ClinVar Genomic variation as it relates to human health

This TTN truncating variant (TTNtv) was identified in one individual in this cohort and is located in an exon that is highly expressed in the heart. In the seven cohorts assessed, TTNtv were found in 14% of ambulant DCM, 22% end-stage or familial DCM, and 2% controls. Heterozygous nonsense, frameshift and canonical splice-disrupting variants found in constitutive and other highly utilised exons are highly likely to be pathogenic when identified in individuals with phenotypically confirmed DCM. TTNtv found incidentally in healthy individuals (excluding familial assessment of DCM relatives) are thought to have low penetrance, particularly when identified in exons that are not constitutively expressed in the heart.

This sequence change creates a premature translational stop signal (p.Met1575Serfs*6) in the TTN gene. While this is not anticipated to result in nonsense mediated decay, it is expected to create a truncated TTN protein. This variant is present in population databases (rs756433029, gnomAD 0.002%). This premature translational stop signal has been observed in individuals with dilated cardiomyopathy and/or TTN-related conditions (PMID: 25589632, 30535219, 31112426, 31983221, 33449170; Invitae). ClinVar contains an entry for this variant (Variation ID: 202501). This variant is located in the Z band of TTN (PMID: 25589632). Truncating variants in this region have been reported in individuals affected with autosomal recessive centronuclear myopathy (PMID: 33449170, Invitae internal data). Truncating variants in this region have also been identified in individuals affected with autosomal dominant dilated cardiomyopathy and/or cardio-related conditions (PMID: 27869827, 32964742, Invitae internal data). For these reasons, this variant has been classified as Pathogenic.

Reported in association with DCM, LVNC and early-onset atrial fibrillation in patients tested at GeneDx and in published literature (PMID: 25589632, 30535219, 31112426, 31983221, 34540771, 36264615); Not observed at significant frequency in large population cohorts (gnomAD); Frameshift variant predicted to result in protein truncation or nonsense mediated decay in a gene or region of a gene for which loss of function is not a well-established mechanism of disease; This variant is associated with the following publications: (PMID: 30535219, 31983221, 34540771, 31112426, 36264615, 35177841, 33449170, 25589632)

The p.Met1575SerfsX6 variant in TTN has been reported in 1 individual with DCM (Roberts 2015) and has been identified in 3/128802 of European chromosomes by gnomAD (http://gnomad.broadinstitute.org). It has also been reported in ClinVar (Variation ID #202501). This variant is predicted to cause a frameshift, which alters the protein’s amino acid sequence beginning at position 1575 and leads to a premature termination codon 6 amino acids downstream. This alteration is then predicted to lead to a truncated or absent protein. Nonsense and other truncating variants in TTN are strongly associated with DCM if they impact the exons encoding for the A-band (Herman 2012, Pugh 2014) and/or are located in an exon that is highly expressed in the heart (Roberts 2015). In addition, TTN variants have also been associated with myopathies and other neuromuscular conditions, which usually have autosomal recessive inheritance (Savarese 2016). The p.Met1575SerfsX6 variant is located in a highly expressed exon in the near Z-disk region. In summary, although additional studies are required to fully establish its clinical significance, this variant meets criteria to be classified as likely pathogenic for TTN-associated diseases. ACMG/AMP Criteria applied: PVS1, PM2.

The c.4586_4590delTGAAA variant, located in coding exon 25 of the TTN gene, results from a deletion of 5 nucleotides at nucleotide positions 4586 to 4590, causing a translational frameshift with a predicted alternate stop codon (p.M1529Sfs*6). This exon is located in the near Z-disk region of the N2-B isoform of the titin protein and is constitutively expressed in TTN transcripts (percent spliced in or PSI 100%). This variant (also referred to as NM_001267550:c.4724_4728delTGAAA, p.Met1575Serfs*6) has been detected in individuals from dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), left ventricular noncompaction, and early onset atrial fibrillation cohorts, as well as in individuals not known to have cardiovascular disease; however, clinical details were limited (Roberts AM et al. Sci Transl Med, 2015 Jan;7:270ra6; Choi SH et al. JAMA, 2018 12;320:2354-2364; Jansen M et al. Circ Genom Precis Med. 2019 May;12(5):e002436; Schultze-Berndt A et al. Front Pediatr. 2021 Sep;9:722926; Bourfiss M et al. Circ Genom Precis Med. 2022 Dec;15(6):e003704). This variant has also been detected in a proband with centronuclear myopathy (Rees M et al. Acta Neuropathol. 2021 Mar;141(3):431-453).This alteration is expected to result in loss of function by premature protein truncation or nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. Truncating variants in the A-band of titin are the most common cause of DCM, and, regardless of their position, truncating variants encoded in constitutive exons (PSI >90%) have been found to be significantly associated with DCM (Herman DS et al. N. Engl. J. Med., 2012 Feb;366:619-28; Roberts AM et al. Sci Transl Med, 2015 Jan;7:270ra6; Schafer S et al. Nat. Genet., 2017 01;49:46-53). However, TTN truncating variants have also been reported in 1-3% of the general population (Herman DS et al. N. Engl. J. Med. 2012;366:619-28). Based on available evidence to date, the clinical significance of this alteration remains unclear.

