Abstract
A partial deficiency in protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPOX) produces the acute/cutaneous (or mixed) variegate porphyria (VP), the third most frequent porphyria in Argentina. This autosomal dominant disorder is clinically characterized by skin lesions and/or acute neurovisceral attacks. The precise diagnosis of patients with a symptomatic VP is essential to provide accurate treatment. It is also critical to identify asymptomatic relatives to avoid precipitating factors and prevent acute attacks.
Functional consequences of five PPOX missense mutations were evaluated in a prokaryotic expression system. Three mutations were found in families previously reported c.101A>T (p.E34V), c.670T>G (W224G), c.995G>C (G332A) and two were novel findings c.227C>T (p.S76F), c.1265A>G (p.Y422C). All mutations were identified in heterozygotes with reduced PPOX activity and variable clinical expression of the disease, including asymptomatic cases. Prokaryotic expression showed that all five missense mutations decreased the PPOX activity, demonstrating their detrimental effect on enzyme function, and thus, providing evidence for their causative role in VP. These results reinforce the importance of molecular genetic analysis for VP diagnosis and especially the usefulness of prokaryotic expression of missense mutations to assess their deleterious effect on PPOX activity.
MM and BXG contributed equally to the publication. RES and MVR share senior authorship.
Competing interests: None declared.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Prof. Peter Meissner (University of Cape Town, South Africa) for providing us with the expression vector for the wild-type human PPOX. We also thank H Muramatsu, MD and Mrs V Castillo for their technical assistance with the patients and Lic. P. Winitzky for his assistance in the enzyme activity determinations. This work was supported by grants from the Spanish Fundación Mutua Madrileña, from the Argentinean CONICET, and from the University of Buenos Aires. MVR was recipient of a research fellowship from the Visiting Professor Program of the Complutense University of Madrid.
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Méndez, M. et al. (2011). Functional Characterization of Five Protoporphyrinogen oxidase Missense Mutations Found in Argentinean Variegate Porphyria Patients. In: JIMD Reports - Case and Research Reports, 2012/1. JIMD Reports, vol 4. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/8904_2011_77
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/8904_2011_77
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