DNA Methylation Episignatures in Neurodevelopmental Disorders Associated with Large Structural Copy Number Variants: Clinical Implications

Abstract

Large structural chromosomal deletions and duplications, referred to as copy number variants (CNVs), play a role in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) through effects on gene dosage. This review focuses on our current understanding of genomic disorders that arise from large structural chromosome rearrangements in patients with NDDs, as well as difficulties in overlap of clinical presentation and molecular diagnosis. We discuss the implications of epigenetics, specifically DNA methylation (DNAm), in NDDs and genomic disorders, and consider the implications and clinical impact of copy number and genomic DNAm testing in patients with suspected genetic NDDs. We summarize evidence of global methylation episignatures in CNV-associated disorders that can be used in the diagnostic pathway and may provide insights into the molecular pathogenesis of genomic disorders. Finally, we discuss the potential for combining CNV and DNAm assessment into a single diagnostic assay.