ATRIP deficiency impairs the replication stress response and manifests as microcephalic primordial dwarfism and immunodeficiency

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ABSTRACT ATR (Ataxia Telangiectasia and Rad3-related) kinase and its interacting protein ATRIP orchestrate the replication stress response. Two patients of independent ancestry with microcephaly, primordial dwarfism, and recurring infections were found to be homozygous for splice donor site variants of ATRIP exon 5, resulting in ATRIP deficiency. The c.829+5G>T patient exhibited autoimmune hemolytic anemia, lymphopenia, poor vaccine response, and intermittent neutropenia. Immunophenotyping revealed reduced CD16 + NK cells and absent naïve T cells, mucosal-associated invariant T cells (MAITs), and invariant natural killer T cells (iNKTs). Lymphocytic defects were characterized by T cell receptor (TCR) oligoclonality, abnormal class switch recombination (CSR), and impaired T cell proliferation. ATRIP deficiency resulted in low-grade ATR activation but impaired CHK1 phosphorylation upon genotoxic stress. Consequently, ATRIP deficient cells inadequately regulated DNA replication, leading to chromosomal instability, compromised cell cycle control, and impaired cell viability. CRISPR-Select TIME confirmed reduced cell fitness induced by both variants. This study establishes ATRIP deficiency as a monogenic cause of microcephalic primordial dwarfism, highlights ATRIP’s critical role in protecting immune cells from replication stress, and brings a renewed perspective to the canonical functions of ATRIP.

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