Implementation of high‐resolution melting analysis of the Porcupine (PORCN) gene for molecular diagnosis of focal dermal hypoplasia: Identification of a novel mutation

BACKGROUND: Focal dermal hypoplasia (FDH) is rare X-linked dominant disease characterized by atrophy and linear pigmentation of the skin, split hand/foot deformities and ocular anomalies. FDH is caused by mutations of the Porcupine (PORCN) gene, which encodes an enzyme that catalyzes the palmitoylation of Wnt ligands required for their secretion. High resolution melting analysis (HRM) is a technique that allows rapid, labor-efficient, low-cost detection of genomic variants. In the present study, we report the successful implementation of HRM in the molecular diagnosis of FDH. METHODS: Polymerase chain reaction and HRM assays were designed and optimized for each of the coding exons of the PORCN gene, processing genomic DNA samples form a non-affected control and a patient complying with the FDH diagnostic criteria. The causal mutation was characterized by Sanger sequencing from an amplicon showing a HRM trace suggesting heterozygous variation and was validated using an amplification-refractory mutation system (ARMS) assay. RESULTS: The melting profiles suggested the presence of a variant in the patient within exon 1. Sanger sequencing revealed a previously unknown C to T transition replacing a glutamine codon for a premature stop codon at position 28, which was validated using ARMS. CONCLUSIONS: Next-generation sequencing facilitates the molecular diagnosis of monogenic disorders; however, its cost-benefit ratio is not optimal when a single, small or medium size causal gene is already identified and the clinical diagnostic presumption is strong. Under those conditions, as it is the case for FDH, HRM represents a cost- and labor-effective approach.