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The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Vol. 83, No. 7 2497-2502
Copyright © 1998 by The Endocrine Society


Original Studies

Familial Hypoparathyroidism: Identification of a Novel Gain of Function Mutation in Transmembrane Domain 5 of the Calcium-Sensing Receptor1

Tomoyuki Watanabe, Mei Bai, Charles R. Lane, Susumu Matsumoto, Kanshi Minamitani, Masanori Minagawa, Hiroo Niimi, Edward M. Brown and Toshiyuki Yasuda

Department of Pediatrics, Chiba University School of Medicine (T.W., K.M., M.M., H.N., T.Y.), Chiba 260-8670, Japan; Endocrine-Hypertension Division, Department of Medicine (M.B., C.R.L., E.M.B.), Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115; and Saitama Yorii Children’s Hospital (S.M.), Yorii, Saitama 369–1200, Japan

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Toshiyuki Yasuda, M.D., Department of Pediatrics, Chiba University School of Medicine, 1–8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8670, Japan. E-mail: toshi{at}med.m.chiba-u.ac.jp


    Abstract
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Subjects and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Activating mutations of the extracellular calcium (Ca2+e)-sensing receptor (CaR) gene, mostly in its extracellular domain, can cause both familial and sporadic hypoparathyroidism. We report a Japanese family with severe hypoparathyroidism with pretreatment serum calcium (Ca) levels of 4.9–5.9 mg/dL. The proband presented with a seizure at 6 days of age. Her older brother and mother, who had also experienced seizures and tetany, respectively, likewise had hypoparathyroidism. A heterozygous missense mutation substituting a cysteine for the phenylalanine normally present at codon 788 (F788C) was identified in the CaR’s fifth transmembrane domain and was shown to cosegregate with the disease. The mutation was absent in DNA from 50 control subjects. Analysis of the functional properties of the mutant receptor was carried out in transiently transfected HEK293 cells loaded with fura-2 by assessing Ca2+e-evoked increases in the cytosolic calcium concentration (Ca2+i). There was a leftward shift in the concentration-response curve for the mutant receptor [EC50 (effective concentration of Ca2+e producing half of the maximal Ca2+i response, 2.7 ± 0.1 vs. 4.1 ± 0.1 mmol/L for the wild-type receptor]. HEK293 cells cotransfected with both the wild-type and mutant CaRs (to mimic the heterozygous state in affected family members) showed an EC50 (3.0 ± 0.1 mmol/L) similar to that of the mutant CaR alone. Thus, we confirm that 1) a gain of function mutation in the fifth transmembrane domain of the CaR causes severe familial hypoparathyroidism by rendering the receptor more sensitive than normal to activation by Ca2+e; 2) some patients in the family do not experience seizures despite their severe hypocalcemia; and 3) this condition needs to be differentiated from other causes of hypoparathyroidism.


    Introduction
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Subjects and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
FAMILIAL hypoparathyroidism is an uncommon condition that can present at any point in life. Detailed analyses of the various causes of the disorder in these families has contributed importantly to our current understanding of calcium (Ca) homeostasis and to elucidating the functions of a novel gene (1). The recently cloned, extracellular calcium (Ca2+e)-sensing receptor (CaR) belongs to the superfamily of seven membrane-spanning, G protein-coupled receptors (2). It plays a key role in mineral ion, fluid, and electrolyte homeostasis by controlling PTH secretion in the parathyroid chief cells, urinary Ca2+ reabsorption in the thick ascending limb of Henle’s loop, urinary concentrating capacity in the inner medullary collecting duct, and calcitonin secretion by thyroidal, calcitonin-secreting C cells. It is also expressed in a variety of other cells that are not clearly involved in systemic ionic balance, such as various regions of the brain and the lens epithelial cells, where its biological functions remain to be elucidated (3, 4). The CaR senses a change in the extracellular Ca2+ concentration with a sensitivity of less than 0.1 mg/dL. In the parathyroid, activation of the receptor by raising the extracellular Ca2+ concentration decreases both transcription of the PTH gene and secretion of PTH into the circulation. In the kidney, CaR activation, in concert with high Ca2+e-induced suppression of PTH secretion, inhibits urinary Ca2+ reabsorption and also reduces vasopressin-stimulated reabsorption of water.

