Mutations in the phosphorylase kinase gene PHKA2 are responsible for X-linked liver glycogen storage disease.

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Phosphorylase kinase (PHK) is a key enzyme in the control of glycogen breakdown. Several types of PHK deficiency have been described of which X-linked liver glycogenosis type I (XLG I) is the most common. Since the XLG I locus and the gene encoding the liver alpha-subunit gene of PHK (PHKA2) have both been localized to Xp22, PHKA2 was a candidate gene for XLG I. In this study we identified four point mutations in four unrelated XLG I patients: three mutations introduce a premature stop codon, whereas the fourth mutation abolishes a splice site consensus sequence leading to exon skipping. These findings indicate that PHKA2 is the XLG I gene.