FAME3_MARCHF6

Gene
MARCHF6
Disease
FAME3
Inheritance
AD
Classification
Definitive
Total Score
11.5
Publications Reviewed
3
Publication Span
17.33 years
Last Updated
08/12/2025
Curator(s)
Macayla Weiner, Laurel Hiatt, Harriet Dashnow

Description

Autosomal dominant familial adult myoclonic epilepsy type 3 (FAME3) is associated with an intronic TTTTA/TTTCA repeat expansion in MARCH6/MARCHF6 on chromosome 5p15.2. The expansion was identified by genome sequencing and repeat-primed PCR in four European families with cortical/myoclonic tremor and epilepsy, co-segregated with disease, and was absent from controls in the reported analyses. Expansion length, particularly the TTTCA component, inversely correlated with age at seizure onset. Patient-derived blood cells and fibroblasts showed marked somatic instability and expansion-size variability.

Genetic evidence

Total: 10

Singular EvidenceProbandsPMID:316640391.5MARCH6/MARCHF6 intronic TTTTA/TTTCA expansions identified in four European FAME families (two French, one Dutch, one German) using genome sequencing and RP-PCR.
Collective EvidenceAllelePMID:316640391Expansion length, mainly the TTTCA component, inversely correlated with age at seizure onset; no significant correlation was observed with tremor onset.
Collective EvidenceSegregationPMID:316640391.5The MARCH6 expansion co-segregated with FAME in the reported families, including Dutch Family 3 where an incompletely segregating CTNND2 variant was reclassified as likely benign.
Collective EvidenceSegregationPMID:12140665 PMID:196168130Large multigenerational families with FCMTE/FCTE show clear autosomal dominant segregation of the phenotype; however, linkage analyses excluded known loci (8q23.3-q24.1 and 2p11.1-q12.2), indicating genetic heterogeneity. These studies support heritable segregation of disease but do not demonstrate segregation of the MARCH6 repeat expansion specifically.
StatisticsCase-control dataPMID:316640396MARCH6 expansions were identified in affected FAME families, while 83 European controls showed only 9-20 TTTTA repeats and no larger or TTTCA-containing alleles.
5 rows

Experimental evidence

Total: 1.5

FunctionRegulatory impactPMID:316640390.5RNA-seq and qRT-PCR in expansion-carrier blood cells and fibroblasts found no detectable change in MARCH6 RNA or protein levels and no massive intron 1 retention/splicing abnormality.
Functional AlterationPatient cellsPMID:316640391Patient-derived blood cells and fibroblasts showed extensive somatic instability, multiple expansion configurations, and micro-rearrangements in individuals with the largest MARCH6 expansions.
2 rows

Note: Maximum score caps apply at evidence type, category, and supercategory levels, so section totals may be lower than the raw sum of row scores.