A novel HPLC-based method to diagnose peroxisomal D-bifunctional protein enoyl-CoA hydratase deficiency

• Main Authors: Jolein Gloerich, Simone Denis, Elisabeth G. van Grunsven, Georges Dacremont, Ronald J.A. Wanders, Sacha Ferdinandusse
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2003-03-01
• Series: Journal of Lipid Research
• Subjects: peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation disorders; very long chain fatty acids; trihydroxycholestanoic acid
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022227520312050

D-bifunctional protein (D-BP) plays an indispensable role in peroxisomal β-oxidation, and its inherited deficiency in humans is associated with severe clinical abnormalities. Three different subtypes of D-BP deficiency can be distinguished: 1) a complete deficiency of D-BP (type I), 2) an isolated D-BP enoyl-CoA hydratase deficiency (type II), and 3) an isolated D-BP 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (type III). In this study, we developed a method to measure D-BP dehydrogenase activity independent of D-BP hydratase (D-BP HY) activity to distinguish between D-BP deficiency type I and type II, which until now was only possible by mutation analysis. For this assay, the hydratase domain of D-BP was expressed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. After a coincubation of yeast homogenate expressing D-BP HY with fibroblast homogenate of patients using the enoyl-CoA ester of the bile acid intermediate trihydroxycholestanoic acid as substrate, D-BP dehydrogenase activity was measured. Fibroblasts of patients with a D-BP deficiency type II displayed D-BP dehydrogenase activity, whereas type I and type III patients did not.This newly developed assay to measure D-BP dehydrogenase activity in fibroblast homogenates provides a quick and reliable method to assign patients with deficient D-BP HY activity to the D-BP deficiency subgroups type I or type II.