Unraveling the effect of silent, intronic and missense mutations on <i>VWF</i> splicing: contribution of next generation sequencing in the study of mRNA

Abstract

Large studies in von Willebrand disease patients, including Spanish and Portuguese registries, led to the identification of >250 different mutations. It is a challenge to determine the pathogenic effect of potential splice site mutations on <i>VWF</i> mRNA. This study aimed to elucidate the true effects of 18 mutations on <i>VWF</i> mRNA processing, investigate the contribution of next-generation sequencing to <i>in vivo</i> mRNA study in von Willebrand disease, and compare the findings with <i>in silico</i> prediction. RNA extracted from patient platelets and leukocytes was amplified by RT-PCR and sequenced using Sanger and next generation sequencing techniques. Eight mutations affected <i>VWF</i> splicing: c.1533+1G>A, c.5664+2T>C and c.546G>A (p.=) prompted exon skipping; c.3223-7_3236dup and c.7082-2A>G resulted in activation of cryptic sites; c.3379+1G>A and c.7437G>A) demonstrated both molecular pathogenic mechanisms simultaneously; and the p.Cys370Tyr missense mutation generated two aberrant transcripts. Of note, the complete effect of three mutations was provided by next generation sequencing alone because of low expression of the aberrant transcripts. In the remaining 10 mutations, no effect was elucidated in the experiments. However, the differential findings obtained in platelets and leukocytes provided substantial evidence that four of these would have an effect on VWF levels. In this first report using next generation sequencing technology to unravel the effects of <i>VWF</i> mutations on splicing, the technique yielded valuable information. Our data bring to light the importance of studying the effect of synonymous and missense mutations on <i>VWF</i> splicing to improve the current knowledge of the molecular mechanisms behind von Willebrand disease. <i>clinicaltrials.gov identifier:02869074</i>.