Comprehensive genetic diagnosis of tandem repeat expansion disorders with programmable targeted nanopore sequencing

Short-tandem repeat (STR) expansions are an important class of pathogenic genetic variants. Over forty neurological and neuromuscular diseases are caused by STR expansions, with 37 different genes implicated to date. Here we describe the use of programmable targeted long-read sequencing with Oxford Nanopores ReadUntil function for parallel genotyping of all known neuropathogenic STRs in a single, simple assay. Our approach enables accurate, haplotype-resolved assembly and DNA methylation profiling of expanded and non-expanded STR sites. In doing so, the assay correctly diagnoses all individuals in a cohort of patients (n = 27) with various neurogenetic diseases, including Huntingtons disease, fragile X syndrome and cerebellar ataxia (CANVAS) and others. Targeted long-read sequencing solves large and complex STR expansions that confound established molecular tests and short-read sequencing, and identifies non-canonical STR motif conformations and internal sequence interruptions. Even in our relatively small cohort, we observe a wide diversity of STR alleles of known and unknown pathogenicity, suggesting that long-read sequencing will redefine the genetic landscape of STR expansion disorders. Finally, we show how the flexible inclusion of pharmacogenomics (PGx) genes as secondary ReadUntil targets can identify clinically actionable PGx genotypes to further inform patient care, at no extra cost. Our study addresses the need for improved techniques for genetic diagnosis of STR expansion disorders and illustrates the broad utility of programmable long-read sequencing for clinical genomics. One sentence summaryThis study describes the development and validation of a programmable targeted nanopore sequencing assay for parallel genetic diagnosis of all known pathogenic short-tandem repeats (STRs) in a single, simple test.