genomics
according to known molecular defects. We can also now begin to stratify lupus patients, based on our new understanding of the molecular basis of the defects. “In this particular case we found a B-cell abnormality that tracks with this form of lupus, based on a cytokine profile that associates with specific B cell mutations. “That’s transformative, because we can now accurately predict that patients with this B cell disorder should respond to a particular monoclonal antibody (mAb) that may have been developed for a different therapeutic purpose.” Vinuesa said the past two decades have seen a proliferation of mAb therapies developed for other immune disorders and cancer. Collectively, they constitute a comprehensive, off-the-shelf therapeutic arsenal for treating the various forms of lupus. Some mAbs have already been used successfully
Carola Vinuesa was a plenary speaker at the Australasian Society’s of Immunology’s New Horizons conference.
to treat particular forms of lupus; the problem has been to match mAbs to particular forms of the
The achievements of Vinuesa and her team
a mouse model, clinicians will be able to select a
disease, which usually requires multiple rounds
should drastically reduce the distance between
ready-made mAb, with high confidence that it will
of trial and error because there has been no
bench and clinic. Once a mutation is discovered
alleviate the chronic misery of a new subset of lupus
information about the causative genetic lesions.
and its pathogenicity studied and confirmed in
patients. In some cases, it will save lives.
In 2009, a three-year-old Lebanese girl in Sydney
Vinuesa said the highest-scoring variant
interferon alpha, an inflammatory cytokine
was diagnosed with early-onset cerebral lupus.
segregating with disease was a homozygous
that was likely to be the primary cause of the inflammation causing her cerebral symptoms.
Her case was brought to the attention of
mutation in TREX1, a gene that had not
Vinuesa’s team. It would mark the beginning
been previously associated with paediatric
At age four, she had developed partial
of a new era in lupus research.
lupus. However, heterozygous mutations had
paralysis of the right side of her body. Magnetic
They extracted the young girl’s genomic
been shown to cause adult chilblain lupus.
resonance imaging of her brain revealed
DNA from a saliva sample and sequenced her
Homozygous mutations in TREX1 had also been
partial occlusion of several major arteries and
exome — a technique that restricts sequencing
shown to cause Acardi-Goutiere’s syndrome,
widespread inflammation of medium-sized
to the protein-coding regions.
which typically causes inflammation of the brain.
blood vessels.
JCSMR bioinformaticians then scanned
In unaffected individuals, identical TREX1
There was no known history of lupus in
her exome for candidate mutations, using
molecules pair up to form a homodimer, the
the family, but there was an important familial
algorithms developed in-house that focus on
protein’s active form. Vinuesa’s team determined
clue. The girl’s parents were first cousins — an
highly conserved regions of genes.
that the young girl’s mutation, at residue 97,
ancient tradition of marriage between first
Mutations in highly conserved regions of
results in an arginine→histidine substitution that
cousins is still quite common in many Middle-
important genes tend to be highly deleterious
lies within in the interface region between the
Eastern cultures.
— even lethal.
two molecules. It doesn’t disrupt the bond, but
In a cruel throw of the Mendelian dice, the
drastically reduces the efficiency of the dimer’s
girl had inherited the same, malfunctioning allele
DNA-degradation activity.
from both parents; they and her siblings were
“Many of the mutations we are looking for have high damage scores,” Vinuesa said. “They’re usually rare and highly deleterious, whereas
The young Lebanese girl had presented
unaffected, indicating they had inherited at least
common mutations tend to be tolerated — that’s
with early-onset cerebral lupus; her symptoms
one normal allele of the same gene, compensating
why they’re common.
included elevated antibody titres against double-
for any deficiency due to the mutant allele.
“If a mutant allele occurs at a frequency of
stranded DNA fragments, indicating a defect in
Based on the ANU team’s findings, the girl’s
less than 1% in the general population, we know
the cellular mechanisms that repair or degrade
clinicians are seeking approval to change her
it is less likely to have been purified by natural
damaged DNA.
current treatment of six drugs with significant
selection. In the case of de novo mutations, they
The girl also had haemolytic anaemia,
toxicity to an anti-Ifα monoclonal antibody,
may not be present in either parent — only in
lymphopaenia and impaired renal and liver
which is still in clinical trials and not yet available
the proband (the original, affected individual).”
function. She also exhibited elevated levels of
for individual patient use.
8 | LAB+LIFE SCIENTIST - January 2016
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