Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33001864›Full record

Trial reportThe Journal of clinical investigation2021

Transcriptome-directed analysis for Mendelian disease diagnosis overcomes limitations of conventional genomic testing.

David R Murdock, Hongzheng Dai, Lindsay C Burrage, Jill A Rosenfeld, Shamika Ketkar, Michaela F Müller, Vicente A Yépez, Julien Gagneur, Pengfei Liu, Shan Chen and 9 more

2 registry-linked trialsOpen access · greenAbstract readClinical Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in The Journal of clinical investigation, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 107 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
107citing papers in PubMed
16.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT02450851 recruitingnot on this map

Clinical and Genetic Evaluation of Patients With Undiagnosed Disorders Through the Undiagnosed Diseases Network

TypeobservationalSponsorNational Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)Ran2015 to 2028Enrolled20,000ConditionsGenetic Disease
NCT05185414 naunknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2022, after this paper: background citation

Combining Exome and Transcriptome Data to Unravel the Genetic Basis of the Lissencephalies

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversitair Ziekenhuis BrusselRan2022 to 2025Enrolled50ConditionsClassical Lissencephalies and Subcortical Band HeterotopiasArmsVenipuncture and skin biopsy for RNA extraction
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

107 citing papers in PubMed, 178 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Arriving at a diagnosis: Effective strategies used by the Undiagnosed Diseases Network.Genetics in medicine : official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics · 2026
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  14. RNA Sequencing Resolves Cryptic Pathogenic Variants in Mitochondrial Disease.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2026
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  17. Genetic analysis of neurodegenerative diseases.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2026
    Review
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47 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

19 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

David R MurdockDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Houston, Texas, USA.
Hongzheng DaiDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Houston, Texas, USA.
Lindsay C BurrageDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Houston, Texas, USA.
Jill A RosenfeldDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Houston, Texas, USA.
Shamika KetkarDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Houston, Texas, USA.
Michaela F MüllerDepartment of Informatics, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany.
Vicente A YépezDepartment of Informatics, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany.
Julien GagneurDepartment of Informatics, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany.
Pengfei LiuDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Houston, Texas, USA.
Shan ChenDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Houston, Texas, USA.
Mahim JainDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Houston, Texas, USA.
Gladys ZapataDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Houston, Texas, USA.
Carlos A BacinoDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Houston, Texas, USA.
Hsiao-Tuan ChaoDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Houston, Texas, USA.
Paolo MorettiDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Houston, Texas, USA.
William J CraigenDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Houston, Texas, USA.
Neil A HanchardDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Houston, Texas, USA.
Undiagnosed Diseases Network
Brendan LeeDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Houston, Texas, USA.
Baylor College of Medicine · USTechnical University of Munich · DEAgricultural Research Service · US

Funding

UNDERSTANDING FXTAS AMONG MALES WITH THE FMR1 PREMUTATIONP30HD024064 · NICHD · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI ROSENMUND, CHRISTIAN · 1988 to 2013
$29.4M
Pilot of New Technologies to Increase the Genomic Diagnosis of Undiagnosed Disease Network (UDN) PatientsU01HG007709 · NHGRI · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI BACINO, CARLOS A., LEE, BRENDAN · 2014 to 2022
$14.3M
Clinical Sequencing Core Facility for the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN)U01HG007942 · NHGRI · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI ENG, CHRISTINE · 2014 to 2021
$10.2M
Clinical Genome Wide Sequencing Core for the Undiagnosed Disease NetworkU01HG007943 · NHGRI · MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN · PI WORTHEY, ELIZABETH A · 2014 to 2017
$4.1M
NHGRI NIH HHS U01 HG007709NHGRI NIH HHS U01 HG007942NHGRI NIH HHS U01 HG007943NICHD NIH HHS P30 HD024064
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUNDTranscriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) improves diagnostic rates in individuals with suspected Mendelian conditions to varying degrees, primarily by directing the prioritization of candidate DNA variants identified on exome or genome sequencing (ES/GS). Here we implemented an RNA-seq-guided method to diagnose individuals across a wide range of ages and clinical phenotypes.METHODSOne hundred fifteen undiagnosed adult and pediatric patients with diverse phenotypes and 67 family members (182 total individuals) underwent RNA-seq from whole blood and skin fibroblasts at the Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) Undiagnosed Diseases Network clinical site from 2014 to 2020. We implemented a workflow to detect outliers in gene expression and splicing for cases that remained undiagnosed despite standard genomic and transcriptomic analysis.RESULTSThe transcriptome-directed approach resulted in a diagnostic rate of 12% across the entire cohort, or 17% after excluding cases solved on ES/GS alone. Newly diagnosed conditions included Koolen-de Vries syndrome (KANSL1), Renpenning syndrome (PQBP1), TBCK-associated encephalopathy, NSD2- and CLTC-related intellectual disability, and others, all with negative conventional genomic testing, including ES and chromosomal microarray (CMA). Skin fibroblasts exhibited higher and more consistent expression of clinically relevant genes than whole blood. In solved cases with RNA-seq from both tissues, the causative defect was missed in blood in half the cases but none from fibroblasts.CONCLUSIONSFor our cohort of undiagnosed individuals with suspected Mendelian conditions, transcriptome-directed genomic analysis facilitated diagnoses, primarily through the identification of variants missed on ES and CMA.TRIAL REGISTRATIONNot applicable.FUNDINGNIH Common Fund, BCM Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development.

Indexed as

FibroblastsRNA-SeqSkinAdolescentAdultChildChild, PreschoolFemaleGenetic Diseases, InbornHumansMaleDiagnosticsGenetic diseasesGeneticsMolecular genetics

Identifiers

PMID33001864
PMCPMC7773386
OpenAlexW3091027401

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.