HUTCHINSON-GILFORD PROGERIA TYPES DEFINED BY DIFFERENTIAL BINDING OF LECTIN DSA

Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (progeria) is an extremely rare childhood disorder characterized by precocious senility which presents features similar to those seen in human aging. We have previously described a consistent increase of the glycoprotein gp200 in progeria skin fibroblasts in vitro. Here we extend these glycosylation studies and present evidence for the existence of two types of progeria skin fibroblasts. These two forms, called D- and D+, are distinguished by their response to the lectin DSA. In the D- group, DSA bound glycoproteins from progeria fibroblast strains AG03513B and AG10750 with markedly lower affinities compared with glycoproteins from three control fibroblast strains. In the D+ group, DSA binding to glycoproteins from four other progeria strains AG01972A, AG06297A, AG06917 and AG03198, was comparable to controls. Discrimination by DSA is the most distinctive feature of the D- and D+ groups, in contrast to binding of lectins Con A, GNA, PHA-L, RCA120, AAA and PNA which show no such selectivity. The data are consistent with a model of altered glycosylation in the D- type of progeria fibroblasts.