Ethnic differences in GRHPR mutations in patients with primary hyperoxaluria type 2.

The objective of this study was to investigate ethnic differences in the glyoxylate reductase/hydroxypyruvate reductase (GRHPR) gene in patients with primary hyperoxaluria type 2 (PH2). GRHPR was genotyped in Japanese patients with PH2 and all GRHPR mutations described to date were reviewed in terms of geographic and ethnic association. We identified a novel mutation, a two-nucleotide deletion (c.248_249delTG) in exon 3 creating a premature 'stop' at codon 91. Also, we found that the c.864_865delTG mutation was associated with the rs35891798 single-nucleotide polymorphism. The allelic frequencies of the c.103delG, c.494G>A, c.403_404+2 delAAGT, and c.864_865delTG mutations in PH2 patients were 37.8%, 15.6%, 10.0%, and 10.0%, respectively. All patients with the c.103delG mutation were Caucasian. Patients with the c.494G>A mutation and 78% (7/9) of those with the c.403_404+2 delAAGT mutation were from the Indian subcontinent, whereas those with the c.864_865delTG mutation were Chinese or Japanese. Molecular analysis of GRHPR of four Japanese PH2 patients identified a novel mutation (c.248_249delTG in exon 3). Caucasians with PH2 should be screened for the c.103delG mutation; patients from the Indian subcontinent for c.494G>A; and patients of East Asian origin (particularly) for c.864_865delTG. The prevalence of the latter mutation in PH2 patients from East Asia was 75.0%.

Five cases of beta-ureidopropionase deficiency detected by GC/MS analysis of urine metabolome.

The clinical presentation of inborn errors of pyrimidine degradation varies considerably from asymptomatic to severe neurological illness. We have reported a method to screen for and make a chemical diagnosis of beta-ureidopropionase deficiency, leading to the discovery of the first asymptomatic case of this disease. In this method, the recovery of beta-ureidopropionate and beta-ureidoisobutyrate, the key biomarkers, was very high,and the adoption of GC/MS and targeted analysis enabled us to simultaneously obtain information related and unrelated to pyrimidine metabolism. The present study reports the results of a large-scale screening of 24,000 newborns using dried urine on filter paper. Identification of a total of four asymptomatic patients among newborns suggests the high incidence (1/6000) of this disease in Japan. While these newborns were asymptomatic, two additional cases detected at the age of 5 years as well as 3 months with this method for high-risk screening had autism and West syndrome, respectively.The key biomarkers and alpha-ureidobutyrate used as an internal standard were found to give not only their di-trimethylsilyl derivatives but also tri-trimethylsilyl derivatives, upon derivatization. The mass spectra and retention times of their tri-trimethylsilyl derivatives and data handling for quantification of the markers are presented.Identification of individuals with defects in pyrimidine metabolism would realize personalized medication in cancer chemotherapy with pyrimidine analogs such as 5-fluorouracil.

Effects of DNA topology on transformation efficiency of Bacillus subtilis ISW1214 by electroporation.

We report an investigation of electrotransformation by three different topological isomers, circular supercoiled (sc DNA), circular relaxed (cr DNA), and linearized (In DNA) forms of the plasmids pUB110 (4.5 kbp) and pBDR331T (12.6 kbp), of a Gram-positive bacterium, Bacillus subtilis ISW1214. Treatment of the sc DNA with calf thymus topoisomerase I removed the superhelicity and the DNA assumed the relaxed circular form. Treatment of sc DNA with restriction endonculease linearized the DNA. The transformation with the sc DNA of pUB110 resulted in the maximum efficiency of (2.6 +/- 0.6) x 10(5) transformants per microgram DNA higher than that (2.0 +/- 0.3) x 10(4) transformants per microgram DNA for the cr DNA, using the DNA concentration of 20 micrograms/ml at an electric field strength of 7 kV/cm and a capacitance of 10 microF with a single decayed pulse. The transformation efficiency (TE) for the ln DNA was zero. The variations of TE for different topological forms of DNA reflected their relative stability in the host cells. The molecular efficiency (ME, transformants per molecule) for sc DNA was nearly one order of magnitude greater for the lower molecular size of pUB110 DNA than that for the higher molecular size of pBDR331T DNA.

