Molecular basis for three X-linked immune disorders.

ABSTRACT

Gene defects causing three X-linked human immunodeficiencies, agammaglobulinemia (XLA), hyper-IgM syndrome (HIGM), and X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), have been identified. These represent the first human disease phenotypes associated with three gene families already recognized to be important in lymphocyte development and signaling XLA is caused by mutations of a B-cell specific intracellular tyrosine kinase; HIGM by mutations in the tumor necrosis factor-related CD40 ligand, through which T cells deliver helper signals by direct contact with B-cell CD40; and SCID by mutations in the gamma chain of the lymphocyte receptor for interleukin-2. The great variety of patient mutations in all three genes represent both a challenge for genetic diagnosis and a resource for dissecting molecular domains and physiologic functions of the gene products.