Abstract:
Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an autosomal dominant disorder
which is caused by the mutation of the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR)
gene. FH is characterized by elevated plasma LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), tendon
xanthomas, and premature coronary heart disease (CHD). In this study, structural and
functional characteristics of two novel LDLR mutations, D151Y and M391T, that
are found in Thai heterozygous FH patients were clarified. Both mutations were
located in conserved residues of different functional domains of LDLR. The
changing of the hydrogen bond pattern, solvent accessibility area, a negative charge,
and conformation of the β-strand were observed in D151Y and M391T, suggesting
their irregular structure may cause a deleterious effect on the function of LDLR. As
expected, the functional defect of these mutations was elucidated after being studied
in transfected CHO-ldlA7 cells with wild type and mutant LDLR cDNAs. D151Y
and M391T were defined as class 2B (transport-defective) mutations, and the
reduction of their cell-surface LDLR expression to 18% and 38%, as well as the
level of LDL uptake to 12% and 86%, respectively, were observed. In addition, we
also developed the array primer extension (APEX) microarray in order to perform
simultaneous multigene (LDLR, apoB-100, PCSK9, apoE, and CETP) detection.
The optimization of hybridization temperature at 55oC and DNA template sizes
between 50-150 bp were successful. Our APEX microarray enabled us to
discriminate individual genotypes from blind DNA samples. Our findings suggest
that together with the APEX microarray used as molecular diagnosis in
hypercholesterolemia patients, structural and functional study can confirm these FHcausing
mutations.