Simple gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric procedure for diagnosing pyrimidine degradation defects for prevention of severe anticancer side effects.

Inborn errors of pyrimidine degradation, dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase deficiency and dihydropyrimidinase deficiency, are less rare than has generally been assumed. Many asymptomatic cases have been reported, and in patients with symptoms, the clinical abnormalities are variable and nonspecific. Withdrawal of pyrimidine analogues such as 5-fluorouracil (5FU), a commonly used anticancer drug, from the cancer chemotherapy regimens of patients with pyrimidine degradation deficiencies, however, is critical because 5FU is degraded in vivo by pyrimidine-degradative enzymes. Patients with these deficiencies suffer from severe neurotoxicity, sometimes leading to death, following administration of 5FU, and even otherwise asymptomatic homozygotes or heterozygotes may develop severe clinical symptoms upon administration of such medication. Therefore, a rapid and specific method for identifying cancer patients with these enzyme deficiencies prior to treatment with 5FU is critical. To address this problem, we established methods for highly sensitive yet specific determinations of thymine, uracil, dihydrothymine, dihydrouracil, orotate and creatinine simultaneously in 0.1-ml liquid urine or filter-paper urine. This method involves stable isotope dilution, a simplified urease treatment previously described and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry without prior fractionation. The high recovery and low C.V. values were obtained and healthy control values were also determined for these metabolites. Using artificially prepared urine specimens simulating these disorders. the chemical diagnosis can be made clearly, and no further analysis appears to be required for differential chemical diagnosis.

Effects of plasmid DNA sizes and several other factors on transformation of Bacillus subtilis ISW1214 with plasmid DNA by electroporation.

Plasmid DNAs in the range from 2.9 to 12.6 kbp were transferred into Bacillus subtilis ISW1214 intact cells by the use of electroporation. The transformation efficiency (transformants per microgram plasmid DNA) decreased with increases of size of the DNA. However that of 2.0 x 10(3) transformants per microgram of DNA were done routinely, by using a plasmid with a large molecular size of 12.6 kbp. The size of plasmid DNA in the range of 3.7 to 12.6 kbp did not affect the molecular efficiency (transformants per molecule input DNA). The transformation efficiency as high as 9.3 x 10(4) transformants per microgram of purified plasmid pUB110 was obtained, using a cell concentration of 7.6 x 10(10) cells/ml and DNA concentration of 4 micrograms/ml in buffer containing 0.3 M sucrose, 1 mM CaCl2, and 1 mM sodium citrate (pH 6.0) under optimal pulse conditions of an electric field strength of 7 kV/cm and a duration of 500 mus with a single squared pulse at 0 degrees C. The gene expression for antibiotic resistance after electroporation was completed within 1.5 h. The transformants were confirmed to harbor the same intact plasmid by agarose gel electrophoretic analysis.

Differential diagnosis of homocystinuria by urease treatment, isotope dilution and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Homocystinuria types I, II and III are characterized by different etiologies, biochemical abnormalities and therapeutic measures. For this reason, differential diagnosis is critical for effective treatment. We describe here a rapid and simple procedure for establishing a differential diagnosis of the three types of homocystinuria by analyzing the urine of patients. This procedure, which consists of urease treatment, stable isotope dilution and GC-MS, enables a simultaneous quantification of methionine, homocystine, cystine, methylmalonate, orotate, uracil and creatinine. Analysis with this procedure showed that a case of homocystinuria type I, who progressed into transient megaloblastic anemia, secondarily excreted an increased concentration of orotate, which normalized after treatment with folate and vitamin B12. Therefore, the present diagnostic procedure not only enables rapid differential diagnosis of homocystinuria, but also should prove useful for monitoring the disease state and understanding the nutritional condition and therapeutic state of patients, which in turn can be used to evaluate the efficacy of treatment.