TTN: PVS1:Strong, PM2, PS4:Moderate

Based on the classification scheme VCGS_Germline_v1.1.1, this variant is classified as VUS – 3A. Following criteria are met: 0102 - Loss-of-function is a known mechanism of disease for this gene. (N) 0104 - Dominant Negative is a likely mechanism of disease for this gene. (N) 0108 - This gene is known to be associated with both recessive and dominant disease (OMIM). Dominant disease are mostly associated with cardiomyopathy while recessive are associated with Salih myopathy and limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. (N) 0112 - Variants in this gene are known to have reduced penetrance (PMID: 28045975, PMID: 25589632). (N) 0201 - Variant is predicted to cause nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) and loss of protein (exon 27 of 363). (P) 0251 - Variant is heterozygous. (N) 0302 - Variant is present in gnomAD <0.001 for a dominant condition (3 heterozygotes, 0 homozygotes). (P) 0600 - Variant is located in an annotated domain or motif, (PSI = 100, near Z-disk; cardiacdb.org). (N) 0703 - Comparable variants also predicted to result in a NMD predicted protein have moderate previous evidence for pathogenicity (ClinVar, Decipher). However NMD variants causing dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) are primarily located within the A band (PMID: 25589632) (P) 0808 - Previous reports of pathogenicity are conflicting. This variant has been reported as both a VUS and as likely pathogenic (LOVD, ClinVar), but also within a DCM cohort (PMID: 25589632). (N) 0905 - No segregation evidence has been identified for this variant. (N) 1007 - No published functional evidence has been identified for this variant. (N) 1208 – Inheritance information for this variant is not currently available. (N) Legend: (P) - Pathogenic, (N) - Neutral, (B) - Benign

The TTN c.4724_4728del5 variant is predicted to result in a frameshift and premature protein termination (p.Met1575Serfs*6). This variant has been reported in a cohort study of individuals with dilated cardiomyopathy (Table S1, Roberts et al. 2015. PubMed ID: 25589632), as well as in one individual with early onset atrial fibrillation (eTable 5, Choi et al. 2018. PubMed ID: 30535219). This variant is located near the Z-disk and I-band junction. Other nearby loss-of-function variants have been reported in cases of autosomal recessive TTN-related myopathies (c.3880_3884delGATTC in Yu et al. 2019. PubMed ID: 31353864; c.4579delG in Töpf et al. 2020. PubMed ID: 32528171; c.4819G>T at PreventionGenetics). RNAseq studies from heart tissue indicate this exon is commonly included in TTN mRNA transcripts (PSI of 100%, Roberts et al. 2015. PubMed ID: 25589632; https://cardiodb.org/titin/titin_transcripts.php). TTN truncating variants are reported in 1-2% of presumably healthy individuals but occur more frequently in exons with low PSI values (Roberts et al. 2015. PubMed ID: 25589632; Herman et al. 2012. PubMed ID: 22335739). However, many cases of recessive TTN-related myopathies in which the individual is compound heterozygous for two loss of function variants in TTN have also been reported (See Ceyhan-Birsoy et al. 2013. PMID: 23975875; Chauveau et al. 2014. PubMed ID: 24105469; Evilä et al. 2016. PubMed ID: 27796757; Ge et al. 2019. PubMed ID: 31053406). This variant is reported in 0.0023% of alleles in individuals of European (Non-Finnish) descent in gnomAD. In summary, the c.4724_4728del variant is likely pathogenic for both autosomal recessive and dominant TTN-related disorders.