A patient with severe congenital neutropenia harbors a missense ELANE mutation due to paternal germline mosaicism

Background: Clinical and genetic characteristics of ELANE mutation of a 3-year-old male who had a severe congenital neutropenia (SCN) were examined. We then investigated whether CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing could correct the mutation. Procedure: The proband underwent extensive clinical assessments, such as exome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis, so that pathogenic genes could be identified. Sanger sequencing was also utilized for confirmation. The cell line, 293-ELANE, harboring ELANE mutation was generated, and the mutation was then corrected by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated homology-directed repair (HDR). Results: The ELANE gene test in the proband unveiled a heterozygous de novo missense mutation: c. 248T > A (p. V83D), which was not detected in his asymptomatic parents who had provided peripheral blood samples. We found that 46.01% of his father's sperm cells had the same mutation. These results demonstrate that the proband inherited the ELANE mutation from his father, who had an average neutrophil count but had a germline mosaicism. The highest repair efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated HDR for 293-ELANE is 4.43%. Conclusions: We identified a missense mutation (p.V83D) in ELANE that causes SCN. This is the first report on paternal semen mosaicism of an ELANE mutation. Our study paves the way for preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) based on ELANE mutation prevention and clinical treatment of congenital disabilities.

Automated summary

Through clinical and genetic characteristics examination of ELANE mutation in a 3-year-old male, it was found that the mutation was inherited from his father, who had germline mosaicism. The study showed that CRISPR/Cas9-mediated homology-directed repair technology can partially correct the mutation in 293-ELANE cells.