Keratin mutations in patients with epidermolysis bullosa simplex: correlations between phenotype severity and disturbance of intermediate filament molecular structure

Summary Background Epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS) is an inherited skin disorder caused by mutations in the keratin 5 (KRT5) and keratin 14 (KRT14) genes, with fragility of basal keratinocytes leading to epidermal cytolysis and blistering. Objectives In this study, we characterized mutations in KRT5 and KRT14 genes in patients with EBS and investigated their possible structure–function correlations. Materials and methods Mutations were characterized using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing. Further, to explore possible correlations with function, the structural effects of the mutations in segment 2B of KRT5 and KRT14 and associated with EBS in our patients, as well as those reported previously, were modelled by molecular dynamics with the aid of the known crystal structure of the analogous segment of human vimentin. Results We have identified mutations in the KRT5 and KRT14 genes in 16 of 23 families affected by EBS in the Czech Republic. Eleven different sequence variants were found, of which four have not been reported previously. Novel mutations were found in two patients with the EBS‐Dowling–Meara variant (EBS‐DM) [KRT14‐p.Ser128Pro and KRT14‐p.Gln374_Leu387dup(14)] and in three patients with localized EBS (KRT14‐p.Leu136Pro and KRT5‐p.Val143Ala). Molecular dynamics studies show that the mutations p.Glu411del and p.Ile467Thr perturb the secondary alpha‐helical structure of the mutated polypeptide chain, the deletion p.Glu411del in KRT14 has a strong but only local influence on the secondary structure of KRT14, and the structural impact of the mutation p.Ile467Thr in KRT5 is spread along the helix to the C‐terminus. In all the other point mutations studied, the direct structural impact was significantly weaker and did not destroy the alpha‐helical pattern of the secondary protein structure. The changes of 3‐D structure of the KRT5/KRT14 dimer induced by the steric structural impact of the single point mutations, and the resulting altered inter‐ and intramolecular contacts, are spread along the protein helices to the protein C‐terminus, but the overall alpha‐helical character of the secondary structure is not destroyed and the atomic displacements induced by mutations cause only limited‐scale changes of the quaternary structure of the dimer. Conclusions The results of molecular modelling show relationships between patients’ phenotypes and the structural effects of individual mutations.