Human beta-D-N-acetylhexosaminidases A and B: expression and linkage relationships in somatic cell hybrids

Knowledge of the genetic relationships between beta-D-N-acetylhexosaminidases A and B (EC 3.2.1.30) may help in understanding the hexosaminidase deficiency associated with GM(2) gangliosidosis, a fatal lipid storage disease in man. Through the use of man-mouse somatic cell hybrids we have found that a gene involved in hexosaminidase A expression was linked to the genes coding for mannosephosphate isomerase and pyruvate kinase-3. The gene coding for hexosaminidase B was not linked to any of the genes coding for 25 enzyme markers tested. A combination of immunological and electrophoretic techniques was employed to identify human hexosaminidases A and B with certainty in cell hybrids. Discordant segregation of hexosaminidase A and hexosaminidase B in 60 clones indicated that the genes coding for their expression were not linked. However, hexosaminidase A was never expressed in cell hybrids in the absence of hexosaminidase B. This suggests that the gene responsible for the hexosaminidase A phenotype, linked to mannosephosphate isomerase and pyruvate kinase-3, requires the presence of the gene coding for hexosaminidase B for the expression of hexosaminidase A. These observations offer a genetic explanation for the biochemical and immunological relationships between hexosaminidases A and B and provide the framework for identifying the basic genetic defects responsible for GM(2) gangliosidosis.