RESUMEN
Deficiency of the endoplasmic reticulum transmembrane protein ARV1 leads to epileptic encephalopathy in humans and in mice. ARV1 is highly conserved, but its function in human cells is unknown. Studies of yeast arv1 null mutants indicate that it is involved in a number of biochemical processes including the synthesis of sphingolipids and glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI), a glycolipid anchor that is attached to the C-termini of many membrane bound proteins. GPI anchors are post-translational modifications, enabling proteins to travel from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) through the Golgi and to attach to plasma membranes. We identified a homozygous pathogenic mutation in ARV1, p.Gly189Arg, in two brothers with infantile encephalopathy, and characterized the biochemical defect caused by this mutation. In addition to reduced expression of ARV1 transcript and protein in patients' fibroblasts, complementation tests in yeast showed that the ARV1 p.Gly189Arg mutation leads to deficient maturation of Gas1, a GPI-anchored protein, but does not affect sphingolipid synthesis. Our results suggest, that similar to mutations in other proteins in the GPI-anchoring pathway, including PIGM, PIGA, and PIGQ, ARV1 p.Gly189Arg causes a GPI anchoring defect and leads to early onset epileptic encephalopathy.
Asunto(s)
Encefalopatías/genética , Proteínas Portadoras/genética , Glicosilfosfatidilinositoles/biosíntesis , Discapacidad Intelectual/genética , Proteínas de la Membrana/genética , Convulsiones/genética , Adolescente , Niño , Retículo Endoplásmico/metabolismo , Fibroblastos/metabolismo , Prueba de Complementación Genética , Aparato de Golgi/metabolismo , Homocigoto , Humanos , Lípidos/química , Masculino , Manosiltransferasas/genética , Mutación , Linaje , Dominios Proteicos , TemperaturaRESUMEN
Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) is synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and added onto proteins to form GPI-anchored proteins. Among the many proteins involved in this process, ACAT-related enzyme-2 required for viability 1 (Arv1) is a candidate, functioning as a flippase that translocates GPI intermediates from the cytoplasmic side into the luminal side of the ER membranes. Here, we show that the deletion of the ARV1 gene in yeast leads to cold-sensitive defects in cell growth and GPI anchor synthesis. Furthermore, complementation assays show that the overexpression of a missense human ARV1-G189R mutant does not completely restore the cold-sensitive phenotypes of the yeast arv1 mutant. Our results support the proposed role of Arv1 in GPI anchor synthesis and suggest that ARV1-linked human diseases result from defective GPI anchor synthesis.