Breyer Maximilian, Grüner Julia, Klein Alexandra, Finke Laura, Klug Katharina, Sauer Markus, Üçeyler Nurcan
Department of Neurology, University of Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany.
Department of Biophysics and Biotechnology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.
Mol Genet Metab Rep. 2023 Nov 25;38:101029. doi: 10.1016/j.ymgmr.2023.101029. eCollection 2024 Mar.
Fabry disease (FD) is a life-limiting disorder characterized by intracellular globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) accumulations. The underlying α-galactosidase A (α-GAL A) deficiency is caused by variants in the gene . Variants of unknown significance (VUS) are frequently found in and challenge clinical management. Here, we investigated a 49-year old man with cryptogenic lacunar cerebral stroke and the chance finding of the VUS S126G, who was sent to our center for diagnosis and initiation of a costly and life-long FD-specific treatment. We combined clinical examination with investigations of dermal fibroblasts (HDF), induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), and iPSC-derived sensory neurons. We analyzed α-GAL A activity in iPSC, Gb3 accumulation in all three cell types, and action potential firing in sensory neurons. Neurological examination and small nerve fiber assessment was normal except for reduced distal skin innervation. S126G iPSC showed normal α-GAL A activity compared to controls and no Gb3 deposits were found in all three cell types. Baseline electrophysiological characteristics of S126G neurons showed no difference compared to healthy controls as investigated by patch-clamp recordings. We pioneer multi-level cellular characterization of the VUS S126G using three cell types derived from a patient and provide further evidence for the benign nature of S126G in , which is of great importance in the management of such cases in clinical practice.
法布里病(FD)是一种危及生命的疾病,其特征为细胞内 globotriaosylceramide(Gb3)蓄积。潜在的α - 半乳糖苷酶A(α - GAL A)缺乏是由该基因的变异引起的。意义未明的变异(VUS)在该基因中经常被发现,这对临床管理构成挑战。在此,我们研究了一名49岁患有隐源性腔隙性脑卒中和偶然发现VUS S126G的男性,他被送至我们中心进行诊断并开始接受昂贵且终身的FD特异性治疗。我们将临床检查与对皮肤成纤维细胞(HDF)、诱导多能干细胞(iPSC)和iPSC衍生的感觉神经元的研究相结合。我们分析了iPSC中的α - GAL A活性、所有三种细胞类型中的Gb3蓄积以及感觉神经元中的动作电位发放。除了远端皮肤神经支配减少外,神经学检查和小神经纤维评估均正常。与对照组相比,S126G iPSC显示出正常的α - GAL A活性,并且在所有三种细胞类型中均未发现Gb3沉积。通过膜片钳记录研究发现,S126G神经元的基线电生理特征与健康对照组相比无差异。我们率先使用源自一名患者的三种细胞类型对VUS S126G进行多层次细胞表征,并为S126G在该基因中的良性性质提供了进一步证据,这在临床实践中对此类病例的管理具有重要意义。