Phenotypic heterogeneity associated with identical mutations in residue 870 of the androgen receptor |
| |
Authors: | Zenteno Juan Carlos Chávez Bertha Vilchis Felipe Kofman-Alfaro Susana |
| |
Affiliation: | Servicio de Genética, Hospital General de México, Facultad de Medicina, UNAM, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, México, D.F., México. skofman@servidor.unam.mx |
| |
Abstract: | BACKGROUND/AIMS: Mutations in the androgen receptor (AR) gene result in an X-linked recessive form of male pseudohermaphroditism known as the androgen-insensitivity syndrome (AIS). The alterations most frequently observed are missense or nonsense point mutations in exons 4-8 of the AR gene that affect the steroid-binding domain of the receptor in subjects with various degrees of androgen resistance. Despite the increasing number of AR mutations identified, a reliable genotype-phenotype correlation has not been established and individuals with the same molecular defect may exhibit different phenotypes. Here, we studied a patients with an AIS characterized by bilateral gynecomastia, normal male external genitalia, and normal sperm counts. METHODS: Exon-specific polymerase chain reaction, single-stranded conformational polymorphism, and sequencing analysis of the subject's AR gene were performed in addition to hormone-binding assays in skin fibroblasts from the patient. RESULTS: A point mutation at codon 870 of the AR, changing alanine to valine, was detected. CONCLUSION: As AR missense mutations changing alanine 870 to valine have been previously described in 3 unrelated patients showing severe AIS phenotypes, we conclude that phenotypic heterogeneity associated to identical mutations in the AR gene is probably due to individual functional differences in AR coregulator molecules. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|