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ABSTRACT: To determine the tissue distribution of the ABC transporter ABCC6 in normal human tissues, we analyzed tissue arrays for the presence of ABCC6 mRNA by in situ hybridization and ABCC6 protein by immunohistochemistry using the polyclonal antibody HB-6. We detected ABCC6 mRNA and protein in various epithelial cells of exocrine and endocrine tissues, such as acinar cells in the pancreas, mucosal cells of the intestine and follicular epithelial cells of the thyroid. We obtained a very strong immunostaining for enteroendocrine G cells in the stomach. In addition, ABCC6 mRNA and protein were present in most neurons of the brain, in alveolar macrophages in the lungs and lymphocytes in the lymph node. Immunohistochemisty using the monoclonal antibody M6II-31 confirmed the widespread tissue distribution of ABCC6. The physiological substrate(s) of ABCC6 are yet unknown, but we suggest that ABCC6 fulfills multiple functions in different tissues. The strong immunostaining for ABCC6 in G cells suggests that it plays an important role in these endocrine cells.
Histochemie 07/2005; 123(4-5):517-28. · 2.59 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: To determine the tissue distribution of the ABC transporter ABCC6 in normal human tissues, we analyzed tissue arrays for the presence of ABCC6 mRNA by in situ hybridization and ABCC6 protein by immunohistochemistry using the polyclonal antibody HB-6. We detected ABCC6 mRNA and protein in various epithelial cells of exocrine and endocrine tissues, such as acinar cells in the pancreas, mucosal cells of the intestine and follicular epithelial cells of the thyroid. We obtained a very strong immunostaining for enteroendocrine G cells in the stomach. In addition, ABCC6 mRNA and protein were present in most neurons of the brain, in alveolar macrophages in the lungs and lymphocytes in the lymph node. Immunohistochemisty using the monoclonal antibody M6II-31 confirmed the widespread tissue distribution of ABCC6. The physiological substrate(s) of ABCC6 are yet unknown, but we suggest that ABCC6 fulfills multiple functions in different tissues. The strong immunostaining for ABCC6 in G cells suggests that it plays an important role in these endocrine cells.
Histochemie 05/2005; 123(4):517-528. · 2.59 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Mutations in the gene coding for the ABC transporter, ABCC6, in humans cause Pseudoxanthoma elasticum, which is characterized by the deposition of aberrant elastic fibers. To investigate whether the presence of ABCC6 in tissues synthesizing elastin is required for elastin deposition and elastic fiber assembly, we have compared the steady-state levels and tissue distribution of Abcc6 and tropoelastin mRNAs during mouse embryogenesis. Whereas tropoelastin mRNA levels rose during embryogenesis and were the highest in neonatal mice, Abcc6 mRNA levels remained constantly low throughout embryogenesis. In some tissues, both Abcc6 and tropoelastin mRNA were detected. However, Abcc6 mRNA and protein were not detected in neonatal aorta and arteries, which produce large amounts of elastin indicating that the presence of Abcc6 in elastic tissues is not required for elastic fiber assembly.
Journal of Molecular Histology 04/2005; 36(3):167-70. · 1.48 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: A significant number of patients diagnosed with beta-thalassaemia develop clinical and histopathological manifestations similar to those of an inherited disorder called Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE). The inherited PXE is caused by mutations in the ATP-binding cassette, subfamily C (CFTR/MRP), member 6 (ABCC6) gene and is characterized by mineralized elastic fibres in dermal, vascular and ocular tissues. As no disease-causing variant was found in the ABCC6 gene of 10 beta-thalassaemia patients with a PXE-like phenotype, the present study suggests that the PXE-like symptoms in these beta-thalassaemic patients are not related to ABCC6 mutations.
