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Early- Onset Stroke and Vasculopathy Associated with Mutations in ADA2

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Sophie HambletonORCiD, Dr Mario Abinun

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Abstract

BackgroundWe observed a syndrome of intermittent fevers, early-onset lacunar strokes and other neurovascular manifestations, livedoid rash, hepatosplenomegaly, and systemic vasculopathy in three unrelated patients. We suspected a genetic cause because the disorder presented in early childhood.MethodsWe performed whole-exome sequencing in the initial three patients and their unaffected parents and candidate-gene sequencing in three patients with a similar phenotype, as well as two young siblings with polyarteritis nodosa and one patient with small-vessel vasculitis. Enzyme assays, immunoblotting, immunohistochemical testing, flow cytometry, and cytokine profiling were performed on samples from the patients. To study protein function, we used morpholino-mediated knockdowns in zebrafish and short hairpin RNA knockdowns in U937 cells cultured with human dermal endothelial cells.ResultsAll nine patients carried recessively inherited mutations in CECR1 (cat eye syndrome chromosome region, candidate 1), encoding adenosine deaminase 2 (ADA2), that were predicted to be deleterious; these mutations were rare or absent in healthy controls. Six patients were compound heterozygous for eight CECR1 mutations, whereas the three patients with polyarteritis nodosa or small-vessel vasculitis were homozygous for the p.Gly47Arg mutation. Patients had a marked reduction in the levels of ADA2 and ADA2-specific enzyme activity in the blood. Skin, liver, and brain biopsies revealed vasculopathic changes characterized by compromised endothelial integrity, endothelial cellular activation, and inflammation. Knockdown of a zebrafish ADA2 homologue caused intracranial hemorrhages and neutropenia phenotypes that were prevented by coinjection with nonmutated (but not with mutated) human CECR1. Monocytes from patients induced damage in cocultured endothelial-cell layers.ConclusionsLoss-of-function mutations in CECR1 were associated with a spectrum of vascular and inflammatory phenotypes, ranging from early-onset recurrent stroke to systemic vasculopathy or vasculitis. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health Intramural Research Programs and others.)Adenosine deaminase 2 (ADA2) is an enzyme involved in purine metabolism and a growth factor that influences the development of endothelial cells and leukocytes. This study shows that defects in ADA2 cause recurrent fevers, vascular pathologic features, and mild immunodeficiency. Patients with autoinflammatory disease sometimes present with clinical findings that encompass multiple organ systems.(1) Three unrelated children presented to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center with intermittent fevers, recurrent lacunar strokes, elevated levels of acute-phase reactants, livedoid rash, hepatosplenomegaly, and hypogammaglobulinemia. Collectively, these findings do not easily fit with any of the known inherited autoinflammatory diseases. Hereditary or acquired vascular disorders can have protean manifestations yet be caused by mutations in a single gene. Diseases such as the Aicardi-Goutieres syndrome,(2),(3) polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy,(4) sickle cell anemia,(5) livedoid vasculopathy,(6) and the small-vessel vasculitides(7),(8) are examples of systemic ...


Publication metadata

Author(s): Zhou Q, Yang D, Ombrello AK, Zavialov AV, Toro C, Zavialov AV, Stone DL, Chae JJ, Rosenzweig SD, Bishop K, Barron KS, Kuehn HS, Hoffmann P, Negro A, Tsai WXL, Cowen EW, Pei W, Milner JD, Silvin C, Heller T, Chin DT, Patronas NJ, Barber JS, Lee CCR, Wood GM, Ling A, Kelly SJ, Kleiner DE, Mullikin JC, Ganson NJ, Kong HH, Hambleton S, Candotti F, Quezado MM, Calvo KR, Alao H, Barham BK, Jones A, Meschia JF, Worrall BB, Kasner SE, Rich SS, Goldbach-Mansky R, Abinun M, Chalom E, Gotte AC, Punaro M, Pascual V, Verbsky JW, Torgerson TR, Singer NG, Gershon TR, Ozen S, Karadag O, Fleisher TA, Remmers EF, Burgess SM, Moir SL, Gadina M, Sood R, Hershfield MS, Boehm M, Kastner DL, Aksentijevich I

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: New England Journal of Medicine

Year: 2014

Volume: 370

Issue: 10

Pages: 911-920

Print publication date: 06/03/2014

ISSN (print): 0028-4793

ISSN (electronic): 1533-4406

Publisher: Massachusetts Medical Society

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1307361

DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1307361


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