Construction of a mutation due to a fourteen base-pair insertion in HNF-1α gene causing maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) in Thai patients.

Objective: The aim of this study is to generate a mutation causing maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) in Thai patients by insertion of a fourteen base-pair (bp) into a HNF-1a gene using a modified site-directed ligase-independent mutagenesis (SLIM) method. Methods: Two pairs of long- and short-tailed primers were designed to amplify a plasmid construct containing a HNF-1a and to insert a 14-bp at a desired position. Long-tailed primers contained the overhanging 14-nucleotide (nt) insert at their termini which were complementary to each other. Polymerase chain reactions (PCR) were performed in two separated tubes using different pairs of primers. After amplifications, PCR products from both tubes were pooled together, denatured and then re-annealed to allow formation of double stranded DNA molecules containing the 14-bp insert within HNF-1a. The pooled and reannealed PCR products without ligation were transformed into competent E.coli cells to generate a ligated recombinant plasmid with a 14-bp insertion. Results: Five of 14 bacterial colonies contained the desired recombinant plasmid with a 14-bp insertion within HNF-1a The efficiency of the method for generation of recombinant plasmid was about 36 percent. Conclusion: This method is simple and rapid to insert a long stretch of nucleotides into a plasmid construct containing a gene of interest at a desired position. A recombinant plasmid containing an insertion mutation in a HNF-1a gene was successfully generated, allowing an opportunity to perform functional study of the mutated gene.

Analysis of the interaction between human kidney anion exchanger 1 and kanadaptin using yeast two-hybrid systems

Kidney anion exchanger adaptor protein (Kanadaptin) is a protein which interacts with the cytoplasmic N-terminal domain of kidney anion exchanger 1 (kAE1) and was first detected in mice using the yeast two-hybrid system and was also found to co-localize with kAE1 in rabbit a-intercalated cells. Impaired trafficking of human kAE1 can result in the kidney disease-distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA), and defective interaction between human kAE1 and kanadaptin may cause this trafficking impairment and be the basis for dRTA pathogenesis. However, it is unknown whether kAE1 can really interact with kanadaptin in humans. We have thus investigated the interaction between human kAE1 and human kanadaptin by using both Gal4 and LexA yeast two-hybrid systems. It was found that co-expression of Gal4DBD fused to the cytoplasmic N-terminal domain of kAE1 and Gal4AD fused to kanadaptin could not activate the transcription of the ADE2, HIS3 and lacZ reporters in the Gal4 system. A similar result was obtained for the interaction between B42AD fused to the cytoplasmic N-terminal domain of kAE1 and LexA fused to kanadaptin in activation of lacZ transcription in the LexA system. The absence of interaction between the fusion proteins in both yeast two-hybrid systems raises the possibility that kAE1 may not interact with kanadaptin in human cells. Considerably different structures of both kAE1 and kanadaptin in mice and humans may lead to different binding properties of the proteins in these two species.

Human anion exchanger1 mutations and distal renal tubular acidosis.

The human anion exchanger 1 (AE1 or SLC4A1) gene encodes anion exchanger 1 (or band 3) protein in erythrocytes and in alpha-intercalated cells of the kidney. Thus, AE1 mutations show pleiotrophic effects resulting in two distinct and seemingly unrelated defects, an erythrocyte abnormality and distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA). Southeast Asian ovalocytosis (SAO), a well-known red blood cell (RBC) defect, which is widespread in Southeast Asian regions, is caused by AE1 mutation due to a deletion of 27 base pairs in codons 400-408 (delta400-408) leading to an in-frame 9 amino-acid loss in the protein. Co-existence of SAO and dRTA is usually not seen in the same individual. However, the two conditions can co-exist as the result of compound heterozygosities between delta400-408 and other mutations. The reported genotypes include delta400-408/G701D, delta400-408/R602H, delta400-408/deltaV850, and delta400-408/A858D. The presence of dRTA, with or without RBC abnormalities, may occur from homozygous or compound heterozygous conditions of recessive AE1 mutations (eg G701D/G701D, V488M/V488M, deltaV850/deltaV850, deltaV850/A858D, G701D/S773P) or heterozygous dominant AE1 mutations (eg R598H, R589C, R589S, S613F, R901X). Codon 589 of this gene seems to be a 'mutational hot-spot' since repeated mutations at this codon occurring in different ethnic groups and at least two de novo (R589H and R589C) mutations have been observed. Therefore, AE1 mutations can result in both recessive and dominant dRTA, possibly depending on the position of the amino acid change in the protein. As several mutant AE1 proteins still maintain a significant anion transport function but are defective in targeting to the cell surface, impaired intracellular trafficking of the mutant AE1 is an important molecular mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of dRTA associated with AE1 mutations.

