A point mutation of alanine 163 to threonine is responsible for the defective secretion of high molecular weight kininogen by the liver of brown Norway Katholiek rats.

To clarify the mechanism of the secretion defect of high molecular weight kininogen (HK) and low molecular weight kininogen (LK) by the liver of Brown Norway (B/N) Katholiek rats causing plasma kininogen deficiency, we cloned cDNAs for HK from cDNA libraries of the livers of B/N Katholiek and B/N Kitasato rats. A point mutation of G to A at nucleotide 487 was found in the cDNA of B/N Katholiek rats by sequence analysis of the cDNAs (including the entire HK-coding region) obtained from both strains. Both B/N Katholiek and B/N Kitasato rat cDNA fragments were introduced into a eukaryotic vector, pRc/CMV, to construct their respective expression plasmid, which was used to transfect COS-1 cells. At 24 h of incubation, the culture medium of COS-1 cells transfected with the B/N Katholiek rat cDNA contained only 10% of the HK antigen that was found in COS-1 cells transfected with the B/N Kitasato rat cDNA. More HK antigen was retained in the former cells. Moreover, cells transfected with B/N Katholiek rat cDNA, in which the A at nucleotide 487 was artificially replaced by G, secreted a significant amount of HK into the medium. These results suggest that a point mutation of G to A at nucleotide 487, which causes a substitution of Ala163 to Thr in the heavy chain of HK and LK, is responsible for the defective secretion of HK and LK by the liver of B/N Katholiek rats.