thickening and medullary stenosis in her arm and femur at age 14 years. (C) The pedigree of Family B. (D). Sanger sequence analysis of FAM111A confirmed the c.1241A>G transition; affected patients, II-4 and her brother II-2, are homozygous. Other family members are heterozygous. (E) Sanger sequence analysis of FAM111A confirmed the c.1240T>A transversion; affected patient II-2 is homozygous. (F) The homology comparison of the altered amino acid. The shaded box indicates that FAM111A Y414 residue is conserved among various species. (G) Protein domain architecture and pathogenic variants in FAM111A. Residues of the catalytic triad (His385, Asp439, and Ser541) are indicated by arrowheads below the domain (note that Ser541 is also a site of pathogenic variation); a black arrow shows the site of autocatalytic cleavage between residues Phe334 and Gly335; variants associated with KCS2 are shown below the predicted protein while those reported in the more severe GCLEB (also known as OCS) are above. All variants were reported as dominant heterozygotes, except for Leu326Ile and Ile572del (*), which were observed as compound heterozygotes in a case of severe KCS2 or OCS (26). The homozygous Y414N/C variants observed in the current cases is indicated in a dotted line. (H) NanoBRET interaction studies. The positive control consisted of a NanoLuc-HaloTag fusion protein that tethers the NanoLuc donor and HaloTag acceptor proteins to ensure efficient energy transfer. One-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s test was performed for statistical analysis. Statistical significance was defined as *P < 0.01. Data are shown as BRET ratio in milliBRET units (mBU). Values represent mean ± SEM.

Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN 2379-3708

Sign up for email alerts