PPOX

protein-coding

protoporphyrinogen oxidase

Gene summary

This gene encodes the penultimate enzyme of heme biosynthesis, which catalyzes the 6-electron oxidation of protoporphyrinogen IX to form protoporphyrin IX. Mutations in this gene cause variegate porphyria, an autosomal dominant disorder of heme metabolism resulting from a deficiency in protoporphyrinogen oxidase, an enzyme located on the inner mitochondrial membrane. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding the same protein have been identified. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]

Previous symbols:
  • VP

MANE transcript

NM_001122764.3

Inheritance

AD, SD, AR

ClinVar variants

P:75U:158B:53

Top phenotype

Variegate porphyria; Variegate porphyria, childhood-onset

gnomAD constraint

pLI —, LoF o/e 0.3

Max pathogenic AF

—

Genomic locus

chr1:161,166,056-161,178,013

External References & Databases

Transcript & Mutation Effects

hg38 • Region Span ~12.0 kb
Loading mutation effect viewer...

GenCC Phenotypes & Disease Associations

Curated gene-disease validity assertions and inheritance patterns

variegate porphyriaSTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AD

Disease ID:MONDO:0008297

Submitter: Labcorp Genetics (formerly Invitae)

variegate porphyriaSTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: SD

Disease ID:MONDO:0008297

Submitter: ClinGen

The gene *PPOX* has been strongly associated with the disease variegate porphyria according to the gene-disease association criteria of the ACMG (SOP version 10). Previously, variegate porphyria was reported as two disease entities with differing modes of inheritance (autosomal recessive and autosomal dominant) (OMIM). Other papers have discussed the disease as autosomal dominant with incomplete penetrance (PMID: 29516370; 10870850). However, based on ACMG lumping and splitting criteria, variegate porphyria has been reclassified as semidominant due to its consistent molecular mechanism of disease and due to the observation that missense mutations that preserve 10–25% of PPOX activity may not cause clinically overt disease (PMID: 9811936). Homozygous or biallelic pathogenic mutations, which severely reduce enzyme activity (<25% of normal), typically result in symptoms beginning before puberty. The reported symptoms include abnormal blistering of the skin, photosensitivity, brachydactyly, short stature, nystagmus, myopia, sensory neuropathy, intellectual disability, respiratory paralysis, and abnormal circulating porphyrin concentration in plasma, urine, and stool. Individuals who are heterozygous for pathogenic mutations are at risk for an acute attack, usually presenting with abdominal pain, post puberty onset of photosensitivity, or both. The accumulation of neurotoxic porphyrin precursors such as 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and porphobilinogen (PBG), which are linear non-fluorescent molecules, is observed during acute attacks (PMID: 29516370). The accumulation of protoporphyrins, which are circular molecules that emit fluorescence when excited, is responsible for causing cutaneous photosensitivity. Although this disease has been categorized as one of the acute porphyrias, not all affected individuals experience acute attacks. Instead, symptoms are consistent with a spectrum of disease that worsens with lower enzyme activity and for which porphyrogenic agents (e.g. certain drugs, alcohol, low-carb diets, etc.) can induce an attack. The gene *PPOX* encodes the enzyme protoporphyrinogen oxidase, which converts protoporphyrinogen-IX to protoporphyrin-IX. This enzyme is localized to the mitochondria and requires the cofactor FAD (vitamin B2). The protein primarily exists in vitro as a monomer but is expected to dimerize in vivo. Observed variegate porphyria mutations have been mapped to the PPOX structure and separated into the following different categories: affecting FAD binding (R59W, G11D, G11S, L15F, H20P, E34V, G40E, G40A, G232R, G232S, D349A, S350P, G448R, S450P, G453V, G453R), affecting substrate binding (R168H, R168C, G169E, A172V, G330R, G332A, V335G, Y348C, L401F), affecting the hydrophobic core (I12T, V84G, W224G and W224R, L236S, V282D, I283N, and A397D), affecting protein surface interactions (R38P, H106P, R138P, D143V, R152C, and R217C), and affecting protein secondary structure (L295, L444) (PMID: 21048046). Summary of Case Level Data (10.8 points): 12 probands were scored with 14 unique variants (three nonsense and eleven missense variants). Summary of Experimental Evidence (2 points): Biochemical characterization of the enzymatic reaction where purified WT and mutant protoporphyrinogen oxidase activity was assayed by measuring the velocity of the formation of protoporphyrin from protoporphyrinogen was scored. The high resolution crystal structure was also scored. In summary, *PPOX* has been strongly associated with the semidominant condition, variegate porphyria.

variegate porphyriaSTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0008297

Submitter: Genomics England PanelApp

variegate porphyriaDEFINITIVE

Inheritance Pattern: SD

Disease ID:MONDO:0008297

Submitter: Ambry Genetics

variegate porphyriaSTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AD

Disease ID:MONDO:0008297

Submitter: Genomics England PanelApp

variegate porphyria, childhood-onsetSTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0957577

Submitter: PanelApp Australia

variegate porphyriaSUPPORTIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AD

Disease ID:MONDO:0008297

Submitter: Orphanet

variegate porphyriaSTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AD

Disease ID:MONDO:0008297

Submitter: PanelApp Australia

Clinical Genomic Database (CGD)

Variegate porphyria; Variegate porphyria, childhood-onsetAD/AR

Manifestation: Biochemical; Dermatologic; Musculoskeletal; Neurologic; Renal

Intervention: Dermatologic; Pharmacogenomic

Rationale: Acute attacks may be precipitated by porphyrinogenic agents, which, along with other exacerbating factors, should be avoided; Skin protection is warranted

