Generalized thyroid hormone resistance: Identification of an arginine to cystine mutation in codon 315 of the c-erb A beta thyroid hormone receptor

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The present report studies a large kindred (WR) with generalized thyroid hormone resistance that has varying degrees of neuropsychological dysfunction, hyperactivity, poor attention span, decreased IQ and/or abnormalities in spatial perception. In this kindred, there has been found tight linkage of the syndrome with the c-erb A beta gene. The present study was performed to identify the presence of a possible gene mutation as a cause for this syndrome. DNA from peripheral leukocytes was isolated from 15 unaffected and 8 affected individuals from the kindred. Primers encompassing exons 9 (nucleotides 1171–1429) and 10 (nucleotides 1430–1698) were synthesized and used in PCR reactions to amplify these exons. Direct sequencing revealed a consistent substitution in each affected subject, but in none of the unaffected individuals, of a C. to T change in one allele from nucleotide 1243, resulting in an arg to cys change in codon 315. The mutant and wild-type human beta 1 receptors were prepared and their translated proteins were analyzed for T3 binding. The WR T3 receptor from affected patients had reduced T3 binding affinity, with values approximately 2.5 × 1010 M−1 compared to about 5 × 1010 M−1 in normals. In summary, we have: i) identified a consistent and reproducible mutation of a C. to T change in nucleotide 1243 in each of the affected but in none of the unaffected individuals of a large well characterized kindred with generalized thyroid hormone resistance; and ii) noted that the WR allele causes an approximate 50% decrease in the T3 binding affinity. Further studies analyzing the mechanism by which a single point mutation in one allele results in the biochemical and clinical manifestations of generalized thyroid hormone resistance are warranted.

This publication has 24 references indexed in Scilit: