心肌肌钙蛋白T基因突变在心肌病发病机制中的研究进展

肥厚型和扩张型心肌病中,基因缺陷分别占发病的50％和35％,其病理生理机制,主要包括肌小节蛋白基因突变引起的收缩力产生缺陷,细胞骨架蛋白基因突变引起的收缩力传递缺陷等。心肌肌钙蛋白T将肌钙蛋白C和肌钙蛋白I连接到肌动蛋白和原肌球蛋白上,在心肌细胞收缩和舒张过程中发挥重要作用。在肥厚型和扩张型心肌病中发现了多种心肌肌钙蛋白T的基因突变,围绕心肌肌钙蛋白T的研究有助于阐明心肌病的发病机制。本文总结了心肌肌钙蛋白T基因突变在心肌病发病机制中的研究情况。     

心肌肌钙蛋白Ⅰ基因突变与心肌病的研究进展

心肌肌钙蛋白I(cTnI)是心肌肌钙蛋白复合物的亚单位之一,与心肌肌钙蛋白T和C相互作用,与肌动蛋白-原肌球蛋白结合从而抑制肌动蛋白-肌球蛋白的收缩作用。在肥厚型、扩张型和限制型心肌病中发现30多种cTnI基因的突变,cTnI基因突变转基因小鼠也反映了心肌病的特征。本文总结了cTnI基因突变在心肌病发病机制中的研究情况。     

心肌病关联基因家族与心肌发育和心肌病

心肌发育是个复杂的过程,受许多发育相关因子组成的复杂分子网络调控。这些基因的突变和结构异常可导致心肌发育异常和原发性心肌病。心肌病关联基因家族对心肌的胚胎发育、出生后心肌结构重塑以及心肌损伤修复等过程有重要作用。本文结合临床基因突变报道,对心肌病关联基因家族的功能和模式动物中的分子机制研究进行综述,以期深入了解该家族蛋白质在心肌发育及原发性心肌病中的作用。     

原发性心肌病的分子遗传学特性

心肌病(cardiomyopathy)是由心脏心室的结构改变和心肌壁功能受损导致的心脏病变,具体表现为心脏肌小节蛋白结构和功能的改变、离子通道结构和功能的改变、能量供给和调控受到影响、细胞膜成分的改变等。原发性心肌病是心肌病的主要种类,病变部位主要局限于心肌,包括肥厚型心肌病、扩张型心肌病、限制型心肌病、致心律失常型右心室心肌病和无类别心肌病5大类。心肌病的发生主要与多种基因的变异有关,这些基因主要编码肌节蛋白、桥粒蛋白、膜蛋白、钙结合蛋白和与线粒体氧化磷酸化有关的蛋白等。对原发性心肌病的分子遗传学特性的研究进行概述,为该病的诊断、筛查、预防和治疗提供参考。     

基于人诱导多能干细胞技术的致心律失常性右室心肌病模型的研究进展

致心律失常性右室心肌病(arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy,ARVC)致病机制复杂,具有家族遗传倾向,多为常染色体显性遗传,少部分患者为常染色隐性遗传并伴有皮肤相关疾病。该心肌疾病主要表现为以右心室为主的室性心律不齐及纤维–脂肪组织替代,随着病情发展会出现左心室受累症状。现有研究表明,该疾病主要与桥粒蛋白编码基因突变有关,另外一些非桥粒蛋白基因突变与疾病表型的关联性存疑。疾病检测手段的改进以及精确化实验模型的建立可为探究突变位点对心脏功能的影响提供研究基础,利于阐明基因与疾病表型的相关性,从而进行靶向治疗。建立合适的动物模型耗时且具有挑战性,因此对这些突变的具体功能的认知仍然有限。在这种情况下,携带特定的心肌病相关突变的人类诱导多能干细胞(induced pluripotent stem cells,iPSCs)可被认作一种理想工具。该文就致心律失常性右室心肌病产生的分子机制,包括突变基因、激素水平、运动状况在内的致病因素,以及来源于患者体细胞的iPSCs研究模型三部分进行总结讨论,旨在对该疾病的研究现状进行说明。     

钠通道基因SCN5A突变与扩张型心肌病

心脏钠通道基因SCN5A突变可以导致多种心律失常,近年研究发现该基因突变与扩张型心肌病也有关,但致病机制不甚清楚。本文通过比较与扩张型心肌病有关的多个已发现SCN5A突变的电生理特点,提出该基因突变可能通过改变细胞内钠浓度来影响细胞内钙稳态而导致扩张型心肌病;新近发现的A1180V突变携带者表现出的异常心电图,很可能为某些扩张型心肌病患者进行早期诊断,提供一种有效而简便的方法。     

