Mutations in the amiloride-sensitive epithelial sodium channel in patients with cystic fibrosis-like disease

  • Hum Mutat. 2009 Jul;30(7):1093-103. doi: 10.1002/humu.21011.
Abul Kalam Azad  1 ,  Robert Rauh ,  François Vermeulen ,  Martine Jaspers ,  Judit Korbmacher ,  Brigitte Boissier ,  Laurence Bassinet ,  Yann Fichou ,  Marie des Georges ,  Frauke Stanke ,  Kris De Boeck ,  Lieven Dupont ,  Miroslava Balascáková ,  Lena Hjelte ,  Patrick Lebecque ,  Dragica Radojkovic ,  Carlo Castellani ,  Marianne Schwartz ,  Manfred Stuhrmann ,  Martin Schwarz ,  Veronika Skalicka ,  Isabelle de Monestrol ,  Emmanuelle Girodon ,  Claude Férec ,  Mireille Claustres ,  Burkhard Tümmler ,  Jean-Jacques Cassiman ,  Christoph Korbmacher ,  Harry Cuppens
Affiliations
  • 1. Center for Human Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
PMID: 19462466 DOI: 10.1002/humu.21011
Abstract

We investigated whether mutations in the genes that code for the different subunits of the amiloride-sensitive epithelial Sodium Channel (ENaC) might result in Cystic Fibrosis (CF)-like disease. In a small fraction of the patients, the disease could be potentially explained by an ENaC mutation by a Mendelian mechanism, such as p.V114I and p.F61L in SCNN1A. More importantly, a more than three-fold significant increase in incidence of several rare ENaC polymorphisms was found in the patient group (30% vs. 9% in controls), indicating an involvement of ENaC in some patients by a polygenetic mechanism. Specifically, a significantly higher number of patients carried c.-55+5G>C or p.W493R in SCNN1A in the heterozygous state, with odds ratios (ORs) of 13.5 and 2.7, respectively.The p.W493R-SCNN1A polymorphism was even found to result in a four-fold more active ENaC channel when heterologously expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes. About 1 in 975 individuals in the general population will be heterozygous for the hyperactive p.W493R-SCNN1A mutation and a Cystic Fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene that results in very low amounts (0-10%) functional CFTR. These ENaC/CFTR genotypes may play a hitherto unrecognized role in lung diseases.