RMRP mutations in Japanese patients with cartilage-hair hypoplasia

We examined 12 Japanese patients with metaphyseal chondrodysplasia (MCD) for mutations in the ribonuclease mitochondrial RNA processing gene (RMRP), and identified four novel mutations in two patients with typical and atypical cartilage-hair hypoplasia (CHH), a form of MCD characterized by extra-skeletal manifestations including hypoplastic hair and defective immunity. A patient with typical CHH had a 17-bp duplication at +3 and a de novo 182G > A. The other patient with atypical CHH had a 17-bp insertion at -20 and a 218A > G. Expression analysis revealed that the allele with this insertion mutation in the promoter region silenced the gene. Spectrum analysis of the mutations and polymorphisms in RMRP showed marked difference between the Japanese and other ethnic groups. Such ethnic and phenotypic difference should be taken into account in mutation analysis of the gene.