A genetic variant in the MAST1 gene is associated with mega-corpus-callosum syndrome with hypoplastic cerebellar vermis, in a fetus.

backgroundMega-corpus-callosum syndrome with cerebellar hypoplasia and cortical malformations is a rare neurological disorder that is associated with typical clinical and imaging features. The syndrome is caused by pathogenic variants in the MAST1 gene, which encodes a microtubule-associated protein that is predominantly expressed in postmitotic neurons in the developing nervous system.

methodsFetal DNA from umbilical cord blood samples and genomic DNA from peripheral blood lymphocytes were subjected to whole-exome sequencing. The potential causative variants were verified by Sanger sequencing.

resultsA 26-year-old primigravid woman was referred to our prenatal center at 25 weeks of gestation due to abnormal ultrasound findings in the brain of the fetus. The brain abnormalities included wide cavum septum pellucidum, shallow and incomplete bilateral lateral fissure cistern, bilateral dilated lateral ventricles, hyperplastic corpus callosum, lissencephaly, and cortical dysplasia. No obvious abnormalities were observed in the brainstem or cerebellum hemispheres, but the cerebellum vermis was small. Whole-exome sequencing identified a de novo, heterozygous missense variant, c.695T>C(p.Leu232Pro), in the MAST1 gene and a genetic diagnosis of mega-corpus-callosum syndrome was considered.

conclusionThis study is the first prenatal case of MAST1-related disorder reported in the Chinese population and has expanded the mutation spectrum of the MAST1 gene.