Evaluating the effect of spastin splice mutations by quantitative allele-specific expression assay

Background:  Mutations in the SPG4/SPAST gene are the most common cause for hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP). The splice-site mutations make a significant contribution to HSP and account for 17.4% of all types of mutations and 30.8% of point mutations in the SPAST gene. However, only few studies with limited molecular approach were conducted to investigate and decipher the role of SPAST splice-site mutations in HSP. Methods:  A reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis and quantitative allele-specific expression assay were performed. Results:  We have characterized the consequence of two novel splice-site mutations (c.1493 + 1G>A and c.1414−1G>A) in the SPAST gene…