ClinVar

Description

A novel I38S variant that is likely pathogenic has been identified in the CDKL5 gene. The I38S variant has not been published as pathogenic, nor has it been reported as a benign polymorphism to our knowledge. It was not observed in approximately 6,500 individuals of European and African American ancestry in an external variant database, indicating it is not a common benign variant in these populations. The I38S variant is a non-conservative amino acid substitution, which is likely to impact secondary protein structure as these residues differ in polarity, charge, size and/or other properties. This substitution occurs at a position that is conserved across species, and in silico analysis predicts this variant is probably damaging to the protein structure/function. Missense variants in nearby residues (A40V and K45Q) have been reported in the Human Gene Mutation Database in association with CDKL5-related disorders (Stenson et al., 2014), supporting the functional importance of this region of the protein. Additionally, GeneDx has identified a de novo variant, likely pathogenic in a nearby residue (I41F) in an individual with seizures. Therefore, this variant is a strong candidate for a pathogenic variant, however the possibility that it is a benign variant cannot be excluded.