MUTATIONS OF THE GS ALPHA-SUBUNIT GENE IN ALBRIGHT HEREDITARY OSTEODYSTROPHY DETECTED BY DENATURING GRADIENT GEL-ELECTROPHORESIS

Affected members of most kindreds with Albright hereditary osteodystrophy have a partial deficiency of functional Gs, the guanine nucleotide-binding protein that stimulates adenylyl cyclase. By use of the polymerase chain reaction to amplify genomic fragments with the attachment of a high-melting G+C-rich region (GC clamp) and analysis of these fragments by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, heterozygous mutations in the Gs α-subunit gene were found in two kindreds. These included a G → C substitution at the donor splice junction of intron 10 and a coding frameshift created by a single base deletion within exon 10. The findings illustrate the heterogeneity of genetic defects in Albright hereditary osteodystrophy and the usefulness of the polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis method to search rapidly for mutations in a large candidate gene.