Inactivating mutations of the CaR gene cause resistance of the parathyroid and kidney to Ca2+e. Heterozygous inactivating mutations cause a form of familial hypercalcemia with inappropriately low urinary calcium excretion, familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia (FHH), whereas neonatal severe hyperparathyroidism can be caused by inactivating CaR mutations in either the homozygous or the heterozygous state (5, 6, 7). Heterozygous CaR mutations causing neonatal severe hyperparathyroidism can, in some cases, exert a dominant negative effect on the normal CaR allele, thereby producing more severe hypercalcemia and hyperparathyroidism than are generally present in the heterozygous state (e.g. in FHH) (8).

Pollak et al. first reported that an activating mutation in the extracellular domain of the CaR can be a cause of familial hypocalcemia, with levels of PTH insufficient to maintain normocalcemia, thereby resembling hypoparathyroidism in its pathophysiology (9). Receptor activation lowers the set-point for maintenance of serum Ca levels, in part by suppressing PTH secretion at normal or even frankly low levels of Ca. For this reason we refer to this condition in the present report as familial hypoparathyroidism. Subsequent studies have shown higher levels of urinary Ca excretion in this disorder than in patients with hypoparathyroidism alone (10, 11), probably because activated CaRs in the kidney promote a greater degree of calciuria than would otherwise be present at any given level of serum Ca. Recent studies have identified 11 missense mutations, mainly localized in the extracellular domain of the CaR, that cause hypoparathyroidism (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16), of which 7 have been functionally characterized by expression in heterologous mammalian cell systems (10, 12, 13, 16, 17). Although there is considerable heterogeneity in the severity of the hypocalcemia caused by activating CaR mutations, most of them are associated with mild hypocalcemia.

We report here a Japanese family with severe, autosomal dominant hypocalcemia due to the presence of a novel gain of function mutation in the fifth transmembrane domain of the CaR gene. This is the third reported case of an activating mutation of the transmembrane domains of the CaR causing hypoparathyroidism and the first in which such an activating mutation in a transmembrane domain caused familial hypoparathyroidism.


    Subjects and Methods
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Subjects and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Case report (Fig. 1Go and Table 1Go)

Propositus (patient II-4). A female infant, aged 6 days, developed seizures. She was born at 38 weeks gestation without asphyxia. She had none of the clinical features of the loss of 22q11.2 syndrome (cardiac anomaly, peculiar face, thymic hypoplasia, or hypocalcemia) except for hypocalcemia (1). Her initial laboratory data revealed a low level of serum Ca and a high level of serum phosphorus (P): 4.9 (normal range, 8.5–10.5) and 11.5 mg/dL (normal range, 4–7), respectively. She showed a sharp increase in plasma cAMP in response to infusion of human PTH-(1–34) (before, 12 nmol/L; after, 140 nmol/L). She had relative hypercalciuria (urinary Ca/creatinine ratio of 0.4–0.8 when serum Ca levels were 7–8 mg/dL) during infancy. A computed tomographic scan showed severe calcifications of the basal ganglia at 12 yr of age.



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Figure 1. Pedigree of the family. Initial laboratory data and birth year are indicated. I-2, II-2, and II-4 are affected individuals.

 

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Table 1. Biochemical data during treatment

 
Patient II-2. The elder brother of the proband was discovered to have hypocalcemia during the family survey. He experienced a seizure at 7 days of age and was treated with anticonvulsants for recurrent seizures. His serum calcium concentration was 5.9 mg/dL, with a serum P of 7.4 mg/dL and an inappropriately low normal serum PTH level. Calcifications of the basal ganglia were detected at 16 yr of age. He showed a sharp increase in urinary excretion of phosphate and cAMP in response to infusion of human PTH-(1–34) (data not shown).

Patient I-2. The mother of the proband had a history of tetany. Biochemical findings confirmed the presence of hypoparathyroidism (Fig. 1Go and Table 1Go). She showed a sharp increase in urinary excretion of phosphate and cAMP in response to infusion of human PTH-(1–34) (data not shown).