Carrier detection by DNA linkage analysis in eighty Thai hemophilia A families.

DNA linkage analysis was performed in Thai hemophilia A families to evaluate its value for carrier detection. Both intragenic and extragenic polymorphic DNA regions of the factor VIII gene, including Bcl I-RFLP in intron 18, microsatellites (CA repeats) in introns 13 and 22, and extragenic Stl4 (DXS 52) VNTR, were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) before analyses by appropriate electrophoretic procedures. A total of 80 Thai hemophilia A families (48 with a family history and 32 with a sporadic case), containing 349 DNA samples from 90 hemophilia A patients, 143 parents, and 116 relatives, were analyzed. Heterozygosities in the patients' mothers from both families with a family history and with a sporadic case were observed in 71 out of 80 families (88.75%) for all polymorphic DNA markers analyzed. The carrier status could be identified in 36 females and excluded in 44 females. This result indicates that the DNA linkage analysis can be used for carrier detection or exclusion in the majority of Thai hemophilia A families. It should also be useful for prenatal diagnosis in families at risk of hemophilia A, which is part of the prevention and control of this disease.

Analysis of the reg1alpha and reg1beta gene transcripts in patients with fibrocalculous pancreatopathy.

Fibrocalculous pancreatopathy is a form of diabetes, associated with tropical chronic calcific pancreatitis, in which islet beta-cell loss and pancreatic stone formation are found. It is likely to be a multifactorial disease with both genetic and environmental components. Regenerating (reg) gene encodes protein that has been involved in pancreatic lithogenesis and the regeneration of islet cells and therefore the abnormality of reg genes could be associated with fibrocalculous pancreatopathy. In this study, regla and reg1beta mRNAs were isolated from peripheral blood lymphocytes obtained from 16 patients with fibrocalculous pancreatopathy, 42 patients with type 1 diabetes, 37 patients with type 2 diabetes, and 22 normal controls. mRNAs were amplified by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and analysed by a single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) technique. The reg1alpha and reg1beta mRNAs were isolated, indicating the ectopic expression of these genes in peripheral blood lymphocytes; however, variation among mobility patterns was not observed in the SSCP analysis of the RT-PCR products. The results indicated that there was no abnormality of the regla and reg1beta mRNAs obtained from the study groups.

Flow cytometry for the analysis of T cells expressing CD69 after stimulation with glutamic acid decarboxylase.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a T-cell mediated autoimmune disease in which the insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells are selectively destroyed. We recently found that the detection of cell-mediated immune response to glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) was more useful than the detection of specific autoantibodies for the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes mellitus. In this study, we established a flow cytometric analysis for the detection of activated T cells in whole venous blood, obtained from diabetic patients and normal controls after stimulation by GAD. Two millitiers of peripheral venous blood and 6 hours incubation time were used for performing the test. It was found that 33% (3/9) type 1 diabetic patients, 7.7% (1/13) type 2 diabetic patients and neither patients with fibrocalculous pancreatopathy nor normal controls had > or = 20% CD8+ T cells expressing CD69. The results suggest that flow cytometry may be a useful tool for the detection of surrogate markers of type 1 diabetes mellitus.