Somatic loss of heterozygosity, but not haploinsufficiency alone, leads to full-blown autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome in 1 of 12 family members with FAS start codon mutation

•FAS c.3G > T start codon mutation leads to non-expression of the affected allele.•FAS haploinsufficiency alone does not cause ALPS.•Somatic LOH in DN T cells leads to full-blown ALPS.•FAS expression in DN T cells should be assessed.•FAS haploinsufficiency demands clinical monitoring.

We describe a family with 12 members carrying a heterozygous germline FAS c.3G > T start codon mutation leading to FAS haploinsufficiency. One patient had autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS), one had recovered from ALPS, and ten mutation-positive relatives (MPRs) were healthy. FAS-mediated apoptosis and surface expression of FAS in single-positive T cells were lower for MPRs but did not discriminate between them and the ALPS patient. However, double-negative (DN) T cells of the ALPS patient had no FAS expression due to somatic loss of heterozygosity. Our results in this kindred suggest that FAS haploinsufficiency does not cause ALPS-FAS, but that modifying genetic events are crucial for its pathogenesis. FAS surface expression on DN T cells should be assessed routinely and FAS haploinsufficient patients should be followed as its potential for lymphomagenesis is not well defined and a second hit might occur later on.