A Genetic Variant in GPR126 Causing a Decreased Inclusion of Exon 6 Is Associated with Cartilage Development in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Population

Biomed Res Int. 2019 Feb 11:2019:4678969. doi: 10.1155/2019/4678969. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is the most common spinal deformity disease in adolescents but its etiology and pathogenesis are still unclear. The current study aims to identify the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of G protein-coupled receptor 126 (GPR126) gene and AIS predisposition. GPR126 contains 26 exons and alternative splicing of exon 6 and exon 25 produces 4 protein-coding transcripts. We genotyped SNPs of GPR126 gene around exon 6 and exon 25 in 131 Chinese AIS patients and 132 healthy controls and provided evidence that SNP rs41289839 G>A is strongly associated with AIS susceptibility. Linkage disequilibrium analysis suggests that rs41289839 and other AIS-related SNPs were in strong LD. Next, we demonstrated that rs41289839 G>A inhibits the inclusion of exon 6 during alternative splicing, resulting in a decreased expression level of exon 6-included transcript (GPR126-exon6in) relative to the exon 6 excluded transcript (GPR126-exon6ex) by minigene assay. Chondrogenic differentiation experiment showed that GPR126-exon6in has a high expression level relative to GPR126-exon6ex during chondrogenic differentiation of hMSCs. Our findings indicate that newly discovered SNP is related to cartilage development and may provide valuable insights into the etiology and pathogenesis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Alleles
  • Cartilage / metabolism
  • Cartilage / pathology
  • Cell Differentiation / genetics
  • Child
  • Chondrogenesis / genetics
  • Exons / genetics
  • Female
  • Genetic Association Studies*
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease*
  • Genotype
  • Humans
  • Linkage Disequilibrium
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / genetics
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / genetics*
  • Scoliosis / genetics*
  • Scoliosis / physiopathology
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • ADGRG6 protein, human
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled