Background/Purpose:
We observed a syndrome characterized by intermittent fevers and livedoreticularis, systemic inflammation, hepatosplenomegaly, cytopenias, vasculopathy, and early-onset lacunar strokes in five unrelated patients. We suspected a genetic cause because the disorder presented in early childhood.
Methods:
We performed whole-exome and candidate gene sequencing on the patients and their unaffected parents. Patient samples were analyzed by ELISA, immunoblotting, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, and cytokine profiling. Morpholino knockdowns in zebrafish embryos were used to study gene function.
Results:
Our patients were compound heterozygous for 5 missense mutations(G47A, A109D, H112Q, R169Q, Y453C) anda 28kb genomic deletion in CECR1encoding adenosine deaminase2 (ADA2).All mutations are either novel or present at low frequency (<0.001) in several large databases, consistent with the recessive inheritance. The Y453C mutation was present in an NHLBI exomedatabase in 2 siblings who suffered from late-onset ischemic stroke. This finding indicatesthat heterozygous mutations in ADA2 might be associated with susceptibility to adult stroke.Computer modeling based on the crystal structure of the human ADA2 suggests that CECR1 mutations either disrupt protein stability or impair ADA2 enzyme activity.Patients had at least a 10-fold reduction in blood ADA2, and dramatically reduced ADA2-specific adenosine deaminase activity in blood and CD14+ monocytes. In contrast to patients with ADA1 deficiency and severe combined immunodeficiency, there was no accumulation of deoxyadenosine or its toxic metabolites in patients’ blood suggesting new functional role of ADA2 addition to its enzyme activity. cecr1bknockdown caused intracranial hemorrhages in zebrafish embryossuggesting defects in vessel development.The intracranial hemorrhage phenotype was rescued with wild type human CECR1 mRNA, but not by the R169Q mutant mRNA.Skin, liver, and brain biopsies from patients showed a diffuse vasculopathy, with evidence of impaired endothelial integrity and endothelial cellular activation.
Conclusion:
Recessive mutations in CECR1 cause ADA2 deficiency manifesting with diffuse vasculopathy, systemic inflammation, and early-onset stroke. Ex vivo experiments with patients’ cells, in vitro cell culture studies,and animal model data suggest an important role for ADA2 in vascular and leukocyte development, consistent with its proposed role as a growth factor.ADA2 replacement with the fresh frozen plasma transfusions, enzyme therapies with recombinant ADA2, gene therapy, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation are possible treatment options.
Disclosure:
Q. Zhou,
None;
D. Yang,
None;
A. Zavialov,
None;
A. Ombrello,
None;
H. Kuehn,
None;
J. J. Chae,
None;
A. Zavialov,
None;
D. Chin,
None;
D. Stone,
None;
C. Toro,
None;
J. Milner,
None;
C. C. Lee,
None;
E. Cowen,
None;
F. Candotti,
None;
E. Remmers,
None;
S. Moir,
None;
R. Sood,
None;
S. Burgess,
None;
M. Gadina,
None;
S. Rosenzweig,
None;
M. Hershfield,
None;
D. L. Kastner,
None;
M. Boehm,
None;
I. Aksentijevich,
None.
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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/intermittent-fever-immune-dysregulation-and-systemic-vasculopathy-due-to-loss-of-function-mutations-in-adenosine-deaminase2/