(Circulation. 1999;100:693-699.)
© 1999 American Heart Association, Inc.
Clinical Investigation and Reports |
From the Department of Cardiology (Y.v.K.), University Hospital Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; Departments of Human Genetics, Medicine, and Pediatrics (R.E.P.), Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pa; and Section of Molecular Genetics and Molecular Medicine (P.K.R.), Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Mo.
Correspondence to Peter K. Rogan, PhD, Section of Molecular Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Children's Mercy Hospital and Clinics, 2401 Gillham Road, Kansas City, MO 64108. E-mail progan{at}cmh.edu
| Abstract |
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Methods and ResultsUsing an information theory-based model, we measured the individual information content (Ri, in bits) of splice sites adjacent to 289 mutations (including 31 splice-site mutations) in the atherosclerosis candidate genes APOAII, APOB, APOCII, APOE, CBS, CETP, LCAT, LIPA, LDLR, and LPL. The predictions of information analysis were then corroborated by published mRNA analyses. The Ri values of mutant sites were consistent with either complete (n=17) or partial (n=8) inactivation of these sites. Seven mutations were predicted to activate cryptic splice sites. Predicted inactive mutant sites were associated with either "average" or "severe" dyslipidemia and commensurate reductions in protein levels or activity, whereas mutations expected to exhibit residual splicing had average or "mild" effects on lipid and protein expression.
ConclusionsInformation analysis of splice-junction variants in atherosclerosis candidate genes distinguishes inactive from leaky splice sites and identifies activated cryptic sites. Predicted changes in splicing were related to phenotypic severity.
Key Words: atherosclerosis genetics lipids risk factors RNA
| Introduction |
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Among the single nucleotide substitutions in these genes,
10% are located within splice junctions (Table 1
). The donor GT
and acceptor AG dinucleotides at the splice junctions are
conserved; however, other sequences at these and other conserved
positions are also permissible. Mutations within natural (termed
"primary") splice junctions can either completely or partially
inactivate these sites. Some nucleotide changes
activate splice sites that are not normally recognized
("cryptic" or "secondary" sites). Other splice-site
substitutions have no effect on mRNA splicing.2 3
Information theorybased models that account for all of the nucleotide variations in splice sites have been used to predict the activities of natural and mutant sites and identify cryptic splice sites.2 The information content (in bits) of a member of any sequence family describes the degree to which that member contributes to the conservation of the entire family.4 The effects of all nucleotide changes are detectable, given that information is cumulative over all positions in a splice site.2
In previous studies, lipid and protein levels or enzymatic activities of gene products were used to indirectly assess the effects of mutations that predispose a person to atherosclerosis. We used information theorybased models of mRNA splicing to relate the severity of splicing mutations to atherosclerosis phenotypes.
| Methods |
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Computation of Individual Information
The individual information contents (Ri)
of natural and mutant splice sites and coding sequence variants in
atherosclerosis candidate genes were
compared.4 The computer programs Scan, MakeWalker, and
Lister were used to compute Ri values and display
results.7
The information contents of potential splice sites were determined for sequences up to 150 nucleotides upstream and downstream of each nucleotide substitution.2 8 Ri values could not be directly assessed for the LDLR and CBS genes2 7 because the terminal nucleotides of the corresponding splice junctions (positions -16 to -25 for acceptor sites, and +6 for donor sites) were unavailable. To model incomplete sites, the possible range of Ri values was defined by computing Ri for the best and worst sequence combinations. These ranges were computed for the missing sequence data from the corresponding coordinates of the donor and acceptor weight matrix elements that produced the maximal and minimal Ri values. Interpretation of variants was possible only if the Ri intervals of the natural and corresponding mutant sites did not overlap. Inactivating mutations were distinguishable from those that resulted in leaky splicing if the Ri interval of the mutant site was consistently either less or greater than 2.4 bits, respectively. Six of 171 variants with incomplete acceptor splice sites could not be interpreted because the Ri intervals of the variant and corresponding natural sequences overlapped.
Criteria for Grading Phenotypic Severity
For each splicing mutation, reference distributions of protein
expression, plasma lipids, or plasma homocystine were derived from
individuals with other mutations in the corresponding
gene from previously published reports (data not shown) (Table 1
). Individuals with mutations in the same gene were also
distinguished according to genotype because the diagnosis, in
some instances, depended on the mode of inheritance. Protein levels and
enzymatic and/or binding activity were measured by the same methods for
each splice-site mutation and the corresponding reference population;
these values are given as the reported range of the percentage of
normal protein levels. The mean and 95% confidence intervals (±2SD)
of lipid values for each reference population were either derived from
published reports or computed from values in published patient
cohorts.
