A trade off between catalytic activity and protein stability determines the clinical manifestations of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most common polymorphism and enzymopathy in humans, affecting approximately 400 million people worldwide. It is responsible for various clinical manifestations, including favism, hemolytic anemia, chronic non-spherocytic hemolytic anemia, spontaneous abortion, and neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the severity of G6PD deficiency is of great importance but that of many G6PD variants are still unknown. In this study, we report the construction, expression, purification, and biochemical characterization in terms of kinetic properties and stability of five clinical G6PD variants—G6PD Bangkok, G6PD Bangkok noi, G6PD Songklanagarind, G6PD Canton + Bangkok noi, and G6PD Union + Viangchan. G6PD Bangkok and G6PD Canton + Bangkok noi showed a complete loss of catalytic activity and moderate reduction in thermal stability when compared with the native G6PD. G6PD Bangkok noi and G6PD Union + Viangchan showed a significant reduction in catalytic efficiency, whereas G6PD Songklanagarind showed a catalytic activity comparable to the wild-type enzyme. The Union + Viangchan mutation showed a remarkable effect on the global stability of the enzyme. In addition, our results indicate that the location of mutations in G6PD variants affects their catalytic activity, stability, and structure. Hence, our results provide a molecular explanation for clinical manifestations observed in individuals with G6PD deficiency.