Summary
A large scale factor XI (FXI) mutation screening program identified a number of novel
candidate mutations and previously reported mutations and polymorphisms. Five potential
missense mutations were selected for further study; these included two novel missense
mutations – Met-18Ile (p.Met1Ile) and Met102Thr (p.Met120Thr), two previously reported
missense mutations – Tyr133Ser (Tyr151Ser) and Thr575Met (Thr593Met), and one amino
acid substitution previously reported as a polymorphism – Arg378Cys (Arg396Cys). The
substitutions were recreated by the site-directed mutagenesis of a FXI cDNA and stably
expressed in a BHK-570 cell line. Subsequent analysis of both the conditioned media
and cell lysates showed that three of the substitutions, Met-18Ile, Met102Thr andTyr133Ser,
prevented secretion of the mutated protein from the transfected cell line, resulting
in a cross-reactive material negative (CRM-) phenotype. The remaining two mutants,
Thr575Met and Arg378Cys, secreted significant levels of FXI into the conditioned media;
however, these mutant FXIs were shown to have negligible factor IX activation activity
in an APTT based assay. These results confirmed all five of the missense mutations
as being causative of factor XI deficiency, despite one having been previously reported
as a polymorphism (Arg378Cys) and one (Tyr133Ser) as a mild mutation – FXI:C 38 U/dl
in a homozygous patient.
Keywords
Factor XI - site-directed mutagenesis - expression studies