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Results for “Loss of Function Mutation”

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PubMed2002

A role for the Drosophila fragile X-related gene in circadian output.

Mutations that abolish expression of an X-linked gene, FMR1, result in the pathogenesis of fragile X syndrome, the most common form of inherited mental retardation. To understand the normal function of the FMR1 protein, we have produced fly strains bearing deletions in a Drosophila homolog of FMR1 (dfmr1). Since fragile X patients show a number of abnormal behaviors including sleep problems, we investigated whether a loss-of-function mutation of dfmr1 affect circadian behavior. Here we show that under constant darkness (DD), a lack of dfmr1 expression causes arrhythmic locomotor activity, but in light:dark cycles, their behavioral rhythms appear normal. In addition, the clock-controlled eclosion rhythm is normal in DFMR1-deficient flies. These results suggest that DFMR1 plays a critical role in the circadian output pathway regulating locomotor activity in Drosophila.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Progressive ataxia, myoclonic epilepsy and cerebellar apoptosis in cystatin B-deficient mice.

Loss-of-function mutations in the gene (CSTB) encoding human cystatin B, a widely expressed cysteine protease inhibitor, are responsible for a severe neurological disorder known as Unverricht-Lundborg disease (EPM1). The primary cellular events and mechanisms underlying the disease are unknown. We found that mice lacking cystatin B develop myoclonic seizures and ataxia, similar to symptoms seen in the human disease. The principal cytopathology appears to be a loss of cerebellar granule cells, which frequently display condensed nuclei, fragmented DNA and other cellular changes characteristic of apoptosis. This mouse model of EPM1 provides evidence that cystatin B, a non-caspase cysteine protease inhibitor, has a role in preventing cerebellar apoptosis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2002

Enzymes associated with reductive activation and action of nitazoxanide, nitrofurans, and metronidazole in Helicobacter pylori.

Nitazoxanide (NTZ) is a redox-active nitrothiazolyl-salicylamide prodrug that kills Helicobacter pylori and also many anaerobic bacterial, protozoan, and helminthic species. Here we describe development and use of a spectrophotometric assay, based on nitroreduction of NTZ at 412 nm, to identify H. pylori enzymes responsible for its activation and mode of action. Three enzymes that reduce NTZ were identified: two related NADPH nitroreductases, which also mediate susceptibility to metronidazole (MTZ) (RdxA and FrxA), and pyruvate oxidoreductase (POR). Recombinant His-tagged RdxA, FrxA, and POR, overexpressed in nitroreductase-deficient Escherichia coli, each rapidly reduced NTZ, whereas only FrxA and to a lesser extent POR reduced nitrofuran substrates (furazolidone, nitrofurantoin, and nitrofurazone). POR exhibited no MTZ reductase activity either in extracts of H. pylori or following overexpression in E. coli; RdxA exhibited no nitrofuran reductase activity, and FrxA exhibited no MTZ reductase activity. Analysis of mutation to rifampin resistance (Rif(r)) indicated that NTZ was not mutagenic and that nitrofurans were only weakly mutagenic. Alkaline gel DNA electrophoresis indicated that none of these prodrugs caused DNA breakage. In contrast, MTZ caused DNA damage and was strongly mutagenic. We conclude that POR, an essential enzyme, is responsible for most or all of the bactericidal effects of NTZ against H. pylori. While loss-of-function mutations in rdxA and frxA produce a Mtz(r) phenotype, they do not contribute much to the innate susceptibility of H. pylori to NTZ or nitrofurans.

Biotransformation↗
PubMed2002

Mutations in RRM4 uncouple the splicing repression and RNA-binding activities of polypyrimidine tract binding protein.

The polypyrimidine tract binding protein (PTB, or hnRNP I) contains four RNA-binding domains of the ribonucleoprotein fold type (RRMs 1, 2, 3, and 4), and mediates the negative regulation of alternative splicing through sequence-specific binding to intronic splicing repressor elements. To assess the roles of individual RRM domains in splicing repression, a neural-specific splicing extract was used to screen for loss-of-function mutations that fail to switch splicing from the neural to nonneural pathway. These results show that three RRMs are sufficient for wild-type RNA binding and splicing repression activity, provided that RRM4 is intact. Surprisingly, the deletion of RRM4, or as few as 12 RRM4 residues, effectively uncouples these functions. Such an uncoupling phenotype is unique to RRM4, and suggests a possible regulatory role for this domain either in mediating specific RNA contacts, and/or contacts with putative splicing corepressors. Evidence of a role for RRM4 in anchoring PTB binding adjacent to the branch site is shown by mobility shift and RNA footprinting assays.

