In affected members of a French family with hemochromatosis (235200), Le Gac et al. (2003) identified compound heterozygosity for 2 mutations in the HFE gene: an 848A-C transversion in exon 4, resulting in a gln283-to-pro (Q283P) substitution within the alpha-3 domain, and a C282Y (613609.0001) substitution. Molecular modeling studies predicted a destabilizing effect for the Q283P substitution on the tertiary structure of the protein.
By performing immunoprecipitation studies in HeLa cells, Ka et al. (2005) found that the Q283P mutation prevented the normal interaction between HFE protein and beta-2-microglobulin (B2M; 109700) and between HFE protein and transferrin receptor (TFRC; 190010). Further studies showed that the Q283P mutation decreased the capacity of HFE to reduce transferrin-mediated iron uptake. Ka et al. (2005) noted that the Q283P mutation is adjacent to the disulfide bridge formed by cys225 and cys282, and concluded that the Q283P protein is retained in the endoplasmic reticulum and middle Golgi compartments, similar to the C282Y mutant protein. The results indicated that the Q283P mutation leads to structural and functional consequences similar to those described for the more common C282Y mutation.