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The gene mutated in adult-onset type II citrullinaemia encodes a putative mitochondrial carrier protein

Nature Genetics volume 22, pages 159–163 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Citrullinaemia (CTLN) is an autosomal recessive disease caused by deficiency of argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS). Adult-onset type II citrullinaemia (CTLN2) is characterized by a liver-specific ASS deficiency with no abnormalities in hepatic ASS mRNA or the gene ASS (refs 1–17). CTLN2 patients (1/100,000 in Japan13) suffer from a disturbance of consciousness and coma, and most die with cerebral edema within a few years of onset. CTLN2 differs from classical citrullinaemia (CTLN1, OMIM 215700) in that CTLN1 is neonatal or infantile in onset, with ASS enzyme defects (in all tissues) arising due to mutations in ASS on chromosome 9q34 (refs 18–21). We collected 118 CTLN2 families, and localized the CTLN2 locus to chromosome 7q21.3 by homozygosity mapping analysis of individuals from 18 consanguineous unions. Using positional cloning we identified a novel gene, SLC25A13, and found five different DNA sequence alterations that account for mutations in all consanguineous patients examined. SLC25A13 encodes a 3.4-kb transcript expressed most abundantly in liver. The protein encoded by SLC25A13, named citrin, is bipartite in structure, containing a mitochondrial carrier motif and four EF-hand domains, suggesting it is a calcium-dependent mitochondrial solute transporter with a role in urea cycle function.

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Figure 1: Genetic mapping of the CTLN2 locus on chromosome 7.
Figure 2: List of 18 CTLN2 patients from consanguineous parents and the corresponding marker haplotypes.
Figure 3: A physical map of the CTLN2 locus at 7q21.3.
Figure 4: Comparative alignment of citrin with related proteins.
Figure 5: Expression profile of SLC25A13.
Figure 6: Predicted topological model of human citrin and mutations in CTLN2.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the patients, their families and referring physicians, in particular: K. Takahashi, K. Furuta, O. Hashimoto, Y. Shiozaki, Y. Yamauchi, Y. Itakura, Y. Yamamura, M. Ikeda, M. Kanai, A. Kusakabe, M. Tsuda, R. Kumashiro, K. Tanikawa, I. Ohta, N. Shiohama, K. Takeuchi, T. Suenaga, A. Kawata, M. Yazaki and S. Ikeda; M. Wada, M. Kuwano, S. Asakawa and N. Shimizu for informatics support; M. Tanaka for assistance in the preparation of the manuscript; and Y. Masunaga for contribution to this study. This work was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture in Japan, the Kodama Foundation for Research in Medical Science and The Medical Research Council of Canada (MRC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima University, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima, 890-8520, Japan

    Keiko Kobayashi, Mikio Iijima, Laila Begum, Tomotsugu Yasuda, Sayaka Ikeda, Ryuki Hirano, Hiroki Terazono & Takeyori Saheki

  2. Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5G 1X8, Ontario, Canada

    David S. Sinasac, Michael A. Crackower, Lap-Chee Tsui & Stephen W. Scherer

  3. Department of Genetics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, M5G 1X8, Ontario, Canada

    David S. Sinasac, Andrew P. Boright, Jeffrey R. Lee, Michael A. Crackower, Lap-Chee Tsui & Stephen W. Scherer

  4. Yagi Clinic, Aira, 899-5400, Japan

    Hiroki Terazono

  5. Department of Hygiene, Ehime University School of Medicine, Ehime, 791-0295, Japan

    Ikuko Kondo

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  1. Keiko Kobayashi
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Correspondence to Keiko Kobayashi or Stephen W. Scherer.

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Kobayashi, K., Sinasac, D., Iijima, M. et al. The gene mutated in adult-onset type II citrullinaemia encodes a putative mitochondrial carrier protein. Nat Genet 22, 159–163 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/9667

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