Mutations in genetic variants of human serum albumin found in Italy

A long-term electrophoretic survey of genetic variants of serum albumin has identified an alloalbumin in 589 unrelated individuals in Italy. The alloalbumins were classified electrophoretically into 17 types. The number of unrelated carriers for each type varied from 1 for several variants reported here to 103 for albumin B. The structural change in 8 of these types has previously been determined, and the amino acid substitutions in 3 additional types are reported here. Albumin Varese has a substitution, -2 arginine to histidine (-2 Arg----His), the same as that reported for proalbumin Lille; albumin Torino has the substitution 60 Glu----Lys; and albumin Vibo Valentia has the substitution 82 Glu----Lys. The ability to distinguish so many alloalbumin types by electrophoresis at several pH values indicates that similar substitutions at different sites produce variants with different electrophoretic mobilities. Except for chain terminations in two Italian variants, all the mutations thus far determined for alloalbumins are attributable to a single-base change in the structural gene, and there is a preponderance of transitions and purine mutations. Seven alloalbumins for which the structural change has been established have been ascertained only in Italy. Several of these are clustered in specific geographic regions of Italy, which suggests an origin through a founder individual. Other variants that occur worldwide are nonetheless clustered in geographic regions within Italy. In these cases an independent mutation probably occurred at a hypermutable site such as a CpG dinucleotide.