YY1 haploinsufficiency causes an intellectual disability syndrome featuring transcriptional and chromatin dysfunction [ChIP-seq]

Yin and yang 1 (YY1) is a well-known zinc-finger transcription factor with crucial roles in normal development and malignancy. YY1 acts both as a repressor and an activator of gene expression. We have identified 23 individuals with de novo mutations or deletions of YY1 and phenotypic features that define a syndrome of cognitive impairment, behavioral alterations, intrauterine growth retardation, feeding problems, and various congenital malformations. Our combined clinical and molecular data define the ‘YY1 syndrome’ as a haploinsufficiency syndrome. Through immunoprecipitation of YY1-bound chromatin from person-derived cells, using antibodies recognizing both ends of the protein, we show that YY1 deletions and missense mutations lead to a global loss of YY1 binding, with a preferential retention at high-occupancy sites. Finally, we uncover a widespread loss of H3K27 acetylation in particular on the YY1-bound enhancers, underscoring a crucial role for YY1 in enhancer regulation. Collectively, these results define a clinical syndrome caused by haploinsufficiency of YY1 through dysregulation of key transcriptional regulators. Individuals with mutations or deletion in YY1 were identified among patients with idiopathic intellectual disability. LCLs were established from 4 of these patients (1 deletion, 2 missense mutations, and 1 non-sense mutation undergoing non-sense-mediated decay) and from unrelated controls. These lines were profiled for genome-wide YY1 occupancy using two antibodies respectively binding each end of the protein, as well as for H3K27ac and H3K27me3.