Postmortem long QT syndrome genetic testing for sudden unexplained death in the young.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to determine the spectrum and prevalence of long QT syndrome (LQTS)-associated mutations in a large cohort of autopsy-negative sudden unexplained death (SUD). BACKGROUND: Potentially heritable arrhythmia syndromes may explain a significant proportion of SUD in the young. Here, comprehensive postmortem LQTS genetic testing was performed in a cohort of SUD cases. METHODS: From September 1998 to March 2004, 49 cases of SUD (30 male patients, average age at death 14.2 +/- 10.9 years) were referred by medical examiners/coroners to Mayo Clinic's Sudden Death Genomics Laboratory. Using polymerase chain reaction, denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography, and direct DNA sequencing, open reading frame/splice site mutational analysis was conducted for all 8 genes implicated in the pathogenesis of either LQTS (LQT1 to LQT6) or multisystem disorders involving either QT or QU prolongation. RESULTS: Ten LQTS-associated mutations (4 novel) were discovered in 10 SUD cases (20%, 8 female patients, average age at death 18.0 +/- 11.8 years). The LQTS susceptibility mutations LQT1 (5), LQT2 (3), and LQT3 (2) were far more common among women (8 of 18, 44%) than men (2 of 30, 6.7%, p < 0.008). The activities at the time of SUD included sleep (5), exertion (2), auditory arousal (1), and undetermined (2). Sudden death was the sentinel event in two-thirds of the cases. CONCLUSIONS: In this cardiac channel-focused molecular autopsy investigation of SUD, over one-third of decedents harbored a putative cardiac channel mutation: 7 previously reported to host mutations in the RyR2-encoded calcium release channel and now 10 with LQTS susceptibility mutations. Accordingly, postmortem cardiac channel genetic testing should be pursued in the evaluation of autopsy-negative SUD.     

Genotypic heterogeneity and phenotypic mimicry among unrelated patients referred for catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia genetic testing

BACKGROUND: Mutations in the RyR2-encoded cardiac ryanodine receptor/calcium release channel and in CASQ2-encoded calsequestrin cause catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT1 and CPVT2, respectively). OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent of genotypic and phenotypic heterogeneity among referrals for CPVT genetic testing. METHODS: Using denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography and DNA sequencing, mutational analysis of 23 RyR2 exons previously implicated in CPVT1, comprehensive analysis of all translated exons in CASQ2 (CPVT2), KCNQ1 (LQT1), KCNH2 (LQT2), SCN5A (LQT3), KCNE1 (LQT5), KCNE2 (LQT6), and KCNJ2 (Andersen-Tawil syndrome [ATS1], also annotated LQT7), and analysis of 10 ANK2 exons implicated in LQT4 were performed on genomic DNA from 11 unrelated patients (8 females) referred to Mayo Clinic's Sudden Death Genomics Laboratory explicitly for CPVT genetic testing. RESULTS: Overall, putative disease causing mutations were identified in 8 patients (72%). Only 4 patients (3 males) hosted CPVT1-associated RyR2 mutations: P164S, V186M, S3938R, and T4196A. Interestingly, 4 females instead possessed either ATS1- or LQT5-associated mutations. Mutations were absent in >400 reference alleles. CONCLUSION: Putative CPVT1-causing mutations in RyR2 were seen in <40% of unrelated patients referred with a diagnosis of CPVT and preferentially in males. Phenotypic mimicry is evident with the identification of ATS1- and LQT5-associated mutations in females displaying a normal QT interval and exercise-induced bidirectional VT, suggesting that observed exercise-induced polymorphic VT in patients may reflect disorders other than CPVT. Clinical consideration for either Andersen-Tawil syndrome or long QT syndrome and appropriate genetic testing may be warranted for individuals with RyR2 mutation-negative CPVT, particularly females.     

Spectrum and prevalence of cardiac sodium channel variants among black, white, Asian, and Hispanic individuals: Implications for arrhythmogenic susceptibility and Brugada/long QT syndrome genetic testing

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and spectrum of nonsynonymous polymorphisms (amino acid variants) in the cardiac sodium channel among healthy subjects. BACKGROUND: Pathogenic mutations in the cardiac sodium channel gene, SCN5A, cause approximately 15 to 20% of Brugada syndrome (BrS1), 5 to 10% of long QT syndrome (LQT3), and 2 to 5% of sudden infant death syndrome. METHODS: Using single-stranded conformation polymorphism, denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography, and/or direct DNA sequencing, mutational analysis of the protein-encoding exons of SCN5A was performed on 829 unrelated, anonymous healthy subjects: 319 black, 295 white, 112 Asian, and 103 Hispanic. RESULTS: In addition to the four known common polymorphisms (R34C, H558R, S1103Y, and R1193Q), four relatively ethnic-specific polymorphisms were identified: R481W, S524Y, P1090L, and V1951L. Overall, 39 distinct missense variants (28 novel) were elucidated. Nineteen variants (49%) were found only in the black cohort. Only seven variants (18%) localized to transmembrane-spanning domains. Four variants (F1293S, R1512W, and V1951L cited previously as BrS1-causing mutations and S1787N previously published as a possible LQT3-causing mutation) were identified in this healthy cohort. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first comprehensive determination of the prevalence and spectrum of cardiac sodium channel variants in healthy subjects from four distinct ethnic groups. This compendium of SCN5A variants is critical for proper interpretation of SCN5A genetic testing and provides an essential hit list of targets for future functional studies to determine whether or not any of these variants mediate genetic susceptibility for arrhythmias in the setting of either drugs or disease.     

Suppression of LPS-inducible cytotoxicity in cytomegalovirus-infected THP-1 monocytic cell cultures does not correlate with a decrease in TNF-alpha antigen.

We document suppression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)-associated cytotoxic activity in a human monocytic cell line (THP-1) infected with the mycoplasma free human cytomegalovirus (CMV) strain AD169. Addition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to cell cultures that had been infected with CMV for 24 h resulted in a significant reduction in released cytotoxic activity to mouse L929 cells at 3-22 h post-LPS compared with mock-infected cultures. However, using an ELISA to measure TNF-alpha antigen levels in these culture supernatants, we found infected cultures had significantly higher TNF-alpha antigen levels than in mock-infected cultures following LPS induction. CMV alone also induced TNF-alpha release and possibly TNF-alpha inhibitor(s) which may have blocked TNF-alpha associated cytotoxic activity in CMV-infected THP-1 cell culture supernatants.     

Phosphoinositide 3-kinase is involved in the induction of the human sperm acrosome reaction downstream of tyrosine phosphorylation

In somatic cells phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) is activated upon interaction with both receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) and G- proteins resulting in the production of moieties involved in the inositol phospholipid signalling pathway. As G proteins, RTK and the inositol phospholipids have all been implicated in the human sperm acrosome reaction, experiments were carried out to determine whether PI 3-kinase was also involved in this phenomenon. Wortmannin is a selective inhibitor of PI 3-kinase and was shown to significantly inhibit the acrosome reaction induced by both mannose-bovine serum albumin (mannose-BSA) (10, 50 and 100 nM) and a polyclonal antibody raised against an extracellular region of the sperm zona receptor kinase (ZRK, at 100 nM only). Wortmannin did not inhibit the A23187- or progesterone-induced acrosome reaction. These results suggest that PI 3- kinase is involved in the human sperm acrosome reaction. The levels of tyrosine phosphorylation of sperm proteins as detected by Western blotting using antiphosphotyrosine antibodies was not affected by wortmannin in agonist (A23187 and mannose-BSA)-stimulated spermatozoa. This indicated that PI 3-kinase operates downstream of tyrosine phosphorylation in the signal transduction cascade which leads to the human sperm acrosome reaction.      

Arm and leg coordination during treadmill walking in individuals with motor incomplete spinal cord injury: a preliminary study

Arm and leg coordination naturally emerges during walking, but can be affected by stroke or Parkinson's disease. The purpose of this preliminary study was to characterize arm and leg coordination during treadmill walking at self-selected comfortable walking speeds (CWSs) in individuals using arm swing with motor incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI). Hip and shoulder angle cycle durations and amplitudes, strength of peak correlations between contralateral hip and shoulder joint angle time series, the time shifts at which these peak correlations occur, and associated variability were quantified. Outcomes in individuals with iSCI selecting fast CWSs (range, 1.0-1.3m/s) and speed-matched individuals without neurological injuries are similar. Differences, however, are detected in individuals with iSCI selecting slow CWSs (range, 0.25-0.65 m/s) and may represent compensatory strategies to improve walking balance or forward propulsion. These individuals elicit a 1:1, arm:leg frequency ratio versus the 2:1 ratio observed in non-injured individuals. Shoulder and hip movement patterns, however, are highly reproducible (coordinated) in participants with iSCI, regardless of CWS. This high degree of inter-extremity coordination could reflect an inability to modify a single movement pattern post-iSCI. Combined, these data suggest inter-extremity walking coordination may be altered, but is present after iSCI, and therefore may be regulated, in part, by neural control.     

A novel SCN5A arrhythmia mutation,M1766L,with expression defect rescued by mexiletine

OBJECTIVE: Mutations in the cardiac sodium channel gene, SCN5A, cause congenital long QT syndrome (LQT3), Brugada syndrome, idiopathic ventricular fibrillation, and conduction disease by distinct cellular and clinical electrophysiological phenotypes. METHODS: Postmortem molecular analysis of SCN5A was conducted on an infant who presented shortly after birth with self-terminating torsades de pointes. The infant was treated with lidocaine, propranolol, and mexiletine and was stable for 16 months manifesting only a prolonged QT interval. The infant collapsed suddenly following presumed viral gastroenteritis, was found in 2:1 AV block, and was subsequently declared brain dead. Genomic DNA was subjected to SCN5A mutational analyses and DNA sequencing revealing a novel, spontaneous germline missense mutation, M1766L. The M1766L mutation was engineered into the hH1a clone by site-directed mutagenesis, transfected into embryonic kidney cells (HEK-293), and studied by voltage clamp. RESULTS: The M1766L mutation caused a significant decrease in the sodium channel expression. Co-expression with beta1 subunit, incubation at low temperature, and most effectively incubation with mexiletine partially 'rescued' the defective expression. In addition to this pronounced loss of function, M1766L also showed a 10-fold increase in the persistent late sodium current. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that M1766L-SCN5A channel dysfunction may contribute to the basis of lethal arrhythmias, displays an overlapping electrophysiological phenotype, and represents the first sodium channelopathy rescued by drug.