Cell-free synthesis and transport of precursors of mutant ornithine carbamoyltransferases into mitochondria

Long-term effects of medical management on growth and weight in individuals with urea cycle disorders

Low protein diet and sodium or glycerol phenylbutyrate, two pillars of recommended long-term therapy of individuals with urea cycle disorders (UCDs), involve the risk of iatrogenic growth failure. Limited evidence-based studies hamper our knowledge on the long-term effects of the proposed medical management in individuals with UCDs. We studied the impact of medical management on growth and weight development in 307 individuals longitudinally followed by the Urea Cycle Disorders Consortium (UCDC) and the European registry and network for Intoxication type Metabolic Diseases (E-IMD). Intrauterine growth of all investigated UCDs and postnatal linear growth of asymptomatic individuals remained unaffected. Symptomatic individuals were at risk of progressive growth retardation independent from the underlying disease and the degree of natural protein restriction. Growth impairment was determined by disease severity and associated with reduced or borderline plasma branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) concentrations. Liver transplantation appeared to have a beneficial effect on growth. Weight development remained unaffected both in asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals. Progressive growth impairment depends on disease severity and plasma BCAA concentrations, but cannot be predicted by the amount of natural protein intake alone. Future clinical trials are necessary to evaluate whether supplementation with BCAAs might improve growth in UCDs.

Functional characterization of the spf/ash splicing variation in OTC deficiency of mice and man

The spf/ash mouse model of ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency, a severe urea cycle disorder, is caused by a mutation (c.386G>A; p.R129H) in the last nucleotide of exon 4 of the Otc gene, affecting the 5' splice site and resulting in partial use of a cryptic splice site 48 bp into the adjacent intron. The equivalent nucleotide change and predicted amino acid change is found in OTC deficient patients. Here we have used liver tissue and minigene assays to dissect the transcriptional profile resulting from the "spf/ash" mutation in mice and man. For the mutant mouse, we confirmed liver transcripts corresponding to partial intron 4 retention by the use of the c.386+48 cryptic site and to normally spliced transcripts, with exon 4 always containing the c.386G>A (p.R129H) variant. In contrast, the OTC patient exhibited exon 4 skipping or c.386G>A (p.R129H)-variant exon 4 retention by using the natural or a cryptic splice site at nucleotide position c.386+4. The corresponding OTC tissue enzyme activities were between 3-6% of normal control in mouse and human liver. The use of the cryptic splice sites was reproduced in minigenes carrying murine or human mutant sequences. Some normally spliced transcripts could be detected in minigenes in both cases. Antisense oligonucleotides designed to block the murine cryptic +48 site were used in minigenes in an attempt to redirect splicing to the natural site. The results highlight the relevance of in depth investigations of the molecular mechanisms of splicing mutations and potential therapeutic approaches. Notably, they emphasize the fact that findings in animal models may not be applicable for human patients due to the different genomic context of the mutations.

Evaluation of the transfer and expression in mice of an enzyme-encoding gene using a human adenovirus vector

Mutant mice of the Spf-ash strain have an inherited defect in ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) protein synthesis, and were used to ascertain the potential of recombinant adenoviruses for introducing and expressing the normal gene lacking in these mice. These OTC mutant mice are characterized by a reduction in the amount of OTC activity, resulting in hyperammonemia, pronounced orotic aciduria, growth retardation, and sparse fur until weaning. A recombinant adenovirus that harbors the rat OTC cDNA under the control of the viral major late promoter (MLP) was constructed and injected into such newborn mice. The effect of the virus was analyzed by monitoring the hepatic OTC enzyme during several months after the injection. An increase in OTC activity was detected and was accompanied by a diminution of orotic acid in the urine. The observation of MLP-OTC mRNA transcripts over 1 year following the injection attests to the relatively long-term presence of the transferred gene. In those mice showing the greatest OTC activity, a normalization of the fur was also observed. The experiments reported here document the feasibility of using adenovirus for the direct delivery in vivo of a gene to restore an impaired metabolism.

The spfash mouse: a missense mutation in the ornithine transcarbamylase gene also causes aberrant mRNA splicing

Ornithine transcarbamylase (ornithine carbamoyltransferase; carbamoyl-phosphate:L-ornithine carbamoyltransferase, EC 2.1.3.3) is a mitochondrial matrix enzyme of the mammalian urea cycle. The X chromosome-linked spfash mutation in the mouse causes partial ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency and has served as a model for the human disease. We show here that the spfash mutation is a guanine to adenine transition of the last nucleotide of the fourth exon of the ornithine transcarbamylase gene. This nucleotide change produces two remarkably different effects. First, this transition causes ornithine transcarbamylase mRNA deficiency because the involved exon nucleotide plays a part in the recognition of the adjacent splice donor site. As a result of the mutation, ornithine transcarbamylase pre-mRNA is spliced inefficiently both at this site and at a cryptic splice donor site 48 bases into the adjacent intron. Second, two mutant proteins are translated from these mRNAs. From the correctly spliced mRNA, the transition results in a change of amino acid 129 from arginine to histidine. This missense substitution has no discernable effect on mitochondrial import, subunit assembly, or enzyme activity. On the other hand, the elongated mRNA resulting from mis-splicing is translated into a dysfunctional ornithine transcarbamylase subunit elongated by the insertion of 16 amino acid residues.

Compared expression levels of ornithine transcarbamylase and carbamylphosphate synthetase in liver and small intestine of normal and mutant mice

Enzymatic assay, electrophoretic immunoblotting and RNA dot-blot techniques were employed to investigate the expression of the ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) gene in liver and small intestine of Sparse fur mice with abnormal skin and hair (Spf-ash) and Sparse fur mice (Spf) which exhibit an X-linked OTC deficiency. We found a reduced OTC activity in these two tissues. We now show that this reduction is less pronounced in the intestine than in the liver of the Spf-ash strain. During the first 2 weeks of life, the deficiency appears to be less severe than in the adult mice. The enzymatic activity of carbamylphosphate synthetase I (CPS), another enzyme of the urea cycle, is significantly modified in the Spf mutant strain only.

Correction of mouse ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency by gene transfer into the germ line

The sparse fur with abnormal skin and hair (Spf-ash) mouse is a model for the human X-linked hereditary disorder, ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency. In Spf-ash mice, both OTC mRNA and enzyme activity are 5% of control values resulting in hyperammonemia, pronounced orotic aciduria and an abnormal phenotype characterized by growth retardation and sparse fur. Using microinjection, we introduced a construction containing rat OTC cDNA linked to the SV40 early promoter into fertilized eggs of Spf-ash mice. The expression of the transgene resulted in the development of a transgenic mouse whose phenotype and orotic acid excretion are fully normalized. Thus, the possibility of correcting hereditary enzymatic defect by gene transfer of heterologous cDNA coding for the normal enzyme has been demonstrated.

Ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency in spf and spf-ash mice: genes, mRNAs and mRNA precursors

Two ornithine transcarbamylase-deficient mice are available, the spf with a variant enzyme and spf-ash with a markedly decreased enzyme protein. Genomic DNA, mRNA and the nuclear precursors for the enzyme in these mutants were analyzed. Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA showed no abnormality in the mutant mice. Blot analysis of hepatic mRNA revealed a slight decrease (67% of control) in spf and a marked decrease (12% of control) in spf-ash; no difference in size was found among the control and the mutant mice (about 1.8 kb). Blot analysis of nuclear mRNA precursors (greater than 25, approximately 9.0 and 4.0 kb) showed no significant difference in size and amount among the control, spf and spf-ash. These results suggest that ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency in the spf-ash results from a mutation, which to some extent affects mRNA processing.

Ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency: a case with a truncated enzyme precursor and a case with undetectable mRNA activity

The cell-free translation of ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) mRNA from the livers of two heterozygous patients (from different families) with OTC deficiency was performed. The enzyme activities and the immunoreactive proteins in both patients were about 5% of those in controls. Immunoblotting assay of liver extracts from both patients showed decreased amounts of the OTC protein. The mRNA from the liver of patient 1 directed the synthesis of a very small amount of OTC precursor of normal subunit size (40,000 Da), whereas that from patient 2 directed the synthesis of small amounts of two distinct in vitro products; one was 40,000 Da and the other was about 30,000 Da. The in vitro product of normal precursor synthesized with mRNA from patient 2 was converted to mature-sized OTC by isolated rat liver mitochondria, whereas the smaller product was degraded during the incubation with the mitochondria. These results indicate that in both patients the translatable level of mRNA for active OTC from liver cells was much lower than that in the controls. The results also suggest that in patient 2, the smaller product presumably derived from an abnormal gene could not be transferred to the mitochondria.

Lowered level of translatable messenger RNAs for manganese superoxide dismutase in human fibroblasts transformed by SV 40

The activity of manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) revealed by specific staining after gel electrophoresis of cell extracts, is decreased in human fibroblasts transformed by SV40. The decrease in enzyme activity is attributable to decreased amount of enzyme protein as determined by radial immunodiffusion. Total fibroblast RNAs were translated in the presence of (35S) methionine in a cell-free translation system and the neo synthesized proteins submitted to immunoprecipitation with an anti MnSOD antiserum. Gel electrophoresis of the immunoprecipitated material followed by fluorography shows that MnSOD is translated as a peptide which is 2000 daltons larger than the mature enzyme subunit. This precursor (pre-MnSOD) is processed in vitro to mature MnSOD by the action of an isolated mitochondrial preparation. Levels of translatable MnSOD mRNA in normal and SV 40 transformed cells were compared in terms of the radioactivities incorporated into pre MnSOD bands. The results indicate that the decreased amount of MnSOD in SV 40 transformed fibroblasts is due to a decreased level of translatable mRNA for MnSOD.

Level of translatable messenger RNA coding for argininosuccinate synthetase in the liver of the patients with quantitative-type citrullinemia

The translation activity of mRNA coding for argininosuccinate synthetase in total RNA extracted from the liver of three patients with quantitative-type citrullinemia was determined using a cell-free translation system. In two patients, the hepatic content of the enzyme was about 20% of the control value, whereas translatable mRNA level for the enzyme was similar to or slightly lower than those of control livers. In the third patient, the enzyme content was about 50% of the control value, and mRNA activity for the enzyme was low normal. These results indicate that at least in the first two patients, the decrease in the enzyme protein is due either to increased degradation of the enzyme or to decreased translation in the patient's liver.