Factor VII Deficiency Remains Post-Puberty Due to Point Mutation in the HNF4 Binding Site in the Coagulant Factor VII Gene.

A novel T to C point mutation at −60 in the gene for coagulant Factor VII results in life-long severe coagulant Factor VII deficiency in post-pubertal twin males. The clinical course of these patients provides an informative in vivo example of the regulation of expression of vitamin K-dependent clotting protein Factor VII. An analogous point mutation in the HNF4 binding site in the Factor IX gene results in the clinical phenotype Hemophilia B Leyden, a sex-linked antigen-negative Factor IX deficiency that resolves post-puberty. The affected Factor VII deficient patients have prolonged prothrombin times (46 and 52 secs), normal aPTTs and decreased FVII levels of FVII:Coagulant activity: < 1% and FVII:Antigen: < 3%. The −60 mutation, ACTTTG → ACTCTG occurs 9 base pairs before the start site of transcription and 59 bps before the before the start site of translation. The twins are compound heterozygotes and also possess a mutation in exon 8 at amino acid 348, a mutation that has previously been reported to cause FVII deficiency. Both affected individuals have recurrent target joint hemorrhage (shoulder, elbow, ankle) requiring replacement therapy 6–12 times/year.

Results: Gel mobility shift assays using a radio-labeled probe spanning from −76 to −46 in the FVII promoter region demonstrate the loss of binding of transcription factor HNF-4. Transient transfection assays in HepG2 cells using 186 bps of the mutant and the wildtype promoters (−185 to +1) revealed a loss of expression with the mutant allele. Co-transfection with an HNF4 expression plasmid resulted in an increase in expression of the wildetype construct in HeLa cells, a non-hepatic cell line. However, co-transfection of the HNF4 expression plasmid failed to increase expression with the construct containing the mutant allele sequence.

Conclusion: The lack of phenotypic change of the FVII:C in 19 yo twin boys provides dynamic support of the necessity of an overlapping androgen binding site in the homologous Factor IX gene as responsible for the phenotypic resolution of Factor IX deficiency (Hemophilia B Leyden) post-puberty. It is of interest that an increase in FVII:C did not occur with advancing age in FVII deficiency due to this HNF4 binding site mutation.