PMCA4 (ATP2B4) mutation in familial spastic paraplegia

PLoS One. 2014 Aug 13;9(8):e104790. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104790. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Familial spastic paraplegia (FSP) is a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized primarily by progressive lower limb spasticity and weakness. More than 50 disease loci have been described with different modes of inheritance. In this study, we identified a novel missense mutation (c.803G>A, p.R268Q) in the plasma membrane calcium ATPase (PMCA4, or ATP2B4) gene in a Chinese family with autosomal dominant FSP using whole-exome sequencing and confirmed with Sanger sequencing. This mutation co-segregated with the phenotype in the six family members studied and is predicted to be pathogenic when multiple deleteriousness predictions were combined. This novel R268Q mutation was not present in over 7,000 subjects in public databases, and over 1,000 Han Chinese in our database. Prediction of potential functional consequence of R268Q mutation on PMCA4 by computational modeling revealed that this mutation is located in protein aggregation-prone segment susceptible to protein misfolding. Analysis for thermodynamic protein stability indicated that this mutation destabilizes the PMCA4 protein structure with higher folding free energy. As PMCA4 functions to maintain neuronal calcium homeostasis, our result showed that calcium dysregulation may be associated with the pathogenesis of FSP.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Asian People / genetics*
  • Base Sequence
  • Exome / genetics
  • Genes, Dominant / genetics
  • Humans
  • Models, Genetic
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mutation, Missense / genetics
  • Pedigree
  • Phenotype*
  • Plasma Membrane Calcium-Transporting ATPases / genetics*
  • Protein Folding
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Spastic Paraplegia, Hereditary / genetics*

Substances

  • Plasma Membrane Calcium-Transporting ATPases

Grants and funding

This study was financially supported by the Henry G. Leong Professorship in Neurology (SLH) and the Donation Fund for Neurology Research (SLH). The authors also thank Hong Kong Research Grants Council (GRF HKU 776412M); European Community Seventh Framework Program Grant on European Network of National Schizophrenia Networks Studying Gene-Environment Interactions (EU-GEI); the HKU Seed Funding Program for Basic Research (201302159006) for the financial support. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.