原发性扩张型心肌病的线粒体tRNA基因突变分析

为寻找原发性扩张型心肌病病例是否存在已知以及未知的线粒体tRNA致病性突变,以探讨扩张型心肌病可能的发病原因。收集2例原发性扩张型心肌病患者和10例正常对照尸检心肌组织石蜡标本,针对22种线粒体tRNA基因分别设计一对引物,PCR扩增后并测序分析线粒体tRNA基因突变情况。结果在对照样本中未检测到线粒体tRNA变异位点,在1例患者中检测到了tRNA~(Val)基因G1664A变异,Mitomap已有报道为多态性位点;于另1例患者中检测到tRNA~(Met)T4454C变异,有文章报道该位点与线粒体功能障碍有关,Mitomap报道为多态性位点。本研究中2例病例中未检测到线粒体tRNA致病性突变位点,可能与病例个体的心衰程度有关,有必要扩大样本量深入研究线粒体tRNA以及mt DNA其他基因突变与原发性扩张型心肌病之间的关系,以寻找可能的致病突变位点、易感的多态性位点或者单倍体群,为认识原发性扩张型心肌病的发病机制进一步提供理论基础和依据。     

严重心律失常的相关离子通道病及分子机制探讨

致死性心律失常的发生机制复杂,与先天性基因突变及后天性心肌病变的离子通道病有关。离子通道病变包括膜上Na^＋、K^＋、Ca^2＋通道和肌浆网的钙释放与重摄取通道和它们的调控蛋白异常。本文讨论了致心律失常性心肌病中,K^＋、Ca^2＋离子流的上调与致心律失常性以及近两年离子通道病、心律失常领域内的研究新动向和主要进展。     

《科学-转化医学》:研究确定引起心肌病的有害突变

<正>一项对5000多人的研究发现了在巨型肌肉蛋白巨肌蛋白(titin)中的突变,这些突变会引起扩张型心肌病;这项研究是迄今为止该类研究中最大规模的研究之一。这些发现可帮助筛检高危患者,从而更好地预防和治疗扩张型心肌病,这是心力衰竭的一个常见原因。在罹患此病的患者中,心脏会因为心肌壁被拉伸变薄而扩大,从而削弱了其泵血的能力。扩张型心肌病的最常见遗传学原因是TTN基因中发生突变,这些突变会过早地缩短巨肌蛋白;巨肌蛋白是人体中最大型的蛋白,它也是肌肉的一个基本的结     

心脏肌球蛋白结合蛋白C的生物信息学分析

MYBPC3基因突变是家族性肥厚型心肌病的原因之一。本文对心脏肌球蛋白结合蛋白C基因(cardic myosin binding protein C,MYBPC3)及其编码蛋白(c My BP-C)进行生物信息学分析。运用生物信息学相关数据库和在线生物学软件分析MYBPC3基因的结构与突变位点,对c My BP-C蛋白分子物种间的序列同源性、蛋白质空间结构、理化性质、组织特异性、蛋白质翻译后修饰、蛋白质相互作用网络进行分析。结果表明人MYBPC3基因mRNA全长为4 217 bp,编码区为3 825 bp,MYBPC3基因编码1 274个氨基酸组成的多肽,与物种进化程度一致,属于免疫球蛋白超家族,是酸性亲水蛋白,稳定性不高,其主要二级结构元件为随机卷曲。与c My BP-C存在相互作用的基因和蛋白主要是磷酸激酶与肌小节组成成分。本文对MYBPC3基因进行生物信息学分析,为深入研究MYBPC3基因的分子功能以及靶向治疗遗传性心肌病提供一定的依据。     

Structural analysis of four and half LIM protein-2 in dilated cardiomyopathy

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a cardiac disease characterized by dilated ventricle and systolic dysfunction. Most of the DCM patients are sporadic cases, but a certain population of DCM patients can be familial cases caused by mutations in genes for sarcomere/Z-disc components including titin/connectin. However, disease-causing mutations could be identified only in a part of the familial DCM patients, suggesting that there should be other disease causing genes for DCM. To explore a novel disease gene for DCM, we searched for mutations in FHL2, encoding for four and half LIM protein 2 (FHL2) in DCM patients, because FHL2 is known to associate with titin/connectin. A missense mutation, Gly48Ser, was identified in a patient with familial DCM. Functional analysis demonstrated that the FHL2 mutation affected the binding to titin/connectin. Because FHL2 protein is known to tether metabolic enzymes to titin/connectin, these observations suggest that the Gly48Ser mutation may be involved in the pathogenesis of DCM via impaired recruitment of metabolic enzymes to the sarcomere.     