British Journal of Haematology 10/2003; 122(5):852-4. · 4.94 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We have studied the tissue distribution of Abcc6, a member of the ABC transmembrane transporter subfamily C, in normal C57BL/6 mice. RNase protection assays revealed that although almost all tissues studied contained detectable levels of the mRNA encoding Abcc6, the highest levels of Abcc6 mRNA were found in the liver. In situ hybridization (ISH) demonstrated abundant Abcc6 mRNA in epithelial cells from a variety of tissues, including hepatic parenchymal cells, bile duct epithelia, kidney proximal tubules, mucosa and gland cells of the stomach, intestine, and colon, squamous epithelium of the tongue, corneal epithelium of the eye, keratinocytes of the skin, and tracheal and bronchial epithelium. Furthermore, we detected Abcc6 mRNA in arterial endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells of the aorta and myocardium, in circulating leukocytes, lymphocytes in the thymus and lymph nodes, and in neurons of the brain, spinal cord, and the specialized neurons of the retina. Immunohistochemical analysis using a polyclonal Abcc6 rabbit antibody confirmed the tissue distribution of Abcc6 suggested by our ISH studies and revealed the cellular localization of Abcc6 in the basolateral plasma membrane in the epithelial cells of proximal convoluted tubules in the kidney. Although the function of Abcc6 is unknown, mutations in the human ABCC6 gene result in a heritable disorder of connective tissue called pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE). Our results demonstrating the presence of Abcc6 in epithelial and endothelial cells in a variety of tissues, including those tissues affected in PXE patients, suggest a possible role for Abcc6 in the normal assembly of extracellular matrix components. However, the presence of Abcc6 in neurons and leukocytes, two cell populations not associated with connective tissue, also suggests a more complex multifunctional role for Abcc6.
Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry 08/2003; 51(7):887-902. · 2.72 Impact Factor
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Olivier Le Saux, Konstanze Beck,
Christine Sachsinger,
Carina Treiber,
Harald H H Göring,
Katie Curry,
Eric W Johnson,
Lionel Bercovitch,
Anna-Susan Marais,
Sharon F Terry,
Denis L Viljoen,
Charles D Boyd
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ABSTRACT: Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a heritable elastic tissue disorder recently shown to be attributable to mutations in the ABCC6 ( MRP6) gene. Whereas PXE has been identified in all ethnic groups studied to date, the prevalence of this disease in various populations is uncertain, although often assumed to be similar. A notable exception however is the prevalence of PXE among South African Afrikaners. A previous report has suggested that a founder effect may explain the higher prevalence of PXE in Afrikaners, a European-derived population that first settled in South Africa in the 17th century. To investigate this hypothesis, we performed haplotype and mutational analysis of DNA from 24 South African families of Afrikaner, British and Indian descent. Among the 17 Afrikaner families studied, three common haplotypes and six different disease-causing variants were identified. Three of these mutant alleles were missense variants, two were nonsense mutations and one was a single base-pair insertion. The most common variant accounted for 53% of the PXE alleles, whereas other mutant alleles appeared at lower frequencies ranging from 3% to 12%. Haplotype analysis of the Afrikaner families showed that the three most frequent mutations were identical-by-descent, indicating a founder origin of PXE in this population.
Human Genetics 11/2002; 111(4-5):331-8. · 5.07 Impact Factor
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Olivier Le Saux, Konstanze Beck,
Christine Sachsinger,
Chiara Silvestri,
Carina Treiber,
Harald H. H. Göring,
Eric W. Johnson,
Anne De Paepe,
F. Michael Pope,
Ivonne Pasquali Ronchetti,
Lionel Bercovitch,
Sharon Terry,
Charles D Boyd
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ABSTRACT: To better understand the pathogenetics of pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE), we performed a mutational analysis of ATP-binding cassette subfamily C member 6 (ABCC6) in 122 unrelated patients with PXE, the largest cohort of patients yet studied. Thirty-six mutations were characterized, and, among these, 28 were novel variants (for a total of 43 PXE mutations known to date). Twenty-one alleles were missense variants, six were small insertions or deletions, five were nonsense, two were alleles likely to result in aberrant mRNA splicing, and two were large deletions involving ABCC6. Although most mutations appeared to be unique variants, two disease-causing alleles occurred frequently in apparently unrelated individuals. R1141X was found in our patient cohort at a frequency of 18.8% and was preponderant in European patients. ABCC6del23–29 occurred at a frequency of 12.9% and was prevalent in patients from the United States. These results suggested that R1141X and ABCC6del23–29 might have been derived regionally from founder alleles. Putative disease-causing mutations were identified in ∼64% of the 244 chromosomes studied, and 85.2% of the 122 patients were found to have at least one disease-causing allele. Our results suggest that a fraction of the undetected mutant alleles could be either genomic rearrangements or mutations occurring in noncoding regions of the ABCC6 gene. The distribution pattern of ABCC6 mutations revealed a cluster of disease-causing variants within exons encoding a large C-terminal cytoplasmic loop and in the C-terminal nucleotide-binding domain (NBD2). We discuss the potential structural and functional significance of this mutation pattern within the context of the complex relationship between the PXE phenotype and the function of ABCC6.
