Multiple de novo mutations in the MECP2 gene

Rett syndrome is an X-linked dominant disorder that usually arises following a single de novo mutation in the MECP2 gene. Point mutation testing and gene dosage analysis of a cohort of British Rett syndrome patients in our laboratory revealed four females who each had two different de novo causative mutations, presumed to be in cis because the patients showed no deviation from the classical Rett syndrome phenotype. Two of these cases had a point mutation and a small intraexonic deletion, a third had a whole exon deletion and a separate small intraexonic deletion, and a fourth case had a small intraexonic deletion and a large duplication. These findings highlight the necessity to perform both point mutation analysis and exon dosage analysis in such cases, particularly because of the possibility of undetected parental mosaicism and the implications for prenatal diagnosis in future pregnancies. These cases also suggest that the MECP2 gene may be particularly prone to multiple mutation events.