RESUMO
We report mutations in the gene for topoisomerase I-binding RS protein (TOPORS) in patients with autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP) linked to chromosome 9p21.1 (locus RP31). A positional-cloning approach, together with the use of bioinformatics, identified TOPORS (comprising three exons and encoding a protein of 1,045 aa) as the gene responsible for adRP. Mutations that include an insertion and a deletion have been identified in two adRP-affected families--one French Canadian and one German family, respectively. Interestingly, a distinct phenotype is noted at the earlier stages of the disease, with an unusual perivascular cuff of retinal pigment epithelium atrophy, which was found surrounding the superior and inferior arcades in the retina. TOPORS is a RING domain-containing E3 ubiquitin ligase and localizes in the nucleus in speckled loci that are associated with promyelocytic leukemia bodies. The ubiquitous nature of TOPORS expression and a lack of mutant protein in patients are highly suggestive of haploinsufficiency, rather than a dominant negative effect, as the molecular mechanism of the disease and make rescue of the clinical phenotype amenable to somatic gene therapy.
Assuntos
Genes Dominantes , Mutação/genética , Proteínas de Neoplasias/genética , Proteínas Nucleares/genética , Epitélio Pigmentado Ocular/irrigação sanguínea , Epitélio Pigmentado Ocular/patologia , Retinose Pigmentar/genética , Ubiquitina-Proteína Ligases/genética , Adolescente , Adulto , Sequência de Bases , Criança , Cromossomos Humanos , Análise Mutacional de DNA , Éxons/genética , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Proteínas de Neoplasias/metabolismo , Proteínas Nucleares/metabolismo , Linhagem , Ubiquitina-Proteína Ligases/metabolismoRESUMO
PURPOSE: To identify the disease-causing mutations in two large Bulgarian Romani (Gypsy) pedigrees: one with autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP) with partial penetrance and the other with severe X-linked RP (xlRP). METHODS: Detailed clinical investigations were undertaken and genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples. DNA was analyzed by PCR amplification with gene-specific primers and direct genomic sequencing. RESULTS: Analysis of the complete coding sequence of PRPF31 in the adRP family led to the identification of a new heterozygous splice site mutation IVS6+1G>T. RPGR mutation screening in affected male individuals in the X-linked RP family identified a hemizygous c.ORF15+652_653delAG mutation. Interestingly this mutation was found in a homozygous state in one severely affected female from the family. CONCLUSIONS: In this first report of molecular genetic analysis of retinitis pigmentosa in Romani families, we describe a novel PRPF31 mutation and present the first case of a homozygous mutation in the RPGR gene in a female individual.
