title: Genetic analysis and functional evaluation of the C/T(-318) and A/G(-1661) polymorphisms of the CTLA-4 gene in patients affected with Graves' disease.
abstract: In this study, we evaluated the A/G(-1661), C/T(-318), A/G49 and A/G6230 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) gene for association with Graves' disease (GD) in 126 Russian simplex families. The conditional TDT analysis revealed significant overtransmission of the A(-1661)G(-318) haplotype (P = 0.033) and undertransmission of the GT haplotype (P = 0.0043) from parents homozygous for both +49 and +6230 polymorphisms. Parents homozygous for both (-1661) and (-318) markers significantly overtransmitted the G49G6230 haplotype (P = 0.0013) and undertransmitted the AG haplotype (P = 0.035) to affected offspring. This suggests in favor of the independent genetic effects of the 3' and 5'ends of CTLA-4 in conferring the susceptibility to GD. Both SNPs located at the 5' untranslated region of CTLA-4 were functionally analyzed using the luciferase reporter assay. We observed differential activation of the C/T(-318) promoter variant when Jurkat T cells and HeLa cells were cotransfected with a plasmid expressing lymphoid enhancing factor 1 (LEF1) and various CTLA-4 promoter constructs. The (-318) SNP modifies a putative binding site for LEF1 so that it alters the stimulating effect of LEF1 on the expression ability of the CTLA-4 promoter. The (-1661) dimorphism modifies a potential binding site for myocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2). No significant correlation between the (-1661) SNP and MEF2 activity in cotransfection experiments was found. Observed data help for further understanding a functional role of CTLA-4 promoter polymorphisms in the pathogenic mechanism of GD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0529, USA. dmitry.chistyakov@uc.edu
authors.forename: Dimitry A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Chistiakov
authors.forename: Kirill V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Savost'anov
authors.forename: Rustam I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Turakulov
authors.forename: Ilya A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Efremov
authors.forename: Lev M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Demurov
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D015703:Antigens, CD; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen; D005838:Genotype; D006111:Graves Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D019169:Jurkat Cells; D051821:Lymphoid Enhancer-Binding Factor 1 / Q000502:physiology; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D064326:MEF2 Transcription Factors; D018006:Myogenic Regulatory Factors / Q000502:physiology; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen; C556706:CTLA4 protein, human; C497573:LEF1 protein, human; D051821:Lymphoid Enhancer-Binding Factor 1; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins; D064326:MEF2 Transcription Factors; C578043:MEF2D protein, human; D018006:Myogenic Regulatory Factors