FBN1 gene mutation defines the profibrillin to fibrillin processing site and segregates with tall stature in a family
- Univ. of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX (United States); and others
Dermal fibroblasts from a 13-year-old boy with skeletal features of the Marfan syndrome were used to study fibrillin synthesis and processing. Synthesis and secretion of profibrillin was normal but only half of the secreted profibrillin was converted to fibrillin, an extracellular proteolytic processing that removes a 20 kDa fragment from the protein. All the secreted profibrillin was processed to fibrillin in control cells. Only the processed form of fibrillin was deposited into the extracellular matrix in both the proband`s and the control cells. Electron microscopic examination of rotary shadowed microfibrils made by the proband`s fibroblasts were indistinguishable from control cells. Screening exons in the 3{prime} end of the FBN1 gene revealed a heterozygous C to T transition at nucleotide 5482 of the FBN1 cDNA changing R 1828 to W. This mutation disrupts a known consensus sequence recognized by a cellular protease and is located in the carboxy terminus at a site predicted to remove a 19 kD fragment. The proband and his 22-year-old brother, also heterozygous for the mutation, have had normal echocardiograms and ophthalmologic exams. The mutation segregated in the proband`s three generation family with autosomal dominant inheritance of height (> 90th percentile) and no known cardiovascular or ocular problems, including the 67-year-old grandmother (exams pending). The mutation was not found in 90 chromosomes from unrelated individuals. In summary, (1) the mutation identifies the cleavage site for the conversion of profibrillin to fibrillin; (2) the characterized mutation segregates in the family with tall stature without known cardiovascular or ocular problems; (3) this mutation potentially defines the phenotype associated with a {open_quotes}null{close_quotes} allele for the FBN1 gene.
- OSTI ID:
- 134218
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-941009--
- Journal Information:
- American Journal of Human Genetics, Journal Name: American Journal of Human Genetics Journal Issue: Suppl.3 Vol. 55; ISSN AJHGAG; ISSN 0002-9297
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Differential allelic expression of a fibrillin gene (FBNI) in patients with Marfan syndrome
Analysis of FBN1 allele expression by dermal fibroblasts from Marfan syndrome patients