Transthyretin Pro55, a variant associated with early-onset, aggressive, diffuse amyloidosis with cardiac and neurologic involvement

Abstract

Mutations in the protein transthyretin cause amyloidosis involving the heart, peripheral nerves, and other organs. A family from West Virginia developed an unusually aggressive form of widespread transthyretin amyloidosis. Single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis revealed a variant in the transthyretin gene, which was found on sequencing to be a T→C transversion at position 2 of codon 55, corresponding to a Leu→ Pro substitution. The variant sequence was confirmed by restriction analysis and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-primer introduced restriction analysis.