The other family members shown in Fig. 1Go had normal serum Ca and P levels. All three of the affected patients were initially treated with 1{alpha}-hydroxyvitamin D3, initially alone and subsequently, since 1989, in combination with thiazide diuretics. The biochemical data for these three subjects while they were being treated are shown in Table 1Go. They have sometimes complained of polyuria, polydipsia, and weakness when their serum Ca levels were raised to levels approaching the lower limit of normal, and their serum Ca concentrations were, therefore, usually maintained at 7–8 mg/dL. These clinical and biochemical features led us to suspect an abnormality in the regulation of the PTH gene or in the Ca2+e-sensing receptor gene.

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects for the studies described below.

DNA amplification and sequence analysis

Genomic DNA was prepared from white blood cells with an Easy-DNA extraction kit (Invitrogen, San Diego, CA). Exons 2–7 of the CaR gene, comprising the entire coding sequence, were amplified by PCR (6, 7). Both strands of the PCR products of the propositus were sequenced using an Applied Biosystems mode 373A automated sequencer with the Taq DyeDeoxy terminator cycle sequencing kit (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA). A heterozygous nucleotide substitution, T to G, at nucleotide 2363 that changed the phenylalanine normally present at codon 788 to a cysteine (e.g. F788C using the single letter amino acid code) was identified in the propositus (see Results).

PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis

Primers MBF and MBR in exon 7 of the CaR were prepared to screen for the presence of the missense mutation (F788C or T2363G) identified in the propositus in other family members by the use of PCR-RFLP and to carry out a similar analysis of DNA from normal controls: MBF, 5'-ATCACGTGCCACGAGGGCTC-3' (nucleotides 2287–2306); and MBR, 5'-GATGAGCATGCTGAAGGTGATG-3' (nucleotides 2439–2418) (18). PCR-amplified genomic DNAs were digested with MboII and then subjected to electrophoresis through a 3% agarose gel to determine whether the DNA contained a MboII restriction site destroyed by the point mutation present in the propositus (see Results). The linkage in the family was also examined by PCR-SSCP analysis. Two microliters of PCR products amplified with [32P]deoxy-CTP were denatured by heating with formamide and electrophoresed on a 6% polyacrylamide gel (acrylamide-N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide, 49:1) containing 5% glycerol, in 0.5 x TBE (Tris-borate/EDTA) buffer with 950 V, for 4 h. After electrophoresis, the gels were dried and autoradiographed.

Site-directed mutagenesis

Site-directed mutagenesis to produce a CaR with the identified point mutation, F788C, was performed as described previously (17) using the approach described by Kunkel (19). The dut-1 ung-1 strain of Escherichia coli, CJ236, was transformed with mutagenesis cassette 6, as described in Bai et al. (17). Uracil-containing, single stranded DNA was produced by infecting the cells with the helper phage, VCSM13. The DNA was then annealed to a mutagenesis primer containing the desired nucleotide change, e.g. substitution of a G for the T normally present at position 2363 flanked on both sides by wild-type sequence. The primer was then extended around the entire single stranded DNA and ligated to generate closed circular heteroduplex DNA. DH5{alpha}-competent cells were transformed with the heteroduplex DNA, and incorporation of the desired mutation was confirmed by sequencing the entire cassette.

Transient expression of the wild-type and mutated CaRs harboring the F788C mutation in HEK293 cells

The DNA for transfection was prepared using the Midi Plasmid kit (Qiagen, Chatsworth, CA). Lipofectamine (Life Technologies, Gaithersburg, MD) was employed as the DNA carrier for transfection (17). HEK293 cells (provided by NPS Pharmaceuticals, Salt Lake City, UT) were cultured in DMEM (Life Technologies). Transient transfection was performed as described previously (17) by adding a DNA-Lipofectamine mixture diluted with OPTI-MEM 1 Reduced Serum Medium (Life Technologies) to 90% confluent HEK293 cells plated in 13.5 x 20.1 mm glass coverslips [for measurement of the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration (Ca2+i)] or in six-well plates (for obtaining membrane protein for Western analysis) using 0.625 µg DNA. After 5-h incubation at 37, an amount of OPTI-MEM 1 Reduced Serum Medium with 20% FBS equal to that present in the wells was added to the transfected cells, which was then replaced with fresh DMEM and 10% FBS at 24 h after the start of transfection. The expressed CaR protein was assayed at 48 h after transfection. To perform coexpression of wild-type and mutant receptors, 0.625 µg of each complementary DNA (cDNA) were mixed and used to transfect HEK293 cells as described above.

