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Heterozygous mutations in JAGGED1 (JAG1), encoding a ligand for Notch receptors, have been identified in patients with Alagille syndrome (AGS). These mutations map to the extracellular and transmembrane domains of JAG1, giving rise in 70% cases to a premature termination codon (PTC). Although haploinsufficiency has been hypothesised as the main mechanism of AGS, a dominant negative effect of truncated forms of Serrate/Jagged has been suggested. Only few studies of the mutant mRNAs and proteins from AGS patients have been performed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of the disease. To gain insight into the stability of mutant mRNAs, we studied transcripts from five livers and 24 lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) of AGS patients. Mutant JAG1 transcripts were recovered (albeit in different relative amounts) from RNAs with missense mutations (five) or in-frame deletions (two), and from all but two of the 21 with PTCs. In addition, results from LCL RNAs correlated well with results from liver RNAs. Mutant transcripts were also recovered from tissues of a 23-week-old AGS foetus with a PTC mutation. This suggests that most mutant transcripts with PTCs escape nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) and could lead to the synthesis of soluble forms of JAG1. Production of a truncated protein was indeed observed after transfection of COS cells with a mutant JAG1 cDNA. In conclusion, mutant JAG1 transcripts are present in LCLs, livers and tissues of AGS patients, whatever the mutation type, and mutant proteins can be produced, suggesting a dominant negative effect of some mutant proteins as another molecular mechanism of AGS.

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Mutations in the human JAGGED1 gene cause Alagille syndrome, an autosomal dominant developmental disorder. The gene encodes a transmembrane protein which is a ligand of Notch receptors. We report 23 mutations in previously undescribed probands, including 15 novel mutations and 8 recurrent mutations. They map in the part of the gene encoding the extracellular part of the protein. Fifteen mutations are frameshifts and 8 are point mutations. They could give rise to truncated proteins (18/23, including 5 nonsense mutations). There are 2 splice defects, and the 3 missense mutations all cause loss or creation of cysteine residues in the Delta‐Serrate‐Lag2 domain or in EGF repeats. The inheritance was studied in 14 families, including those of 2 probands previously studied. Two mutations were transmitted from the father and 3 from the mother. Nine mutations were de novo, further confirmation that the majority of cases are sporadic. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

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