Comparative study of structural changes caused by different substitutions at the same residue on α-galactosidase A

PLoS One. 2013 Dec 26;8(12):e84267. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0084267. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Missense mutations in the α-galactosidase A (GLA) gene comprising the majority of mutations responsible for Fabry disease result in heterogeneous phenotypes ranging from the early onset severe "classic" form to the "later-onset" milder form. To elucidate the molecular basis of Fabry disease from the viewpoint of structural biology, we comprehensively examined the effects of different substitutions at the same residue in the amino acid sequence of GLA on the structural change in the enzyme molecule and the clinical phenotype by calculating the number of atoms affected and the root-mean-square-distance value, and by coloring of the atoms influenced by the amino acid replacements. The results revealed that the severity of the structural change influences the disease progression, i.e., a small structural change tends to lead to the later-onset form and a large one to the classic form. Furthermore, the study revealed the residues important for expression of the GLA activity, i.e., residues involved in construction of the active site, a disulfide bond or a dimer. Structural study from such a viewpoint is useful for elucidating the basis of Fabry disease.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Amino Acid Substitution*
  • Fabry Disease / enzymology
  • Fabry Disease / genetics
  • Humans
  • Models, Molecular
  • Mutation, Missense
  • Phenotype
  • Protein Conformation
  • alpha-Galactosidase / chemistry*
  • alpha-Galactosidase / genetics*
  • alpha-Galactosidase / metabolism

Substances

  • alpha-Galactosidase

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Program for Research on Intractable Diseases of Health and Labor Science Research (to HS); the Program for the Promotion of Fundamental Studies in Health Sciences of the National Institute of Biomedical Innovation (ID: 09-15, to HS); and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS ID: 23659527, to HS). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.