Congenital erythropoietic porphyria, an autosomal recessive inborn error of heme biosynthesis, results from the markedly deficient activity of uroporphyrinogen III synthase. Extensive mutation analyses of 40 unrelated patients only identified approximately 90% of mutant alleles. Sequencing the recently discovered erythroid-specific promoter in six patients with a single undefined allele identified four novel mutations clustered in a 20-bp region: (a) a -70T to C transition in a putative GATA-1 consensus binding element, (b) a -76G to A transition, (c) a -86C to A transversion in three unrelated patients, and (d) a -90C to A transversion in a putative CP2 binding motif. Also, a -224T to C polymorphism was present in approximately 4% of 200 unrelated Caucasian alleles. We inserted these mutant sequences into luciferase reporter constructs. When transfected into K562 erythroid cells, these constructs yielded 3 +/- 1, 54 +/- 3, 43 +/- 6, and 8 +/- 1%, respectively, of the reporter activity conferred by the wild-type promoter. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays indicated that the -70C mutation altered GATA1 binding, whereas the adjacent -76A mutation did not. Similarly, the -90C mutation altered CP2 binding, whereas the -86A mutation did not. Thus, these four pathogenic erythroid promoter mutations impaired erythroid-specific transcription, caused CEP, and identified functionally important GATA1 and CP2 transcriptional-binding elements for erythroid-specific heme biosynthesis.

Uroporphyrinogen-III (URO) synthase is the heme biosynthetic enzyme defective in congenital erythropoietic porphyria. The ∼34-kb human URO-synthase gene (UROS) was isolated, and its organization and tissue-specific expression were determined. The gene had two promoters that generated housekeeping and erythroid-specific transcripts with unique 5′-untranslated sequences (exons 1 and 2A) followed by nine common coding exons (2B to 10). Expression arrays revealed that the housekeeping transcript was present in all tissues, while the erythroid transcript was only in erythropoietic tissues. The housekeeping promoter lacked TATA and SP1 sites, consistent with the observed low level expression in most cells, whereas the erythroid promoter contained GATA1 and NF-E2 sites for erythroid specificity. Luciferase reporter assays demonstrated that the housekeeping promoter was active in both erythroid K562 and HeLa cells, while the erythroid promoter was active only in erythroid cells and its activity was increased during hemin-induced erythroid differentiation. Thus, human URO-synthase expression is regulated during erythropoiesis by an erythroid-specific alternative promoter.

The precise map position of the human housekeeping delta-aminolevulinate synthase (ALAS1) gene has been localized to chromosome band 3p21.1. PCR analysis of somatic cell and radiation hybrids localized ALAS 1 to the same distal region of 3p21.1 as the aminoacylase-1 gene.

We identified a structural defect of alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-Gal A) gene in a Japanese patient with Fabry disease. A partial deletion approximately 0.4 kilobase-pairs in size was delineated by restriction endonuclease mapping; whole exon 3 sequence was removed. alpha-Gal A mRNA was deficient in the mRNA preparation from the lymphoblastoid cells derived from the patient, and a faulty transcription resulting in an unstable alpha-Gal A message was suggested in this case. Molecular pedigree analysis was successfully performed in identifying heterozygotes and the ancestry of the mutant allele in this family.

Efforts were directed to identify the specific mutations in the alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-Gal A) gene which cause Fabry disease in families of Japanese origin. By polymerase-chain-reaction-amplification of DNA from reverse-transcribed mRNA and genomic DNA, different point mutations were found in two unrelated Fabry hemizygotes. A hemizygote with classic disease manifestations and no detectable alpha-Gal A activity had a G-to-A transition in exon 1 (codon 44) which substituted a termination codon (TAG) for a tryptophan codon (TGG) and created an NheI restriction site. This point mutation would predict a truncated alpha-Gal A polypeptide, consistent with the observed absence of enzymatic activity and a classic Fabry phenotype. In an unrelated Japanese hemizygote who had an atypical clinical course characterized by late-onset cardiac involvement and significant residual alpha-Gal activity, a G-to-A transition in exon 6 (codon 301) resulted in the replacement of a glutamine for an arginine residue. This amino acid substitution apparently altered the properties of the enzyme such that sufficient enzymatic activity was retained to markedly alter the disease course. Identification of these mutations permitted accurate molecular heterozygote diagnosis in these families.

Reaction at room temperature of either 3,4,6-tri-O-acetyl-2-azido-2-deoxy-α- or -β-D-galactopyranosyl chloride with a twofold excess of 4-methylumbelliferone and silver trifluoromethanesulfonate in dichloromethane containing an equimolar amount of.sym-collidine yielded 4-methylumbelliferyl tri-O-acetyl-2-azido-2-deoxy-α-D-galactopyranoside in 33% yield. The β anomer was formed in 20 and 10% yields, respectively. Reduction of the azido group, acetylation followed by de-O-acetylation, provided the desired 4-methylumbelliferyl 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-α- and -β-D-galactopyranosides (N-acetyl-α- and -β-D-galactopyranosaminides). The α-glycoside proved to be an effective substrate for the highly sensitive fluorimetric detection of N-acetyl-α-D-galactopyranosaminidase activity in human tissues and was used to examine the deficiency of this activity, which is the enzymatic defect in Schindler disease. Keywords: synthesis of 4-methylumbelliferyl N-acetyl-α- and -β-D-galactopyranosaminides, N-acetyl-α-D-galactosaminidase deficiency (Schindler disease).

