Intellectual disability syndromic and non-syndromic
Gene: CHKA Green List (high evidence)Green List (high evidence)
Mode of inheritance
BIALLELIC, autosomal or pseudoautosomal
Phenotypes
Neurodevelopmental disorder with microcephaly, movement abnormalities, and seizures, MIM#620023
Green List (high evidence)
Klöckner (2022 - PMID: 35202461) describe the phenotype of 6 individuals (from 5 unrelated families) harboring biallelic CHKA variants.
Shared features incl. abnormal muscle tone(6/6 - hypertonia or hypotonia, 3/6 each), DD/ID (6/6,severe in 4, severe/profound in 2), epilepsy (6/6 - onset: infancy - 3y2m | epileptic spasms or GS at onset), microcephaly (6/6), movement disorders (3/6 - incl. dyskinesia, rigidity, choreoatetotic movements). 2/5 individuals exhibited MRI abnormalities, notably hypomyelination. Short stature was observed in 4/6.
Eventual previous genetic testing was not discussed.
Exome sequencing (quattro ES for 2 sibs, trio ES for 1 individual, singleton for 3 probands) revealed biallelic CHKA variants in all affected individuals. Sanger sequencing was performed for confirmation and segregation studies.
Other variants (in suppl.) were not deemed to be causative for the neurodevelopmental phenotype.
3 different missense, 1 start-loss and 1 truncating variant were identified, namely (NM_0012772.2):
- c.421C>T/p.(Arg141Trp) [3 hmz subjects from 2 consanguineous families],
- c.580C>T/p.Pro194Ser [1 hmz individual born to consanguineous parents],
- c.2T>C/p.(Met1?) [1 hmz individual born to related parents],
- c.14dup/p.(Cys6Leufs*19) in trans with c.1021T>C/p.(Phe341Leu) in 1 individual.
CHKA encodes choline kinase alpha, an enzyme catalyzing the first step of phospholipid synthesis in the Kennedy pathway. The pathway is involved in de novo synthesis of glycerophospholipids, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine being the most abundant in eukaryotic membranes.
CHKA with its paralog (CHKB) phosphorylates either choline or ethanolamine to phosphocholine or phosphoethanolamine respectively with conversion of ATP to ADP.
As the authors comment, biallelic pathogenic variants in CHKB cause a NDD with muscular dystrophy, hypotonia, ID, microcephaly and structural mitochondrial anomalies (MIM 602541). [Prominent mitochondrial patterning was observed in a single muscle biopsy available from an individual with biallelic CHKA variants].
Other disorders of the Kennedy pathway (due to biallelic PCYT2, SELENOI, PCYT1A variants) present with overlapping features incl. variable DD/ID (no-severe), microcephaly, seizures, visual impairment etc.
CHKA variants were either absent or observed once in gnomAD, affected highly conserved AAs with multiple in silico predictions in favor of a deleterious effect.
In silico modeling suggests structural effects for several of the missense variants (Arg141Trp, Pro194Ser presumably affect ADP binding, Phe341 lying close to the binding site of phosphocholine).
Each of the missense variants was expressed in yeast cells and W. Blot suggested expression at the expected molecular weight at comparative levels. The 3 aforementioned variants exhibited reduced catalytic activity (20%, 15%, 50% respectively).
NMD is thought to underly the deleterious effect of the frameshift one (not studied).
The start-loss variant is expected to result in significantly impaired expression and protein function as eventual utilization of the next possible start codon - occurring at position 123 - would remove 26% of the protein.
Chka(-/-) is embryonically lethal in mice, suggesting that complete loss is not compatible with life. Reduction of choline kinase activity by 30% in heterozygous mice did not appear to result in behavioral abnormalities although this was not studied in detail (PMID cited: 18029352). Finally, screening of 1566 mouse lines identified 198 genes whose disruption yields neuroanatomical phenotypes, Chka(+/-) mice being among these (PMID cited: 31371714).
There is no associated phenotype in OMIM, Gene2Phenotype or SysID.
Overall this gene can be considered for inclusion in the ID and epilepsy panes with green or amber rating (>3 individuals, >3 variants, variant studies, overlapping phenotype of disorders belonging to the same pathway, etc). Consider also inclusion in the microcephaly panel (where available this seemed to be of postnatal onset).
Sources: LiteratureCreated: 25 Feb 2022, 2:35 p.m.
Mode of inheritance
BIALLELIC, autosomal or pseudoautosomal
Phenotypes
Abnormal muscle tone; Global developmental delay; Intellectual disability; Seizures; Microcephaly; Abnormality of movement; Abnormality of nervous system morphology; Short stature
Publications
Phenotypes for gene: CHKA were changed from Neurodevelopmental disorder, MONDO:0700092; Abnormal muscle tone; Global developmental delay; Intellectual disability; Seizures; Microcephaly; Abnormality of movement; Abnormality of nervous system morphology; Short stature to Neurodevelopmental disorder with microcephaly, movement abnormalities, and seizures, MIM#620023
Gene: chka has been classified as Green List (High Evidence).
