Lipa Gene Mutation in PED-LIPIGEN (Pediatric FH Subjects)

Lysosomal acid lipase (LAL) is encoded by LIPA gene located on chromosome 10q23.3-q23 and consists of 10 exons. LIPA mRNA (messenger RiboNucleic Acid) (GenBank accession number NM\_000235) is 2782 bp long and encodes a mature protein of 375 residues (GenBank accession number NP\_000226). The sequencing of all 10 exons of LIPA gene will consist of 10 PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) amplification reactions (for the 10 exons and the proximal promoter) followed by 20 sequence reactions (forward and reverse sequencing) with appropriate primers designed to include the intron-exon boundaries. This analysis will be performed in about 250 FH pediatric subjects as specified in project description. The sequencing work will be performed taking advantage of 2 automated 8 capillaries automated DNA Sequencer (3500 Genetic Analyzer, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Monza, Italy) currently available in the laboratory of the Units involved in the project. In case of identification of unreported sequence variants, the presence of these mutations will be assessed in a sample of at least 100 normolipidemic subjects of the population, in order to define whether the nucleotide changes are rare sequence variations (with a putative functional effect) or represent common polymorphisms. In case of finding of rare variants in the coding regions, an in silico analysis will be performed by using two different softwares (Polyphen, http://genetics.bwh.harvard.edu/pph/ and Panther, http://www.pantherdb.org/) to predict the putative damaging role of the mutations on the protein. In case of intronic variants, the specifically designed software Automated Splice Site Analysis will be applied (https://www.splice.uwo.ca/). Putative causal mutations will be also tested for co-segregation in available families in affected and unaffected members. In order to test the effect of variants on enzyme activity LAL-activity will be assayed with dried blood spot (DBS) technique using the inhibitors Lalistat 2 in carriers and non carriers of these mutations belonging to available kindred.