The complete nucleotide sequence has been determined for a lambda gt11 cDNA clone (lambda AG18) containing the full-length coding region for the mature lysosomal form of human alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-Gal A; EC 3.2.1.22). The lambda AG18 insert contained a 1226-base-pair sequence with an open reading frame encoding 398 amino acids of the mature polypeptide (predicted Mr = 45,356) and the last 5 amino acids of the propeptide sequence. The poly(A) signals AATACA and ATTAAA occurred 28 and 11 nucleotides prior to the TAA stop codon, respectively. There was no 3' untranslated region as the poly(A) sequence immediately followed the TAA termination codon; a second independently cloned cDNA confirmed this finding. The predicted amino acid sequence was colinear with 86 nonoverlapping residues (22% of the mature subunit) determined by microsequencing amino-terminal, tryptic, and cyanogen bromide peptides of the purified mature enzyme. Four potential N-glycosylation sites were identified, all of which occurred at predicted beta turns in hydrophilic regions of secondary structure. RNA transfer hybridization analysis of HeLa poly(A)+ RNA demonstrated a single 1.45-kilobase band whose signal was decreased by prior immunoabsorption of polysomes with monospecific alpha-Gal A antibodies. Searches of nucleic acid and protein data bases did not reveal significant homology even with the limited sequences available for mammalian lysosomal enzymes.

Previous articleNext article No AccessReviewsOCLC, a Decade of Development, 1967-1977. Kathleen L. MaciuszkoDavid F. BishopDavid F. Bishop Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Library Quarterly Volume 55, Number 2Apr., 1985 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/601603 Views: 1Total views on this site Copyright 1985 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

A pilot trial of enzyme replacement using splenic and plasma forms of alpha-galactosidase A was undertaken in 2 brothers with Fabry disease, an X-linked glycosphingolipid storage disease. Partially purified preparations of alpha-galactosidase A from human spleen and plasma Cohn fraction IV-1 were prepared aseptically for in vivo administration. The disappearance of enzymatic activity from plasma, levels of circulating substrate, and potential immune response were evaluated following IV administration of 6 unentrapped doses (2,000 U/kg) of each enzyme form to the respective recipient during a 117-day period. Repeated injections were well tolerated. The circulating half-life of the splenic form was about 10 min whereas that for the plasma form was approximately 70 min. No immune response was detected by skin and immunodiffusion tests or by alterations in the maximal activity or clearance kinetics for either enzyme following successive administrations. After each dose of the splenic form, the concentration of the accumulated circulating substrate globotriaosylceramide, decreased maximally (approximately 50% of initial values) in 15 min and returned to preinfusion levels by 2-3 hr. In marked contrast, injection of the plasma form decreased the circulating substrate levels 50-70% by 2-6 hr; the concentrations of globotriaosylceramide gradually returned to preinfusion values by 36-72 hr. Two consecutive doses of the plasma form, administered on days 1 and 3, reduced the circulating substrate concentration to normal levels. Prior to the 6th enzyme administration, circulating substrate was stable-isotope labeled by the infusion of dideutero-glucose, and the effects of each enzyme form on circulating substrate degradation and reaccumulation were determined. The results of this study indicated that labeled (newly synthesized) substrate reaccumulated following injection of the splenic enzyme whereas both unlabeled (previously stored?) and labeled substrate reaccumulated in the circulation after administration of the plasma form. These studies demonstrated the differential disappearance kinetics of the splenic and plasma forms of alpha-galactosidase A, their differential effects on circulating substrate degradation and reaccumulation, as well as the lack of an immune response to repeated administrations of these homologous, unentrapped enzymes.

A pilot trial of enzyme replacement with splenic and plasma alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-D-galactosidase; alpha-D-galactoside galactohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.22) isozymes was undertaken in two brothers with Fabry disease, an X-linked glycosphingolipid storage disease. Six unentrapped doses (2000 units/kg) of each isozyme were administered intravenously to the respective recipients during a 117-day period. The circulating half-life of the splenic isozyme was about 10 min, whereas that for the plasma isozyme was approximately 70 min. No immune response was detected by skin and immunodiffusion tests or by alterations in the maximal activity or clearance kinetics for either isozyme after successive administrations. After each dose of the splenic isozyme, the concentration of the accumulated circulating substrate, trihexosylceramide (globotriaosylceramide), decreased maximally (approximately 50% of initial values) in 15 min and returned to preinfusion levels by 2-3 hr. In marked contrast, injection of the plasma isozyme decreased the circulating substrate levels 50-70% by 2-6 hr; the concentrations gradually returned to preinfusion values by 36-72 hr.