Bioinformatic Analysis of Insertion, Deletion, and Substitution Mutations in the Human <i>β</i>-Globin Gene

Abstract

Beta-thalassemia is delineated as a bunch of heritable blood disorders characterized by abnormalities within the synthesis of beta chains of hemoglobin. Most defects in hemoglobin arise directly from mutations in the structure of the β-globin sequence (HBB). Recent advances in computational tools have made it possible to study the relationship between genotype and phenotype in many diseases, including β-thalassemia. Due to the high prevalence of β-thalassemia, these analyses have helped to know the molecular basis in a better way. In this direction, a related database, called HbVar, was developed in 2001 by a collective academic effort to provide quality and up-to-date information on genomic variations that lead to hemoglobinopathies and thalassemia. Within present study, the aim was to investigate insertion, substitution, and deletion mutations in HBB collected from HbVar and their effects using the in-silico approach. In this comparative analysis, three sequences, one wild-type and two mutated HBB sequences were studied in the South American region. It was determined that the Brazilian nd-HPFH mutated sequence presents the formation of a beta chain in the protein structure, not being able to align or overlap in the wild-type, which results in the alteration of the function of the protein, and therefore the development of Thalassemia disease.