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*
Renal Division and Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital
and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Department of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston,
Massachusetts
Department of Nephrology, Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre,
Heidelberg, Australia
§
Division of Nephrology, Instituto Universitario CEMIC, Buenos Aires,
Argentina
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University of Kansas School of Medicine, Wichita, Kansas
¶
Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Universidade Federal de
São Paulo, Brazil
Correspondence to Dr. Martin R. Pollak, 77 Ave Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115. Phone: 617-525-5840; Fax: 617-525-5841; E-mail: mpollak{at}rics.bwh.harvard.edu
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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About 80% of children with nephrotic syndrome respond to steroid therapy and usually display a histologic picture known as "minimal change," referring to the absence of light microsopic findings and typically fusion of epithelial cell foot processes. The other 20% of the patients frequently show histologic features of FSGS and/or diffuse mesangial proliferation and are generally resistant to steroid treatment. Fuchshuber et al. (7) investigated a subgroup of childhood nephrotic syndrome characterized by early onset (age less than 6 yr), autosomal recessive inheritance, and steroid resistance, and mapped the disease gene to a locus on chromosome 1q25-31, named SRN1. In contrast to congenital or early onset steroid resistant forms of nephrotic syndrome, the disease in patients with autosomal dominant FSGS (OMIM 603278) is usually less severe and progresses to end-stage renal disease later in life (8,9). We recently performed linkage analysis in a large FSGS family with autosomal dominant inheritance and mapped the locus to chromosome 19q13 (8), a 7-cM region flanked by markers D19S223 and D19S213. Interestingly, this FSGS region includes NPHS1, which is mutated in patients with congenital nephrotic syndrome of the Finnish type (10). A second dominant locus has been identified recently on chromosome 11q (6).
To further investigate the genetic basis of adolescent and adult onset FSGS, we performed linkage analysis in six FSGS families with inheritance consistent with an autosomal recessive pattern. Here we show evidence of linkage to chromosome 1q25-31 in five of six such families. The locus identified overlaps with SRN1, indicating that a gene (or genes) on chromosome 1q plays an important role in development of glomerulosclerosis of variable severity and age of onset. The fact that this locus causes distinct glomerulopathies and likely underlies a considerable fraction of recessive FSGS cases suggests that this locus may be of general importance in the pathobiology of glomerular disease.
| Materials and Methods |
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Genotype Analysis
Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood cells or transformed
lymphocytes by use of the QIAamp DNA blood kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA).
Individuals were genotyped using microsatellite markers spanning a 22-cM
interval on chromosome 1q regions (D1S452, D1S242, D1S416, D1S466, D1S240,
D1S254, D1S202, D1S222, D1S238, and D1S413). Briefly, genotypes
were determined by PCR amplification using one [32P]-
ATP
end-labeled primer. PCR products were separated by electrophoresis on a 6%
polyacrylamide gel and visualized by autoradiography. The marker order and the
approximate distances follow the maps from the public databases of the
Whitehead Institutes for Biomedical Research, the Cooperative Human Linkage
Center, and the Genome Database.
Linkage Analysis
For the purposes of this analysis, an individual was considered
"affected" if he/she had:
(1) renal biopsy
evidence of FSGS; (2)
end-stage renal disease without another cause; or
(3) clinical
albuminuria (microalbumin >300 mg/g creatinine). An individual was
considered "unaffected" if he/she had no microalbuminuria (<30
mg/g creatinine). An individual was categorized as "unknown" if
he/she had microalbuminuria between 30 and 300 mg/g creatinine or if he/she
had more severe proteinuria but another reason for proteinuria. Two-point
linkage analysis was performed using the MLINK program version 5.1; multipoint
analysis was performed using LINK-MAP
(11). Lod scores were
calculated assuming a disease penetrance of 1.0 under a recessive model of
inheritance. Disease gene frequency was set at 0.0001, and two-point lod score
calculations were performed. Allele frequencies were set at 1/N, but for the
fully informative markers indicated in bold type (i.e., both parents
heterozygous), lod score calculations were independent of allele frequency
assumptions. Haplotype analysis was performed to identify critical
recombination events. When ambiguous, phase was assigned by minimizing
recombination events within a given pedigree. Genetic heterogeneity was
assessed using the HOMOG program
(11).
