PNC2 (SLC25A36) Deficiency Associated With the Hyperinsulinism/Hyperammonemia Syndrome

Context: The hyperinsulinism/hyperammonemia (HI/HA) syndrome, the second-most common form of congenital hyperinsulinism, has been
associated with dominant mutations in GLUD1, coding for the mitochondrial enzyme glutamate dehydrogenase, that increase enzyme activity
by reducing its sensitivity to allosteric inhibition by GTP.
Objective: To identify the underlying genetic etiology in 2 siblings who presented with the biochemical features of HI/HA syndrome but did not
carry pathogenic variants in GLUD1, and to determine the functional impact of the newly identified mutation.
Methods: The patients were investigated by whole exome sequencing. Yeast complementation studies and biochemical assays on the recombinant mutated protein were performed. The consequences of stable slc25a36 silencing in HeLa cells were also investigated.
Results: A homozygous splice site variant was identified in solute carrier family 25, member 36 (SLC25A36), encoding the pyrimidine nucleotide carrier 2 (PNC2), a mitochondrial nucleotide carrier that transports pyrimidine as well as guanine nucleotides across the inner mitochondrial membrane. The mutation leads to a 26-aa in-frame deletion in the first repeat domain of the protein, which abolishes transport activity.
Furthermore, knockdown of slc25a36 expression in HeLa cells caused a marked reduction in the mitochondrial GTP content, which likely leads
to a hyperactivation of glutamate dehydrogenase in our patients.
Conclusion: We report for the first time a mutation in PNC2/SLC25A36 leading to HI/HA and provide functional evidence of the molecular
mechanism responsible for this phenotype. Our findings underscore the importance of mitochondrial nucleotide metabolism and expand the
role of mitochondrial transporters in insulin secretion.
Key Words: hyperinsulinism/hyperammonemia syndrome, mitochondrial carrier, SLC25A36, PNC2, nucleotide metabolism, GTP
Abbreviations: AGC1, aspartate/glutamate carrier isoform 1; DAPI, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; GDH, glutamate dehydrogenase; GLUD1, mitochondrial glutamate dehydrogenase gene; HI/HA, hyperinsulinism/hyperammonemia syndrome; KATP, ATP-sensitive potassium channel; LC-MS/MS, liquid chromatography–
tandem mass spectrometry; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; PNC2, pyrimidine nucleotide carrier 2; qPCR, quantitative polymerase chain reaction; SLC25A36,
gene encoding pyrimidine nucleotide carrier 2; TMRM, tetramethyl rhodamine methyl ester; WES, whole exome sequencing; WT, wild-type.