Compound heterozygous mutations in the flavoprotein gene of the respiratory chain complex II in a patient with Leigh syndrome

Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) deficiency represents a minor cause of Leigh syndrome (LS). Noticeably, the first mutation in a nuclear-encoded respiratory chain component, a mutation in the 5p15 copy of the flavoprotein (Fp) subunit gene of the SDH, was reported 4 years ago in two siblings with LS and SDH deficiency. We now report a new patient with LS and SDH deficiency. Because two copies of the Fp gene are present in the human genome, we first determined the complete structure of these two copies. This allowed us to identify a 1 bp deletion creating a frameshift ill the 3q39 copy, confirming that this second copy was a pseudogene. We also sequenced the promoter region of the 5p15 gene and, in addition, screened for mutations in the patient. Sequencing of the Fp SDH cDNA in the patient only allowed us to identify a heterozygous C to T transition, changing an alanine to a valine in one allele. This transition was found to be heterozygous in the patient's father but was absent from 150 controls. Transfection of the corresponding mutant cDNA into human Fp-deficient cells failed to restore normal SDH activity, confirming the deleterious effect of this mutation. The second allele, inherited from the mother, carried an A to C substitution changing the methionine translation initiation codon to a leucine. This mutant transcript represented only 10% of total Fp transcript suggesting instability of this transcript. So far, profound deficiencies in complex II activity resulting from mutations in the Fp gene of the SDH present only as LS, a striking observation in view of the ubiquitous expression of this typical housekeeping gene in humans.