The lysosomal enzyme glucocerebrosidase-1 (GCase) catalyzes the cleavage of a major glycolipid glucosylceramide into glucose and ceramide. The absence of fully functional GCase leads to the accumulation of its lipid substrates in lysosomes, causing Gaucher disease, an autosomal recessive disorder that displays profound genotype-phenotype nonconcordance. More than 250 disease-causing mutations in , the gene encoding GCase, have been discovered, although only one of these, N370S, causes 70% of disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
February 2018
Pituitary hormones have long been thought solely to regulate single targets. Challenging this paradigm, we discovered that both anterior and posterior pituitary hormones, including FSH, had other functions in physiology. We have shown that FSH regulates skeletal integrity, and, more recently, find that FSH inhibition reduces body fat and induces thermogenic adipose tissue.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMutations in 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 gene () cause an extraordinarily rare autosomal recessive disorder, apparent mineralocorticoid excess (AME). AME is a form of low renin hypertension that is potentially fatal if untreated. Mutations in the gene result either in severe AME or a milder phenotype (type 2 AME).
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