A twelve-year follow-up study on a case of early-onset parkinsonism preceding clinical manifestation of Gaucher disease.

Mutations in the glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA1) cause Gaucher disease (GD) and are the most common genetic risk factor for the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). Here, we present a 12-year follow-up study of a male with GD and PD (diagnosed 24years ago), which PD preceded the clinical manifestation of GD by 12years. The patient is a compound heterozygote for mutations c.

Localization of lipids in the aortic wall with imaging TOF-SIMS.

Time-of-flight secondary-ion-mass-spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) was utilized to address the issue of localization of lipids and inorganic ions in healthy rat aorta and human atherosclerotic plaque. Pieces of rat aorta were high pressure frozen, freeze-fractured and freeze dried. The samples were analyzed by imaging TOF-SIMS equipped with a Bi(1-7)(+)-source.

ELOVL3 is an important component for early onset of lipid recruitment in brown adipose tissue.

During the recruitment process of brown adipose tissue, the mRNA level of the fatty acyl chain elongase Elovl3 is elevated more than 200-fold in cold-stressed mice. We have obtained Elovl3-ablated mice and report here that, although cold-acclimated Elovl3-ablated mice experienced an increased heat loss due to impaired skin barrier, they were unable to hyperrecruit their brown adipose tissue. Instead, they used muscle shivering in order to maintain body temperature.

Role for ELOVL3 and fatty acid chain length in development of hair and skin function.

Very little is known about the in vivo regulation of mammalian fatty acid chain elongation enzymes as well as the role of specific fatty acid chain length in cellular responses and developmental processes. Here, we report that the Elovl3 gene product, which belongs to a highly conserved family of microsomal enzymes involved in the formation of very long chain fatty acids, revealed a distinct expression in the skin that was restricted to the sebaceous glands and the epithelial cells of the hair follicles. By disruption of the Elovl3 gene by homologous recombination in mouse, we show that ELOVL3 participates in the formation of specific neutral lipids that are necessary for the function of the skin.