Assessing Human Genetic Variations in Glucose Transporter SLC2A10 and Their Role in Altering Structural and Functional Properties. Front Genet 2018;9:276
Date
08/10/2018Pubmed ID
30090112Pubmed Central ID
PMC6068234DOI
10.3389/fgene.2018.00276Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85067395217 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 10 CitationsAbstract
Purpose: Demand is increasing for clinical genomic sequencing to provide diagnoses for patients presenting phenotypes indicative of genetic diseases, but for whom routine genetic testing failed to yield a diagnosis. DNA-based testing using high-throughput technologies often identifies variants with insufficient evidence to determine whether they are disease-causal or benign, leading to categorization as variants of uncertain significance (VUS). Methods: We used molecular modeling and simulation to generate specific hypotheses for the molecular effects of variants in the human glucose transporter, GLUT10 (SLC2A10). Similar to many disease-relevant membrane proteins, no experimentally derived 3D structure exists. An atomic model was generated and used to evaluate multiple variants, including pathogenic, benign, and VUS. Results: These analyses yielded detailed mechanistic data, not currently predictable from sequence, including altered protein stability, charge distribution of ligand binding surfaces, and shifts toward or away from transport-competent conformations. Consideration of the two major conformations of GLUT10 was important as variants have conformation-specific effects. We generated detailed molecular hypotheses for the functional impact of variants in GLUT10 and propose means to determine their pathogenicity. Conclusion: The type of workflow we present here is valuable for increasing the throughput and resolution with which VUS effects can be assessed and interpreted.
Author List
Zimmermann MT, Urrutia R, Cousin MA, Oliver GR, Klee EWAuthors
Raul A. Urrutia MD Center Director, Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of WisconsinMichael T. Zimmermann PhD Director, Assistant Professor in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute department at Medical College of Wisconsin