| Results |
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To define the mode of disease transmission, we evaluated the clinical history and phenotypes of the members in this pedigree. The father of the seven affected sibs (FS-W, individual 1, in Figure 1) had moderate proteinuria (microalbumin 670 mg/g creatinine) but also longstanding untreated hypertension, a cause of secondary glomerular disease. Given the milder phenotype in the father despite significantly more advanced age than his children (70 yr), the presence of long-standing untreated hypertension (BP 180/120 at time of ascertainment), and absence of renal insufficiency, we felt that hypertension was the most likely cause of his proteinuria (although for the purposes of linkage analysis, he was classified as phenotype "unknown"). Despite the presence of diabetes in the first-generation mother (FS-W, individual 2), a condition predisposing to the development of nephropathy, she has only minimal evidence of kidney disease (microalbumin 54 mg/g creatinine) and no renal insufficiency. Like individual 1, she was classified as phenotype "unknown" for the purpose of linkage analysis. No members of the father or mother's extended families (FS-W, individuals 1 and 2), with the exception of their offspring, have any history of kidney disease. Based on the presence of definite disease in a single generation of this large family, we concluded that inheritance of FSGS was following a recessive pattern. Furthermore, none of the 12 offspring of the seven affected individuals has shown overt proteinuria, although the young ages of these children (average age 11.6 yr), well below the average age at which disease was diagnosed in affected members, makes any conclusions based on this fact unreliable.
Because loci for recessive nephrotic syndromes had been reported on chromosome 19q13 (which also harbors a locus for dominant disease) and chromosome 1q25-31 (7), we evaluated linkage at these chromosomal regions. After first excluding the chromosome 19 locus as harboring the disease gene, we genotyped individuals at markers from the chromosome 1q25-31 region harboring the SRN1 locus. Fully informative markers D1S254 and D1S222 yielded a maximum two-point lod score of 3.98 at a recombination distance of 0.0 cM. Haplotype analysis with these and other markers in this region is shown in Figure 1. To define the minimal interval containing the FSGS gene, we constructed haplotypes for marker alleles in this region. The observed recombination events suggest that this FSGS gene is located telomeric to D1S416 and centromeric of D1S413. Assuming that the SRN1 and FSGS genes are the same, the responsible gene is located in a 6-cM region flanked by D1S416 and D1S466 (Figure 2).
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Additional Families
To further investigate the contribution of this locus to familial FSGS, we
subsequently studied 39 subjects (14 affected, 23 unaffected, 2 unknown) from
an additional five small families (Table
1). Autosomal recessive transmission was supported by:
(1) absence of
proteinuria in the parents of affected subjects;
(2) no disease
transmission through multiple generations; and
(3) the occurrence of
disease in more than two siblings in each family
(Figure 1). Five families
(FS-BL, FS-XB, FS-G, FS-BU) are of North American and one (FS-I) is of
Australian origin. When all six families are considered, the mean age of
clinical presentation was 21 (range, 9 to 31), and 70% of affected subjects
progressed to ESRD. The mean age at which ESRD developed was 26 (range, 14 to
36). No recurrence of FSGS was reported in patients undergoing renal
transplantation. Two individuals were considered "unknown status"
because of the presence of mild proteinuria.
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We performed linkage analysis of the 1q25-31 locus in these five additional
families. The results of lod score calculations are shown in
Table 2. In four families, lod
score calculations at informative markers supported linkage of the disease
phenotype to this chromosome 1q region. Two-point lod scores were 1.45 (family
FS-I), 1.32 (family FS-G), 1.22 (family FS-BL), and 0.73 (family FS-BU), which
are the maximum attainable for these families under the model used. In family
XB, two-point lod score calculations using the same parameters did not provide
any evidence of linkage. Multipoint analysis yielded lod scores of less than
-1.84 throughout the FSGS critical region. Further analysis of genetic
homogeneity versus heterogeneity using the HOMOG program gave
evidence of heterogeneity for family FS-XB (
12 =
3.33, P = 0.034) and supported the conclusion of linkage to the
1q25-31 locus in each of families FS-W, FS-BU, FS-I, FS-G, and FS-BL.
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| Discussion |
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The phenotype described here has several important differences from the SRN phenotype described by Fuchshuber et al. They describe a phenotype characterized by nephrotic syndrome with onset at age less than 6 yr and rapidly progressive renal insufficiency (by age 10). In all of the families described in the present report, disease presentation occurs at a significantly later age (mean 21), and frank nephrotic syndrome is not always present. While some degree of proteinuria may have been detected in these individuals at an earlier age had it been measured, the earlier absence of clinically obvious disease is nevertheless a striking difference. Despite the variable rate of progression, most affected FSGS individuals developed ESRD in the second or third decade of life (mean age 26). Colocalization of this FSGS locus and SRN1 raises the possibility that these clinically distinct proteinuric disorders are allelic. For example, the severe recessive form may result from total loss of function mutations at both alleles, whereas the milder disease may result from partial loss of function of the same gene at one or both alleles. An alternative possibility is that distinct but physically close genes underlie these related phenotypes. Whether the families described here are fundamentally different from those in the original SRN1 report (7) is not clear.