Preparation of cellular lysates and performance of Western analysis

HEK293 cells transiently transfected with the wild-type or mutant CaRs were rinsed twice with phosphate-buffered saline and solubilized with 1 mL cold solubilization buffer [1% Triton X-100, 0.5% Nonidet P-40, 150 mmol/L NaCl, 10 mmol/L Tris (pH 7.4), 2 mmol/L ethylenediamine tetraacetate, 1 mmol/L ethyleneglycol-bis-(ß-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid, and protease inhibitors (83 µg/mL aprotinin, 30 µg/mL leupeptin, 1 mg/mL Pefabloc (Boehringer-Mannheim, Indianapolis, IN), 50 µg/mL calpain inhibitor, 50 µg/mL bestatin, and 5 µg/mL pepstatin)] at room temperature (17). Insoluble material was removed by sedimentation at 5000 rpm for 15 min at 4 C. The resultant supernatants containing the crude cellular lysates were collected and employed for Western analysis. Protein concentrations were determined using the bicinchoninic acid protein assay (Pierce Chemical Co., Rockford, IL). An appropriate amount of protein (15 µg) from each of the cell lysates was subjected to SDS-PAGE (17) using a linear gradient of polyacrylamide (4–12%). The proteins on the gel were subsequently electrotransferred to a nitrocellulose membrane. After blocking with 5% milk, the blot was incubated with primary anti-CaR antiserum (rabbit polyclonal antiserum 4641, directed against amino acids 215–237 of the bovine CaR; provided by Drs. Forrest Fuller and Rachel Simin at NPS), which is specific for the CaR, as detailed previously (17). After washing, the blots were incubated with the secondary goat antirabbit antiserum conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO; diluted 1:500). The CaR protein was detected with an enhanced chemiluminescence system (Amersham, Arlington Heights, IL).

Measurement of Ca2+e-evoked changes in Ca2+i

Coverslips with attached HEK293 cells transiently transfected with the wild-type CaR, the mutant CaR, or both were loaded for 2 h at room temperature with fura-2/AM in 20 mmol/L HEPES, pH 7.4, containing 125 mmol/L NaCl, 4 mmol/L KCl, 1.25 mmol/L CaCl2, 1 mmol/L MgSO4, 1 mmol/L NaH2PO4, 0.1 (wt/vol) dextrose, and 0.1% (wt/vol) BSA (16, 17). After washing without the fura-2/AM (16, 17), the coverslips were placed diagonally in a thermostatted quartz cuvette containing the bath solution, using a modification of the technique employed previously in this laboratory (20). Extracellular calcium was increased in a stepwise fashion to give the desired concentrations, using 1-mmol/L increments up to 5.5 mmol/L Ca2+e followed by 5-mmol/L increments (16, 17) as shown in Results. Excitation monochrometers were centered at 340 and 380 nm, with emission light collected at 510 ± 40 nm through a wide band emission filter. The emission of light after excitation at both 340 and 380 nm was used to calculate Ca2+i, as described previously (17).

Statistical analysis

The mean EC50 values (the effective concentrations of Ca2+e eliciting half of the maximal Ca2+i responses) for the wild-type CaR, mutant CaR, or both in response to increasing concentrations of Ca2+e were calculated from the EC50 values for all of the individual experiments and are expressed with the SEM as the index of dispersion. Comparisons of the EC50 values was performed using ANOVA or Duncan’s multiple comparison test (16, 17).


    Results
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Subjects and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
DNA sequence analysis

A heterozygous T to G base pair substitution was identified in the genomic DNA of the propositus at position 2363 in exon 7 (Fig. 2AGo). This mutation produces an amino acid change from phenylalanine to cysteine at position 788 (F788C) within the predicted fifth transmembrane domain of the CaR. No other mutations were identified.



