Abstract
A genome-wide ENU mutagenesis screen in mice was performed to identify novel regulators of erythropoiesis. Here we describe a mouse line, RBC16, which harbours a dominantly inherited mutation in the Cpox gene, responsible for production of the haem biosynthesis enzyme, coproporphyrinogen III oxidase (CPOX). A premature stop codon in place of a tryptophan at amino acid 373 results in reduced mRNA expression and diminished protein levels, yielding a microcytic red cell phenotype in heterozygous mice. Urinary and faecal porphyrins in female RBC16 heterozygotes were significantly elevated compared to that of wildtype littermates, particularly coproporphyrinogen III, while males were biochemically normal. Attempts to induce acute porphyric crises were made using fasting and phenobarbital treatment on females. While fasting had no biochemical effect on RBC16 mice, phenobarbital caused significant elevation of faecal coproporphyrinogen III in heterozygous mice. This is the first known investigation of a mutagenesis mouse model with genetic and biochemical parallels to hereditary coproporphyria.
- Received December 25, 2016.
- Accepted June 2, 2017.
- © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed.
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