Abstract
BACKGROUND: Rare variants in >30 genes have been shown to cause idiopathic or familial dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), but the frequency of genetic causation remains poorly understood. We have previously resequenced 9 genes in a cohort of idiopathic or familial DCM probands for rare variants, and now we report resequencing results for 5 more genes with established relationships to DCM. METHODS AND RESULTS: Blood samples were collected, and DNA specimens were prepared from 312 patients, 181 with familial DCM and 131 with idiopathic DCM. Genomic DNA underwent bidirectional sequencing, and DNA of additional family members underwent analysis when a rare variant was identified. We identified rare variants in 34 probands (10.9% overall), including 29 unique protein-altering rare variants and 2 splicing variants that were absent in 246 control subjects (492 chromosomes). These variants were 12 MYBPC3 (myosin-binding protein C) in 13 (4.2%) probands, 8 MYH6 (alpha-myosin heavy chain) in 10 (3.2%), 6 TPM1 (tropomyosin) in 6 (1.9%), 4 TNNC1 (cardiac troponin C) in 4 (1.3%), and 1 TNNI3 (cardiac troponin I) in 2 (0.6%). Variants were classified as likely or possibly disease causing in 13 and 20 probands, respectively (n=33; 10.6% overall). One MYH6 variant was classified as unlikely to be disease causing. CONCLUSIONS: Rare variants in these 5 genes likely or possibly caused 10.6% of DCM in this cohort. When combined with our prior resequencing reports, approximately 27% of DCM probands had possible or likely disease-causing variants identified.