Objectives
The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that SCN10A variants contribute to the development of Brugada syndrome (BrS).
Background
BrS is an inherited sudden cardiac death syndrome. Fewer than 35% of BrS probands have genetically identified pathogenic variants. Recent evidence has implicated SCN10A, a neuronal sodium channel gene encoding Nav1.8 in the electrical function of the heart.
Methods
Clinical analysis and direct sequencing of BrS-susceptibility genes were performed on 150 probands, family members and >200 healthy controls. Expression and co-immunoprecipitation studies were performed to functionally characterize the putative pathogenic mutations.
Results
We identified 17 SCN10A mutations in 25 probands (20 M/5 F); 23 of the 25 (92.0%) displayed overlapping phenotypes. SCN10A mutations were found in 16.7% of BrS probands, approaching our yield for SCN5A mutations (20.1%). BrS patients with SCN10A mutations were more symptomatic and displayed significantly longer PR and QRS intervals than SCN10A negative BrS probands. The majority of mutations localized to the transmembrane-spanning regions. Heterologous co-expression of wild-type (WT) SCN10A with WT-SCN5A in HEK cells caused a near doubling of sodium channel current (INa) compared with WT-SCN5A alone. In contrast, co-expression of SCN10A mutants (R14L and R1268Q) with WT-SCN5A caused a 79.4% and 84.4% reduction in INa, respectively. Co-immunoprecipitation studies performed provide evidence for co-association of Nav1.8 and Nav1.5 in the plasma membrane.
Conclusions
Our study identifies SCN10A as a major susceptibility gene for BrS, thus greatly enhancing our ability to genotype and risk stratify probands and family members.
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