The dual loss and gain of function of the FPN1 iron exporter results in the ferroportin disease phenotype

Abstract

Heterozygous mutations in SLC40A1, encoding a multi-pass membrane protein of the major facilitator superfamily known as ferroportin 1 (FPN1), are responsible for two distinct hereditary iron overload diseases: ferroportin disease, which is associated with reduced FPN1 activity (i.e. decrease in cellular iron export), and SLC40A1-related hemochromatosis, which is associated with abnormally high FPN1 activity (i.e. resistance to hepcidin). Here, we report three SLC40A1 missense variants with opposite functional consequences. In cultured cells, the p.Arg40Gln and p.Ser47Phe substitutions partially reduced the ability of FPN1 to export iron, and also partially reduced its sensitivity to hepcidin. The p.Ala350Val substitution had more profound effects, resulting in low FPN1 iron egress and weak FPN1/hepcidin interaction. Structural analyses helped to differentiate the first two substitutions, which are predicted to cause local instabilities, and the third, which is thought to prevent critical rigid-body movements that are essential to the iron transport cycle. The phenotypic traits observed in a total of 12 affected individuals are highly suggestive of ferroportin disease. Our findings dismantle the classical dualism of FPN1 loss- versus gain-of-function, highlight some specific and unexpected functions of FPN1 transmembrane helices in the molecular mechanism of iron export and its regulation by hepcidin, and extend the spectrum of rare genetic variants that may cause ferroportin disease.