A new and efficient method for gene transfer into mouse FM3A cells using metaphase chromosomes by electroporation.

We introduced chromosome-mediated genes into mouse thymidine kinase-deficient FM3A (FM3Atk-) cells, by electroporation. The effects of some parameters on the electric shock-mediated transfection of FM3Atk- cells were investigated. Gene transfer of mouse L929 metaphase chromosome DNA into FM3Atk- resulted in a maximum frequency of (3.0 +/- 0.3) x 10(-5) at a cell density of 2.0 x 10(8)/ml and chromosome dosage of 5.0 x 10(7) cell equivalents/ml in a buffer containing 0.25 M mannitol, 0.5 mM MgCl2, 0.1mM CaCl2, and 1 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.1). The highest yield of the transformants was obtained at an electric field strength of 1 kV/cm and a capacitance of 35 microF, with a single exponentially decaying pulse at 0 degrees C was optimal for post-shock incubation after electroporation. The tk gene was detected in the transformants by in situ hybridization analysis.

Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric newborn screening for propionic acidaemia by targeting methylcitrate in dried filter-paper urine samples.

Propionic acidaemia (PCCD) or deficiency of propionyl-CoA carboxylase (PCC) is one of the most common organic acidaemias. Recent studies have suggested that this disease can cause somatic or cognitive deterioration even in patients without ketosis or metabolic acidosis, or in cases with unusually late onset. This suggests that for this disease a sensitive yet practical screening procedure is required to achieve early treatment. We conducted a pilot study of gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric screening of 12,000 newborns for PCCD using eluates from dried filter-paper urine collected at 4-7 days of age. Methylcitrate (MC) was targeted for PCCD. For bulk screening, 2-hydroxyundecanoate was used as internal standard; for quantification, stable-isotope-labelled MC was used. Urease pretreatment without fractionation allowed satisfactory recovery and reproducibility of the highly polar MC. We detected an asymptomatic male infant with distinctly elevated MC: the creatinine-corrected level relative to 2-hydroxyundecanoate was 4.8 SD above the normal mean. The MC concentration calculated using the stable-isotope-labelled internal standard was 70.6 mmol/mol creatinine 14.7 SD above the normal mean of 3.70. Parallel analysis of the dried blood spot at 4 days of age by tandem MS showed only borderline elevation of propionylcarnitine. The activity of PCC in lymphocytes was 7% of control. Gene analysis revealed that a single missense mutation, TAT to TGT, resulting in Y435C in the beta chain was present in a homozygous form. Dietary treatment including carnitine supplementation decreased this infant's MC level and to date (at 13 months of age), he shows no neurological or somatic abnormalities.

Pilot study of gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric screening of newborn urine for inborn errors of metabolism after treatment with urease.

Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) techniques for urinary organic acid profiling have been applied to high-risk screening for a wide range of diseases, mainly for inborn errors of metabolism (IEM), rather than to low-risk screening or mass screening. Using a simplified procedure with urease-pretreatment and the GC-MS technique, which allows simultaneous determination of organic acids, amino acids, sugars and sugar acids, we performed a pilot study of the application of this procedure to neonatal urine screening for 22 IEM. Out of 16,246 newborns screened, 11 cases of metabolic disorders were chemically diagnosed: two each of methylmalonic aciduria and glyceroluria, four of cystinuria, and one each of Hartnup disease, citrullinemia and alpha-aminoadipic aciduria/alpha-ketoadipic aciduria. The incidence of IEM was thus one per 1477, which was higher than the one per 3000 obtained in the USA in a study targeting amino acids and acylcarnitines in newborn blood spots by tandem mass spectrometry. Also, 227 cases were found to have transient metabolic abnormalities: 108 cases with neonatal tyrosinuria, 99 cases with neonatal galactosuria, and 20 cases with other transient metabolic disorders. Two hundred and thirty-eight cases out of 16,246 neonates (approximately 1/68) were thus diagnosed using this procedure as having either persistent or transient metabolic abnormalities.