Nonsense Variant PRDM16-Q187X Causes Impaired Myocardial Development and TGF-β Signaling Resulting in Noncompaction Cardiomyopathy in Humans and Mice.

Background: PRDM16 plays a role in myocardial development through TGF-β (transforming growth factor-beta) signaling. Recent evidence suggests that loss of PRDM16 expression is associated with cardiomyopathy development in mice, although its role in human cardiomyopathy development is unclear. This study aims to determine the impact of PRDM16 loss-of-function variants on cardiomyopathy in humans.

Methods: Individuals with variants were identified and consented. Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes were generated from a proband hosting a Q187X nonsense variant as an in vitro model and underwent proliferative and transcriptional analyses. CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-mediated knock-in mouse model hosting the allele was generated and subjected to ECG, histological, and transcriptional analysis.

Results: We report 2 probands with loss-of-function variants and pediatric left ventricular noncompaction cardiomyopathy. One proband hosts a PRDM16-Q187X variant with left ventricular noncompaction cardiomyopathy and demonstrated infant-onset heart failure, which was selected for further study. Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes prepared from the PRDM16-Q187X proband demonstrated a statistically significant impairment in myocyte proliferation and increased apoptosis associated with transcriptional dysregulation of genes implicated in cardiac maturation, including TGF-β-associated transcripts. Homozygous mice demonstrated an underdeveloped compact myocardium and were embryonically lethal. Heterozygous mice demonstrated significantly smaller ventricular dimensions, heightened fibrosis, and age-dependent loss of TGF-β expression. Mechanistic studies were undertaken in H9c2 cardiomyoblasts to show that PRDM16 binds TGFB3 promoter and represses its transcription.

Conclusions: Novel loss-of-function variant impairs myocardial development resulting in noncompaction cardiomyopathy in humans and mice associated with altered TGF-β signaling.