A novel locus for a hereditary recurrent neuropathy on chromosome 21q21

• We report a family presenting a new form of hereditary recurrent neuropathy.
• The locus responsible for disease is located on chromosome 21q21.
• The mutational screening of genes within this locus revealed 71 polymorphisms.
• This study emphasizes the clinical and genetic heterogeneity of these diseases.

Hereditary recurrent neuropathies are uncommon. Disorders with a known molecular basis falling within this group include hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP) due to the deletion of the PMP22 gene or to mutations in this same gene, and hereditary neuralgic amyotrophy (HNA) caused by mutations in the SEPT9 gene. We report a three-generation family presenting a hereditary recurrent neuropathy without pathological changes in either PMP22 or SEPT9 genes. We performed a genome-wide mapping, which yielded a locus of 12.4 Mb on chromosome 21q21. The constructed haplotype fully segregated with the disease and we found significant evidence of linkage. After mutational screening of genes located within this locus, encoding for proteins and microRNAs, as well as analysis of large deletions/insertions, we identified 71 benign polymorphisms. Our findings suggest a novel genetic locus for a recurrent hereditary neuropathy of which the molecular defect remains elusive. Our results further underscore the clinical and genetic heterogeneity of this group of neuropathies.