Molecular basis of inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor heavy chain H1 (ITIH1) polymorphism

Structure and function of inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor heavy chains

Inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor family proteins are mainly detected in plasma and urine and comprise the common light chain bikunin and at least 6 closely related heavy chains. The bikunin moiety exhibits protease inhibitory activity and has been studied extensively; however, the heavy chains have been largely overlooked. Recent studies clearly indicate that the heavy chain moieties have important biological functions either in association with or independent of bikunin. Because the heavy chains comprise the main part of the protein structure of this family, it is important to understand their functions. This review summarizes the domain structural features of heavy chains, the heavy chain-interacting molecules identified thus far, and the association of heavy chains with diseases to encourage the discovery of novel heavy chains-interacting molecules and to gain a deeper insight into their functions.

Molecular aspects of biochemical markers

This review summarizes present knowledge of the molecular basis for certain serum protein and red cell enzyme markers that have played important roles in forensic individualization and paternity tests. Most genes have nucleotide variations at two or more mutations sites, and their alleles exist as haplotypes. Allelic diversity is generated by various mechanisms including point mutation, intragenic recombination, gene conversion, and alternative splicing. Deficient and null alleles arise from point mutation and deletion. The value of genomic information on allelic diversity is also discussed.

ITIH1*Q0iwate, a null allele of inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor H1 caused by deletion/frameshift mutation

The molecular characterization of the first example of null allele in the inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor H1 (ITIH1) system, ITIH1*Q0iwate, encountered as apparent inverse homozygosity of ITIH1 phenotypes between mother and child in a paternity case, is described. Single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and subsequent sequencing showed that deletion of a single nucleotide in the codon for Lys87 results in a frameshift causing a terminator codon downstream of the deletion. This leads to premature termination of ITIH1 protein translation at amino acid 128, resulting in a truncated protein.