GATA4 specific nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms in congenital heart disease patients of Mysore, India.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common type of birth defect, affecting 1% of all live births. The recent exponential increase in the knowledge of medical genetics has revolutionized the understanding of CHDs during the past few decades. GATA4, a transcription factor, is involved in heart development. There are many contradictory reports on involvement of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of GATA4 in the manifestation of CHD. In view of this, an attempt has been made to analyze the known SNPs of GATA4 in Mysore patients with CHD. Of the 308 CHD patients recruited, 100 were screened for SNPs of GATA4 by MassARRAY, which identified 11 SNPs, of which 6 were found in both CHD cases and controls. The other 5 SNPs, c.278G>C (G93A), c.1207C>A (L403M), c.1232C>T (A411V), c.1295T>C (L432S), and c.1180C>G (P394A), were found only in CHD patients. Secondary structure analysis revealed that mutant proteins with the SNPs G93A, L403M, and L432S showed structural changes in their helix, sheet, and turn. Thus, these findings suggest the involvement of specific SNPs of GATA4 in the manifestation of CHD, reported for the first time in an Indian scenario. However, screening for a larger number of CHD patients would help us to establish genotype-phenotype correlation.