Cystathionine Beta-synthase Mutations Research Articles

World distribution of the T833C/844INS68 CBS in cis double mutation: a reliable anthropological marker.

Mild hyperhomocysteinemia is associated to mutations either in cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) or in 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) genes. In 1995, Sebastio et al. characterized a 68 bp insertion in cis with the most common CBS mutation (T833C) detected in homocystinuric patients. Recently, this double mutation has been detected in Italian and North-American controls. Compared to a group of patients affected by coronary artery disease, North-American controls showed not statistically significant difference. Moreover, Italian controls displayed a microheterogeneity in the mutant allele frequency distribution depending on their geographical origin (North or South of Italy). Aim of our study was to evaluate the prevalence of the double in cis mutation in different populations. We studied 377 healthy subjects belonging to various human groups. Genomic DNA, extracted from peripheral blood samples, was amplified using specific primers; PCR fragments were digested with Bsr I restriction enzyme to detect the double mutation. Our data show a significant heterogeneity among the populations studied, therefore this mutation turned out to be a reliable anthropogenetic marker. The distribution of the double mutation will contribute, with other DNA polymorphisms, to evaluate the genetic admixture of mixed populations such as Afro-Americans.

Exploring gene-gene interactions in the etiology of neural tube defects.

The role of susceptibility genes in the etiology of birth defects is unclear, but may involve in some cases multiple alleles at multiple loci. We suggest a simple epidemiologic approach to explore gene-gene interactions, and use it to reevaluate data from a recent case-control study on the possible association of neural tube defects (NTDs) with specific mutations of two genes, 5,10-methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and cystathionine-beta synthase (CBS). We found that, compared with the common genotype, homozygosity for the MTHFR mutation alone was associated with a two-fold increased risk for NTDs, while homozygosity for the CBS mutation alone was not a risk factor. However, homozygous individuals for the mutations at both loci had a five-fold greater risk for NTDs than those with the reference genotype. Though the original study was too small to detect statistically significant differences among most of the risk estimates, these results, if confirmed by independent and larger studies, suggest that gene-gene interaction may play a role in modulating the susceptibility to NTDs in a proportion of affected individuals. This approach, moreover, could be a valuable adjunct to the study of gene gene interactions in the etiology of human disease.

Correction of disease-causing CBS mutations in yeast.

Mutations in cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) are known to cause homocystinuria, a recessive disorder characterized by excessive levels of total homocysteine (tHcy) in plasma. The primary cause of mortality is thromboembolism induced by the excessive tHcy levels. Mild increases in tHcy levels are a significant risk factor in the development of vascular disease in the general population. This can result from heterozygosity at the CBS locus or polymorphic variation in other enzymes involved in homocysteine re-methylation. We report here that a mutation which deletes the carboxy-terminal 145 amino acids of CBS can functionally suppress the phenotype of several CBS mutant alleles found in homocystinurics when expressed in yeast. This C-terminal domain of CBS acts to inhibit enzymatic activity and is in turn regulated by S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet), a positive effector of CBS. Our results indicate that most mutations found in homocystinurics do not cause dysfunction of the catalytic domain, but rather interfere with the activation of the enzyme. These findings suggest a new drug target to treat homocystinuria and homocysteine-related vascular disease.

A yeast assay for functional detection of mutations in the human cystathionine beta-synthase gene.

Mutations in the human cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) gene are known to cause homocystinuria and may also be a significant risk factor for premature atherosclerosis. We have previously shown that the human CBS protein can substitute for the endogenous yeast CBS protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We now show that expression of three different CBS mutants known to be associated with reduced enzyme activity in humans fail to complement growth in the yeast assay. In addition, we have used the yeast CBS assay to identify eight mutant CBS alleles in cell lines from patients with CBS deficiency. These mutant alleles include two previously identified and five novel CBS mutations. Our results also demonstrate that the yeast CBS assay can detect a large percentage of individuals heterozygous for mutations in CBS. This system should be useful in determining the relationship between CBS mutations and human disease.

Screening for mutations by expressing patient cDNA segments in E. coli: homocystinuria due to cystathionine beta-synthase deficiency.

Deficiency of cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) causes the most common form of inherited homocystinuria. We developed a simple CBS expression system in E. coli to screen for pathogenic mutations in affected individuals. Portions of patient cDNAs were amplified by PCR and used to replace the corresponding segments of normal human CBS cDNA in the bacterial expression plasmid pHCS3. Hybrid CBS was expressed in E. coli and the segments of patient's cDNA which extinguished CBS activity were sequenced to identify the mutation. The first study of a pyridoxine-responsive patient using this screen revealed that of the clones which contained either the middle or the 3'-portion of his cDNA, about half were devoid of catalytic activity. Subsequent sequencing of the affected segments confirmed a compound heterozygosity for a maternal T833-->C transition (I278T) and for a paternal A-->C transversion in the intron 11 splice acceptor. The latter mutation leads to an in-frame deletion of exon 12 (nt 1224-1358, amino acids W408 to G453). This bacterial expression system proved to be a rapid screening method for localizing pathogenic mutations in CBS, allowing us to sequence the affected portions of mutant cDNA within 7-10 days of harvesting cultured fibroblasts.