2. Academic Validation
  3. Functional Analysis of Two Novel Mutations in TWIST1 Protein Motifs Found in Ventricular Septal Defect Patients

Functional Analysis of Two Novel Mutations in TWIST1 Protein Motifs Found in Ventricular Septal Defect Patients

  • Pediatr Cardiol. 2015 Dec;36(8):1602-9. doi: 10.1007/s00246-015-1202-9.
Xiaopeng Deng 1,  Hong Pan 2 3,  Jing Wang 2 3,  Binbin Wang 2 3,  Zhi Cheng 2 3,  Longfei Cheng 2 3,  Lixi Zhao 2 3,  Hui Li 4,  Xu Ma 5 6 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, No.36, Sanhao Street, Heping District, Shenyang, 110004, China.
  • 2 Graduate School, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100080, China.
  • 3 Center for Genetics, National Research Institute for Family Planning, 12 Dahuisi Road, Haidian, Beijing, 100081, China.
  • 4 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, No.36, Sanhao Street, Heping District, Shenyang, 110004, China. fclihui@sj-hospital.org.
  • 5 Graduate School, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100080, China. NICGR2014@163.com.
  • 6 Center for Genetics, National Research Institute for Family Planning, 12 Dahuisi Road, Haidian, Beijing, 100081, China. NICGR2014@163.com.
  • 7 World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research in Human Reproduction, Beijing, 100081, China. NICGR2014@163.com.
PMID: 25981568 DOI: 10.1007/s00246-015-1202-9
Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the possible genetic effect of sequence variations in TWIST1 on the pathogenesis of ventricular septal defect in humans. We examined the coding region of TWIST1 in a cohort of 196 Chinese people with non-syndromic ventricular septal defect patients and 200 healthy individuals as the controls. We identified two novel potential disease-associated mutations, NM_000474.3:c.247G>A (G83S) and NM_000474.3:c.283A>G (S95G). Both of them were identified for the first time and were not observed in the 200 controls without congenital heart disease. Using a dual-luciferase reporter assay, we showed that both of the mutations significantly down-regulated the repressive effect of TWIST1 on the E-cadherin promoter. Furthermore, a mammalian two-hybrid assay showed that both of the mutations significantly affected the interaction between TWIST1 and KAT2B. New mutations in the transcription factor TWIST1 that affect protein function were identified in 1.0 % (2/196) of Chinese patients with ventricular septal defect. Our data show, for the first time, that TWIST1 has a potential causative effect on the development of ventricular septal defect.

Keywords

Genetics; TWIST1; Variant; Ventricular septal defect.

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