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Figure 2. Direct sequence analysis of the propositus (A), PCR-RFLP (B), and PCR-SSCP (C). Both strands of PCR-amplified genomic DNA were sequenced. The DNA sequence for the propositus revealed a heterozygous T to G substitution at position 2363 (A). Arrows indicate the site of the mutation. MboII digests of PCR-amplified DNA from three affected (I-2, II-2, and II-4) and three unaffected family members as well as a control that were fractionated on a 3% agarose gel (B) are shown. DNA was obtained from three affected members, showing destruction of the MboII site in one allele of the CaR. MboII digestion was complete in PCR-amplified DNA from unaffected family members (B) and 50 control subjects (data not shown), giving rise to the expected DNA fragments of 69 and 84 bp. The mutation is also demonstrated by PCR-SSCP. In the case of affected individuals, the PCR-SSCP pattern shows three bands, whereas two bands are visible in unaffected individuals (C). Thus, cosegregation of the mutation (F788C) with hypocalcemia was demonstrated in the family by both PCR-RFLP and PCR-SSCP.

 
PCR-RFLP and PCR-SSCP analyses

The missense mutation identified in the propositus destroys a recognition site for the restriction enzyme MboII. The cleavage of the PCR products (153 bp) by MboII normally generates two fragments of 69 and 84 bp. Therefore, genomic DNA from this family as well as from 50 normal control subjects were screened for the mutation by PCR-RFLP using MboII after PCR amplification with primers MBF and MBR. The missense mutation was found in the DNA of the affected individuals in the family and was absent in the DNA from unaffected family members (Fig. 2BGo) as well as in that from 50 normal controls. The mutation was also demonstrated by PCR-SSCP (see Fig. 2CGo).

Western analysis of the transiently expressed CaR containing the F788C mutation

Figure 3Go shows the results of Western analysis performed on crude cellular lysates prepared from HEK293 cells transiently transfected with the cDNAs encoding the wild-type CaR, the mutant CaR harboring the F788C mutation, or the vector used for the transfections without any cDNA insert. The bands that were not present in the vector-transfected HEK293 cells were specific for the CaR (Fig. 3Go). The lower molecular mass species between 140–200 kDa were monomeric, N-glycosylated forms of the receptor, containing high mannose and complex carbohydrates, respectively (17). The high molecular mass species above 200 kDa were presumably dimeric and higher oligomeric forms of the CaR. The expression patterns and levels of the wild-type and mutant receptors were similar.



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Figure 3. Western analysis of wild-type and mutant CaRs. Total cell lysates were isolated from HEK293 cells that had been transiently transfected with 0.625 µg wild-type cDNA, rHuPCaR4.0, the same amount of the cDNA for the mutant receptor containing the F788C missense mutation, or the empty vector used for transfection, and 15 µg protein from each were subjected to SDS-PAGE on a running gel with a linear gradient (4–12%). Lane 1, rHuPCaR4.0; lane 2, the mutant receptor with F788C; lane 3, empty expression vector.

 
Functional analysis

Although the wild-type receptor, when transiently expressed in HEK293 cells, showed an EC50 for Ca2+e-elicited increases in Ca2+i of 4.1 ± 0.1 mmol/L (n = 4), the mutant receptor exhibited a left-shifted dose-response curve, with an EC50 of 2.7 ± 0.1 mmol/L (n = 4; Fig. 4Go). Coexpression of the wild-type and mutant receptors, to mimic the heterozygous state present in affected family members in vivo, revealed an EC50 of 3.0 ± 0.1 mmol/L, close to that observed in cells transfected with the mutant receptor alone (Fig. 4Go).



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Figure 4. Ca2+e-evoked Ca2+i responses of fura-2-loaded HEK293 cells transiently transfected with the wild-type CaR, the mutant receptor containing F788C, or both wild-type and mutant receptors (see text for details). In this experiment, 0.625 µg of each cDNA was employed to transfect HEK293 cells plated on rectangular coverslips (within individual wells of 12-well plates). Each data point is the mean value of 4 measurements. The responses are normalized to the maximal response of the wild-type receptor (rHuPCaR4.0). The SEM is indicated with a vertical bar through each point (no error bar is shown when the SEM is smaller than the symbol). The EC50 for each curve is presented as the mean ± SEM. The mean EC50 values for the wild-type receptor, the mutant receptor alone, and the cotransfected wild-type and mutant receptors were significantly different (P < 0.05).

