Germline correction of an epimutation related to Silver-Russell syndrome

Abstract

Like genetic mutations, DNA methylation anomalies or epimutations can disrupt gene expression and lead to human diseases. However, unlike genetic mutations, epimutations can in theory be reverted through developmental epigenetic reprograming, which should limit their transmission across generations. Following the request for a parental project of a patient diagnosed with Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS), and the availability of both somatic and spermatozoaDNAfromthe proband and his father, we had the exceptional opportunity to evaluate the question of inheritance of an epimutation.We provide here for the first time evidence for efficient reversion of a constitutive epimutation in the spermatozoa of an SRS patient, which has important implication for genetic counseling.