Li WL and Lu C, Genet Mol Res. 2015 May 22;14(2):5327-33. doi: 10.4238/2015.May.22.3.
Immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy (IgAN) is a common form of primary glomerulonephritis characterized by diffuse glomerular mesangial IgA1 deposition leading to mesangial proliferation and chronic glomerular inflammation. Analyses of serum IgA1 from IgAN patients revealed abnormal galactosylation
of the O-linked carbohydrate moieties of IgA that may result from altered activity in the core of 1 b1,3-galactosyltransferase (C1GalT1). To evaluate the association between C1GalT1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and IgAN, we performed a case-control study on cohorts from the Uyghur population in China. A total of 180 IgAN patients and 180 healthy controls were recruited for the study. We sequenced 5 SNPs, including SNP1 (rs9639031), SNP2 (-527A/G), SNP3 (rs1008898), SNP4 (rs5882115), and SNP5 (rs1047763) in the C1GalT1 gene in all eligible participants. The frequencies of the I allele and DI genotype of rs5882115 in IgAN patients were significantly higher than those in controls (P < 0.05). The frequency of haplotype GAGDA was significantly higher in patients than in controls (0.0719 vs 0.00, P = 0.024). Polymorphisms in the C1GALT1 gene were associated with genetic susceptibility to Uyghur IgAN.
Erger F, etal., Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 May 30;120(22):e2211087120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2211087120. Epub 2023 May 22.
Mutations in genes encoding molecular chaperones can lead to chaperonopathies, but none have so far been identified causing congenital disorders of glycosylation. Here we identified two maternal half-brothers with a novel chaperonopathy, causing impaired protein O-glycosylation. The patients have a
decreased activity of T-synthase (C1GALT1), an enzyme that exclusively synthesizes the T-antigen, a ubiquitous O-glycan core structure and precursor for all extended O-glycans. The T-synthase function is dependent on its specific molecular chaperone Cosmc, which is encoded by X-chromosomal C1GALT1C1. Both patients carry the hemizygous variant c.59C>A (p.Ala20Asp; A20D-Cosmc) in C1GALT1C1. They exhibit developmental delay, immunodeficiency, short stature, thrombocytopenia, and acute kidney injury (AKI) resembling atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome. Their heterozygous mother and maternal grandmother show an attenuated phenotype with skewed X-inactivation in blood. AKI in the male patients proved fully responsive to treatment with the complement inhibitor Eculizumab. This germline variant occurs within the transmembrane domain of Cosmc, resulting in dramatically reduced expression of the Cosmc protein. Although A20D-Cosmc is functional, its decreased expression, though in a cell or tissue-specific manner, causes a large reduction of T-synthase protein and activity, which accordingly leads to expression of varied amounts of pathological Tn-antigen (GalNAcα1-O-Ser/Thr/Tyr) on multiple glycoproteins. Transient transfection of patient lymphoblastoid cells with wild-type C1GALT1C1 partially rescued the T-synthase and glycosylation defect. Interestingly, all four affected individuals have high levels of galactose-deficient IgA1 in sera. These results demonstrate that the A20D-Cosmc mutation defines a novel O-glycan chaperonopathy and causes the altered O-glycosylation status in these patients.
Hadar N, etal., Eur J Hum Genet. 2023 Oct;31(10):1101-1107. doi: 10.1038/s41431-022-01278-5. Epub 2023 Jan 4.
Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), mostly secondary to infectious diseases, is a common cause of acute kidney injury in children. It is characterized by progressive acute kidney failure due to severe thrombotic microangiopathy, associated with nonimmune, Coombs-negative hemolytic anemia and thrombocyt
openia. HUS is caused mostly by Shiga toxin-producing E. Coli, and to a lesser extent by Streptococcus pneumonia. In Streptococcus pneumonia HUS (pHUS), bacterial neuraminidase A exposes masked O-glycan sugar residues on erythrocytes, known as the T antigen, triggering a complement cascade causing thrombotic microangiopathy. Atypical HUS (aHUS) is a life-threatening genetic form of the disease, whose molecular mechanism is only partly understood. Through genetic studies, we demonstrate a novel X-linked form of aHUS that is caused by a de-novo missense mutation in C1GALT1C1:c.266āCā>āT,p.(T89I), encoding a T-synthase chaperone essential for the proper formation and incorporation of the T antigen on erythrocytes. We demonstrate the presence of exposed T antigen on the surface of mutant erythrocytes, causing aHUS in a mechanism similar to that suggested in pHUS. Our findings suggest that both aHUS caused by mutated C1GALT1C1 and pHUS are mediated by the lectin-complement-pathway, not comprehensively studied in aHUS. We thus delineate a shared molecular basis of aHUS and pHUS, highlighting possible therapeutic opportunities.