A Novel De Novo Frameshift Mutation in KAT6A Identified by Whole Exome Sequencing.

Intellectual disability is a common condition with multiple etiologies. The number of monogenic causes has increased steadily in recent years due to the implementation of next generation sequencing. Here, we describe a 2-year-old boy with global developmental delay and intellectual disability. The child had feeding difficulties since birth. He had delayed motor skills and muscular hypotonia. Brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed diffuse white matter loss and thinning of the corpus callosum. Banded karyotype and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) array were normal. Whole exome sequencing revealed a novel de novo frameshift mutation c.3390delA (p.Lys1130Asnfs*4) in KAT6A gene (NM_006766.4). The heterozygous mutation was confirmed by Sanger sequencing in the patient and its absence in his parents. KAT6A that encodes a histone acetyltransferase has been recently found to be associated with a neurodevelopmental disorder autosomal dominant mental retardation 32 (OMIM: no. 616268). Features of this disorder are nonspecific, which makes it difficult to characterize the condition based on the clinical symptoms alone. Therefore, our findings confirm the utility of whole exome sequencing to quickly and reliably identify the etiology of such conditions.