A novel VCP mutation as the cause of atypical IBMPFD in a Chinese family

Introduction: Inclusion-body myopathy (IBM) with Paget's disease of bone (PDB) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), designated as IBMPFD, is a rare, autosomal dominant disorder (MIM 605382). IBMPFD is caused by mutations in the gene that encode valosin-containing protein (VCP). We investigated a Chinese family in which multiple members were diagnosed with PDB and suffered from weakness of the limbs. However, no members of this family were diagnosed with FTD. We made a preliminary diagnosis of PDB, but failed to identify an SQSTM1 mutation in any of the patients. We used whole-exome sequencing to identify the pathogenic gene mutation affecting the Chinese male proband.

Materials and methods: Altogether, 254 subjects, including one 56-year-old male proband, four affected, related individuals and additional nine family members from a non-consanguineous Chinese family, and 240 healthy donors were recruited and genomic DNA was extracted. All eight exons and the exon-intron boundaries of the SQSTM1 gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and directly sequenced in five patients (II13, II4, II5, II8, II9). Using whole-exome sequencing, we identified a novel mutation in VCP as the disease-causing mutation. We confirmed the result by sequencing a 500-bp region of the promoter and the coding region of VCP in all 254 of the participants using Sanger sequencing.

Results: No mutation in the SQSTM1 gene was identified in the five patients examined using direct Sanger sequencing. However, through whole-exome sequencing we were able to identify a novel missense mutation in exon 3 of the VCP gene (p.Gly97Glu) in the Chinese male proband. This mutation was confirmed using Sanger sequencing. The proband, four affected individuals and three unaffected individuals carried this mutation. We were able to correctly diagnose the patients with atypical IBMPFD. Structural analysis of the p.Gly97Glu mutation in the VCP protein showed that the affected amino-acid is located in the interface of the protein. This abnormality may therefore interfere with protein function.

Conclusions: This is the first report of a family from China with IBMPFD. A novel VCP mutation was found as the cause of atypical IBMPFD in a Chinese family. Our findings confirm that VCP gene mutations can be a pathogenic cause of IBMPFD.