American Heart Association, Circulation, 10(142), p. 932-947, 2020
DOI: 10.1161/circulationaha.120.045723
Full text: Unavailable
Background:Genetic variants in calsequestrin-2 (CASQ2) cause an autosomal recessive form of catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), although isolated reports have identified arrhythmic phenotypes among heterozygotes. Improved insight into the inheritance patterns, arrhythmic risks, and molecular mechanisms ofCASQ2-CPVT was sought through an international multicenter collaboration.Methods:Genotype-phenotype segregation inCASQ2-CPVT families was assessed, and the impact of genotype on arrhythmic risk was evaluated using Cox regression models. Putative dominantCASQ2missense variants and the established recessive CASQ2-p.R33Q variant were evaluated using oligomerization assays and their locations mapped to a recent CASQ2 filament structure.Results:A total of 112 individuals, including 36 CPVT probands (24 homozygotes/compound heterozygotes and 12 heterozygotes) and 76 family members possessing at least 1 presumed pathogenicCASQ2variant, were identified. AmongCASQ2homozygotes and compound heterozygotes, clinical penetrance was 97.1% and 26 of 34 (76.5%) individuals had experienced a potentially fatal arrhythmic event with a median age of onset of 7 years (95% CI, 6–11). Fifty-one of 66CASQ2heterozygous family members had undergone clinical evaluation, and 17 of 51 (33.3%) met diagnostic criteria for CPVT. Relative toCASQ2heterozygotes,CASQ2homozygote/compound heterozygote genotype status in probands was associated with a 3.2-fold (95% CI, 1.3–8.0;P=0.013) increased hazard of a composite of cardiac syncope, aborted cardiac arrest, and sudden cardiac death, but a 38.8-fold (95% CI, 5.6–269.1;P<0.001) increased hazard in genotype-positive family members. In vitro turbidity assays revealed that p.R33Q and all 6 candidate dominantCASQ2missense variants evaluated exhibited filamentation defects, but only p.R33Q convincingly failed to dimerize. Structural analysis revealed that 3 of these 6 putative dominant negative missense variants localized to an electronegative pocket considered critical for back-to-back binding of dimers.Conclusions:This international multicenter study ofCASQ2-CPVT redefines its heritability and confirms that pathogenic heterozygousCASQ2variants may manifest with a CPVT phenotype, indicating a need to clinically screen these individuals. A dominant mode of inheritance appears intrinsic to certain missense variants because of their location and function within the CASQ2 filament structure.