Alternative Splicing↗
PubMed1990

An inversion truncating the creA gene of Aspergillus nidulans results in carbon catabolite derepression.

The creAd-30 mutation leading to carbon catabolite derepression in Aspergillus nidulans is a pericentric inversion, having one breakpoint within the creA gene on the left arm of chromosome I and the other breakpoint between binG and yA on the right arm. The left-arm breakpoint alters the creA transcript. The likelihood that the inversion truncates creA centrally strengthens a previous proposal that derepression is the phenotype of loss-of-function mutations in creA.

Aspergillus nidulans↗
PubMed1994

Allelotype analysis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

In previous studies, we have shown that allelic loss on chromosome 17p, on which the p53 gene is located, is very frequent, and loss-of-function mutations of the p53 gene are closely associated with the tumorigenesis of esophageal cancer. In this study, we performed allelotype analysis to investigate whether other tumor suppressor genes are also involved in esophageal cancer. Using 55 polymorphic DNA markers covering every autosomal arm except 13p, 21p, and 22p, restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis was performed on 36 esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCs) and their adjacent normal tissue samples. Frequent loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of > 30% of the informative cases was observed on chromosomes 3p (41.1%), 5q (52.6%), 6p (30.4%), 8p (33.3%), 9p (35.7%), 9q (30.8%), 11p (32.4%), 13q (52.7%), 17p (55.2%), 17q (33.3%), 18q (45.7%), and 19q (30.4%). Among these, LOH on 5q, 13q, 17p, and 18q was previously reported in ESC and is considered to involve the APC, RB, p53, and DCC genes, respectively. However, our deletion analysis of chromosome 18q revealed that the region commonly lost did not include the DCC locus, suggesting that a possible tumor suppressor gene on 18q other than the DCC gene is involved in ESC. We screened 60 primary ESC tumors and 20 cultured ESC cell lines for the mutation of the APC gene within a mutation cluster region in exon 15, where the "hot spot" of somatic mutation for colorectal and pancreatic cancers is thought to be. We could not find any mutation despite the high frequency of LOH on chromosome 5q. We also analyzed the relationship between the clinicopathological data and the allelic loss and found that LOH on chromosomes 6p and 13q was associated with poor prognosis.

Alleles↗
PubMed2004

Intracellularly located misfolded glycoprotein hormone receptors associate with different chaperone proteins than their cognate wild-type receptors.

Most loss-of-function mutations of the glycoprotein hormone receptors have been found to be due to the misfolding of the receptor, resulting in its intracellular retention and, therefore, decreased cell surface expression. Chaperone proteins within the endoplasmic reticulum play an essential role in facilitating the folding of newly synthesized proteins and in recognizing and segregating misfolded proteins, thereby preventing their transit to the Golgi. The present study was conducted to begin to elucidate the role of chaperone proteins in the folding of the glycoprotein hormone receptors and misfolded mutants thereof. Toward this end, we examined the potential associations of calnexin, calreticulin, Grp94, BiP, ERp57, and protein disulfide-isomerase with each of the three glycoprotein hormone receptors. Calnexin, calreticulin, and protein disulfide-isomerase were found to associate with the immature forms of all three wild-type (wt) glycoprotein hormone receptors. As examples of misfolded glycoprotein hormone receptors, we studied two human LH receptor (hLHR) loss-of-function mutants that we show to be expressed predominantly as immature forms that are retained intracellularly. Significantly, the patterns of chaperone protein associations with the misfolded hLHR mutants differ from that observed with the wt hLHR. Furthermore, and unexpectedly, the chaperone protein associations were found to differ between the two misfolded hLHR mutants. Altogether, our studies show that although the same chaperone proteins are used by the three wt glycoprotein hormone receptors, different chaperone proteins associate with misfolded mutants thereof, and the specificity of interactions can vary between mutants, most likely reflecting the different stages of folding they achieve before being targeted for degradation.

Calnexin↗
PubMed1990

W mutant mice with mild or severe developmental defects contain distinct point mutations in the kinase domain of the c-kit receptor.