 

    Discussion
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Subjects and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
The patients in the family studied here had severe hypocalcemia and hyperphosphatemia. When viewed in the light of their detectable concentrations of PTH, the levels of urinary Ca excretion in affected family members were inappropriately high in relation to their serum calcium levels. These affected individuals preferred to have their serum Ca levels maintained within the range of 7–8 mg/dL, because at normal levels of serum Ca they sometimes experienced the symptoms and complications that otherwise normal people only develop during frank hypercalcemia. All of these features may be explained by the presence of the activated CaR in parathyroid, kidney, and brain, where it renders these tissues inappropriately responsive to Ca2+e.

We have identified a novel heterozygous missense mutation (F788C) in the fifth transmembrane helix of the CaR. There was complete concordance of the presence of the mutation with disease status in the family, and the mutation was absent in the genomic DNA from 50 controls as assessed by the PCR-RFLP (and PCR-SSCP) analysis, strongly supporting the causal role of the mutation in this family’s hypoparathyroidism. Moreover, the receptor, when expressed in HEK293 cells, showed a substantial leftward shift in its activation by the major physiological agonist of the CaR in vivo, Ca2+e, with a reduction in EC50 from 4.1 mmol/L Ca2+e for the wild-type receptor to 2.7 mmol/L for the mutant receptor. Expressions of the wild-type and mutant receptors were similar as assessed by Western blot analysis. Although the latter does not directly document cell surface expression of the biologically active form(s) of the receptors, we have shown (17) that the upper band of the doublet present at 140–160 kDa on Western analysis corresponds to the position of the mature, cell surface form of the CaR as assessed by direct cell surface labeling of the receptor, and the levels of this band were comparable for the wild-type and mutant receptors. Coexpression of the wild-type and mutant CaRs, to mimic the heterozygous state present in vivo, gave an EC50 of 3 mmol/L. The observed abnormality in the mutant CaR’s function, therefore, does not result from increased activity of the unliganded receptor, but, rather, from either enhanced activity of the liganded receptor (e.g. more efficient signal transduction for any given degree of receptor occupancy by ligand) or greater affinity of the receptor for ligand. We did not directly compare the maximal responses of the mutant and wild-type CaRs, because the greater sensitivity of the former to the ambient level of Ca2+e present before the measurement of Ca2+e-evoked increases in Ca2+i could have altered intracellular Ca2+ stores in ways that would artifactually perturb apparent maximal responses. Recent studies have compared the function of the wild-type CaR with those of mutant receptors containing activating mutations by measuring high Ca2+e-elicited accumulation of inositol phosphates (IPs) in HEK293 cells preincubated with [3H]inositol (12, 13). In several cases, the mutant CaRs showed not only lower EC50 values but also greater maximal levels of [3H]inositol-labeled IPs at high Ca2+e than those observed with the wild-type receptor. Although these results may indicate that the mutant CaRs cause a greater degree of activation of phospholipase C than the wild-type receptor, it is also possible that the activated CaRs produce more complete labeling of the phosphoinositide precursor pool than the wild-type receptor during the preincubation with [3H]inositol. Direct measurement of high Ca2+e-evoked increases in the mass of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (9) in HEK293 or other cells transiently transfected with wild-type or mutant CaRs might resolve this uncertainty regarding the maximal biological responses produced by CaRs harboring activating mutations.

