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Exome sequencing and analysis of induced pluripotent stem cells identify the cilia-related gene male germ cell-associated kinase (MAK) as a cause of retinitis pigmentosa
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Exome sequencing and analysis of induced pluripotent stem cells identify the cilia-related gene male germ cell-associated kinase (MAK) as a cause of retinitis pigmentosa

Budd A Tucker, Todd E Scheetz, Robert F Mullins, Adam P DeLuca, Jeremy M Hoffmann, Rebecca M Johnston, Samuel G Jacobson, Val C Sheffield and Edwin M Stone
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.108(34), pp.E569-E576
08/23/2011
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1108918108
PMCID: PMC3161526
PMID: 21825139
url
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1108918108View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetically heterogeneous heritable disease characterized by apoptotic death of photoreceptor cells. We used exome sequencing to identify a homozygous Alu insertion in exon 9 of male germ cell-associated kinase (MAK) as the cause of disease in an isolated individual with RP. Screening of 1,798 unrelated RP patients identified 20 additional probands homozygous for this insertion (1.2%). All 21 affected probands are of Jewish ancestry. MAK encodes a kinase involved in the regulation of photoreceptor-connecting cilium length. Immunohistochemistry of human donor tissue revealed that MAK is expressed in the inner segments, cell bodies, and axons of rod and cone photoreceptors. Several isoforms of MAK that result from alternative splicing were identified. Induced pluripotent stem cells were derived from the skin of the proband and a patient with non-MAK-associated RP (RP control). In the RP control individual, we found that a transcript lacking exon 9 was predominant in undifferentiated cells, whereas a transcript bearing exon 9 and a previously unrecognized exon 12 predominated in cells that were differentiated into retinal precursors. However, in the proband with the Alu insertion, the developmental switch to the MAK transcript bearing exons 9 and 12 did not occur. In addition to showing the use of induced pluripotent stem cells to efficiently evaluate the pathogenicity of specific mutations in relatively inaccessible tissues like retina, this study reveals algorithmic and molecular obstacles to the discovery of pathogenic insertions and suggests specific changes in strategy that can be implemented to more fully harness the power of sequencing technologies.
Humans Molecular Sequence Data Jews - genetics Point Mutation - genetics Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells - enzymology Retinitis Pigmentosa - complications Isoenzymes - metabolism Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells - pathology Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells - enzymology Cell Differentiation Alu Elements - genetics Genealogy and Heraldry Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells - metabolism Biomarkers - metabolism Amino Acid Sequence Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases - genetics Retinitis Pigmentosa - genetics Exons - genetics Organ Specificity Sequence Analysis, DNA Mutagenesis, Insertional - genetics Cilia - genetics Retinitis Pigmentosa - enzymology Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases - chemistry Retinal Degeneration - enzymology Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells - pathology Retinal Degeneration - complications

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