Functional Characterization of Novel <i>MC4R </i>Variants Identified in Two Unrelated Patients with Morbid Obesity in Qatar

<p dir="ltr">The leptin–melanocortin pathway is pivotal in appetite and energy homeostasis. Pathogenic variants in genes involved in this pathway lead to severe early-onset monogenic obesity (MO). The <i>MC4R</i> gene plays a central role in leptin–melanocortin signaling,...

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Main Author: Idris Mohammed (751020) (author)
Other Authors: Senthil Selvaraj (314873) (author), Wesam S. Ahmed (10170053) (author), Tara Al-Barazenji (18002491) (author), Ayat S Hammad (19437820) (author), Hajar Dauleh (18002500) (author), Luis R. Saraiva (18282274) (author), Mashael Al-Shafai (3466301) (author), Khalid Hussain (110443) (author)
Published: 2023
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_version_ 1864513507714662400
author Idris Mohammed (751020)
author2 Senthil Selvaraj (314873)
Wesam S. Ahmed (10170053)
Tara Al-Barazenji (18002491)
Ayat S Hammad (19437820)
Hajar Dauleh (18002500)
Luis R. Saraiva (18282274)
Mashael Al-Shafai (3466301)
Khalid Hussain (110443)
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author_facet Idris Mohammed (751020)
Senthil Selvaraj (314873)
Wesam S. Ahmed (10170053)
Tara Al-Barazenji (18002491)
Ayat S Hammad (19437820)
Hajar Dauleh (18002500)
Luis R. Saraiva (18282274)
Mashael Al-Shafai (3466301)
Khalid Hussain (110443)
author_role author
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Idris Mohammed (751020)
Senthil Selvaraj (314873)
Wesam S. Ahmed (10170053)
Tara Al-Barazenji (18002491)
Ayat S Hammad (19437820)
Hajar Dauleh (18002500)
Luis R. Saraiva (18282274)
Mashael Al-Shafai (3466301)
Khalid Hussain (110443)
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2023-11-15T15:00:00Z
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv 10.3390/ijms242216361
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Functional_Characterization_of_Novel_i_MC4R_i_Variants_Identified_in_Two_Unrelated_Patients_with_Morbid_Obesity_in_Qatar/26771872
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv CC BY 4.0
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Biological sciences
Genetics
Biomedical and clinical sciences
Medical biochemistry and metabolomics
MC4R
monogenic obesity
severe obesity
childhood obesity
Qatar
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Functional Characterization of Novel <i>MC4R </i>Variants Identified in Two Unrelated Patients with Morbid Obesity in Qatar
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Text
Journal contribution
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
text
contribution to journal
description <p dir="ltr">The leptin–melanocortin pathway is pivotal in appetite and energy homeostasis. Pathogenic variants in genes involved in this pathway lead to severe early-onset monogenic obesity (MO). The <i>MC4R</i> gene plays a central role in leptin–melanocortin signaling, and heterozygous variants in this gene are the most common cause of MO. A targeted gene panel consisting of 52 obesity-related genes was used to screen for variants associated with obesity. Variants were analyzed and filtered to identify potential disease-causing activity and validated using Sanger sequencing. We identified two novel heterozygous variants, c.253A>G p.Ser85Gly and c.802T>C p.Tyr268His, in the <i>MC4R</i> gene in two unrelated patients with morbid obesity and evaluated the functional impact of these variants. The impact of the variants on the <i>MC4R</i> gene was assessed using in silico prediction tools and molecular dynamics simulation. To further study the pathogenicity of the identified variants, GT1-7 cells were transfected with plasmid DNA encoding either wild-type or mutant <i>MC4R</i> variants. The effects of allelic variations in the MC4R gene on cAMP synthesis, <i>MC4R</i> protein level, and activation of PKA, ERB, and CREB signaling pathways in both stimulated and unstimulated ɑ-MSH paradigms were determined for their functional implications. In silico analysis suggested that the variants destabilized the <i>MC4R</i> structure and affected the overall dynamics of the <i>MC4R</i> protein, possibly leading to intracellular receptor retention. In vitro analysis of the functional impact of these variants showed a significant reduction in cell surface receptor expression and impaired extracellular ligand binding activity, leading to reduced cAMP production. Our analysis shows that the variants do not affect total protein expression; however, they are predicted to affect the post-translational localization of the <i>MC4R</i> protein to the cell surface and impair downstream signaling cascades such as PKA, ERK, and CREB signaling pathways. This finding might help our patients to benefit from the novel therapeutic advances for monogenic forms of obesity.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: International Journal of Molecular Sciences<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms242216361" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms242216361</a></p>
