title: Molecular analysis of the pre-BCR complex in a large cohort of patients affected by autosomal-recessive agammaglobulinemia.
abstract: Autosomal-recessive agammaglobulinemia is a rare and heterogeneous disorder, characterized by early-onset infections, profound hypogammaglobulinemia of all immunoglobulin isotypes and absence of circulating B lymphocytes. To investigate the molecular basis of the disease, 23 patients with early-onset disease and no mutations in Bruton tyrosine kinase, the gene responsible for X-linked agammaglobulinemia, were selected and analyzed by direct sequencing of candidate genes. Two novel mutations in the mu heavy chain (muHC) gene (IGHM) were identified in three patients belonging to two unrelated families. A fourth patient carries a previously described G>A nucleotide substitution at the -1 position of an alternative splice site in IGHM; here, we demonstrate that this mutation is indeed responsible for aberrant splicing. Comparison of bone marrow cytofluorimetric profiles in two patients carrying different mutations in the IGHM gene suggests a genotype-phenotype correlation with the stage at which B-cell development is blocked. Several new single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) both in the muHC and in the lambda5-like/VpreB-coding genes were identified. Two unrelated patients carry compound heterozygous variations in the VpreB1 gene that may be involved in disease ethiology.
authors.affiliation: Medical Genetics Unit and CRBa, S. Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital, via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy. simona.ferrari@med.unibo.it
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zuntini
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lougaris
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soresina
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sourková
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fiorini
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martino
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Pietrogrande
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Martire
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Spadaro
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cardinale
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cossu
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pierani
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Quinti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Plebani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000077329:Agammaglobulinaemia Tyrosine Kinase; D000361:Agammaglobulinemia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin; D005808:Genes, Recessive; D006801:Humans; D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D054444:Immunoglobulin Light Chains, Surrogate; D007148:Immunoglobulin mu-Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D007223:Infant; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains; D054444:Immunoglobulin Light Chains, Surrogate; D007148:Immunoglobulin mu-Chains; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D000077329:Agammaglobulinaemia Tyrosine Kinase