When 3D genome changes cause disease: the impact of structural variations in congenital disease and cancer

Large structural variations (SV) are a class of mutations that have long been known to cause a wide range of genetic diseases, from rare congenital disease to cancer. Many of these SVs do not directly disrupt disease-related genes and determining causal genotype-phenotype relationships has been challenging to disentangle in the past. This has started to change with our increased understanding of the 3D genome folding. The pathophysiologies of the different types of genetic diseases influence the type of SVs observed and their genetic consequences, and how these are connected to 3D genome folding. We propose guiding principles for interpreting diseaseassociated SVs based on our current understanding of 3D chromatin architecture and the gene-regulatory and physiological mechanisms disrupted in disease.

Automated summary

Large structural variations (SV) are mutations that can cause genetic diseases, and understanding their relationships to genes and phenotypes has been challenging. However, recent advancements in our understanding of 3D genome folding have started to change this. Different types of genetic diseases are influenced by the pathophysiology of disease and its connection to 3D genome folding. We propose guiding principles for interpreting disease-associated SVs based on our current understanding of 3D chromatin architecture and disrupted gene-regulatory and physiological mechanisms.