Identification of autosomal and sex chromosome aneuploidies using next generation sequencing

TL;DR

This paper explores using next generation sequencing to detect chromosomal abnormalities in live births, showing it is effective and cost-efficient for clinical diagnostics.

Contribution

The study demonstrates that next generation sequencing can detect both autosomal and sex chromosome aneuploidies with high accuracy, including mosaicism.

Findings

NGS detected autosomal and sex chromosome aneuploidies with high specificity using clinical and whole exome sequencing data.

Mosaic aneuploidies were successfully identified, highlighting the method's sensitivity.

NGS is proposed as a cost-effective first-line diagnostic tool for routine aneuploidy screening.

Abstract

Chromosomal abnormalities, referred to as aneuploidies, occur in approximately 0.3% of live births. While the majority of aneuploidies in humans are incompatible with life, well-characterized exceptions include Down syndrome (47,+21), Patau syndrome (47,+13), Edwards syndrome (47,+18), Turner syndrome (45,X0), Klinefelter syndrome (47,XXY), and triple X syndrome (47,XXX). These chromosomal alterations disrupt gene expression and cellular function, leading to genetic and developmental disorders. With the increasing adoption of next generation sequencing (NGS) in clinical diagnostics, this study aims to explore the potential use of NGS for aneuploidies detection.

Using data derived from clinical exomes (CES) and whole exomes (WES) sequencing we have been able to detect autosomal as well as sex chromosome aneuploidies with high specificity. Moreover, we have also been able to identify mosaic aneuploidies proving the high sensibility of this methodological approach. Thus, we present NGS as a cost-effective first line approach to detect chromosomal aneuploidies in routine diagnostic practice.

Scripts are available at https://github.com/B-R-I-D-G-E/AneuploidiesStudies.

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