Bilallelic germline mutations in MAD1L1 induce a novel syndrome of aneuploidy with high tumor susceptibility

Abstract

Aneuploidy is a frequent feature of human tumors. Germline mutations leading to aneuploidy are very rare in humans, and their tumor-promoting properties are mostly unknown at the molecular level. We report here novel germline biallelic mutations in MAD1L1, the gene encoding the Spindle Assembly Checkpoint (SAC) protein MAD1, in a 36-year-old female with a dozen of neoplasias, including five malignant tumors. Functional studies in peripheral blood cells demonstrated lack of full-length protein and deficient SAC response, resulting in [~]30-40% of aneuploid cells as detected by cytogenetic and single-cell (sc) DNA analysis. scRNA-seq analysis of patient blood cells identified mitochondrial stress accompanied by systemic inflammation with enhanced interferon and NFkB signaling. The inference of chromosomal aberrations from scRNA-seq analysis detected inflammatory signals both in aneuploid and euploid cells, suggesting a non-cell autonomous response to aneuploidy. In addition to random aneuploidies, MAD1L1 mutations resulted in specific clonal expansions of {gamma}{delta} T-cells with chromosome 18 gains and enhanced cytotoxic profile, as well as intermediate B-cells with chromosome 12 gains and transcriptomic signatures characteristic of chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells. These data point to MAD1L1 mutations as the cause of a new aneuploidy syndrome with systemic inflammation and unprecedented tumor susceptibility.