Biochemical Genetics Flashcards
biochemical genetic disorders
caused by enzyme deficiency
- “inborn errors of metabolism”
- problems are due to accumulation of substrates or lack of/deficiency product
- often effectively targeted on NBS and treatable
biochemical genetics inheritance
most commonly autosomal recessive
PKU treatment
-restriction of protein in diet
+remove Phe, add tyrosine with formula
-BH4 supplementation (Kuvan) for some individuals with cofactor defect or with residual activity mutation
alkaptonuria
disorder of catabolism of tyrosine due to build up of substrates
alternative products
can be produced due to accumulation of substrates and failed conversion to normal product
PKU pathogenesis
-deficiency of PAH
-tyrosine fails to be produced
+catecholemines and neurotransmitters affected by loss of precursor
-get atypical production and urine secretion of phenylketones (phenylpyruvate, phenylacetate) due to accumulation of substrate
-elevated blood Phe levels buildup causes mental impairment
CAH
group of enzyme defects related to cortisol production from cholesterol
21-hydroxylase
most commonly mutated enzyme in CAH
- normally converts 17-hydroxyprogesterone into 11-hydroxycortisol
- excess 17-hydroxy converted to androgens
NBS detection of 21-hydroxylase deficiency
high levels of 17-hydroxyprogesterone and low levels of cortisol in the blood
-high false positive seen in babies born prematurely
low cortisol level effects
- inability to retain sodium in kidney
- problems with fasting intolerance
effects of androgen build-up
virilization in females
reasoning behind recessive inheritance of IEMs
-most enzymes operate below full capacity & most physiological substrate concentration is below enzyme saturation
+only need about 10% enzyme function to avoid symptoms
+balance allows homeostasis to be maintained and gives enzymes chance to respond dynamically to substrate concentration changes
arginase deficiency/arginemia
- failed step of urea cycle causes buildup of arginine and reduced ornithine and urea
- affected individuals tend to develop lower limb spasticity
harmful double substrate
if the doubled concentration is problematic, the enzyme is inherited in a dominant fashion
*most heterozygotes unaffected
amino acid studies
- quantitative
- usually performed on blood, but can be done on urine
- includes acids that are not part of the basic 20
- slight elevations common so best performed after fasting-abnormal is 10x normal levels
organic acid studies
- generally derivatives of AA, but others are part of carb metabolism or Krebs cycle
- mostly performed on urine via GCMS
- can be quantitative or qualitative
- slight elevations can make results difficult to interpret
when to pursue AA and OA studies
usually performed by pediatricians, but can be done as confirmatory or follow-up studies to NBS or monitoring of therapy for affected child
- unexplained DD
- unexplained acute illnesses
- FTT
acylcarnitine profile
-designed to be done on urine but now done on blood via tandem mass spec
-reflects the intracellular concentrations of acyl-CoA
+accumulating derivatives aren’t measurable in blood or urine
+report shows molecular weight or carbon number with the number of double bonds
enzyme assays
-can be performed on blood or biopsied samples
-measuring Vmax of activity in the tissue, not physiological activity
+makes some kinetic variants easy to miss because maximal activity can be normal, but at physiologic levels may not be
-stability of samples can make accuracy difficult
enzyme assay sources
\+WBC \+serum-non cell samples \+NBS dried blood spot \+skin fibroblasts \+sometimes more invasive liver or muscle biopsies are necessary
CRM assay
- checks for presence or absence of protein
- antibody levels are raised to measure immunologically-looking for reaction
- typically studied by western blot
treatment of CRM negative patients
can be more difficult because individuals have never been exposed to protein
gene sequencing for biochemical disorders
-preferable in some cases because most IEMs have causative loci & reduces issues that occur with enzymatic assay
+gene panels can also be helpful due to locus heterogeneity
+polymorphisms, VUSs and benign variants can also complicate interpretation
point mutations in IEMs
- more likely to be crm+
- likely to allow for some enzymatic activity