Abstract:
Primary hyperoxaluria type1 (PH1) is a lethal autosomal recessive disorder of glyoxylate metabolism caused by deficiency of the liver-specific peroxisomal enzyme alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase (AGT). PH1 is presented by excretion of oxalate and accumulation of insoluble calcium oxalate in the kidney and eventually leads to renal failure and death. The Center of Excellence for Medical Genetic, Chulalongkorn University, recently identified a Thai patient with PH1 caused by a deletion and a missense mutation in the AGXT gene, c.32C>G (p.Pro11Arg), which is a novel mutation. In this study, we analyzed the effects of this novel AGXT mutation. We have cloned the entire coding region of AGXT from Hep-G2 cells and transfected into COS7 cells. Western blot analysis of AGT results indicated that the p.Pro11Arg mutation did not affect the level of protein expression. The AGT catalytic activity, measured by semiautomated spectrophotometric assay, indicated that the mutant AGT activity decreased about 69%, compared to that of the wild type. Immunofluorescence microscope was used to analyze the sub-cellular localization of the mutant AGT and demonstrated that about 20% of the enzyme was mis-localized from peroxisomes. In conclusion, the p.Pro11Arg mutation cause pathogenecity by reduced the enzyme activity and mis-localize the ATG enzyme.