A Novel Peculiar Mutation in the Sodium/Iodide Symporter Gene in Spanish Siblings with Iodide Transport Defect

Abstract

Previously, we reported two Spanish siblings with congenital hypothyroidism due to total failure of iodide transport. These were the only cases reported to date who received long-term iodide treatment over 10 yr. We examined the sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) gene of these patients. A large deletion was observed by long and accurate PCR using primers derived from introns 2 and 7 of the NIS gene. PCR-direct sequencing revealed a deletion of 6192 bases spanning from exon 3 to intron 7 and an inverted insertion of a 431-base fragment spanning from exon 5 to intron 5 of the NIS gene. The patients were homozygous for the mutation, and their mother was heterozygous. In the mutant, deletion of exons 3–7 was suggested by analysis using programs to predict exon/intron organization, resulting in an in-frame 182-amino acid deletion from Met142 in the fourth transmembrane domain to Gln323 in the fourth exoplasmic loop. The mutant showed no iodide uptake activity when transfected into COS-7 cells, confirming that the mutation was the direct cause of the iodide transport defect in these patients. Further, the mutant NIS protein was synthesized, but not properly expressed, on the cell surface, but was mostly accumulated in the cytoplasm, suggesting impaired targeting to the plasma membrane.