Titin mutations as the molecular basis for dilated cardiomyopathy

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a heterogeneous cardiac disease characterized by ventricular dilatation and systolic dysfunction. Recent genetic studies have revealed that mutations in genes for cardiac sarcomere components lead to DCM. The cardiac sarcomere consists of thick and thin filaments and a giant protein, titin. Because one of the loci of familial DCM was mapped to the region of the titin gene, we searched for titin mutations in the patients and identified four possible disease-associated mutations. Two mutations, Val54Met and Ala743Val, were found in the Z-line region of titin and decreased binding affinities of titin to Z-line proteins T-cap/telethonin and alpha-actinin, respectively, in yeast two-hybrid assays. The other two mutations were found in the cardiac-specific N2-B region of titin and one of them was a nonsense mutation, Glu4053ter, presumably encoding for a truncated nonfunctional molecule. These observations suggest that titin mutations may cause DCM in a subset of the patients.     

Genome-wide studies of copy number variation and exome sequencing identify rare variants in BAG3 as a cause of dilated cardiomyopathy

Dilated cardiomyopathy commonly causes heart failure and is the most frequent precipitating cause of heart transplantation. Familial dilated cardiomyopathy has been shown to be caused by rare variant mutations in more than 30 genes but only ~35% of its genetic cause has been identified, principally by using linkage-based or candidate gene discovery approaches. In a multigenerational family with autosomal dominant transmission, we employed whole-exome sequencing in a proband and three of his affected family members, and genome-wide copy number variation in the proband and his affected father and unaffected mother. Exome sequencing identified 428 single point variants resulting in missense, nonsense, or splice site changes. Genome-wide copy number analysis identified 51 insertion deletions and 440 copy number variants > 1 kb. Of these, a 8733 bp deletion, encompassing exon 4 of the heat shock protein cochaperone BCL2-associated athanogene 3 (BAG3), was found in seven affected family members and was absent in 355 controls. To establish the relevance of variants in this protein class in genetic DCM, we sequenced the coding exons in BAG3 in 311 other unrelated DCM probands and identified one frameshift, two nonsense, and four missense rare variants absent in 355 control DNAs, four of which were familial and segregated with disease. Knockdown of bag3 in a zebrafish model recapitulated DCM and heart failure. We conclude that new comprehensive genomic approaches have identified rare variants in BAG3 as causative of DCM.     

Alpha B-crystallin mutation in dilated cardiomyopathy

Mutations in genes for sarcomeric proteins such as titin/connectin are known to cause dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). However, disease-causing mutations can be identified only in a small proportion of the patients even in the familial cases, suggesting that there remains yet unidentified disease-causing gene(s) for DCM. To explore the novel disease gene for DCM, we examined CRYAB encoding alphaB-crystallin for mutation in the patients with DCM, since alphaB-crystallin was recently reported to associate with the heart-specific N2B domain and adjacent I26/I27 domain of titin/connectin, and we previously reported a N2B mutation, Gln4053ter, in DCM. A missense mutation of CRYAB, Arg157His, was found in a familial DCM patient and the mutation affected the evolutionary conserved amino acid residue among alpha-crystallins. Functional analysis revealed that the mutation decreased the binding to titin/connectin heart-specific N2B domain without affecting distribution of the mutant crystallin protein in cardiomyocytes. In contrast, another CRYAB mutation, Arg120Gly, reported in desmin-related myopathy decreased the binding to both N2B and striated muscle-specific I26/27 domains and showed intracellular aggregates of the mutant protein. These observations suggest that the Arg157His mutation may be involved in the pathogenesis of DCM via impaired accommodation to the heart-specific N2B domain of titin/connectin and its disease-causing mechanism is different from the mutation found in desmin-related myopathy.     

OBSCN Mutations Associated with Dilated Cardiomyopathy and Haploinsufficiency

Background

Studies of the functional consequences of DCM-causing mutations have been limited to a few cases where patients with known mutations had heart transplants. To increase the number of potential tissue samples for direct investigation we performed whole exon sequencing of explanted heart muscle samples from 30 patients that had a diagnosis of familial dilated cardiomyopathy and screened for potentially disease-causing mutations in 58 HCM or DCM-related genes.

Results

We identified 5 potentially disease-causing OBSCN mutations in 4 samples; one sample had two OBSCN mutations and one mutation was judged to be not disease-related. Also identified were 6 truncating mutations in TTN, 3 mutations in MYH7, 2 in DSP and one each in TNNC1, TNNI3, MYOM1, VCL, GLA, PLB, TCAP, PKP2 and LAMA4. The mean level of obscurin mRNA was significantly greater and more variable in healthy donor samples than the DCM samples but did not correlate with OBSCN mutations. A single obscurin protein band was observed in human heart myofibrils with apparent mass 960 ± 60 kDa. The three samples with OBSCN mutations had significantly lower levels of obscurin immunoreactive material than DCM samples without OBSCN mutations (45±7, 48±3, and 72±6% of control level).Obscurin levels in DCM controls, donor heart and myectomy samples were the same.

