An ADAMTSL2 founder mutation causes Musladin-Lueke Syndrome, a heritable disorder of beagle dogs, featuring stiff skin and joint contractures.

BACKGROUND: Musladin-Lueke Syndrome (MLS) is a hereditary disorder affecting Beagle dogs that manifests with extensive fibrosis of the skin and joints. In this respect, it resembles human stiff skin syndrome and the Tight skin mouse, each of which is caused by gene defects affecting fibrillin-1, a major component of tissue microfibrils. The objective of this work was to determine the genetic basis of MLS and the molecular consequence of the identified mutation. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We mapped the locus for MLS by genome-wide association to a 3.05 Mb haplotype on canine chromosome 9 (CFA9 (50.11-54.26; p(raw) <10(-7))), which was homozygous and identical-by-descent among all affected dogs, consistent with recessive inheritance of a founder mutation. Sequence analysis of a candidate gene at this locus, ADAMTSL2, which is responsible for the human TGFß dysregulation syndrome, Geleophysic Dysplasia (GD), uncovered a mutation in exon 7 (c.660C>T; p.R221C) perfectly associated with MLS (p-value=10(-12)). Murine ADAMTSL2 containing the p.R221C mutation formed anomalous disulfide-bonded dimers when transiently expressed in COS-1, HEK293F and CHO cells, and was present in the medium of these cells at lower levels than wild-type ADAMTSL2 expressed in parallel. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The genetic basis of MLS is a founder mutation in ADAMTSL2, previously shown to interact with latent TGF-ß binding protein, which binds fibrillin-1. The molecular effect of the founder mutation on ADAMTSL2 is formation of disulfide-bonded dimers. Although caused by a distinct mutation, and having a milder phenotype than human GD, MLS nevertheless offers a new animal model for study of GD, and for prospective insights on mechanisms and pathways of skin fibrosis and joint contractures.

Importance of glycosylation and disulfide bonds in hyaluronidase activity of macaque sperm surface PH-20.

PH-20 is a glycoprotein located on the surface of the sperm plasma membrane and on the inner acrosomal membrane. The best understood function of sperm surface PH-20 is its hyaluronidase activity, which results in hydrolysis of the hyaluronic acid-rich cumulus matrix during sperm penetration of this extracellular oocyte investment. In this study, we investigated whether alterations in the secondary and tertiary structures of sperm surface PH-20 would affect its enzyme activity. Proteins were isolated from the sperm plasma membrane by treatment of living cells with phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC). PH-20 was purified from the PI-PLC released proteins by immunoaffinity chromatography. Two-dimensional electrophoresis of purified PH-20 revealed 6 isoforms with isoelectric points ranging from 5.1 to 6.0. Removal of the N-linked glycans from PH-20 with N-glycosidase F shifted the molecular weight from 64 kd to approximately 54 kd, its deduced molecular weight based on sequence analysis, suggesting that most if not all, of the potential N-glycosylation sites are linked to oligosaccharides. The lectins Con A and PSA recognized purified sperm surface PH-20 after Western blotting, suggesting that mannose is a major sugar within or at the terminal end of the linked glycan. The lectins UEA and LPA did not recognize PH-20 Western blot, suggesting that fucose and sialic acid are not terminal sugars of sperm surface PH-20. Deglycosylation of sperm surface PH-20 resulted in a complete loss of its hyaluronidase activity. The reduction of disulfide bonds with beta-mercaptoethanol or dithiothreitol also resulted in loss of enzyme activity. We conclude that the hyaluronidase activity of sperm surface PH-20 is dependent on structural features established by sulfhydryl linkages, as well as glycosylation.