ABSTRACT: Background: Despite of extensive research the genetic component of extremely low birth weight in newborns has remained obscure. Results: The aim of the case study was to identify candidate gene(s) causing extremely low birth weight (ELBW) in newborns and hypotrophy in infants. A four-member family was studied: mother, father and two ELBW-phenotype children. The studies were carried out due to the medical conditions of the second child at birth and post-partum: peculiar phenotype, micro-anomalies, recurrent infections, suspicion of autoimmune hepatitis, multifactorial encephalopathy, and suspicion of metabolic and chromosomal abnormalities. Whole genome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping array was used to investigate genomic rearrangements in both affected children using peripheral blood DNA samples. Whole blood transcriptome was assessed by using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) in all four family members. RNA-seq identified a single gene – C14orf132 differentially expressed, with the level of the transcript significantly lower in blood samples of children. Copy number variant (CNV) analysis did not reveal any pathogenic CNVs in the region of C14orf132 gene of both affected children. Conclusion: We showed the importance of combining whole genome CNV and transcriptome analysis in identification of the candidate gene(s) in case studies. We propose the C14orf132 (chromosome 14 open reading frame 132) gene expression to be associated with the ELBW-phenotype. C14orf132 gene is a novel long non-coding RNA (lincRNA) with unknown function, which might be associated with the developmental delay through the altered gene expression Background: Despite of extensive research the genetic component of extremely low birth weight in newborns has remained obscure. Results: The aim of the case study was to identify candidate gene(s) causing extremely low birth weight (ELBW) in newborns and hypotrophy in infants. A four-member family was studied: mother, father and two ELBW-phenotype children. The studies were carried out due to the medical conditions of the second child at birth and post-partum: peculiar phenotype, micro-anomalies, recurrent infections, suspicion of autoimmune hepatitis, multifactorial encephalopathy, and suspicion of metabolic and chromosomal abnormalities. Whole genome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping array was used to investigate genomic rearrangements in both affected children using peripheral blood DNA samples. Whole blood transcriptome was assessed by using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) in all four family members. RNA-seq identified a single gene – C14orf132 differentially expressed, with the level of the transcript significantly lower in blood samples of children. Copy number variant (CNV) analysis did not reveal any pathogenic CNVs in the region of C14orf132 gene of both affected children. Conclusion: We showed the importance of combining whole genome CNV and transcriptome analysis in identification of the candidate gene(s) in case studies. We propose the C14orf132 (chromosome 14 open reading frame 132) gene expression to be associated with the ELBW-phenotype. C14orf132 gene is a novel long non-coding RNA (lincRNA) with unknown function, which might be associated with the developmental delay through the altered gene expression Background: Despite of extensive research the genetic component of extremely low birth weight in newborns has remained obscure. Results: The aim of the case study was to identify candidate gene(s) causing extremely low birth weight (ELBW) in newborns and hypotrophy in infants. A four-member family was studied: mother, father and two ELBW-phenotype children. The studies were carried out due to the medical conditions of the second child at birth and post-partum: peculiar phenotype, micro-anomalies, recurrent infections, suspicion of autoimmune hepatitis, multifactorial encephalopathy, and suspicion of metabolic and chromosomal abnormalities. Whole genome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping array was used to investigate genomic rearrangements in both affected children using peripheral blood DNA samples. Whole blood transcriptome was assessed by using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) in all four family members. RNA-seq identified a single gene – C14orf132 differentially expressed, with the level of the transcript significantly lower in blood samples of children. Copy number variant (CNV) analysis did not reveal any pathogenic CNVs in the region of C14orf132 gene of both affected children. Conclusion: We showed the importance of combining whole genome CNV and transcriptome analysis in identification of the candidate gene(s) in case studies. We propose the C14orf132 (chromosome 14 open reading frame 132) gene expression to be associated with the ELBW-phenotype. C14orf132 gene is a novel long non-coding RNA (lincRNA) with unknown function, which might be associated with the developmental delay through the altered gene expression. Background: Despite of extensive research the genetic component of extremely low birth weight in newborns has remained obscure. Results: The aim of the case study was to identify candidate gene(s) causing extremely low birth weight (ELBW) in newborns and hypotrophy in infants. A four-member family was studied: mother, father and two ELBW-phenotype children. The studies were carried out due to the medical conditions of the second child at birth and post-partum: peculiar phenotype, micro-anomalies, recurrent infections, suspicion of autoimmune hepatitis, multifactorial encephalopathy, and suspicion of metabolic and chromosomal abnormalities. Whole genome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping array was used to investigate genomic rearrangements in both affected children using peripheral blood DNA samples. Whole blood transcriptome was assessed by using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) in all four family members. RNA-seq identified a single gene – C14orf132 differentially expressed, with the level of the transcript significantly lower in blood samples of children. Copy number variant (CNV) analysis did not reveal any pathogenic CNVs in the region of C14orf132 gene of both affected children. Conclusion: We showed the importance of combining whole genome CNV and transcriptome analysis in identification of the candidate gene(s) in case studies. We propose the C14orf132 (chromosome 14 open reading frame 132) gene expression to be associated with the ELBW-phenotype. C14orf132 gene is a novel long non-coding RNA (lincRNA) with unknown function, which might be associated with the developmental delay through the altered gene expression.