Mutations at the mouse W/c-kit locus lead to intrinsic defects in stem cells of the melanocytic, hematopoietic, and germ cell lineages. W alleles vary in the overall severity of phenotype that they confer, and some alleles exhibit an independence of pleiotropic effects. To elucidate the molecular basis for these biological differences, we analyzed the c-kit locus and the c-kit-associated autophosphorylation activities in five different W mutants representative of a range of W phenotypes. Mast cell cultures derived from mice or embryos homozygous for each W allele were deficient in c-kit autophosphorylation activity, the extent of which paralleled the severity of phenotype conferred by a given W allele both in vivo and in an in vitro mast cell coculture assay. The mildly dominant, homozygous viable alleles W44 and W57 were found to express reduced levels of an apparently normal c-kit protein. In contrast, c-kit kinase defects conferred by the moderately dominant, homozygous viable alleles W41 or W55 or the homozygous lethal allele, W37, were attributed to single-point mutations within the kinase domain of the c-kit polypeptide, which result in point substitutions of amino acid residues highly conserved in the family of protein tyrosine kinases. The nature and location of these amino acid substitutions account for the relative severity of phenotypes conferred by these W alleles and demonstrate that the pleiotropic developmental defects associated with the W/c-kit locus arise as the result of dominant loss-of-function mutations in a transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase.

Alleles↗
PubMed2001

Developmental and transcriptional consequences of mutations in Drosophila TAF(II)60.

In vitro, the TAF(II)60 component of the TFIID complex contributes to RNA polymerase II transcription initiation by serving as a coactivator that interacts with specific activator proteins and possibly as a promoter selectivity factor that interacts with the downstream promoter element. In vivo roles for TAF(II)60 in metazoan transcription are not as clear. Here we have investigated the developmental and transcriptional requirements for TAF(II)60 by analyzing four independent Drosophila melanogaster TAF(II)60 mutants. Loss-of-function mutations in Drosophila TAF(II)60 result in lethality, indicating that TAF(II)60 provides a nonredundant function in vivo. Molecular analysis of TAF(II)60 alleles revealed that essential TAF(II)60 functions are provided by two evolutionarily conserved regions located in the N-terminal half of the protein. TAF(II)60 is required at all stages of Drosophila development, in both germ cells and somatic cells. Expression of TAF(II)60 from a transgene rescued the lethality of TAF(II)60 mutants and exposed requirements for TAF(II)60 during imaginal development, spermatogenesis, and oogenesis. Phenotypes of rescued TAF(II)60 mutant flies implicate TAF(II)60 in transcriptional mechanisms that regulate cell growth and cell fate specification and suggest that TAF(II)60 is a limiting component of the machinery that regulates the transcription of dosage-sensitive genes. Finally, TAF(II)60 plays roles in developmental regulation of gene expression that are distinct from those of other TAF(II) proteins.

Alleles↗
PubMed2003

Insulin activation of Rheb, a mediator of mTOR/S6K/4E-BP signaling, is inhibited by TSC1 and 2.

Tumor suppressor genes evolved as negative effectors of mitogen and nutrient signaling pathways, such that mutations in these genes can lead to pathological states of growth. Tuberous sclerosis (TSC) is a potentially devastating disease associated with mutations in two tumor suppressor genes, TSC1 and 2, that function as a complex to suppress signaling in the mTOR/S6K/4E-BP pathway. However, the inhibitory target of TSC1/2 and the mechanism by which it acts are unknown. Here we provide evidence that TSC1/2 is a GAP for the small GTPase Rheb and that insulin-mediated Rheb activation is PI3K dependent. Moreover, Rheb overexpression induces S6K1 phosphorylation and inhibits PKB phosphorylation, as do loss-of-function mutations in TSC1/2, but contrary to earlier reports Rheb has no effect on MAPK phosphorylation. Finally, coexpression of a human TSC2 cDNA harboring a disease-associated point mutation in the GAP domain, failed to stimulate Rheb GTPase activity or block Rheb activation of S6K1.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
PubMed2004

A WNT4 mutation associated with Müllerian-duct regression and virilization in a 46,XX woman.

WNT4, a secreted protein that suppresses male sexual differentiation, is thought to repress the biosynthesis of gonadal androgen in female mammals. An 18-year-old woman presented with primary amenorrhea and an absence of müllerian-derived structures, unilateral renal agenesis, and clinical signs of androgen excess--a phenotype resembling the Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome and remarkably similar to that of female Wnt4-knockout mice. A genetic evaluation revealed a loss-of-function mutation in the WNT4 gene. WNT4 appears to be important in the development and maintenance of the female phenotype in women, by means of the regulation of müllerian-duct formation and control of ovarian steroidogenesis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

gld-1, a tumor suppressor gene required for oocyte development in Caenorhabditis elegans.

