ANGPTL6 Genetic Variants Are an Underlying Cause of Familial Intracranial Aneurysms.

To understand the role of the angiopoietin-like 6 gene (ANGPTL6) in intracranial aneurysms (IAs), we investigated its role in a large cohort of familial IAs. Individuals with family history of IA were recruited to the Genetic and Observational Subarachnoid Haemorrhage (GOSH) study. The ANGPTL6 gene was sequenced using Sanger sequencing. Identified genetic variants were compared to a control population. We found 6 rare ANGPTL6 genetic variants in 9/275 individuals with a family history of IA (3.3%) (5 missense mutations and 1 nonsense mutation leading to a premature stop codon), none present in controls. One of these had been previously reported: c.392A>T (p.Glu131Val) on exon 2; another was very close: c.332G>A (p.Arg111His). Two further genetic variants lie within the fibrinogen-like domain of the ANGPTL6 gene, which may influence function or level of the ANGPTL6 protein. The last 2 missense mutations lie within the coiled-coil domain of the ANGPTL6 protein. All genetic variants were well conserved across species. ANGPTL6 genetic variants are an important cause of IA. Defective or lack of ANGPTL6 protein is therefore an important factor in blood vessel proliferation leading to IA; dysfunction of this protein is likely to cause abnormal proliferation or weakness of vessel walls. With these data, not only do we emphasize the importance of screening familial IA cases for ANGPTL6 and other genes involved in IA, but also highlight the ANGPTL6 pathway as a potential therapeutic target. This is a Class III study showing some specificity of presence of the ANGPTL6 gene variant as a marker of familial intracranial aneurysms in a small subset of individuals with familial aneurysms. Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Neurology.

Citation

Isabel C Hostettler, Benjamin O'Callaghan, Enrico Bugiardini, Emer O'Connor, Jana Vandrovcova, Indran Davagnanam, Varinder Alg, Stephen Bonner, Daniel Walsh, Diederik Bulters, Neil Kitchen, Martin M Brown, Joan Grieve, David J Werring, Henry Houlden, Genetics and Observational Subarachnoid Haemorrhage (GOSH) study investigators. ANGPTL6 Genetic Variants Are an Underlying Cause of Familial Intracranial Aneurysms. Neurology. 2021 Feb 09;96(6):e947-e955

Mesh Tags

Substances

PMID: 33106390

search → result