A Homozygous Nonsense Variant in the Oligosaccharyltransferase Complex Gene, RPN1, Causes a Congenital Disorder of Glycosylation.

HGG advances
Authors
Abstract

Congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG) are a phenotypically diverse group of genetic conditions arising from pathogenic variants in various glycosylation pathways. The most prevalent are N-glycosylation disorders. Here we present clinical and biochemical data on two siblings with a neurodevelopmental disorder and a pathogenic homozygous nonsense variant in Ribophorin I (RPN1), an essential component of the oligosaccharyltransferase (OST) complex. Both affected individuals showed a classical type I serum transferrin profile, while lymphoblasts revealed the variant resulted in a truncated RPN1 protein with reduced levels. The protein stability of other essential OST complex components, including STT3 Oligosaccharyltransferase Complex Catalytic Subunit A (STT3A), Ribophorin II (RPN2), and Dolichyl-Diphosphooligosaccharide (DDOST), was also significantly reduced. Structural modeling of both OST-A and OST-B complexes shows the RPN1 truncation eliminates a C-terminal four-helix bundle, which interacts with the translating ribosome. This interaction is necessary and specific for the co-translational activity of the OST-A complex. Supporting this observation, hypoglycosylation of an OST-A specific substrate protein was observed, while OST-B specific substrates were unaffected. These data convey that a rare loss of function RPN1 variant causes an autosomal recessive CDG characterized by neurodevelopmental deficits.

Year of Publication
2026
Journal
HGG advances
Pages
100604
Date Published
04/2026
ISSN
2666-2477
DOI
10.1016/j.xhgg.2026.100604
PubMed ID
41935956
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