We have characterized 31 mutations in the gld-1 (defective in germline development) gene of Caenorhabditis elegans. In gld-1 (null) hermaphrodites, oogenesis is abolished and a germline tumor forms where oocyte development would normally occur. By contrast, gld-1 (null) males are unaffected. The hermaphrodite germline tumor appears to derive from germ cells that enter the meiotic pathway normally but then exit pachytene and return to the mitotic cycle. Certain gld-1 partial loss-of-function mutations also abolish oogenesis, but germ cells arrest in pachytene rather than returning to mitosis. Our results indicate that gld-1 is a tumor suppressor gene required for oocyte development. The tumorous phenotype suggests that gld-1(+) may function to negatively regulate proliferation during meiotic prophase and/or act to direct progression through meiotic prophase. We also show that gld-1(+) has an additional nonessential role in germline sex determination: promotion of hermaphrodite spermatogenesis. This function of gld-1 is inferred from a haplo-insufficient phenotype and from the properties of gain-of-function gld-1 mutations that cause alterations in the sexual identity of germ cells.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Epigenetic inactivation of the premature aging Werner syndrome gene in human cancer.

Werner syndrome (WS) is an inherited disorder characterized by premature onset of aging, genomic instability, and increased cancer incidence. The disease is caused by loss of function mutations of the WRN gene, a RecQ family member with both helicase and exonuclease activities. However, despite its putative tumor-suppressor function, little is known about the contribution of WRN to human sporadic malignancies. Here, we report that WRN function is abrogated in human cancer cells by transcriptional silencing associated with CpG island-promoter hypermethylation. We also show that, at the biochemical and cellular levels, the epigenetic inactivation of WRN leads to the loss of WRN-associated exonuclease activity and increased chromosomal instability and apoptosis induced by topoisomerase inhibitors. The described phenotype is reversed by the use of a DNA-demethylating agent or by the reintroduction of WRN into cancer cells displaying methylation-dependent silencing of WRN. Furthermore, the restoration of WRN expression induces tumor-suppressor-like features, such as reduced colony formation density and inhibition of tumor growth in nude mouse xenograft models. Screening a large collection of human primary tumors (n = 630) from different cell types revealed that WRN CpG island hypermethylation was a common event in epithelial and mesenchymal tumorigenesis. Most importantly, WRN hypermethylation in colorectal tumors was a predictor of good clinical response to the camptothecin analogue irinotecan, a topoisomerase inhibitor commonly used in the clinical setting for the treatment of this tumor type. These findings highlight the importance of WRN epigenetic inactivation in human cancer, leading to enhanced chromosomal instability and hypersensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs.

Aging, Premature↗
PubMed2006

Hereditary parkinsonism with dementia is caused by mutations in ATP13A2, encoding a lysosomal type 5 P-type ATPase.

Neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson and Alzheimer disease cause motor and cognitive dysfunction and belong to a heterogeneous group of common and disabling disorders. Although the complex molecular pathophysiology of neurodegeneration is largely unknown, major advances have been achieved by elucidating the genetic defects underlying mendelian forms of these diseases. This has led to the discovery of common pathophysiological pathways such as enhanced oxidative stress, protein misfolding and aggregation and dysfunction of the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Here, we describe loss-of-function mutations in a previously uncharacterized, predominantly neuronal P-type ATPase gene, ATP13A2, underlying an autosomal recessive form of early-onset parkinsonism with pyramidal degeneration and dementia (PARK9, Kufor-Rakeb syndrome). Whereas the wild-type protein was located in the lysosome of transiently transfected cells, the unstable truncated mutants were retained in the endoplasmic reticulum and degraded by the proteasome. Our findings link a class of proteins with unknown function and substrate specificity to the protein networks implicated in neurodegeneration and parkinsonism.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1988

Spindle formation and chromatin condensation in cells blocked at interphase by mutation of a negative cell cycle control gene.

In Aspergillus nidulans the temperature-sensitive cell cycle mutation bimE7 causes chromosome condensation and pre-anaphase spindle formation to occur at restrictive temperature. By constructing double mutants between bimE7 and S phase or G2 phase mutants and blocking DNA replication with hydroxyurea, we demonstrate that bimE7 can cause chromatin condensation and spindle formation in cells held in S or G2. Thus bimE7 overrides normal control systems that prevent mitosis from prematurely occurring during S or G2. We show that bimE7 is a loss of function mutation and propose that bimE normally functions to negatively control a positive mitotic inducing factor, possibly the cell cycle gene nimA.

