ClinGen's RASopathy Expert Panel consensus methods for variant interpretation

Genet Med. 2018 Nov;20(11):1334-1345. doi: 10.1038/gim.2018.3. Epub 2018 Mar 1.

Abstract

Purpose: Standardized and accurate variant assessment is essential for effective medical care. To that end, Clinical Genome (ClinGen) Resource clinical domain working groups (CDWGs) are systematically reviewing disease-associated genes for sufficient evidence to support disease causality and creating disease-specific specifications of American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics-Association for Molecular Pathology (ACMG-AMP) guidelines for consistent and accurate variant classification.

Methods: The ClinGen RASopathy CDWG established an expert panel to curate gene information and generate gene- and disease-specific specifications to ACMG-AMP variant classification framework. These specifications were tested by classifying 37 exemplar pathogenic variants plus an additional 66 variants in ClinVar distributed across nine RASopathy genes.

Results: RASopathy-related specifications were applied to 16 ACMG-AMP criteria, with 5 also having adjustable strength with availability of additional evidence. Another 5 criteria were deemed not applicable. Key adjustments to minor allele frequency thresholds, multiple de novo occurrence events and/or segregation, and strength adjustments impacted 60% of variant classifications. Unpublished case-level data from participating laboratories impacted 45% of classifications supporting the need for data sharing.

Conclusion: RAS-specific ACMG-AMP specifications optimized the utility of available clinical evidence and Ras/MAPK pathway-specific characteristics to consistently classify RASopathy-associated variants. These specifications highlight how grouping genes by shared features promotes rapid multigenic variant assessment without sacrificing specificity and accuracy.

Keywords: ClinGen; Noonan; RASopathy; Ras/MAPK; variant interpretation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Gene Frequency
  • Genetic Testing / methods*
  • Genetic Variation
  • Genome, Human / genetics*
  • Genomics / methods*
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing*
  • Humans
  • Information Dissemination
  • Mutation
  • Software
  • United States