Unbalanced GLA mRNAs ratio quantified by real-time PCR in Fabry patients' fibroblasts results in Fabry disease

Total or partial deficiency of the human lysosomal hydrolase alpha-galactosidase A is responsible for Fabry disease, the X-linked inborn error of glycosphingolipid metabolism. Together with the predominant alpha-galactosidase A gene mRNA product encoding the lysosomal enzyme, a weakly regulated alternatively spliced alpha-galactosidase A transcript is expressed in normal tissues, but its overexpression, due to the intronic g.9331G>A mutation, leads to the cardiac variant. We report the molecular characterization of five Fabry patients including two siblings. Sequencing analysis of the alpha-galactosidase A gene coding region and intron/exon boundaries identified the new c.124A>G (p.M42V) genetic lesion as well as a known deletion in three patients, whereas in the two remaining patients, no mutations were identified. To evaluate possible alpha-galactosidase A gene transcription alterations, both predominant and alternatively spliced mRNAs were quantified by absolute real-time PCR on total RNA preparations from the patients' fibroblasts. An impressive reduction in the predominant alpha-galactosidase A transcript was detected in the last patients (Pt 4 and Pt 5). However, the alternatively spliced mRNA was dramatically overexpressed in one of them, carrying a new intronic lesion (g.9273C>T). These findings strongly suggest a correlation between this new intronic mutation and the unbalanced alpha-galactosidase A mRNAs ratio, which could therefore be responsible for the reduced enzyme activity causing Fabry disease. The real-time assay developed here to investigate the two alpha-galactosidase A mRNAs might play a crucial role in revealing possible genetic lesions and in confirming the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying Fabry disease. European Journal of Human Genetics (2008) 16, 1311-1317; doi:10.1038/ejhg.2008.109; published online 18 June 2008