Mutations in NEXN, a Z-disc Gene, Are Associated with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), the most common inherited cardiac disorder, is characterized by increased ventricular wall thickness that cannot be explained by underlying conditions, cadiomyocyte hypertrophy and disarray, and increased myocardial fibrosis. In as many as 50% of HCM cases, the genetic cause remains unknown, suggesting that more genes may be involved. Nexilin, encoded by NEXN, is a cardiac Z-disc protein recently identified as a crucial protein that functions to protect cardiac Z-discs from forces generated within the sarcomere. We screened NEXN in 121 unrelated HCM patients who did not carry any mutation in eight genes commonly mutated in myofilament disease. Two missense mutations, c.391C>G (p.Q131E) and c.835C>T (p.R279C), were identified in exons 5 and 8 of NEXN, respectively, in two probands. Each of the two mutations segregated with the HCM phenotype in the family and was absent in 384 control chromosomes. In silico analysis revealed that both of the mutations affect highly conserved amino acid residues, which are predicted to be functionally deleterious. Cellular transfection studies showed that the two mutations resulted in local accumulations of nexilin and that the expressed fragment of actin-binding domain containing p.Q131E completely lost the ability to bind F-actin in C2C12 cells. Coimmunoprecipitation assay indicated that the p.Q131E mutation decreased the binding of full-length NEXN to α-actin and abolished the interaction between the fragment of actin-binding domain and α-actin. Therefore, the mutations in NEXN that we describe here may further expand the knowledge of Z-disc genes in the pathogenesis of HCM.