title: Gelsolin variant (Asn-187) in familial amyloidosis, Finnish type.
abstract: Familial amyloidosis, Finnish type (FAF), is an inherited form of systemic amyloidosis clinically characterized by cranial neuropathy and lattice corneal dystrophy. We have demonstrated that the protein subunit isolated from amyloid fibrils shows considerable sequence identity with gelsolin, an actin-binding protein. We have purified the amyloid subunit from a second case and further analysed different fractions from the previous one. Sequence analysis shows that, in both cases, the amyloid subunit starts at position 173 of the mature molecule; it has a heterogeneous N-terminus and contains one amino acid substitution, namely asparagine for aspartic acid, at position 15 (gelsolin residue 187), that is due to a guanine-to-adenine transversion corresponding to nucleotide-654 of human plasma gelsolin cDNA. The substitution maps in a fragment with actin-binding activity and is located in a repetitive motif highly conserved among species. Thus FAF is the first human disease known to be caused by an internal abnormal degradation of a gelsolin variant. We designate this variant of gelsolin-associated amyloidosis 'Agel Asn-187'.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, New York University Medical Center, NY 10016.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ghiso
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haltia
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Prelli
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Novello
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Frangione
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000682:Amyloid / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000686:Amyloidosis / Q000235:genetics*; D001216:Asparagine; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000737:chemistry; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D018260:Gelsolin; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008297:Male; D008840:Microfilament Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data
chemical_list: D000682:Amyloid; D001798:Blood Proteins; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D018260:Gelsolin; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D001216:Asparagine