Case#: Family B, Case IV.2; 8-year-old male; diagnosed at age 6

DiseaseAssertion: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM)

FamilyInfo: Positive family history of sudden cardiac death (SCD). The proband's brother (IV.1) died at age 2 of SCD and renal failure. Both parents (III.1 and III.2) were asymptomatic heterozygous carriers of MYL3 c.106G>T. Two unaffected siblings were tested: IV.3 was wild-type and IV.4 was heterozygous (Fig. 1b; Supplementary Fig. S2b).

ParentalTesting: Both parents (III.1 and III.2) were confirmed heterozygous carriers of MYL3 c.106G>T by PCR and bidirectional Sanger sequencing, supporting autosomal recessive inheritance (Supplementary Genetic Findings; Fig. S2b).

CasePresentingHPOs: HP:0001644 (Dilated cardiomyopathy); HP:0000085 (Horseshoe kidney); HP:0005162 (Reduced left ventricular ejection fraction).

CaseHPOFreeText: DCM diagnosed at age 6; heart transplantation performed shortly after diagnosis. Clinical evaluation revealed horseshoe kidney, severe left ventricular dysfunction (LVEF 15–20%), moderate right ventricular dysfunction (TAPSE 9 mm), chamber cardiomegaly on coronary CT angiography, and rapid ventricular tachycardia on ECG (Main text, Family B; Supplementary Results, p. 6).

CaseNotHPOs: NR

CaseNotHPOFreeText: NR

CasePreviousTesting: NR (no prior diagnostic genetic testing reported before the study's exome sequencing)

Genotyping Method: Exome sequencing identified the homozygous MYL3 c.106G>T (p.Glu36Ter) variant in the proband (IV.2). PCR and bidirectional Sanger sequencing validated the variant and confirmed segregation in the parents and two unaffected siblings (Supplementary Methods; Supplementary Genetic Findings; Fig. S2b).

FunctionalAnalysis: Zebrafish cmlc1 knockdown and rescue experiments were performed using human MYL3 RNA containing c.106G>T (p.Glu36Ter). Unlike wild-type MYL3 RNA, the mutant RNA failed to rescue the cardiac phenotype, with persistent cardiac edema, ventricular dysfunction, and atrial dilation (Fig. 2; Supplementary Methods; Supplementary Movie S7).

Variant: MYL3 NM_000258.2:c.106G>T (p. Glu36Ter); homozygous nonsense variant

ClinVar: NR

CAID: CA352499542

gnomAD: NR

AdditionalInfo: The authors classified the homozygous MYL3 c.106G>T (p.Glu36Ter) nonsense variant as pathogenic. The variant introduces a premature termination codon at amino acid 36. The proband was born to asymptomatic, consanguineous (first-cousin) parents of Bakhtiyari ancestry. Family segregation and zebrafish functional studies provide supporting evidence (Supplementary Results; Supplementary Genetic Findings; Supplementary Table S2).