Second-tier trio exome sequencing after negative solo clinical exome sequencing: an efficient strategy to increase diagnostic yield and decipher molecular bases in undiagnosed developmental disorders

Developmental disorders (DD), characterized by malformations/dysmorphism and/or intellectual disability, affecting around 3% of worldwide population, are mostly linked to genetic anomalies. Despite clinical exome sequencing (cES) centered on genes involved in human genetic disorders, the majority of patients affected by DD remain undiagnosed after solo-cES. Trio-based strategy is expected to facilitate variant selection thanks to rapid parental segregation. We performed a second step trio-ES (not only focusing on genes involved in human disorders) analysis in 70 patients with negative results after solo-cES. All candidate variants were shared with a MatchMaking exchange system to identify additional patients carrying variants in the same genes and with similar phenotype. In 18/70 patients (26%), we confirmed causal implication of nine OMIM-morbid genes and identified nine new strong candidate genes (eight de novo and one compound heterozygous variants). These nine new candidate genes were validated through the identification of patients with similar phenotype and genotype thanks to data sharing. Moreover, 11 genes harbored variants of unknown significance in 10/70 patients (14%). In DD, a second step trio-based ES analysis appears an efficient strategy in diagnostic and translational research to identify highly candidate genes and improve diagnostic yield.