TRPV6 Variants Interfere with Maternal-Fetal Calcium Transport through the Placenta and Cause Transient Neonatal Hyperparathyroidism

Abstract

Transient neonatal hyperparathyroidism (TNHP) is etiologically a heterogeneous condition. One of the etiologies is an insufficient maternal-fetal calcium transport through the placenta. We report six subjects with homozygous and/or compound-heterozygous mutations in the gene encoding the transient receptor potential cation channel, subfamily V, member 6 (TRPV6), an epithelial Ca²⁺-selective channel associated with this condition. Exome sequencing on two neonates with skeletal findings consistent with neonatal hyperparathyroidism identified homozygous frameshift mutations before the first transmembrane domain in a subject born to first-cousins parents of Pakistani descent as well as compound-heterozygous mutations (a combination of a frameshift mutation and an intronic mutation that alters mRNA splicing) in an individual born to a non-consanguineous couple of African descent. Subsequently, targeted mutation analysis of TRPV6 performed on four other individuals (born to non-consanguineous Japanese parents) with similar X-rays findings identified compound-heterozygous mutations. The skeletal findings improved or resolved in most subjects during the first few months of life. We identified three missense variants (at the outer edges of the second and third transmembrane domains) that alter the localization of the TRPV6: one recurrent variant at the S2-S3 loop and two recurrent variants (in the fourth ankyrin repeat domain) that impair TRPV6 stability. Compound heterozygous loss-of-function mutations for the pathogenic frameshift allele and the allele with an intronic c.607+5G>A mutation resulted in the most severe phenotype. These results suggest that TNHP is an autosomal-recessive disease caused by TRPV6 mutations that affect maternal-fetal calcium transport.

Keywords: TRPV6; autosomal recessive; calcium; hyperparathyroidism; neonatal; placenta; skeletal; transient.