Analysis of select folate pathway genes, PAX3, and human T in a Midwestern neural tube defect population.
Neural tube defects (NTDs) are a common birth defect, seen in approximately 1/1,000 births in the United States. NTDs are considered a complex trait where several genes, interacting with environmental factors, create the phenotype. Using a Midwestern NTD population consisting of probands, parents, and siblings from Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska, we analyzed a range of candidate genes, including 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase ( MTHFR), folate receptors-alpha (FOLR1; hereafter abbreviated " FR-alpha") and -beta (FOLR2; hereafter, " FR-beta"), methionine synthase (hereinafter, "MS"), T, the human homolog of the murine Brachyury gene, and the paired-box homeotic gene 3 (PAX3), for association with NTDs. We were unable to demonstrate an association using a previously described Ala-->Val mutation in MTHFR and the majority of our NTD populations. However, we discovered a silent polymorphism in exon 6 of MTHFR which conserved a serine residue and which showed significant association with NTDs in our Iowa population. Analysis of exon 7 of MTHFR then demonstrated an Ala-->Glu mutation which was significantly associated with our Iowa NTD population; however, we could not replicate this result either in a combined Minnesota/ Nebraska or in a California NTD population. Using polymorphic markers for MS, FR-beta, T, and PAX3, we were unable to demonstrate linkage disequilibrium with our NTD populations. A mutation search of FR-alpha revealed one proband with a de novo silent mutation of the stop codon. This work provides a new panel of genetic variants for studies of folate metabolism and supports, in some NTD populations, an association between MTHFR and NTDs.[1]References
- Analysis of select folate pathway genes, PAX3, and human T in a Midwestern neural tube defect population. Trembath, D., Sherbondy, A.L., Vandyke, D.C., Shaw, G.M., Todoroff, K., Lammer, E.J., Finnell, R.H., Marker, S., Lerner, G., Murray, J.C. Teratology (1999) [Pubmed]
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