Phenotypes for gene: CHKA were changed from Abnormal muscle tone; Global developmental delay; Intellectual disability; Seizures; Microcephaly; Abnormality of movement; Abnormality of nervous system morphology; Short stature to Neurodevelopmental disorder, MONDO:0700092; Abnormal muscle tone; Global developmental delay; Intellectual disability; Seizures; Microcephaly; Abnormality of movement; Abnormality of nervous system morphology; Short stature
Gene: chka has been classified as Green List (High Evidence).
gene: CHKA was added gene: CHKA was added to Intellectual disability syndromic and non-syndromic. Sources: Literature Mode of inheritance for gene: CHKA was set to BIALLELIC, autosomal or pseudoautosomal Publications for gene: CHKA were set to 35202461 Phenotypes for gene: CHKA were set to Abnormal muscle tone; Global developmental delay; Intellectual disability; Seizures; Microcephaly; Abnormality of movement; Abnormality of nervous system morphology; Short stature Penetrance for gene: CHKA were set to Complete Review for gene: CHKA was set to GREEN
If promoting or demoting a gene, please provide comments to justify a decision to move it.
Genes included in a Genomics England gene panel for a rare disease category (green list) should fit the criteria A-E outlined below.
These guidelines were developed as a combination of the ClinGen DEFINITIVE evidence for a causal role of the gene in the disease(a), and the Developmental Disorder Genotype-Phenotype (DDG2P) CONFIRMED DD Gene evidence level(b) (please see the original references provided below for full details). These help provide a guideline for expert reviewers when assessing whether a gene should be on the green or the red list of a panel.
A. There are plausible disease-causing mutations(i) within, affecting or encompassing an interpretable functional region(ii) of this gene identified in multiple (>3) unrelated cases/families with the phenotype(iii).
OR
B. There are plausible disease-causing mutations(i) within, affecting or encompassing cis-regulatory elements convincingly affecting the expression of a single gene identified in multiple (>3) unrelated cases/families with the phenotype(iii).
OR
C. As definitions A or B but in 2 or 3 unrelated cases/families with the phenotype, with the addition of convincing bioinformatic or functional evidence of causation e.g. known inborn error of metabolism with mutation in orthologous gene which is known to have the relevant deficient enzymatic activity in other species; existence of an animal model which recapitulates the human phenotype.
AND
D. Evidence indicates that disease-causing mutations follow a Mendelian pattern of causation appropriate for reporting in a diagnostic setting(iv).
AND
E. No convincing evidence exists or has emerged that contradicts the role of the gene in the specified phenotype.
(i)Plausible disease-causing mutations: Recurrent de novo mutations convincingly affecting gene function. Rare, fully-penetrant mutations - relevant genotype never, or very rarely, seen in controls. (ii) Interpretable functional region: ORF in protein coding genes miRNA stem or loop. (iii) Phenotype: the rare disease category, as described in the eligibility statement. (iv) Intermediate penetrance genes should not be included.
It’s assumed that loss-of-function variants in this gene can cause the disease/phenotype unless an exception to this rule is known. We would like to collect information regarding exceptions. An example exception is the PCSK9 gene, where loss-of-function variants are not relevant for a hypercholesterolemia phenotype as they are associated with increased LDL-cholesterol uptake via LDLR (PMID: 25911073).
If a curated set of known-pathogenic variants is available for this gene-phenotype, please contact us at panelapp@genomicsengland.co.uk
We classify loss-of-function variants as those with the following Sequence Ontology (SO) terms:
Term descriptions can be found on the PanelApp homepage and Ensembl.
If you are submitting this evaluation on behalf of a clinical laboratory please indicate whether you report variants in this gene as part of your current diagnostic practice by checking the box
Standardised terms were used to represent the gene-disease mode of inheritance, and were mapped to commonly used terms from the different sources. Below each of the terms is described, along with the equivalent commonly-used terms.
A variant on one allele of this gene can cause the disease, and imprinting has not been implicated.
A variant on the paternally-inherited allele of this gene can cause the disease, if the alternate allele is imprinted (function muted).
A variant on the maternally-inherited allele of this gene can cause the disease, if the alternate allele is imprinted (function muted).
A variant on one allele of this gene can cause the disease. This is the default used for autosomal dominant mode of inheritance where no knowledge of the imprinting status of the gene required to cause the disease is known. Mapped to the following commonly used terms from different sources: autosomal dominant, dominant, AD, DOMINANT.
A variant on both alleles of this gene is required to cause the disease. Mapped to the following commonly used terms from different sources: autosomal recessive, recessive, AR, RECESSIVE.
The disease can be caused by a variant on one or both alleles of this gene. Mapped to the following commonly used terms from different sources: autosomal recessive or autosomal dominant, recessive or dominant, AR/AD, AD/AR, DOMINANT/RECESSIVE, RECESSIVE/DOMINANT.
A variant on one allele of this gene can cause the disease, however a variant on both alleles of this gene can result in a more severe form of the disease/phenotype.
A variant in this gene can cause the disease in males as they have one X-chromosome allele, whereas a variant on both X-chromosome alleles is required to cause the disease in females. Mapped to the following commonly used term from different sources: X-linked recessive.
A variant in this gene can cause the disease in males as they have one X-chromosome allele. A variant on one allele of this gene may also cause the disease in females, though the disease/phenotype may be less severe and may have a later-onset than is seen in males. X-linked inactivation and mosaicism in different tissues complicate whether a female presents with the disease, and can change over their lifetime. This term is the default setting used for X-linked genes, where it is not known definitately whether females require a variant on each allele of this gene in order to be affected. Mapped to the following commonly used terms from different sources: X-linked dominant, x-linked, X-LINKED, X-linked.
The gene is in the mitochondrial genome and variants within this can cause this disease, maternally inherited. Mapped to the following commonly used term from different sources: Mitochondrial.
Mapped to the following commonly used terms from different sources: Unknown, NA, information not provided.
For example, if the mode of inheritance is digenic, please indicate this in the comments and which other gene is involved.