X-linked hypophosphatemia attributable to pseudoexons of the PHEX gene

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2001 Aug;86(8):3840-4. doi: 10.1210/jcem.86.8.7730.

Abstract

X-linked hypophosphatemia is commonly caused by mutations of the coding region of PHEX (phosphate-regulating gene with homologies to endopeptidases on the X chromosome). However, such PHEX mutations are not detected in approximately one third of X-linked hypophosphatemia patients who may harbor defects in the noncoding or intronic regions. We have therefore investigated 11 unrelated X-linked hypophosphatemia patients in whom coding region mutations had been excluded, for intronic mutations that may lead to mRNA splicing abnormalities, by the use of lymphoblastoid RNA and RT-PCRs. One X-linked hypophosphatemia patient was found to have 3 abnormally large transcripts, resulting from 51-bp, 100-bp, and 170-bp insertions, all of which would lead to missense peptides and premature termination codons. The origin of these transcripts was a mutation (g to t) at position +1268 of intron 7, which resulted in the occurrence of a high quality novel donor splice site (ggaagg to gtaagg). Splicing between this novel donor splice site and 3 preexisting, but normally silent, acceptor splice sites within intron 7 resulted in the occurrences of the 3 pseudoexons. This represents the first report of PHEX pseudoexons and reveals further the diversity of genetic abnormalities causing X-linked hypophosphatemia.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cells, Cultured
  • DNA Transposable Elements*
  • Exons
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hypophosphatemia, Familial / blood
  • Hypophosphatemia, Familial / genetics*
  • Introns
  • Lymphocytes / physiology
  • Male
  • PHEX Phosphate Regulating Neutral Endopeptidase
  • Pedigree
  • Proteins / genetics*
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Transcription, Genetic

Substances

  • DNA Transposable Elements
  • Proteins
  • PHEX Phosphate Regulating Neutral Endopeptidase
  • PHEX protein, human