Aspergillus nidulans↗
PubMed2006

Cardiac ankyrins: Essential components for development and maintenance of excitable membrane domains in heart.

Ankyrins are intracellular proteins required for the biogenesis and maintenance of membrane domains in both excitable and non-excitable cells. Ankyrin family polypeptides have been implicated in the targeting and stabilization of membrane proteins including ion channels, transporters, exchangers and cell adhesion molecules in diverse tissues and cell types including the erythrocyte, kidney, lung and brain. Dysfunction in ankyrin-based pathways has previously been linked to abnormalities in vertebrate physiology including spherocytosis and anemia, ataxia and axonal degeneration. Recent findings have illuminated the importance of ankyrin-based pathways in excitable cells of the heart. Specifically, two ankyrin gene products, 220-kDa ankyrin-B and 190-kDa ankyrin-G, have been implicated in the targeting of structurally diverse membrane ion channels and transporters to excitable membrane domains in cardiomyocytes. Moreover, findings in humans and mice have determined the critical nature of ankyrin-based pathways for normal cardiac excitability. Reduction of ankyrin-B expression levels in mice or the presence of ankyrin-B loss-of-function mutations in humans leads to 'ankyrin-B syndrome', a cardiac disease with a spectrum of clinical presentations including bradycardia, ventricular tachycardia and sudden cardiac death in response to catecholaminergic stimuli. Ankyrin-G is required for expression of the major cardiac voltage-gated Na(v) channel, Na(v)1.5, at specialized cardiac membrane domains. Human variants in SCN5A (encodes Na(v)1.5) that block Na(v)1.5 interaction with ankyrin-G lead to loss of Na(v)1.5 membrane expression and Brugada syndrome. Together, these recent findings in heart reinforce the importance of ankyrin-based pathways for normal vertebrate physiology and raise exciting new questions regarding the cellular roles for ankyrin polypeptides in cardiac and other excitable cells. While ankyrins have only been recently identified in heart, our current understanding suggests that elucidating the roles of ankyrins in organizing and targeting protein complexes to excitable membrane domains will yield important insights into the molecular basis of cardiac arrhythmias.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Genetic analysis of innate immunity in resistance to Candida albicans.

Systemic candidiasis is a significant cause of nosocomial infections and the mechanisms of defense against Candida albicans in humans remain poorly understood. Studies in animal models have demonstrated the importance of innate immunity in controlling the response to infection. Although Th1 cytokines have been shown to direct the overall outcome of infection, the precise role of the Th1/Th2 response and, more generally, the adaptive immune response as a whole, in systemic candidiasis, appears to apply mainly to the development of resistance to reinfection. A genetic approach to the identification of host factors regulating pathogenesis and susceptibility to C. albicans infection has been used in humans and in mouse models of infection. Mouse mutants bearing experimentally induced mutations in specific genes have provided a systematic tool for directly assessing the role of individual proteins in C. albicans susceptibility. Inbred mouse strains have been valuable in showcasing the spectrum of naturally occurring variations in initial susceptibility to infection, and type of disease developed. Crosses between resistant and susceptible strains have led to the detection of additional gene effects affecting innate immunity. Of particular interest is the major effect of a naturally occurring loss-of-function mutation in the C5 complement component that has become fixed in many inbred strains. These and other studies have shown that both a functional complement pathway and robust inflammatory response are critical for resistance to C. albicans.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Posttranslational modification and plasma membrane localization of the Drosophila melanogaster presenilin.

Mutations in two genes, presenilin 1 (PS1) and presenilin 2, are linked to early onset cases of familial Alzheimer's disease. The presenilins are thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease by directly or indirectly affecting the proteolytic processing of the amyloid precursor protein. They have also been implicated in the proteolytic processing of Notch. In PS1-deficient mammalian cells, the proteolytic release of the Notch intracellular domain is reduced. Likewise, loss-of-function mutations in Drosophila presenilin (Psn) prevent the production of the intracellular Notch signaling fragment and lead to phenotypes resembling Notch mutants. Here we characterize the Drosophila Psn protein and demonstrate that it undergoes a proteolytic cleavage. We describe Psn expression at different developmental stages of the fly and show Psn localization near both apical and basal plasma membranes. Furthermore, we demonstrate that portions of the Psn protein span the plasma membrane in S2 cells.

Alternative Splicing↗