Stringent criteria for dyslipidemic phenotypes were
defined from reference mean values based on populations of individuals
with mutations in the same gene. Each lipid parameter
(total plasma triglycerides, cholesterol, and
LDL and HDL cholesterol) with values within ±2SD of the
respective reference population was defined as "average."
Individuals with significantly increased lipid levels (>2SD above the
mean in the affected reference population) were defined as having
"severe" dyslipidemia (eg, Table 2![]()
, mutations 1, 13, 16, 22, and 31
[mutation numbers throughout the article are those found in Table 2
]). Those carrying mutations that decreased lipid
levels >2SD below the average in the reference population (eg,
mutation 21) were also designated as severe.
Dyslipidemia was defined as "mild" in patients
with mutations producing HDL-cholesterol levels >2SD above
the average for the reference population (mutations 8 and 20).
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Protein levels and/or activities were similarly graded relative to reference values for populations with mutations in the same gene. Protein levels and/or activities were defined as average if they were within the reported range of the percentage of normal for each respective reference population. Reduction of protein levels and/or activities below or above this reported range were graded as severe or mild, respectively.
Clinical severity of atherosclerosis was assessed using age-related expression of angina pectoris or myocardial infarction. The ages of onset of coronary symptoms for 2 or more unrelated patients with identical LDLR (mutation 3) and APOE (mutation 20) mutations were related to the corresponding age distributions for reference populations with type II (LDLR)44 or type III (APOE)45 familial hyperlipoproteinemia. Clinical signs of atherosclerosis were graded as average for ages of onset within 2SD of the mean age for the reference populations; mild or severe atherosclerosis occurred with average ages of onset above or below the 2SD bound, respectively.
Phenotypic analyses were limited to patients with fasting plasma lipid and homocysteine levels. Because outlier phenotypes were derived using stringent statistical criteria, some patients originally described as severely or mildly affected were categorized as having average phenotypes in the present study (mutations 3 and 7 [reference 15]). Mutations in compound heterozygotes (n=5) were not analyzed because the phenotypic effects of each allele could not be separated.
Criteria for Predicting Splice-Site Function
The effects of nucleotide substitutions were
predicted from Ri values on the basis of the
following, previously validated criteria2 :
2.4 bits would reduce
splicing, thereby producing a milder phenotype. The residual
amount of correctly spliced mRNA at leaky sites was computed as the
minimum fold change in binding affinity, 2
Ri
(
Ri is the difference between the
Ri value of the natural site and that of the
variant site). The result was expressed as the maximum percent of
normal mRNA.2 5
Ri) was assessed
with a paired t-test using a cutoff at 5%
significance.2 | Results |
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Relationship of Ri to Phenotype
To determine whether disease phenotype was related to
predicted splice-site use, the degrees of dyslipidemia,
protein expression, and clinical severity were graded and compared with
the Ri values of mutant splice sites. Severe
(mutations 1, 13, 16, 21, and 22) and average (mutations 2 to 4, 9 to
12, 14, 18, and 19) dyslipidemia were present in
individuals with primary splice-site mutations with
Ri values <2.4 bits, but
dyslipidemia was not present in individuals with mutant
sites
2.4 bits. Conversely, mutant sites with
Ri values
2.4 bits were found in patients with
mild (mutations 8 and 20) or average (mutations 7, 23, and 24)
dyslipidemia but not in those with severe
dyslipidemia. Average (mutations 2, 9, 11, 16, 19,
21, and 22), severe (mutation 1), and mild (mutation 18, which is
borderline average) decreases in protein levels or enzymatic activity
were found in individuals harboring mutant splice sites <2.4 bits
(Table 3
). Mutations that resulted in
sites with Ri
2.4 bits, however, exhibited only
mild (mutations 8 and 20) or average (mutation 7) reductions in protein
expression. On the basis of age at onset of coronary
symptoms, the severity of clinical atherosclerosis for
one patient who had Ri<2.4 bits was graded as
average (mutation 3); it was graded mild for another individual
carrying a mutation with Ri>2.4 bits (mutation
20). Corresponding clinical data were not available for the other
mutations.
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| Discussion |
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2.4 bits), whereas severely affected
individuals carried mutations that presumably inactivated
splice sites and abolished protein expression (<2.4 bits). The
phenotypes at the outlying lipid values were concordant with
these predictions, although corresponding Ri
values for mutations in individuals with average
dyslipidemia were not predictive. More refined models,
incorporating lipid phenotypes as quantitative traits, will
require analysis of additional patients and mutations.
| Acknowledgments |
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Received December 31, 1998; revision received May 10, 1999; accepted May 25, 1999.
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