Mutation screening of the UBE3A gene in Chinese Han population with autism

Abstract Background 15q11–13 region is one of the most complex chromosomal regions in the human genome. UBE3A is an important candidate gene of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which located at the 15q11–13 region and encodes ubiquitin-protein ligase E3A. Previous studies about UBE3A gene and ASD hav...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xue Zhao, Ran Zhang, Shunying Yu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2020-12-01
Series:BMC Psychiatry
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-020-03000-5
_version_ 1818661606769295360
author Xue Zhao
Ran Zhang
Shunying Yu
author_facet Xue Zhao
Ran Zhang
Shunying Yu
author_sort Xue Zhao
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background 15q11–13 region is one of the most complex chromosomal regions in the human genome. UBE3A is an important candidate gene of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which located at the 15q11–13 region and encodes ubiquitin-protein ligase E3A. Previous studies about UBE3A gene and ASD have shown inconsistent results and few studies were performed in Chinese population. This study aimed to detect the genetic mutations of UBE3A gene in Chinese Han population with ASD and analyze genetic association between these variants and ASD. Methods The samples consisted of 192 patients with autism according to the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria and 192 healthy controls. We searched for mutations at coding sequence (CDS) regions and their adjacent non-coding regions of UBE3A gene using the high resolution melting (HRM) and Sanger sequencing methods. We further increased sample size to validate the detected variants using HRM and conducted association analysis between case and control groups. Results A known single nucleotide polymorphism (T > C, rs150331504) located at the CDS4 and a known 5 bp insertion/deletion variation (AACTC+/−, rs71127053) located at the intron region of the upstream 288 bp of the CDS2 of UBE3A gene were detected using Sanger sequencing method. The ASD samples of case group were 391 for rs71127053, 384 for rs150331504 and 384 healthy controls, which were used to make an association analysis. The results of association analysis suggested that there were no significant difference about the allele and genotype frequencies of rs71127053 and rs150331504 between case and control groups after extending the sample size. Besides, rs150331504 is a synonymous mutation and we compared the secondary structure and minimum free energy (MFE) of mRNA harboring the allele T or C of rs150331504 using RNAfold software. We found that the centroid secondary structure apparently differs along with the polymorphisms of rs150331504 T > C, the results suggested that this variant might change the secondary structure of mRNA of UBE3A gene. We did not detect mutations in other coding regions of UBE3A gene. Conclusions These findings showed that UBE3A gene might not be a major disease gene in Chinese ASD cases.
first_indexed 2024-12-17T04:47:44Z
format Article
id doaj.art-7598b384bd094a83af664b4bb9082846
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1471-244X
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-17T04:47:44Z
publishDate 2020-12-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series BMC Psychiatry
spelling doaj.art-7598b384bd094a83af664b4bb90828462022-12-21T22:03:01ZengBMCBMC Psychiatry1471-244X2020-12-012011810.1186/s12888-020-03000-5Mutation screening of the UBE3A gene in Chinese Han population with autismXue Zhao0Ran Zhang1Shunying Yu2Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineShanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineShanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineAbstract Background 15q11–13 region is one of the most complex chromosomal regions in the human genome. UBE3A is an important candidate gene of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which located at the 15q11–13 region and encodes ubiquitin-protein ligase E3A. Previous studies about UBE3A gene and ASD have shown inconsistent results and few studies were performed in Chinese population. This study aimed to detect the genetic mutations of UBE3A gene in Chinese Han population with ASD and analyze genetic association between these variants and ASD. Methods The samples consisted of 192 patients with autism according to the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria and 192 healthy controls. We searched for mutations at coding sequence (CDS) regions and their adjacent non-coding regions of UBE3A gene using the high resolution melting (HRM) and Sanger sequencing methods. We further increased sample size to validate the detected variants using HRM and conducted association analysis between case and control groups. Results A known single nucleotide polymorphism (T > C, rs150331504) located at the CDS4 and a known 5 bp insertion/deletion variation (AACTC+/−, rs71127053) located at the intron region of the upstream 288 bp of the CDS2 of UBE3A gene were detected using Sanger sequencing method. The ASD samples of case group were 391 for rs71127053, 384 for rs150331504 and 384 healthy controls, which were used to make an association analysis. The results of association analysis suggested that there were no significant difference about the allele and genotype frequencies of rs71127053 and rs150331504 between case and control groups after extending the sample size. Besides, rs150331504 is a synonymous mutation and we compared the secondary structure and minimum free energy (MFE) of mRNA harboring the allele T or C of rs150331504 using RNAfold software. We found that the centroid secondary structure apparently differs along with the polymorphisms of rs150331504 T > C, the results suggested that this variant might change the secondary structure of mRNA of UBE3A gene. We did not detect mutations in other coding regions of UBE3A gene. Conclusions These findings showed that UBE3A gene might not be a major disease gene in Chinese ASD cases.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-020-03000-5ASD15q11–13UBE3AHRMSequencing
spellingShingle Xue Zhao
Ran Zhang
Shunying Yu
Mutation screening of the UBE3A gene in Chinese Han population with autism
BMC Psychiatry
ASD
15q11–13
UBE3A
HRM
Sequencing
title Mutation screening of the UBE3A gene in Chinese Han population with autism
title_full Mutation screening of the UBE3A gene in Chinese Han population with autism
title_fullStr Mutation screening of the UBE3A gene in Chinese Han population with autism
title_full_unstemmed Mutation screening of the UBE3A gene in Chinese Han population with autism
title_short Mutation screening of the UBE3A gene in Chinese Han population with autism
title_sort mutation screening of the ube3a gene in chinese han population with autism
topic ASD
15q11–13
UBE3A
HRM
Sequencing
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-020-03000-5
work_keys_str_mv AT xuezhao mutationscreeningoftheube3ageneinchinesehanpopulationwithautism
AT ranzhang mutationscreeningoftheube3ageneinchinesehanpopulationwithautism
AT shunyingyu mutationscreeningoftheube3ageneinchinesehanpopulationwithautism