Most gain of function mutations in the CaR localize in its extracellular regions: A116T (11), N118K (10, 12), E127A (9), F128L (10, 16), T151M (10, 14, 16), E191K (10, 16), Q245R (15), F612S (10, 13), and E681H (11) (Table 2Go). Functional analysis has revealed that all of these mutations induce leftward shifts in EC50. The phenotype produced by activating mutations of the CaR was thought to include relatively mild hypocalcemia. Mutation L773R, which also resides within transmembrane helix 5, has been reported very recently as a cause of sporadic hypoparathyroidism (12). L773R caused a significant leftward shift in the concentration-response curve as well as an augmentation of maximal IP production as assessed in HEK293 cells prelabeled with [3H]inositol (12). The Ca level in this case was 6.4 mg/dL at age 18 yr, with a history of convulsions at age 2 yr. The F788C mutation in the CaR’s fifth transmembrane helix, which we report here, produced the most severe familial hypocalcemia reported to date with activating mutations of this receptor, with levels of serum Ca ranging from 4.9 to 5.9 mg/dL, high urinary Ca excretion, and prominent calcifications of the basal ganglia. Therefore, it is possible that activating mutations present in the CaR’s transmembrane domains may produce more severe hypocalcemia than those present in the receptor’s extracellular domain. Moreover, additional studies of the effects of mutations in various regions of the receptor in the experiments of nature afforded by both activating and inactivating CaR mutations may provide valuable information on its structure-function relationships.


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Table 2. Calcium-sensing receptor mutations identified in hypocalcemia

 
Most patients with hypoparathyroidism show relative hypercalciuria (21), except those with pseudohypoparathyroidism type I and FHH after parathyroidectomy; in the former condition thanks to the action of elevated endogenous PTH levels on the renal tubule (1) and in the latter because of distal tubular resistance to Ca2+e due to the presence of inactivating CaR mutations (5, 22). However, it is important to differentiate hypoparathyroid patients due to activating CaR mutations from those with other causes of PTH-deficient hypoparathyroidism, because treatment with vitamin D to correct the hypocalcemia in the former may lead to more severe hypercalciuria, nephrocalcinosis, and renal impairment (10). The causes of these complications are presumably the combined effects of increased activity of mutant, overly active CaRs in the parathyroid and in the thick ascending limb of Henle’s loop to decrease urinary Ca reabsorption and those in collecting duct to inhibit vasopressin action, giving rise to inappropriate hypercalciuria and water loss, respectively. This defective urinary concentrating capacity can give rise to complaints of thirst, polyuria, and weakness when serum Ca levels are normalized (10). In hypoparathyroidism resulting from activating mutations of the CaR, treatment with active vitamin D metabolites should be reserved for symptomatic patients; alternatively, thiazide diuretics or PTH should be administered to reduce urinary Ca excretion at any given level of serum Ca and thereby permit the latter to be maintained at higher, more nearly normal levels without incurring undue hypercalciuria (23, 24). The early identification of hypoparathyroidism due to activating mutations in the CaR gene, therefore, is important to facilitate early recognition of patients with hypocalcemic hypercalciuria and to permit appropriate management of their electrolyte abnormalities.

In conclusion, severe familial hypoparathyroidism can be caused by a gain of function mutation in the fifth transmembrane domain of the CaR and further emphasizes the role of such mutations as a cause of familial hypoparathyroidism of widely varying severity.


    Footnotes
 
1 This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture, Japan (no. 08670855 and 10670706); a grant from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Japan; NIH Grants DK-46422 (to E.M.B.), DK-52005 (to E.M.B.), and DK-09436 (to M.B.); and the St. Giles Foundation (to E.M.B.). Back

Received January 29, 1998.

Revised March 18, 1998.

Accepted March 25, 1998.


    References
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Subjects and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 

  1. Yasuda T, Niimi H. 1997 Hypoparathyroidism and pseudohypoparathyroidism. Acta Paediatr Jpn. 39:485–490.[Medline]
  2. Brown EM, Gamba G, Riccardi D, et al. 1993 Cloning and characterization of an extracellular Ca2+-sensing receptor from bovine parathyroid. Nature. 366:575–580.[CrossRef][Medline]
  3. Brown EM, Pollak MR, Seidman CE, et al. 1995 Calcium-ion-sensing cell surface receptors. N Engl J Med. 333:234–240.[Free Full Text]
  4. Pearce SHS, Brown EM. 1996 Disorders of calcium ion sensing. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 81:2030–2035.[CrossRef][Medline]
  5. Marx SJ, Fraser D, Rapoport A. 1985 Familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia. Am J Med. 78:15–22.[Medline]
  6. Pollak MR, Brown EM, Chou YW, et al. 1993 Mutations in the human Ca2+ sensing receptor gene cause familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia and neonatal severe hyperparathyroidism. Cell. 75:1297–1303.[CrossRef][Medline]
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