Screening of the PKD1 duplicated region reveals multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms and a de novo mutation in Hellenic polycystic kidney disease families.

Mutations in the PKD1 gene account for approximately 85% of cases with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD1; MIM# 601313), which is considered one of the most frequent monogenic disorders, with a frequency of approximately 1:1000. The main symptom is the formation of fluid-filled cysts in the kidneys and less often in other organs, such as the liver and pancreas. Since the cloning of the gene many mutations have been identified, although the screening is hampered by several unique features of this gene, the most significant one being that approximately 70% of the sequence at the 5'-end, is reiterated elsewhere on chromosome 16 with homology approaching 95%.

Loss of heterozygosity in polycystic kidney disease with a missense mutation in the repeated region of PKD1.

Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) is a molecular phenomenon that denotes the loss of one of the two alleles at a specific locus. It is frequently associated with tumour suppressor genes in various cancers and also with hyperproliferative disorders, although not exclusively. Interestingly, in conditions where there is an inherited germline mutation, the lost allele is always the functional one, thereby rendering a phenotypically dominant disease of recessive character at the cellular level.

A translation frameshift mutation induced by a cytosine insertion in the polycystic kidney disease 2 gene (PDK2).

Mutations in the PKD2 gene on the long arm of chromosome 4 are responsible for approximately 15% of cases of polycystic kidney disease. Perhaps the only difference from the more common ADPKD1 cases is the rate of progression of cystic changes, and the age of onset, which is 10-15 years later for the ADPKD2 form. In Cyprus there are at least three large families, documented by molecular linkage analysis, that map to the PKD2 locus.

New amino acid polymorphism, Ala/Val4058, in exon 45 of the polycystic kidney disease 1 gene: evolution of alleles.

The PKD1 gene, which is responsible for the most common form of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, has recently been cloned and sequenced. Many disease-causing mutations have been characterized in this gene, most of them resulting in premature protein termination. However, mutation analysis not routinely implemented for family investigations in a clinical setting, because of the large size and complexity of the gene.

Detection of a novel nonsense mutation and an intragenic polymorphism in the PKD1 gene of a Cypriot family with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

Mutations in the PKD1 gene on the short arm of chromosome 16 account for 85%-90% of polycystic kidney disease patients in the Caucasian population. After the recent characterization of the gene, we started a search for mutations in its 3 -end unique portion in Cypriot patients, by using the method of single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP). In one large family, we identified a nucleotide substitution at position 12258 of the cDNA; this substitutes cysteine-4086 by a premature termination codon (C4086X).