Molecular and cellular analysis of a novel HBA2 mutation (HBA2: C.94A>G) shows activation of a cryptic splice site and generation of a premature termination codon

In this study, we describe the clinical features and provide experimental analyses of a novel point mutation affecting the penultimate nucleotide of the first exon of the HBA2 (HBA2: c.94A>G) gene identified in a 26-year-old female who also carries a heterozygous Hb E (HBB: c.79G>A) va...

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Main Authors: Qadah, T., Finlayson, J., Joly, P., Ghassemifar, Reza
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2014
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/6903
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author Qadah, T.
Finlayson, J.
Joly, P.
Ghassemifar, Reza
author_facet Qadah, T.
Finlayson, J.
Joly, P.
Ghassemifar, Reza
author_sort Qadah, T.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description In this study, we describe the clinical features and provide experimental analyses of a novel point mutation affecting the penultimate nucleotide of the first exon of the HBA2 (HBA2: c.94A>G) gene identified in a 26-year-old female who also carries a heterozygous Hb E (HBB: c.79G>A) variant. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of this point mutation on the transcriptional activity of the HBA2 gene using a combination of an initial in silico prediction followed by in vitro mutagenesis and transcriptional activity assessment. The analyses revealed that the HBA2: c.94A>G point mutation causes the activation of a cryptic splice site located 49bp upstream of the exon1-intron1 boundary in both HBA2 long and short isoforms, thus generating a frameshift and a premature termination codon between codons 48 and 49 in the second exon. A rapid degradation of the aberrantly spliced transcripts by the nonsense mediated decay (NMD) surveillance system is highly indicative of an a-thalassemia (a-thal) phenotype. However, the abnormal mRNA may not be entirely degraded since the proband presents a slight splenomegaly that could be the sign of extra vascular hemolysis. © 2014 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-69032017-09-13T14:42:51Z Molecular and cellular analysis of a novel HBA2 mutation (HBA2: C.94A>G) shows activation of a cryptic splice site and generation of a premature termination codon Qadah, T. Finlayson, J. Joly, P. Ghassemifar, Reza In this study, we describe the clinical features and provide experimental analyses of a novel point mutation affecting the penultimate nucleotide of the first exon of the HBA2 (HBA2: c.94A>G) gene identified in a 26-year-old female who also carries a heterozygous Hb E (HBB: c.79G>A) variant. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of this point mutation on the transcriptional activity of the HBA2 gene using a combination of an initial in silico prediction followed by in vitro mutagenesis and transcriptional activity assessment. The analyses revealed that the HBA2: c.94A>G point mutation causes the activation of a cryptic splice site located 49bp upstream of the exon1-intron1 boundary in both HBA2 long and short isoforms, thus generating a frameshift and a premature termination codon between codons 48 and 49 in the second exon. A rapid degradation of the aberrantly spliced transcripts by the nonsense mediated decay (NMD) surveillance system is highly indicative of an a-thalassemia (a-thal) phenotype. However, the abnormal mRNA may not be entirely degraded since the proband presents a slight splenomegaly that could be the sign of extra vascular hemolysis. © 2014 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/6903 10.3109/03630269.2013.858639 restricted
spellingShingle Qadah, T.
Finlayson, J.
Joly, P.
Ghassemifar, Reza
Molecular and cellular analysis of a novel HBA2 mutation (HBA2: C.94A>G) shows activation of a cryptic splice site and generation of a premature termination codon
title Molecular and cellular analysis of a novel HBA2 mutation (HBA2: C.94A>G) shows activation of a cryptic splice site and generation of a premature termination codon
title_full Molecular and cellular analysis of a novel HBA2 mutation (HBA2: C.94A>G) shows activation of a cryptic splice site and generation of a premature termination codon
title_fullStr Molecular and cellular analysis of a novel HBA2 mutation (HBA2: C.94A>G) shows activation of a cryptic splice site and generation of a premature termination codon
title_full_unstemmed Molecular and cellular analysis of a novel HBA2 mutation (HBA2: C.94A>G) shows activation of a cryptic splice site and generation of a premature termination codon
title_short Molecular and cellular analysis of a novel HBA2 mutation (HBA2: C.94A>G) shows activation of a cryptic splice site and generation of a premature termination codon
title_sort molecular and cellular analysis of a novel hba2 mutation (hba2: c.94a>g) shows activation of a cryptic splice site and generation of a premature termination codon
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/6903