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
id Manara2_11f64eba46d641af4c388c82cd1878e4
identifier_str_mv 10.3390/ijms242216361
network_acronym_str Manara2
network_name_str Manara2
oai_identifier_str oai:figshare.com:article/26771872
publishDate 2023
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rights_invalid_str_mv CC BY 4.0
spelling Functional Characterization of Novel <i>MC4R </i>Variants Identified in Two Unrelated Patients with Morbid Obesity in QatarIdris Mohammed (751020)Senthil Selvaraj (314873)Wesam S. Ahmed (10170053)Tara Al-Barazenji (18002491)Ayat S Hammad (19437820)Hajar Dauleh (18002500)Luis R. Saraiva (18282274)Mashael Al-Shafai (3466301)Khalid Hussain (110443)Biological sciencesGeneticsBiomedical and clinical sciencesMedical biochemistry and metabolomicsMC4Rmonogenic obesitysevere obesitychildhood obesityQatar<p dir="ltr">The leptin–melanocortin pathway is pivotal in appetite and energy homeostasis. Pathogenic variants in genes involved in this pathway lead to severe early-onset monogenic obesity (MO). The <i>MC4R</i> gene plays a central role in leptin–melanocortin signaling, and heterozygous variants in this gene are the most common cause of MO. A targeted gene panel consisting of 52 obesity-related genes was used to screen for variants associated with obesity. Variants were analyzed and filtered to identify potential disease-causing activity and validated using Sanger sequencing. We identified two novel heterozygous variants, c.253A>G p.Ser85Gly and c.802T>C p.Tyr268His, in the <i>MC4R</i> gene in two unrelated patients with morbid obesity and evaluated the functional impact of these variants. The impact of the variants on the <i>MC4R</i> gene was assessed using in silico prediction tools and molecular dynamics simulation. To further study the pathogenicity of the identified variants, GT1-7 cells were transfected with plasmid DNA encoding either wild-type or mutant <i>MC4R</i> variants. The effects of allelic variations in the MC4R gene on cAMP synthesis, <i>MC4R</i> protein level, and activation of PKA, ERB, and CREB signaling pathways in both stimulated and unstimulated ɑ-MSH paradigms were determined for their functional implications. In silico analysis suggested that the variants destabilized the <i>MC4R</i> structure and affected the overall dynamics of the <i>MC4R</i> protein, possibly leading to intracellular receptor retention. In vitro analysis of the functional impact of these variants showed a significant reduction in cell surface receptor expression and impaired extracellular ligand binding activity, leading to reduced cAMP production. Our analysis shows that the variants do not affect total protein expression; however, they are predicted to affect the post-translational localization of the <i>MC4R</i> protein to the cell surface and impair downstream signaling cascades such as PKA, ERK, and CREB signaling pathways. This finding might help our patients to benefit from the novel therapeutic advances for monogenic forms of obesity.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: International Journal of Molecular Sciences<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms242216361" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms242216361</a></p>2023-11-15T15:00:00ZTextJournal contributioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersiontextcontribution to journal10.3390/ijms242216361https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Functional_Characterization_of_Novel_i_MC4R_i_Variants_Identified_in_Two_Unrelated_Patients_with_Morbid_Obesity_in_Qatar/26771872CC BY 4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:figshare.com:article/267718722023-11-15T15:00:00Z
spellingShingle Functional Characterization of Novel <i>MC4R </i>Variants Identified in Two Unrelated Patients with Morbid Obesity in Qatar
Idris Mohammed (751020)
Biological sciences
Genetics
Biomedical and clinical sciences
Medical biochemistry and metabolomics
MC4R
monogenic obesity
severe obesity
childhood obesity
Qatar
status_str publishedVersion
title Functional Characterization of Novel <i>MC4R </i>Variants Identified in Two Unrelated Patients with Morbid Obesity in Qatar
title_full Functional Characterization of Novel <i>MC4R </i>Variants Identified in Two Unrelated Patients with Morbid Obesity in Qatar
title_fullStr Functional Characterization of Novel <i>MC4R </i>Variants Identified in Two Unrelated Patients with Morbid Obesity in Qatar
title_full_unstemmed Functional Characterization of Novel <i>MC4R </i>Variants Identified in Two Unrelated Patients with Morbid Obesity in Qatar
title_short Functional Characterization of Novel <i>MC4R </i>Variants Identified in Two Unrelated Patients with Morbid Obesity in Qatar
title_sort Functional Characterization of Novel <i>MC4R </i>Variants Identified in Two Unrelated Patients with Morbid Obesity in Qatar
topic Biological sciences
Genetics
Biomedical and clinical sciences
Medical biochemistry and metabolomics
MC4R
monogenic obesity
severe obesity
childhood obesity
Qatar