Seemingly neutral polymorphic variants may confer immunity to splicing-inactivating mutations: A synonymous SNP in exon 5 of MCAD protects from deleterious mutations in a flanking exonic splicing enhancer

Nielsen, K. B., Sorensen, S., Cartegni, L., Corydon, T. J., Doktor, T. K., Schroeder, L. D., Reinert, L. S., Elpeleg, O., Krainer, A. R., Gregersen, N., Kjems, J., Andresen, B. S. (March 2007) Seemingly neutral polymorphic variants may confer immunity to splicing-inactivating mutations: A synonymous SNP in exon 5 of MCAD protects from deleterious mutations in a flanking exonic splicing enhancer. American Journal of Human Genetics, 80 (3). pp. 416-432. ISSN 0002-9297

Abstract

The idea that point mutations in exons may affect splicing is intriguing and adds an additional layer of complexity when evaluating their possible effects. Even in the best-studied examples, the molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we use patient cells, model minigenes, and in vitro assays to show that a missense mutation in exon 5 of the medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) gene primarily causes exon skipping by inactivating a crucial exonic splicing enhancer (ESE), thus leading to loss of a functional protein and to MCAD deficiency. This ESE functions by antagonizing a juxtaposed exonic splicing silencer (ESS) and is necessary to define a suboptimal 3' splice site. Remarkably, a synonymous polymorphic variation in MCAD exon 5 inactivates the ESS, and, although this has no effect on splicing by itself, it makes splicing immune to deleterious mutations in the ESE. Furthermore, the region of MCAD exon 5 that harbors these elements is nearly identical to the exon 7 region of the survival of motor neuron (SMN) genes that contains the deleterious silent mutation in SMN2, indicating a very similar and finely tuned interplay between regulatory elements in these two genes. Our findings illustrate a mechanism for dramatic context-dependent effects of single-nucleotide polymorphisms on gene-expression regulation and show that it is essential that potential deleterious effects of mutations on splicing be evaluated in the context of the relevant haplotype.

Item Type: Paper
Uncontrolled Keywords: SPINAL MUSCULAR-ATROPHY PRE-MESSENGER-RNA COA DEHYDROGENASE-DEFICIENCY SURVIVAL MOTOR-NEURON HNRNP A1 REGULATORY ELEMENTS SINGLE-NUCLEOTIDE SR PROTEINS PURIFYING SELECTION MISSENSE MUTATIONS
Subjects: bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > exons > exon splicing
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > exons
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > mutations
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > single nucleotide polymorphism
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Krainer lab
Depositing User: CSHL Librarian
Date: March 2007
Date Deposited: 07 Nov 2011 18:49
Last Modified: 06 Jun 2013 16:27
PMCID: PMC1821120
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/23107

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