Affiliations: [a] School of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
| [b] Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Palmerston North Hospital, Manawatu, New Zealand
| [c] Wellington Regional Hospital, Wellington, New Zealand
| [d] Present address: LifeArc, Nine, Edinburgh BioQuarter, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| [e] Now retired
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Anja H. Schiemann, School of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University, Private Bag 11222, Palmerston North 4442, Manawatu, New Zealand. Tel.: +64 6 356 84729; E-mail: a.h.schiemann@massey.ac.nz.
Abstract: Background:The ryanodine receptor 1 (RyR1) is a major skeletal muscle calcium release channel located in the sarcoplasmic reticulum and involved in excitation-contraction coupling. Variants in the gene encoding RyR1 have been linked to a range of neuromuscular disorders including myopathies and malignant hyperthermia (MH). Objective:We have identified three RYR1 variants (c.1983 G>A, p.Trp661*; c.7025A>G, p.Asn2342Ser and c.2447 C>T, p.Pro816Leu) in a family with a suspected myopathy and associated malignant hyperthermia susceptibility. We used calcium release assays to functionally characterise these variants in a recombinant system. Methods:Site-directed mutagenesis was used to introduce each variant separately into the human RYR1 cDNA. HEK293-T cells were transfected with the recombinant constructs and calcium release assays were carried out using 4-chloro-m-cresol (4-CmC) as the RyR1 agonist to investigate the functional consequences of each variant. Results:RYR1 c.1983 G>A, p.Trp661* resulted in a non-functional channel, c.7025A>G, p.Asn2342Ser in a hypersensitive channel and c.2447 C>T, p.Pro816Leu in a hypersensitive channel at higher concentrations of 4-CmC. Conclusions:The p.Trp661* RYR1 variant should be considered as a risk factor for myopathies. The p.Asn2342Ser RYR1 variant, when expressed as a compound heterozygote with a nonsense mutation on the second allele, is likely to result in MH-susceptibility. The role of the p.Pro816Leu variant in MH remains unclear.
