Screening for mutations in the PKD1 gene

With an estimated incidence of 1:1000, polycystic kidney disease is one of the most frequent single-gene disorders in the Caucasian population. The PKD1 gene, which is involved in approximately 85% of all cases, has recently been identified. The gene, which has a very large transcript, is partly situated within a duplicated area. This fact makes mutation screening a difficult task. Thus far, few deletions have been found. Therefore it seems likely that in a large number of patients the disease is caused by point mutations, possibly resulting in stop codons which lead to truncated proteins. A truncated protein can explain a putative dominant negative effect of the mutation. We are able to screen the patients which carry such stop codons with the protein truncation test (PTT). It is relatively easy to screen large stretches of the PKD1 gene with the PTT. The screening will be done on mRNA with the aid of RT-PCR. The reverse transcription reaction can give us the opportunity to specifically obtain the PKD1 transcript.