Mutations of KIF5C cause a neurodevelopmental disorder of infantile-onset epilepsy, absent language, and distinctive malformations of cortical development

The clinical diagnosis of malformations of cortical development (MCDs) is often challenging due to the complexity of the brain malformation by neuroimaging, the rarity of individual malformation syndromes, and the rapidly evolving genetic landscape of these disorders facilitated with the use of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) methods. While the clinical and molecular diagnosis of severe cortical malformations, such as classic lissencephaly, is often straightforward, the diagnosis of more subtle and complex types of cortical malformations, such as pachygyria and polymicrogyria (PMG), can be more challenging due to limited knowledge regarding their genetic etiologies. Here, we report two individuals with the same de novo KIF5C mutation who present with subtle MCDs, early onset epilepsy and significant neurodevelopmental and behavioral issues including absent language. Our data, combined with the limited literature on KIF5C mutations, to date, support that KIF5C mutations are associated with a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by infantile onset epilepsy, and subtle but recognizable types of brain malformations. We also show that the spectrum of KIF5C mutations is narrow, as five out of the six identified individuals have mutations affecting amino acid Glu237. Therefore, the identification of the clinical and neuroimaging features of this disorder may strongly facilitate rapid and efficient molecular diagnosis.

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