Novel, Compound Heterozygous, Single-Nucleotide Variants in MARS2 Associated with Developmental Delay, Poor Growth, and Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Novel, single-nucleotide mutations were identified in the mitochondrial methionyl amino-acyl tRNA synthetase gene (MARS2) via whole exome sequencing in two affected siblings with developmental delay, poor growth, and sensorineural hearing loss.We show that compound heterozygous mutations c.550C>T:p.Gln 184* and c.424C>T:p.Arg142Trp in MARS2 lead to decreased MARS2 protein levels in patient lymphoblasts. Analysis of respiratory complex enzyme activities in patient fibroblasts revealed decreased complex I and IV activities. Immunoblotting of patient fibroblast and lymphoblast samples revealed reduced protein levels of NDUFB8 and COXII, representing complex I and IV, respectively. Additionally, overexpression of wild-type MARS2 in patient fibroblasts increased NDUFB8 and COXII protein levels. These findings suggest that recessive single-nucleotide mutations in MARS2 are causative for a new mitochondrial translation deficiency disorder with a primary phenotype including developmental delay and hypotonia. Identification of additional patients with single-nucleotide mutations in MARS2 is necessary to determine if pectus carinatum is also a consistent feature of this syndrome.