N219Y, a new frequent mutation among mut° forms of methylmalonic acidemia in Caucasian patients

Mutations in the MUT locus encoding for the methylmalonyl-CoA mutase (MCM) apoenzyme are responsible for the mut forms of methylmalonic acidemia (MMA). To date, 49 different mutations have been identified in mut MMA. Only two frequent mutations have been reported in the Japanese population and in African-Americans. Here we report a new missense mutation N219Y (731 A --> T) which we found in five unrelated families of French and Turkish descent. All the patients exhibited a severe mut degrees phenotype and three of them were homozygotes for N219Y. Direct involvement of the mutation in the loss of enzyme activity was demonstrated by mutagenesis and transient expression study. Mapping of the mutation onto a three-dimensional model of human MCM constructed by homology with the Propionibacterium shermanii enzyme shows that it lies in a highly conserved secondary structure motif and might suggest impaired folding and/or poor stability compatible with the mut degrees phenotype. Finally, a 1% N219Y carrier frequency was observed in a French anonymous control population. Thus, N219Y is the first frequent mut mutation to be reported in the Caucasian population.