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RESEARCH REPORT |
1 Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, University of Michigan Dental Research Lab, 1210 Eisenhower Place, Ann Arbor, MI 48108;
2 Seoul National University, College of Dentistry, Department of Pediatric Dentistry & Dental Research Institute, 28-2 Yongon-dong, Chongno-gu, Seoul, Korea 110-768;
3 University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78289-3900;
4 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Dentistry, Dental Research Center, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7455; and
5 Department of Preventive Sciences, Moos Health Sciences Tower, 515 Delaware Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455;
* corresponding author, janhu{at}umich.edu
| ABSTRACT |
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KEY WORDS: enamel amelogenin amelogenesis imperfecta hypoplastic AI AMELX
| INTRODUCTION |
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Two mutations have been identified in the coding region for the amelogenin signal peptide (MGTWILFACLLGAAFA). The first mutation involved the deletion of 9 nucleotides that replaced amino acids 5 through 8 (ILFA) with threonine (T) (Lagerström-Fermer et al., 1995). This I5-A8delinsT mutation caused the synthesis of a normal amelogenin protein fused to a defective signal peptide. Clinically, the incisal edges of the anterior teeth showed prominent mammelons, and the enamel was thinner than normal but appeared to be properly mineralized. The female carriers were less severely affected, with islands of alternating normal and defective enamel. The second signal peptide defect was a point mutation (W4X) that also caused severe enamel hypoplasia (Sekiguchi et al., 2001). The thin enamel had a slightly coarse surface, and the incisal edges of the anterior teeth were rough due to exaggerated mammelons and incisal chipping. The presence or absence of a vertical banding pattern in the dentition of the affected female was not reported. The translational stop signal replacing the fourth codon (W4X) might have resulted in a null mutation, but because an upstream short reading frame often allows ribosomes to re-initiate at appropriate downstream start codons (Kozak, 1984), such a mutation might also have caused translation to initiate from the Met17 codon, resulting in the intracellular expression of the normally secreted amelogenin protein.
Here we report two AMELX mutations (p.M1T and p.W4S) within the coding region for the amelogenin signal peptide, which brings to four the number of mutations predicted to interfere with the secretion of amelogenin. The common phenotype in these four kindreds is enamel hypoplasia with malformed incisal edges on the anterior teeth. The enamel appears to have mineralized normally and contrasts with dentin on radiographs. In the case of the four signal peptide mutations in AMELX, there is a strong correlation between phenotype and genotype, which could help clinicians in making a diagnosis of X-linked AI.
| MATERIALS & METHODS |
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Polymerase Chain-reaction (PCR) and DNA Sequencing
A 10-cc quantity of peripheral whole blood was obtained from participating family members. Genomic DNA was isolated with the use of the QIAamp DNA Blood Maxi Kit (Qiagen Inc., Valencia, CA, USA). The purity and concentration of the DNA were quantitated by spectrophotometry, as measured by the OD260/OD280 ratio.
Oligonucleotide primers for polymerase chain-reaction were designed with the use of Primer3 on the Web (http://www-genome.wi.mit.edu/cgi-bin/primer/primer3_www.cgi) (Rozen and Skaletsky, 2000). The strategy was to generate amplification products that would allow for DNA sequencing, in both directions, of each amelogenin exon and ~ 50 bp of their adjoining introns. The oligonucleotide sequences, their annealing sites, and the sizes of their amplification products are shown in Fig. 1
. The concentration of purified amplimer was estimated by the intensity of its ethidium-bromide-stained band on a 1% agarose gel, and 68 ng/µL (1 ng/µL for each 100 bp) of template and 3.2 pMol/µL of primer were used in each sequencing reaction.
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Light and Scanning Electron Microscopy
Two naturally exfoliated primary cuspids and a primary mandibular central incisor were obtained from the proband and an affected sister with the p.M1T mutation for histological analysis of the enamel and dentin. Thin sections were cut with a diamond blade to thicknesses of approximately 120 µm and examined with light microscopy as previously described (Wright et al., 1993a). Samples for scanning electron microscopy were either fractured or cut, polished to a 0.25-µm finish, and etched for 60 sec with 0.07 M H3PO4 as previously described (Wright et al., 1993b).
| RESULTS |
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Family 1 is a kindred in which the AI affection status, based upon the family history, is known for 5 generations (Fig. 2
). Eleven members of this kindred were recruited, which included six unaffected (four females, two males) and five affected (four females, one male) members. Genomic DNA was amplified and characterized from an affected male (IV-2). The seven AMELX amplification products varied from the AMELX reference sequence (AY040206) in exon 2, which altered the amelogenin translation initiation codon, and in exon 6, which did not alter the deduced amino acid sequence. Single-stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis showed that the exon 2 mutation was present in all of the five affected, and in none of the six unaffected, family members (Fig. 2
). Based upon the amelogenin genomic (AY040206), cDNA, and deduced amino acid (AF436849) reference sequences, and the published standardized nomenclature for AI mutations (Hart et al., 2002), the start codon mutation in family 1 is described as g.2T>C for the gene, c.2T>C for the cDNA, and p.M1T for the protein. The polymorphism in exon 6 is g.3834C>T for the gene and g.261C>T for the cDNA.