Comments: Homozygosity/compound heterozygosity results in a distinct and much more severe phenotype

Refs: 6143163; 4059081; 3723537; 3319294; 2222353; 2020301; 8852667; 8673113; 8817334; 9738863; 9811936; 10401000; 11286631; 12357337; 19460837; 19656457; 19845869; 21734717; 21910705Source: CGD (NHGRI)

ClinVar Associated Diseases & Phenotypes

Reported disease conditions connected to PPOX variants in ClinVar

17 Conditions Cataloged
not providedTotal: 213
Variegate porphyriaTotal: 60
Inborn genetic diseasesTotal: 57
Variegate porphyria, childhood-onsetTotal: 22
not specifiedTotal: 16
PPOX-related disorderTotal: 15
See casesTotal: 2
Abnormal blistering of the skinTotal: 2

ClinVar Variants & Pathogenicity by Type

Statistics based on transcript NM_001122764.3. Only rare variants are included.

We include only reliable ClinVar variants with their consequences to MANE Select, MANE Plus Clinical transcripts, or transcripts with TSL equal to 1. Click a count to filter the variants table below.

Slight differences between displayed counts and ClinVar may occur due to a different transcript/consequence chosen by our variant effect predictor, or because we classify Benign/Likely benign as Likely benign and Pathogenic/Likely pathogenic as Likely pathogenic.

EffectPLPVUSLBBSum
synonymous
1
clinvar
6
clinvar
42
clinvar
1
clinvar
50
missense
12
clinvar
9
clinvar
146
clinvar
9
clinvar
1
clinvar
177
nonsense
12
clinvar
4
clinvar
16
start loss
1
clinvar
1
frameshift
12
clinvar
9
clinvar
1
clinvar
22
splice donor/acceptor (+/-2bp)
6
clinvar
9
clinvar
5
clinvar
20
Total4332158512286

Highest pathogenic variant AF is 0.00011852949

Loading ClinVar variants...

Transcript Catalog

Annotated transcript isoforms across RefSeq and Ensembl databases

Showing 4 of 162 transcripts
Transcript IDSourceProtein IDCoding ExonsMANE Status
NM_001122764.3RefSeqNP_001116236.112MANE Select
ENST00000367999.9EnsemblENSP00000356978.412MANE Select
NM_000309.5RefSeqNP_000300.112Standard
NM_001350128.2RefSeqNP_001337057.111Standard

Model Organisms & Knockout Phenotypes

Observed phenotypic effects in mouse and zebrafish models

Gene / ModelOrganismObserved Phenotype
ppoxDanio rerio

Structure: nucleate erythrocyte

Quality: decreased amount

abnormal

Gene Ontology (GO) Annotations & Pathways

Biological processes, molecular functions, cellular components and pathways

Pathways ConsensusPathDB

  • Porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism - Homo sapiens (human)
  • Hereditary Coproporphyria (HCP)
  • Porphyria Variegata (PV)
  • Congenital Erythropoietic Porphyria (CEP) or Gunther Disease
  • Acute Intermittent Porphyria

Biological Process

  • porphyrin-containing compound biosynthetic process
  • protoporphyrinogen IX biosynthetic process
  • heme biosynthetic process
  • response to drug
  • oxidation-reduction process

Molecular Function

  • oxygen-dependent protoporphyrinogen oxidase activity
  • oxidoreductase activity
  • flavin adenine dinucleotide binding

Cellular Component

  • mitochondrion
  • mitochondrial intermembrane space
  • intrinsic component of mitochondrial inner membrane
  • integral component of mitochondrial inner membrane
  • mitochondrial membrane

gnomAD Constraint

Source: gnomAD

Gene type
protein_coding
Transcript type
protein_coding
Transcript
ENST00000367999
Coding exons
12
Length
11604
Individuals with no LoFs
125730
Homozygous LoFs
0
Heterozygous LoFs
18
Defined
125748
p
0.0000716
Z-ScoreObservedExpectedObserved/ExpectedMutation RateTotal Possible
Missense0.9752162600.8300.00001553005
Missense (PolyPhen)6096.1470.624041153
Synonymous-0.4311081021.050.000005421065
Loss of Function3.09723.00.3050.00000103274

Population LoF Frequency

PopulationCAFp-valueStatus
African0.0000620.000062rare
Latino/Admixed American00.0absent
Ashkenazi Jewish00.0absent
East Asian0.0000540.000054rare
Finnish00.0absent
European (Non-Finnish)0.000120.00012rare
South Asian0.0000330.000033rare
Other0.000160.00016rare

dbNSFP Gene Annotations

Source: dbNSFP

Function
FUNCTION: Catalyzes the 6-electron oxidation of protoporphyrinogen-IX to form protoporphyrin-IX. {ECO:0000269|PubMed:21048046, ECO:0000269|PubMed:23467411, ECO:0000269|PubMed:7713909}.;

Recessive Scores

pRec
0.297

Intolerance Scores

LoFtool
0.0727
RVIS EVS
-0.25
RVIS percentile EVS
35.99

Essentials

Essential (CRISPR)
N
Essential (CRISPR2)
N
Essential (gene trap)
N
Indispensability pred.
E
Indispensability score
0.999

Gene Damage Prediction

AllRecessiveDominant
MendelianMediumMediumMedium
Primary ImmunodeficiencyMediumMediumMedium
CancerMediumMediumMedium
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