A New Variant of an Old Itch: Novel Missense Variant in ABCB4 Presenting with Intractable Pruritus

Pleiotropy is the phenomenon in which a single gene impacts multiple, seemingly unrelated phenotypic traits. For example, defects in the SOX10 gene cause Waardenburg Syndrome Type 4, or WS4, which can cause defects in pigmentation, hearing impairments, and an absence of intestinal contractions necessary for elimination. This diversity of phenotypes results from the expression pattern of SOX10 in early embryonic and fetal development. SOX10 is found in neural crest cells that form melanocytes,...

ATP-binding cassette or ABC transporters are a class of ATP-driven pumps that hydrolyze ATP to move solutes across the membrane. They can be grouped into importers and exporters. While exporters are present in all domains of life, importers exist only in bacteria and some plants.
In bacteria, based on the number of transmembrane helices and the chemical nature of their substrates, the ABC importers can be divided into three types:

ATP-binding cassette or ABC transporter is the largest superfamily of integral membrane proteins. The transporters have transmembrane-binding domains (TMDs) and nucleotide-binding domains (NBDs). The TMDs are specific to their substrates, whereas the NBDs are similar to engines that complete ATP hydrolysis to complete the substrate transport. They can be full transporters consisting of two TMDs and NBDs, half transporters with one TMD and NBD, while some encoded with a single TMD or NBD are...

Gregor Mendel's work (1822 - 1884) was primarily focused on pea plants. Through his initial experiments, he determined that every gene in a diploid cell has two variants called alleles inherited from each parent. He suggested that amongst these two alleles, one allele is dominant in character and the other recessive. The combination of alleles determines the phenotype of a gene in an organism.