For the following reasons, we suspect that inherited renal disease due to defects in this chromosome 1 gene may be a much more common contributor to renal dysfunction than generally realized. Proteinuria, unless massive, will likely not cause symptoms, and it is not routine to test the urine of family members of individuals with kidney disease for elevated protein. Unless an affected individual is a member of a large sibship, the genetic nature of this disorder will not be apparent. Furthermore, selection of families with Mendelian forms of disease represents a form of selection bias for particularly severe mutations, as these are the mutations in which penetrance is likely to be highest and the familial nature of disease most easily recognized. While the mutations causing the highly penetrant forms of recessive disease described here may be rare, polymorphisms causing more subtle disease may be more common, and lead to increased susceptibility to renal dysfunction from such diverse conditions as high BP, diabetes, HIV infection, obesity, and surgical reduction in renal mass. The variability in age of onset now demonstrated suggests that great variability may exist in disease caused by a gene or genes at this locus.
Given that FSGS is a common pathologic finding resulting from a heterogeneous group of underlying conditions, it is not surprising that FSGS is genetically heterogeneous. Because the pathologic phenotype appears to be restricted to the renal glomeruli, autosomal recessive FSGS is likely caused by the loss of a gene product normally expressed in kidney. The disease gene may encode a structurally essential component of the glomerulus and/or a regulatory protein necessary for kidney development. Defects in the gene encoding a novel glomerular protein, Nephrin, were recently identified as the cause of congenital nephrotic syndrome of the Finnish type (CNF) (10, 12), a recessive disorder with a more severe phenotype and earlier onset than SRN. Nephrin, a putative transmembrane protein, shares weak structural homology with cell adhesion molecules belonging to the Ig superfamily. This discovery raises the possibility that the autosomal recessive FSGS gene may encode a protein essential to maintain structural glomerular integrity, similar to nephrin, or a gene whose product interacts with or lies in the same biologic pathway as nephrin.
Several animal models of FSGS have been described. Of particular interest, the BUF/Mna strain develops FSGS in addition to thymoma and myopathy, which segregate independently of the FSGS. Genetic studies of the BUF/Mna rat have suggested the existence of two recessive loci involved in the pathogenesis of this nephropathy (13). Recently, the major proteinuria susceptibility gene Pur 1 has been localized to rat chromosome 13, flanked by the D13Mgh3 and D13Mgh4 (14). Rat-human comparative maps (15) indicate that the human chromosomal region syntenic to the Pur1 locus is located on the long arm of human chromosome 1 and may overlap with the SRN1/FSGS region. It is thus plausible that Pur1, SRN1, and this FSGS gene are allelic. If this proves to be true, it gives additional weight to the notion that identification of this and other glomerulosclerosis-causing rat genes, such as those in the fawn-hooded hypertensive rat (16), may also be important in the pathogenesis of human kidney disease.
Potential candidate genes lie within this FSGS region. Several laminin genes, which encode heterotrimeric basement membrane glycoproteins, are clustered at 1q25-31. Although human laminin beta-2 does not lie within this region, the fact that mice with targeted disruption of mouse lamb 2 develop nephrotic syndrome increases the suspicion that laminin gene defects could cause human FSGS (17). Mice lacking cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2, gene symbol PTGS2), the rate-limiting enzyme in prostaglandin production, develop severe nephropathy (18). COX2 is induced at high levels in migratory and other responding cells by proinflammatory stimuli and generally is considered to be a mediator of inflammation. COX2 is located between D1S240 and D1S202 and therefore lies within the candidate FSGS region (between D1S416 and D1S413), but outside the SRN1 region (between D1S452 and D1S466), excluding the possibility of involvement of this gene in SRN. Our analysis has not revealed any likely disease-causing gene defects in the coding sequence of COX2.
Treatment of nephrotic syndrome and FSGS is unsatisfactory at present. Clarification of genes underlying these conditions may allow early identification of those individuals unlikely to respond to treatment with corticosteroids. Elucidation of the mechanism of the development and progression of glomerulosclerosis is an essential step toward the prevention of ESRD. Although familial FSGS appears to be much less common than sporadic and secondary forms, genetic analysis may provide insight into common biologic pathways underlying glomerular injury. The cloning of relevant genes may help clarify the causes of the more common sporadic form of FSGS, as well as secondary forms of glomerulosclerosis. While this article was in press, Boute et al. (19) identified the SRN1 gene (renamed NPHS2), encoding Podocin.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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| References |
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