Conclusions

OBSCN mutations may result in the development of a DCM phenotype via haploinsufficiency. Mutations in the obscurin gene should be considered as a significant causal factor of DCM, alone or in concert with other mutations.     

Mutations of presenilin genes in dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure

Two common disorders of the elderly are heart failure and Alzheimer disease (AD). Heart failure usually results from dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). DCM of unknown cause in families has recently been shown to result from genetic disease, highlighting newly discovered disease mechanisms. AD is the most frequent neurodegenerative disease of older Americans. Familial AD is caused most commonly by presenilin 1 (PSEN1) or presenilin 2 (PSEN2) mutations, a discovery that has greatly advanced the field. The presenilins are also expressed in the heart and are critical to cardiac development. We hypothesized that mutations in presenilins may also be associated with DCM and that their discovery could provide new insight into the pathogenesis of DCM and heart failure. A total of 315 index patients with DCM were evaluated for sequence variation in PSEN1 and PSEN2. Families positive for mutations underwent additional clinical, genetic, and functional studies. A novel PSEN1 missense mutation (Asp333Gly) was identified in one family, and a single PSEN2 missense mutation (Ser130Leu) was found in two other families. Both mutations segregated with DCM and heart failure. The PSEN1 mutation was associated with complete penetrance and progressive disease that resulted in the necessity of cardiac transplantation or in death. The PSEN2 mutation showed partial penetrance, milder disease, and a more favorable prognosis. Calcium signaling was altered in cultured skin fibroblasts from PSEN1 and PSEN2 mutation carriers. These data indicate that PSEN1 and PSEN2 mutations are associated with DCM and heart failure and implicate novel mechanisms of myocardial disease.     

Autoantibodies against cardiac troponin I are responsible for dilated cardiomyopathy in PD-1-deficient mice

We recently reported that mice deficient in the programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) immunoinhibitory coreceptor develop autoimmune dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), with production of high-titer autoantibodies against a heart-specific, 30-kDa protein. In this study, we purified the 30-kDa protein from heart extract and identified it as cardiac troponin I (cTnI), encoded by a gene in which mutations can cause familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Administration of monoclonal antibodies to cTnI induced dilatation and dysfunction of hearts in wild-type mice. Monoclonal antibodies to cTnI stained the surface of cardiomyocytes and augmented the voltage-dependent L-type Ca2+ current of normal cardiomyocytes. These findings suggest that antibodies to cTnI induce heart dysfunction and dilatation by chronic stimulation of Ca2+ influx in cardiomyocytes.     

Novel mutations in sarcomeric protein genes in dilated cardiomyopathy

Mutations in sarcomeric protein genes have been reported to cause dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). In order to detect novel mutations we screened the sarcomeric protein genes beta-myosin heavy chain (MYH7), myosin-binding protein C (MYBPC3), troponin T (TNNT2), and alpha-tropomyosin (TPM1) in 46 young patients with DCM. Mutation screening was done using single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis and DNA sequencing. The mutations in MYH7 were projected onto the protein data bank-structure (pdb) of myosin of striated muscle. In MYH7 two mutations (Ala223Thr and Ser642Leu) were found in two patients. Ser642Leu is part of the actin-myosin interface. Ala223Thr affects a buried residue near the ATP binding site. In MYBPC3 we found one missense mutation (Asn948Thr) in a male patient. None of the mutations were found in 88 healthy controls and in 136 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Thus mutations in HCM causing genes are not rare in DCM and have potential for functional relevance.     

Investigation of a Family with Autosomal Dominant Dilated Cardiomyopathy Defines a Novel Locus on Chromosome 2q14-q22

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a leading cause of heart failure and the most frequent indication for heart transplantation in young patients. Probably >25% of DCM cases are of familial etiology. We report here genetic localization in a three-generation German family with 12 affected individuals with autosomal dominant familial DCM characterized by ventricular dilatation, impaired systolic function, and conduction disease. After exclusion of known DCM loci, we performed a whole-genome screen and detected linkage of DCM to chromosome 2q14-q22. Investigation of only affected individuals defines a 24-cM interval between markers D2S2224 and D2S2324; when unaffected individuals are also included, the critical region decreases to 11 cM between markers D2S2224 and D2S112, with a peak LOD score of 3.73 at recombination fraction 0 at D2S2339. The identification of an additional locus for familial autosomal dominant DCM underlines the genetic heterogeneity and may assist in the elucidation of the causes of this disease.