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Naturally exfoliated primary cuspids and a mandibular central incisor were obtained from girls having the p.M1T mutation (Fig. 3
). Light microscopy of ground sections showed that the enamel layer is very thin, or about 1/4 the thickness of a wild-type control (Figs. 3A
3D). Scanning electron microscopy indicated that the thin enamel lacked a prismatic structure for the most part (Figs. 3E
, 3F
), although there were some areas that looked like they had an organized crystallite orientation that approached a normal prismatic pattern (Figs. 3G
, 3H
). The tooth surface was rough and pitted (Fig. 3I
). The dentin appeared normal, with distinct dentinal tubules coursing from the DEJ pulpally (Figs. 3J
, 3K
).
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The incisal edges of the anterior teeth on the proband showed developmentally prominent mammelons, which were apparently preserved by the anterior open bite. The affected mother reported having previously undergone orthodontic treatment for correction of an anterior open bite. The enamel, although thinner than normal, was not as thin as in family 1 and could be readily identified on radiographs as a continuous radiopaque layer covering the dentin. The underlying dentin appeared to show through the thin enamel covering, but the resulting yellowish shade was also not as strong as in family 1. Both affected females showed a pattern of alternative vertical bands of thin enamel and enamel of more normal thickness.
| DISCUSSION |
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Pathologically thin, or hypoplastic, enamel is caused by a failure in crystal elongation, which occurs during the secretory stage of amelogenesis (Simmer and Fincham, 1995; Fincham et al., 1999). After the enamel crystals achieve their final length (and the enamel layer itself achieves its final thickness), the organic matrix separating individual enamel crystallites is degraded and re-absorbed. If the organic matrix is not properly removed, pathologically soft (hypomaturation) forms of AI result (Smith, 1998). In the four AI cases where a signal peptide mutation blocks amelogenin secretion, the defect appears to have affected the secretory stage only. In cases where a defective amelogenin protein is secreted, the mutant amelogenin protein may be resistant to degradation by enamel proteases and may not be thoroughly cleared from the matrix, resulting in a hypomaturation type of AI, which may produce a more noticeable Lyonization pattern (Collier et al., 1997; Li et al., 2003).
Clinically, females with X-linked AI often show vertical bands of apparently normal, translucent enamel alternating with thinner (hypoplastic) white opaque enamel. These vertical bands are believed to be an "X-inactivation pattern" or "Lyonization" pattern, due to the presence of alternating bands of ameloblasts secreting normal and defective amelogenin (Berkman and Singer, 1971; Witkop and Sauk, 1976). Phenotype variation in females heterozygous for X-linked genes can be caused by non-random X-chromosome inactivation (Sharp et al., 2000; Plenge et al., 2002). At the present time, there is no evidence that skewing of X-inactivation causes variations in the AI phenotype that might explain the apparent lack of a Lyonization pattern in family 1 with X-linked AI. The most common mechanism that skews X-inactivation is when a disproportionate number of cells show inactivation of the mutated over the wild-type X chromosome through cell selection, that is, cells expressing the mutant gene die or cannot divide as well as those expressing the wild-type gene (Lyon, 2002). In such cases, however, proliferative selection against cells expressing the abnormal gene to cells expressing the wild-type copy is expected to cause a more mild phenotype in the female than might occur in the absence of such selection. In our family 1, where the phenotype in females is severe, selection against cells expressing the mutant amelogenin gene (p.M1T) seems unlikely. In family 2, the comparatively mild phenotype is readily explained if the signal peptide mutation (p.W4S) only partially interfered with translocation into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Any amelogenin that did make it into the ER would be secreted as a perfectly normal amelogenin protein.
There are currently no data concerning the relative expression of amelogenin from the paternal and maternal X chromosomes in either normal or diseased individuals. Despite this, skewed X-inactivation patterns must be considered as a possible cause of phenotypic variation in X-linked AI. In the four kindreds showing amelogenin signal peptide mutations, the phenotype is remarkably consistent. Severe enamel hypoplasia with a slightly rough surface, exaggerated mammelons, or incisal chipping with an X-linked pattern of inheritance should arouse suspicion of a possible mutation in exon 2 of the AMELX. The presence or absence of an anterior open bite is not a consistent finding in the kindreds with an AMELX signal peptide mutation, and suggests that it is a secondary rather than a direct pleiotropic effect of the gene mutation.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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Received July 3, 2003; Last revision March 4, 2004; Accepted March 5, 2004
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